Waltey
Zdravljenje s preplahom
219 The Scare Cure
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
Zdravljenje s preplahom
- Vir
- Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
- Avtor
- Charles M. Skinner
- Jezik branja
- Slovenščina
- Jezik izvirnika
- English
- Čas branja
- 3 min branja
- Obseg
- 2 strani
- Naslov izvirnika
- 219 The Scare Cure
O izvirniku
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
Obsežna zgodovinska zbirka ameriških legend, ki jih je Skinner zbral in avtorsko rekonstruiral. Bralni jezik je Slovenščina, izvirnik pa prihaja iz vira Myths and Legends of Our Own Land v jeziku English.
Besedilo
Zdravljenje s preplahom
Na začetku tega stoletja je nemirni Jenkij, ki je nosil nič kaj navdihujoče ime Tompkinson, zašel v Carondelet — ali Vuide Poche, francosko naselbino ob Misisipiju, ki jo je pozneje pogoltnil St. Louis — in se začel ozirati za kakim delom. Na poti iz Nove Anglije do velike reke ga je spremljala smola. Njegovi načrti za lastno poveličanje ter za mimogredno razsvetljenje in blaginjo človeštva niso obrodili sadov, zato je gospod Dunois predvsem iz usmiljenja ponudil zavetje razcapanemu, napol sestradanemu, a še vedno vedremu in iznajdljivemu pustolovcu. Dunois je bil edini človek v kraju, ki se je lahko ponašal z nekaj izobrazbe, in moža sta se odlično razumela.
Brž ko si je Tompkinson z nekaterimi špekulacijami priskrbel obleko in denar, je najel hišo in izobesil tablo, ki je oznanjala, da tam opravlja zdravniško prakso. O zdravljenju je sicer vedel manj kot katerakoli vaška babica, toda nekaj bolnikov, ki jih je oskrboval, je imelo redko srečo, da so kljub njemu ozdraveli, in tako je njegov sloves segel daleč onkraj krajevnih meja. V prekipevajočem veselju, ki mu ga je prinesla blaginja, se je precej odkrito spogledoval s številnimi mladenkami v Carondeletu, kar je zgrozilo Dunoisa, ki mu je prepovedal vstop v svojo hišo, in duhovnika, ki ga je izobčil.
Za duhovnika mu ni bilo prav nič mar, Dunoisova jeza pa je bila resnejša reč — edino dekle med vsemi, ki ga je zares ljubil, je bila namreč njegova hči Marie Dunois. Uradno je zaprosil za njeno roko, a starec ga ni hotel niti poslušati. Nato je zamrla še njegova »praksa«. Prihodnost se mu je zdela prav tako mračna, kakor je bila njegova nedavna preteklost, dokler ni prišla k njemu ženska s kostjo v grlu in ga prosila, naj ji pomaga. V takih primerih je ravnal tako, da je zavrtel kolo sreče in ubogal njegovo odločitev. Tokrat se je puščica ustavila pri besedah »Puščanje krvi«.
Pograbil je skalpel in se približal svoji žrtvi; ta je pomislila, da ji namerava prerezati grlo, da bi odstranil oviro, in je začela tako silovito kričati, da je kost zletela ven. To, kar so imeli za njegovo prisebno iznajdljivost v sili, mu je povrnilo zaupanje ljudi in lahko je spet opravljal prakso, ki jo je tako zelo potreboval. Čez nekaj let je osuplemu Dunoisu pokazal tolikšen kup prihranjenega denarja, da mu je ta dal Marie skoraj brez prošnje. Ker se je Tompkinson pozneje lotil trgovanja z Indijanci in s sleparjenjem rdečekožcev početveril svoje bogastvo, je postal eden najbolj spoštovanih meščanov Zahoda.
Izvirnik
219 The Scare Cure
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
Early in this century a restless Yankee, who wore the uninspiring name of Tompkinson, found his way into Carondelet--or Vuide Poche, the French settlement on the Mississippi since absorbed by St. Louis--and cast about for something to do. He had been in hard luck on his trip from New England to the great river. His schemes for self-aggrandizement and the incidental enlightenment and prosperity of mankind had not thriven, and it was largely in pity that M. Dunois gave shelter to the ragged, half-starved, but still jaunty and resourceful adventurer. Dunois was the one man in the place who could pretend to some education, and the two got on together famously.
As soon as Tompkinson was in clothes and funds--the result of certain speculations--he took a house, and hung a shingle out announcing that there he practised medicine. Now, the fellow knew less about doctoring than any village granny, but a few sick people that he attended had the rare luck to get well in spite of him, and his reputation expanded to more than local limits in consequence. In the excess of spirits that prosperity created he flirted rather openly with a number of virgins in Carondelet, to the scandal of Dunois, who forbade him his house, and of the priest, who put him under ban.
For the priest he cared nothing, but Dunois's anger was more serious--for the only maid of all that he really loved was Marie Dunois, his daughter. He formally proposed for her, but the old man would not listen to him. Then his “practice” fell away. The future looked as dark for him as his recent past had been, until a woman came to him with a bone in her throat and begged to be relieved. His method in such cases was to turn a wheel-of-fortune and obey it. The arrow this time pointed to the word, “Bleeding.”
He grasped a scalpel and advanced upon his victim, who, supposing that he intended to cut her throat open to extract the obstacle, fell a-screaming with such violence that the bone flew out. What was supposed to be his ready wit in this emergency restored him to confidence, and he was able to resume the practice that he needed so much. In a couple of years he displayed to the wondering eyes of Dunois so considerable an accumulation of cash that he gave Marie to him almost without the asking, and, as Tompkinson afterward turned Indian trader and quadrupled his wealth by cheating the red men, he became one of the most esteemed citizens of the West.
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