#56, line 3, #35
You are a stranger to this situation.
It is your attraction to the exotic that has led you here, but you will move on to a new vista when this one has lost its mystique. Because much of this environment is foreign to you, you must exercise only the best judgement.
You don’t know the custom here, and it’s too easy to cross a line you don’t know is there. Because you are the foreigner in this setting, you have no history to acquit you. Watch, listen, study, contemplate, then step lightly but decisively on.
A truculent stranger does not know how to behave properly. He meddles in affairs and controversies that do not concern him; thus he loses his resting place. He treats his servant with aloofness and arrogance; thus he loses the man’s loyalty. When a stranger in a strange land has no one left on whom he can rely, the situation becomes very dangerous.
This is a time of reward for good works. Those you have helped want to show their gratitude. Benefits come both from on high and from the humble you uplifted. Accept all gifts graciously, though the reward may not be what you truly need or hoped for. Some may bestow more than they can afford to give, but you must realize that they need to feel that they have repaid you.
