悬壶济世（1）

我是一个生病不喜欢看医生的人。

I am someone who prefers not to see a doctor when I am ill.

这并不表示我很少生病，反过来说，实在是一天到晚闹小毛病，所以懒得去看病啦。

This doesn’t mean I rarely get sick; rather, I constantly have minor ailments throughout the day, which makes me too lazy to seek medical help.

活了半辈子，我的宝贝就是一大纸盒的药，无论到哪里我都带着，用久了也自有一点治小病的心得。

Having lived half my life, my treasure is a big box full of medicines that I bring with me wherever I go, and over time, I've accumulated some experience in treating minor illnesses.

自从我去年旅行大沙漠时，用两片阿斯匹灵药片止住了一个老年沙哈拉威女人的头痛之后，那几天在帐篷里住着时总有人拖了小孩或老人来讨药。

Since last year, when I traveled in the Great Desert and helped an elderly Sahrawi woman relieve her headache with just two aspirin tablets, there were always people bringing their children or elderly family members to my tent asking for medicine.

当时我所敢分给他们的药不外是红药水、消炎膏和止痛药之类，但是对那些完全远离文明的游牧民族来说，这些药的确产生了很大的效果。

At that time, the only medicines I dared to share with them were things like red disinfectant, anti-inflammatory ointments, and painkillers. But for those nomads completely cut off from civilization, these remedies indeed had a significant effect.

回到小镇阿雍来之前，我将手边所有的食物和药都留下来，给了住帐篷的穷苦沙哈拉威人。

Before returning to the small town of Ayoun, I left all my food and medicines behind, giving them to the impoverished Sahrawis living in tents.

住在小镇上不久，我的非洲邻居因为头痛来要止痛药，我想这个镇上有一家政府办的医院，所以不预备给她药，请她去看医生。

Not long after settling in town, my African neighbor came to ask for painkillers for her headache. I thought there was a government hospital in town, so I didn’t prepare any medicine for her and advised her to see a doctor.

想不到此地妇女全是我的同好，生病决不看医生，她们的理由跟我倒不相同，因为医生是男的，所以这些终日藏在面纱下的妇女情愿病死也不能给男医生看的。

To my surprise, all the women here are just like me, refusing to see doctors when they are ill. Their reasoning is different from mine; since the doctors are men, these women, who are used to hiding behind veils, would rather suffer than be examined by a male doctor.

我出于无奈，勉强分给了邻居妇人两片止痛药。从那时候开始，不知是谁的宣传，四周妇女总是来找我看小毛病。

Out of reluctance, I reluctantly gave my neighbor two painkillers. From that moment on, I don’t know who spread the word, but women from around began coming to me for help with their minor ailments.

更令她们高兴的是，给药之外还会偶尔送她们一些西方的衣服，这样一来找我的人更多了。

What delighted them even more was that I occasionally gave them some Western clothing along with the medicine, which increased the number of those seeking my help.

我的想法是，既然她们死也不看医生，那么不致命的小毛病找给帮忙一下，减轻她们的痛苦，也同时消除了我沙漠生活的寂寥，不是一举两得吗。

My thought was that since they would rather die than see a doctor, helping them with non-fatal ailments would reduce their suffering and also alleviate my loneliness from the desert life. Wasn’t it a win-win situation?

同时我发觉，被我分过药的妇女和小孩，百分之八十是药到病除。

At the same time, I noticed that around eighty percent of the women and children I treated responded well to the medicine.

于是渐渐的我的胆子也大了，有时居然还会出诊。

Gradually, I became bolder and sometimes even made house calls.

荷西看见我治病人如同玩洋娃娃，常常替我捏把冷汗，他认为我是在乱搞，不知乱搞的背后也存着很大的爱心。

Jose watched me treat patients as if I were playing with dolls, often breaking into a cold sweat. He believed I was messing around, not realizing that behind this chaos lay a lot of love.

邻居姑卡十岁，她快要出嫁了，在出嫁前半个月，她的大腿内长了一个红色的疖子，初看时只有一个铜板那么大，没有脓，摸上去很硬，表皮因为肿的缘故都鼓得发亮了，淋巴腺也肿出两个核子来。

My neighbor Gu Ka, who was ten years old, was about to get married. Half a month before her wedding, a red abscess formed on her inner thigh. Initially, it was only the size of a coin, without any pus, feeling hard to the touch. Because of the swelling, the surface was shiny, and lymph nodes had swollen into two lumps.

