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The Soul of the Far East-Part6_Percival Lowell(1855-1916)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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the head of the family, he cannot consistently consider himself.



There is absolutely no place in his social cosmos for so particular

a thing as the ego.



With a certain grim humor suggestive of metaphysics, it may be said

of his whole life that it is nothing but a relative affair after



all.

Chapter 3. Adoption.



But one may go a step farther in this matter of the family, and by

so doing fare still worse with respect to individuality. There are



certain customs in vogue among these peoples which would seem to

indicate that even so generic a thing as the family is too personal



to serve them for ultimate social atom, and that in fact it is only

the idea of the family that is really important, a case of



abstraction of an abstract. These suggestive customs are the

far-eastern practices of adoption and abdication.



Adoption, with us, is a kind of domesticluxury, akin to the keeping

of any other pets, such as lap-dogs and canaries. It is a species



of self-indulgence which those who can afford it give themselves

when fortune has proved unpropitious, an artificial method of



counteracting the inequalities of fate. That such is the plain

unglamoured view of the procedure is shown by the age at which the



object is adopted. Usually the future son or daughter enters the

adoptive household as an infant, intentionally so on the part of the



would-be parents. His ignorance of a previousrelationship largely

increases his relative value; for the possibility of his making



comparisons in his own mind between a former state of existence and

the present one unfavorable to the latter is not pleasant for the



adopters to contemplate. He is therefore acquired young. The

amusement derived from his company is thus seen to be distinctly



paramount to all other considerations. No one cares so heartily to

own a dog which has been the property of another; a fortiori of a



child. It is clearly, then, not as a necessity that the babe is

adopted. If such were the case, if like the ancient Romans all a



man wanted was the continuance of the family line, he would

naturally wait until the last practicable moment; for he would thus



save both care and expense. In the Far East adoption is quite a

different affair. There it is a genealogical necessity--like having



a father or mother. It is, indeed, of almost more importance.

For the great desideratum to these peoples is not ancestors but



descendants. Pedigrees in the land of the universal opposite are not

matters of bequest but of posthumous reversion. A man is not



beholden to the past, he looks forward to the future for inherited

honors. No fame attaches to him for having had an illustrious



grandfather. On the contrary, it is the illustriousgrandson who

reflects some of his own greatness back upon his grandfather. If a



man therefore fail to attaineminence himself, he always has another

chance in his descendants; for he will of necessity be ennobled



through the merits of those who succeed him. Such is the immemorial

law of the land. Fame is retroactive. This admirablesystem has



only one objection: it is posthumous in its effect. An ambitious

man who unfortunately lacks ability himself has to wait too long for



vicarious recognition. The objection is like that incident to the




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