"Mac, if you knew yourself you wouldn't ever whack a child."
This seemed to tickle him.
"Good Lord!" he laughed, "I could write a book about myself! I'm one
of the most introspective chaps ever born."
"And you understand yourself?"
"I have no illusions about myself at all, old chap. I know my
limitations."
"Well, would you mind telling me why you are a bit of a nut?" I asked.
"It isn't usual for a country dominie to wear a wing collar, a bow tie,
and shot-silk socks."
"That's easy," he said quickly. "I think that teachers haven't the
social standing they ought to have, and I dress well to uphold the
dignity of the profession. Don't you believe me?" he demanded as I
smiled.
"Quite! I believe you're quite honest in your belief, but it's wrong
you know. There must be a much more personal reason than that."
"Rot!" he said. "Anyway, what is the reason?"
"I don't know, Mac; it would take months of research to discover it. I
can't explain your psychology, but I'll tell you something about my
own. These swagger corduroys I'm wearing . . . when I bought them
someone asked me why I chose corduroy, and I at once answered:
'Economy! They'll last ten years!' But that wasn't the real reason, I
bought them because I wanted to have folk stare at me. I've got an
inferiority complex, that is an inner feeling of inferiority. To
compensate for it I go and order a suit that will make people look at
me; in short, that I may be the centre of all eyes, and thus gain a
feeling of outward superiority."
This sent Mac off into a roar of laughter.
"You're daft, man!" he roared.
After a minute or two he said; "But what has all this to do with Tom
Murray?"
"A lot," I said seriously. "You think you whack Tom because you must
have discipline, but you whack him for a different reason. In your
deep unconscious mind you are an infant. You want to show your
self-assertion just as a kid does. You leather Tom because you've
never outgrown your seven-year-old stage. On market-day, when Tom
walks behind a drove and whacks the stots over the hips with a stick,
he is doing exactly what you did this afternoon. You are both infants."
I have had to give up lecturing Mac, for he always takes me as a huge
joke. He is a good fellow, but he has the wonderful gift of being
blind to anything that might make him reconsider his values. Many
people protect themselves in the same way--by laughing. I have more
than once seen an alcoholic laugh heartily at his wrecked home and lost
job.