第二天再去看她，她腿上的疖子已经肿得如桃核一般大了，这个女孩子痛得躺在地上的破席上呻吟，“不行，得看医生啦！”我对她母亲说。

The next day, when I went to see her, the abscess had swollen to the size of a peach pit. The girl was groaning in pain, lying on her mat. "This won't do, she needs to see a doctor!" I told her mother.

“这个地方不能给医生看，她又快要出嫁了。”她母亲很坚决的回答我。

"We can’t take her to a doctor here; she is about to get married," her mother replied firmly.

我只有连续给她用消炎药膏，同时给她服消炎的特效药。

I had no choice but to keep applying anti-inflammatory ointment while also giving her effective anti-inflammatory medication.

这样拖了三四天，一点也没有好，我又问她父亲：“给医生看看好吗？”回答也是：“不行，不行。”

After three or four days without improvement, I asked her father again, "How about taking her to a doctor?" The answer was the same: "No, absolutely not."

我一想，家中还有一点黄豆，没办法了，请非洲人试试中国药方吧。

I thought about it and remembered I had some soybeans at home. I decided to try a Chinese remedy on her.

于是我回家去磨豆子。荷西看见我在厨房，便探头进来问：“是做吃的吗？”

So, I went home to grind the soybeans. Jose peeked into the kitchen and asked, "Are you cooking something?"

我回答他：“做中药，给姑卡去涂。”

I responded, "I'm preparing Chinese medicine for Gu Ka."

他呆呆的看了一下，又问：“怎么用豆子呢？”

He stared for a moment, then asked, "How do you use soybeans?"

“中国药书上看来的老法子。”

"It's an old method I read in a Chinese medicine book."

他听我说后很不赞成的样子说：“这些女人不看医生，居然相信你，你自己不要走火入魔了。”

After hearing this, he disapproved, saying, "These women won’t go to the doctor but choose to believe you. Don’t let yourself get carried away."

我将黄豆捣成的浆糊倒在小碗内，一面说：“我是非洲巫医。”一面往姑卡家走去。

I poured the soybean paste into a small bowl, saying, "I am an African witch doctor," as I walked toward Gu Ka's house.

那一日我将黄豆糊擦在姑卡红肿的地方，上面差上纱布，第二日去看疖子发软了，我再换黄豆涂上，第三日有黄色的脓在皮肤下露出来，第四日下午流出大量的脓水，然后出了一点血，我替她涂上药水，没几日完全好了。

That day, I applied the soybean paste to the swollen area, covered it with gauze, and when I returned the next day, the abscess had softened. I applied more soybean paste on the third day, and soon yellow pus began to surface. By the afternoon of the fourth day, a large amount of pus had drained out, followed by a bit of blood. I applied some medication, and in just a few days, she was completely healed.

荷西下班时我很得意的告诉他：“医好了。”

When Jose got home and I proudly told him, "I cured her,"

“是黄豆医的吗？”“是。”

"Was it with soybeans?" he asked.

“你们中国人真是神秘。”他不解的摇摇头。

"Yes."

又有一天，我的邻居哈蒂耶陀来找我，她对我说：“我的表妹从大沙漠里来，住在我家，快要死了，你来看看？”

"You Chinese are really mysterious," he shook his head in confusion.

我一听快要死了，犹豫了一下。“生什么病？”我问哈蒂。

One day, my neighbor Hatiyah came to see me and said, "My cousin has come from the Great Desert, and she’s about to die. Can you take a look?"

“不知道，她很弱，头晕，眼睛慢慢看不见，很瘦，正在死去。”

Hearing she was about to die made me hesitate. "What illness does she have?" I asked Hatiyah.

我听她用的形容句十分生动，正觉有趣，这时荷西在房内听见我们的对话，很急的大叫：“三毛，你少管闲事。”我只好轻轻告诉哈蒂耶陀：“过一下我来，等我先生上班去了我才能出来。”

"I don't know. She is very weak, dizzy, her vision is fading, she’s very thin, and she is dying."

