FullReads

FOOTNOTE: [3] A scrap from ‘Le Cid’ of Corneille.

SAB

. Eh! He is not the patient; it is his daughter who is ill.

SGAN

. It does not matter: the blood of the father and that of the daughter are the same; and by the deterioration of the blood of the father, I can know the illness of the daughter.

GOR

. Ah! doctor, I am greatly afraid that my daughter will die.

SGAN

. S’death! she must not! she must not indeed have the pleasure of dying before she has the doctor’s prescription. But, Mr. Gorgibus, can I see your daughter?

SAB

. She is up; I will bring her if you like.

SCENE V

.–SABINE, GORGIBUS, SGANARELLE (as doctor), LUCILE.

SGAN

. Well, young lady, so you are ill?

LUC

. Yes, sir.

SGAN

. So much the worse; it is a proof that you are not quite well. Do you feel great pains in your head and back?

LUC

. Yes, sir.

SGAN

. I thought so. Yes, the great doctor I spoke of, in the chapter he made on the nature of animals, said … a hundred fine things; and how the humours which have connexion, have much relation to each other; for instance, as melancholy is the enemy to joy, and as the bile in going through our body makes us become yellow, and as nothing is more contrary to good health than illness; so we can say with that great man that your daughter is very ill. I must give her a prescription.

GOR

. Quick! a table, paper and ink!

SGAN

. Is there anybody here who can write?

GOR

. What! do you not know how to write?

SGAN

. Ah! I was forgetting; I have so many things to think of, that I forget the half…. I think it is quite necessary for your daughter to have a change of air and that she should go and enjoy herself somewhere in the country.

GOR

. We have a very fine garden, and some rooms attached to it; if you think it will do, I will send her there.

SGAN

. Let us go and see the place.

(Exeunt.)

SCENE VI

.–The Lawyer.

LAW

. I have heard that the daughter of Mr. Gorgibus is ill; I must go and inquire after her health, and offer my services, as the friend of the whole family. (Knocks.) Is Mr. Gorgibus at home? (Enter Gorgibus.) Having heard of your daughter’s illness, I come to tell you of my entire sympathy, and to put myself at your disposal for all that may be wanted of me.

GOR

. I have just left the cleverest man in the world.

LAW

. Would it not be possible to speak with him for a few moments? (Gorgibus fetches Sganarelle.)

SCENE VII

.–Gorgibus, Lawyer, Sganarelle (as doctor).

GOR

. Sir, here is a friend of mine, a very clever man, who would be glad to speak with you.

SGAN

. I have no leisure, Mr. Gorgibus; I must go and see my patients. I will not presume to take your place of honour, sir.

LAW

. Sir, from what Mr. Gorgibus has told me of your merit and talents, I had the greatest longing in the world to be introduced to you, and I have taken the liberty of addressing you on that account. I hope you will not think it too bold. One must acknowledge that those who excel in any great science are worthy of high praise; particularly those whose calling is that of doctor, as much on account of its utility, as because it is the source of several other sciences. Hence it is a difficult one to know perfectly, and Hippocrates therefore says truly in his first treatise: Vita brevis, ars vero longa, occasio autem praeceps, experimentum periculosum, judicium, difficile.