|
The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: vexation of learning that you have been industriously treating your
servant with the deference due a superior,--two catastrophes sure to
follow the attempts of even the most cautious of beginners.
The language is so thoroughly imbued with the honorific spirit that
the exposure of truth in all its naked simplicity is highly improper.
Every idea requires to be more or less clothed in courtesy before it
is presentable; and the garb demanded by etiquette is complex beyond
conception. To begin with, there are certain preliminary particles
which are simply honorific, serving no other purpose whatsoever.
In addition to these there are for every action a small infinity of
verbs, each sacred to a different degree of respect. For instance,
|
