Friday, May 22, 2020

Cum a început sărutul?

There are many theories about how kissing began. Some authorities, as noted, believe it evolved from the act of smelling someone's face, inhaling them out of friendship or love in order to gauge their mood and well-being. There are cultures today in which people greet one another by putting their heads together and inhaling the other's essence. Some sniff each other's hands. The mucous membranes of the lips are exquisitely sensitive, and we often use the mouth to taste texture while using the nose to smell flavor. Animals frequently lick their masters or their young with relish, savoring the taste of a favorite's identity. So we may indeed have begun kissing as a way to taste-and-smell someone. According to the Bible account, when Isaac grew old and lost his sight, he called his son Esau to kiss him and receive a blessing, but Jacob put on Esau's clothing and, because he smelled like Esau to his blind father, received the kiss instead. In Mongolia, a father does not kiss his son; he smells his son's head. Some cultures prefer just to rub noses (Inuits, Maoris, Polynesians, and others), while in some Malay tribes the word for "smell" means the same as "salute." Here is how Charles Darwin describes the Malay nose-rubbing kiss: "The women squatted with their faces upturned; my attendants stood leaning over theirs, and commenced rubbing. It lasted somewhat longer than a hearty handshake with us. During this process they uttered a grunt of satisfaction."

Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the senses
Vintage Books (at Random House), New York, 1991
pp. 110-111
chapter: “Touch”

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