Beauty I shall marshal a number of facts showing that among the uncivilized and Oriental races in general, fat is the criterion of feminine attractiveness.  It is so among coarse men (i.e., most men) even in Europe and America to this day.  Hindoo poets, from the oldest times to Kalidasa and from Kalidasa to the present day, laud their heroines above all things for their large thighs—­thighs so heavy that in walking the feet make an impression on the ground “deep as an elephant’s hoofs.”

FASTIDIOUS SENSUALITY IS NOT LOVE

It is hardly necessary to say that the “love” based on these secondary qualities is not sentimental or romantic.  It may, however—­and this is a very important point to remember—­be extremely violent and stubborn.  In other words, there may he a strong individual preference in love that is entirely sensual.  Indeed, lust may he as fastidious as love.  Tarquinius coveted Lucretia; no other woman would have satisfied him.  Yet he did not love her.  Had he loved her he would have sacrificed his own life rather than offered violence to one who valued her honor more than her life.  He loved only himself; his one object was to please his beloved ego; he never thought of her feelings and of the consequences of his act to her.  The literature of ancient Rome, Greece, and Oriental countries is full of such cases of individualized “love” which, when closely examined, reduce themselves to cases of selfish lust—­eagerness to gratify an appetite with a particular victim, for whom the “lover” has not a particle of affection, respect, or sympathy, not to speak of adoration or gallant, self-sacrificing devotion.  Unless we have positive evidence of the presence of these traits of unselfish affection, we are not entitled to assume the existence of genuine love; especially among races that are coarse, unsympathetic, and cruel.

TWO STORIES OF INDIAN LOVE

From this point of view we must judge two Indian love-stories related by Keating (II., 164-166): 

I. A Chippewa named Ogemans, married to a woman called Demoya, fell in love with her sister.  When she refused him he affected insanity.  His ravings were terrible, and nothing could appease him but her presence; the moment he touched her hand or came near her he was gentle as they could wish.  One time, in the middle of a winter night, he sprang from his couch and escaped into the woods, howling and screaming in the wildest manner; his wife and her sister followed him, but he refused to be calmed until the sister (Okoj) laid her hand on him, when he became quiet and gentle.  This kind of performance he kept up a long time till all the Indians, including the girl, became convinced he was possessed by a spirit which she alone could subdue.  So she married him and never after was he troubled by a return of madness.