The Old Woman And The Physician
An Old Woman having lost the use of her eyes, called in a Physician
to heal them, and made this bargain with him in the presence of witnesses:
that if he should cure her blindness, he should receive from her a
sum of money; but if her infirmity remained, she should give him nothing.
This agreement being made, the Physician, time after time, applied
his salve to her eyes, and on every visit took something away, stealing
all her property little by little. And when he had got all she had,
he healed her and demanded the promised payment. The Old Woman, when
she recovered her sight and saw none of her goods in her house, would
give him nothing. The Physician insisted on his claim, and. as she
still refused, summoned her before the Judge. The Old Woman, standing
up in the Court, argued: "This man here speaks the truth in what he
says; for I did promise to give him a sum of money if I should recover
my sight: but if I continued blind, I was to give him nothing. Now
he declares that I am healed. I on the contrary affirm that I am still
blind; for when I lost the use of my eyes, I saw in my house various
chattels and valuable goods: but now, though he swears I am cured
of my blindness, I am not able to see a single thing in it."
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