Addressing a Woman

In the entire world, the servitors of a family address the mistress of the house as mother. The total unfamiliar person addresses every female as mother. The deities of knowledge and wealth are represented in the images of beautiful women, as maternity incarnate. Before going on a voyage and on returning, most people touch the feet of their mothers. This apotheosis of motherhood is not the offbeat of a physical fact, but the glorification of the most sublime qualities of motherhood, of self-less loyalty, unquestioning love and complete self-abnegation. From a woman commendable of being called mother, the tradition expects perfect purity, faithfulness and unselfishness. These qualities have a beauty of their own, and the mother very often cares for no other aid to loveliness.