将门才关上，荷西就骂我：“这个女人万一真的死了，还以为是你医死的，不去看医生，病死也是活该！”

Her description was very vivid, and I found it interesting. At that moment, Jose overheard our conversation inside the house and urgently shouted, "San Mao, stop meddling in others' business." I had to gently tell Hatiyah, "I’ll come after a bit, wait until my husband leaves for work."

“他们没有知识，很可怜——。”我虽然强辩，但荷西说的话实在有点道理，只是我好奇心重，并且胆子又大，所以不肯听他的话。

As soon as I closed the door, Jose scolded me, "If that woman really dies, they'll blame you for it. Not going to a doctor and dying from an illness is just their fate!"

荷西前脚跨出去上班，我后脚也跟着溜出来。到了哈蒂家，看见一个骨瘦如柴的年轻女孩躺在地上，眼睛深得像两个黑洞洞。

"They are uneducated and very pitiful—" I argued, but there was some truth to what Jose said. However, my curiosity and boldness made me unwilling to heed his words.

摸摸她，没有发烧，舌头、指甲、眼睛内也都很健康的颜色，再问她什么地方不舒服，她说不清，要哈蒂用阿拉伯文翻译：“她眼睛慢慢看不清，耳朵里一直在响，没有气力站起来。”

Just as Jose left for work, I slipped out behind him. When I reached Hatiyah's house, I saw a very slender young girl lying on the ground, her eyes sunk deep like two dark holes.

我灵机一动问哈蒂：“你表妹住在大沙漠帐篷里？”她点点头。

I checked her temperature; she didn’t have a fever, and her tongue, nails, and eyes were all healthy colors. When I asked her where she felt unwell, she couldn’t articulate it, so Hatiyah had to translate in Arabic: "She says her vision is fading, there’s a constant ringing in her ears, and she doesn’t have the strength to stand up."

“吃得不太好？”我又问。哈蒂说：“根本等于没有东西吃嘛！”

A light bulb went off in my head, and I asked Hatiyah, "Does your cousin live in a tent in the Great Desert?" She nodded.

“等一下。”我说着跑回家去，倒了十五粒最高单位的多种维他命给她。

"Is her diet poor?" I asked again. Hatiyah replied, "She hardly has anything to eat!"

“哈蒂，杀只羊你舍得么？”她赶紧点点头。

"Wait a moment." I ran back home and poured fifteen high-dose multivitamins for her.

“先给你表妹吃这维他命，一天两三次，另外你煮羊汤给她喝。”

"Hatiyah, would you be willing to slaughter a sheep?" She quickly nodded.

这样没过十天，那个被哈蒂形容成正在死去的表妹，居然自己走来我处，坐了半天才回去，精神也好了。

"First, give your cousin these vitamins, two to three times a day, and also cook sheep soup for her to drink."

荷西回来看见她，笑起来了：“怎么，快死的人又治好了？什么病？”

In less than ten days, the cousin, who Hatiyah had described as dying, surprisingly came to see me on her own, sitting for a while before returning home, looking much healthier.

我笑嘻嘻的回答他：“没有病，极度营养不良嘛！”

When Jose came back and saw her, he laughed, "So how's the person who was nearly dead? What was her illness?"

“你怎么判断出来的？”荷西问我。

I replied with a smile, "No illness, she was severely malnourished!"

“想出来的。”我发觉他居然有点赞许我的意思。

"How did you figure that out?" Jose asked me.

我们住的地方是小镇阿雍的外围。

"I just thought of it." I realized he seemed to approve of me a bit.

很少有欧洲人住，荷西和我乐于认识本地人，所以我们所交的朋友大半是沙哈拉威。

We lived on the outskirts of the small town of Ayoun.

我平日无事，在家里开了一个免费女子学校，教此地的妇女数数目字和认钱币，程度好一点的便学算术，（如一加一等于二之类。）

Few Europeans lived there, and Jose and I enjoyed getting to know the locals, so most of our friends were Sahrawis.

我一共有七个到十五个女学生，她们的来去流动性很大，也可说这个学校是很自由的。

In my spare time, I opened a free women's school at home, teaching the local women how to count and recognize currency. Those who were a little more advanced learned arithmetic (like how one plus one equals two).