ABSTRACT
When Freud’s patient known by the strange epithet the “Rat Man” was born in 1878, how was he welcomed by his father — in other words, by the man who was to recognise him as his son in the eyes of the Lord? It was with the following words: “He thought that they would have to cut down expenses after all, as there would be an extra person living in the house now.” 2 “So many children, so many kronen”, we might be tempted to add. Or perhaps, in terms slightly different from those used by the patient, let us say that for this father, who owed his fortune to his wife’s family, each new-born child signified the renewed demand of his own waste products — the only objects that the human being “produces himself”. Here I am referring to Freud, who commented on this pronouncement as follows: “Something else lay behind this, viz that his father liked having his permission asked, as though he wanted to abuse his power, although perhaps he was really only enjoying the feeling that everything came from him.” 3 Everything — including the new arrivals!
