"
"Well," sais I, "I am a Yankee, and I ain't above ownin' to it, and so
are you, but you seem ashamed of your broughtens up, and I must say I
don't think you are any great credit to them. Natur, though you don't
know it, because you are all for art, does tell you what to do, in a
voice so clear you can't help hearing it, and in language so plain you
can't help understandin' it. For it don't use chain-shot words like
'pharmacopia' and 'Pierian,' and so on, that is neither Greek nor
Latin, nor good English, nor vulgar tongue. And more than that, it
shows you what to do. And the woods, and the springs, and the soil is
full of its medicines and potions. Book doctrin' is like book farmin',
a beautiful thing in theory, but ruination in practice."
"Well," said he, with a toss of his head, "this is very good stump
oratory, and if you ever run agin a doctor at an election, I shouldn't
wonder if you won it, for most people will join you in pullin' down
your superiors."
That word superiors grigged me; thinks I, "My boy, I'll just take that
expression, roll it up into a ball, and shy it back at you, in a way
that will make you sing out 'Pen and ink,' I know. Well," sais I,
quite mild (I am always mild when I am mad, a keen razor is always
smooth), "have you any other thing to say about natur?"
"Yes," sais he, "do you know what healin' by the first intention is,
for that is a nateral operation? Answer me that, will you?"
"You mean the second intention, don't you?" sais I.
Pages:
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144