Father’s illness
It is probable over ten years now since this story of a well-known doctor was the talk of the town in s-:
He charged one dollar forty a visit, ten dollars for an emergency call, double the amount for a night call, and double again for a trip outside the city. One night the daughter of a family living outside the city fell dangerously ill. They sent to ask him out there and, because he had more money at the time than he knew what to do with, he refused to go for less than a hundred dollars. They had to agree to this. Once there, he simple gave the girl a perfunctory looking over.
“It isn’t serious,” he said.
Then he made out prescription, took his hundred dollars, and left.
Apparently the patient’s family was very rich, for the next day they asked him out there again. The master of the house met him at the door with a smile.
“Yesterday evening we gave her your medicine, Doctor, ”he said,”and she’s much better. So we’re asked you to have another look at her. ”
He took him as before into the bedroom, and a maid drew the patient’s hand outside the bed curtain. The doctor placed his fingers on the wrist and found it icy cold, without any pulse.
“Hmm.”He nodded.“I understand this illness ”.
Quite calmly he walked to the table, took out a prescription from, and wrote on it:“Pay the bearer one hundred silver dollars.”
Beneath he signed his name and affixed his seal.
“This illness looks rather serious, Doctor,”said the master of the house, behind him.“I think the medicine should be a little more potent.”
“react to an emergencyVery well,”said the doctor. And he wrote another prescription:“Pay the bearer two hundred silver dollars.”
Beneath he signed his name and affixed his seal again.
This done, the master of the house put away the prescription and saw him politely out.
I had dealings with this famous physician for two whole years, because he came every other day to attend my  by that time very well known, he had not yet more money than he knew what to do with; still, his fee was already one dollar forty a visit. In large towns today a ten-dollar fee is not considered exorbitant; but in those days one dollar forty was a great sum, by no means easy to raise—especially when it fell due every other day.
He probably  was unique in some respects. It was generally agreed that his prescriptions were unusual. I know nothing about medicine : what struck me was how hard his“adjuvants ”were to find. Each new prescription kept me busy for some time. First I had to buy the medicine, then look for the adjuvant. He never used such common ingredients as two slices of fresh ginger, or ten bamboo leaves minus the tips. At best it was reed roots, and I had to go to the river to dig them up; and when it came to sugar-cane which had seen three years of frost, I would have to search for two or three days at the least. But, strange to say,
I believe my quest was always successful in the end.
It was generally agreed that herein lay his magic. There once was a patient whom no drugs could cure, but when he met a certain Dr. Ye Tianshi, all this doctor did was to add phoenix-tree leaves as the adjuvant to the old prescription. With only one dose the patient was cured. “Medicine is a matter of the mind. ” Because it was autumn then, and the phoenix tree is the first to feel the approach of autumn, where all other drugs had failed, Dr. Ye could now use the spirit of autumn. When spirit reacted on spirit, the patient Although this was not clear to me, I was thoroughly impressed and realized that all efficacious drugs must be difficult to get. Those who want to become immortals even have to risk their lives to go deep into the mountains to pluck the herb of long life.
After two years of his visits, I gradually came to know this famous physician fairly well; indeed we were almost friends. Father’s dropsy grew daily worse, till it looked as if he would have to keep to his bed, and by degrees I lost faith in such remedies as sugar-cane which had seen three years of frost, and was not nearly as zealous as before in finding and
preparing adjuvants. One day just at this time, when the doctor called, after inquiring after my father’s illness he told us very frankly:
“I’ve used all the knowledge I  is a Dr. Chen Lianhe here, who knows more than I do. I advise you to consult him. I’ll write you a letter of introduction. This illness isn’t serious, though. It’s just that he can cure it much ”
The whole household seemed rather unhappy that day, but I saw him out as respectfully as ever to his sedan-chair. When I went in again, I found my father looking very put out, talking it over with everyone and declaring that there was probably no hope for him. Because this doctor had treated the illness for two years to no purpose, and knew the patient too well, he could not help feeling rather embarrassed now that things had reached a crisis: that was why he had recommended someone else, washing his hands of the whole affair. But what else could we do It was a fact that the only other well-known doctor in our town was Chen Lianhe. So the next day we engaged his services.

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