伊索寓言: THE OLD WOMAN AND THE DOCTOR

 

THE OLD WOMAN AND THE DOCTOR


An Old Woman became almost totally blind from a disease of the eyes,
and, after consulting a Doctor, made an agreement with him in the
presence of witnesses that she should pay him a high fee if he
cured her, while if he failed he was to receive nothing. The Doctor
accordingly prescribed a course of treatment, and every time he paid
her a visit he took away with him some article out of the house, until
at last, when he visited her for the last time, and the cure was
complete, there was nothing left. When the Old Woman saw that the
house was empty she refused to pay him his fee; and, after repeated
refusals on her part, he sued her before the magistrates for payment
of her debt. On being brought into court she was ready with her
defence. "The claimant," said she, "has stated the facts about our
agreement correctly. I undertook to pay him a fee if he cured me, and
he, on his part, promised to charge nothing if he failed. Now, he says
I am cured; but I say that I am blinder than ever, and I can prove
what I say. When my eyes were bad I could at any rate see well enough
to be aware that my house contained a certain amount of furniture and
other things; but now, when according to him I am cured, I am entirely
unable to see anything there at all."