ヒポクラテス「神聖病について」
On the Sacred Disease, By
Hippocrates
ヒポクラテス「神聖病について」
On the Sacred Disease, By
Hippocrates
On the Sacred Disease, By Hippocrates. Written 400 B.C.E, Translated by Francis Adams.
| It is thus with
regard to the disease called Sacred: it appears to me to be nowise more
divine nor more sacred than other diseases, but has a natural cause
from the originates like other affections. Men regard its nature and
cause as divine from ignorance and wonder, because it is not at all
like to other diseases. And this notion of its divinity is kept up by
their inability to comprehend it, and the simplicity of the mode by
which it is cured, for men are freed from it by purifications and
incantations. But if it is reckoned divine because it is wonderful,
instead of one there are many diseases which would be sacred; for, as I
will show, there are others no less wonderful and prodigious, which
nobody imagines to be sacred. The quotidian, tertian, and quartan
fevers, seem to me no less sacred and divine in their origin than this
disease, although they are not reckoned so wonderful. And I see men
become mad and demented from no manifest cause, and at the same time
doing many things out of place; and I have known many persons in sleep
groaning and crying out, some in a state of suffocation, some jumping
up and fleeing out of doors, and deprived of their reason until they
awaken, and afterward becoming well and rational as before, although
they be pale and weak; and this will happen not once but frequently.
And there are many and various things of the like kind, which it would
be tedious to state particularly. |
Es
así con respecto a la enfermedad llamada Sagrada: me parece que no es
más divina ni más sagrada que otras enfermedades, sino que tiene una
causa natural desde los orígenes como otras afecciones. Los hombres
consideran su naturaleza y su causa como divina por ignorancia y
asombro, porque no se parece en nada a las demás enfermedades. Y esta
noción de su divinidad se mantiene por su incapacidad para
comprenderla, y por la simplicidad del modo en que se cura, ya que los
hombres se liberan de ella mediante purificaciones y conjuros. Pero si
se considera divina porque es maravillosa, en lugar de una hay muchas
enfermedades que serían sagradas; pues, como demostraré, hay otras no
menos maravillosas y prodigiosas, que nadie imagina como sagradas. Las
fiebres cotidianas, tercianas y cuartanas, no me parecen menos sagradas
y divinas en su origen que esta enfermedad, aunque no se las considere
tan maravillosas. Y veo a los hombres volverse locos y dementes sin
causa manifiesta, y al mismo tiempo hacer muchas cosas fuera de lugar;
y he conocido a muchas personas en el sueño gimiendo y gritando,
algunas en estado de asfixia, otras saltando y huyendo fuera de las
puertas, y privadas de su razón hasta que se despiertan, y después
volviéndose bien y racionales como antes, aunque estén pálidas y
débiles; y esto sucederá no una vez sino frecuentemente. Y hay muchas y
diversas cosas del mismo tipo, que sería tedioso exponer en particular. | 聖なるものと呼ばれる病気に関しても同様である。私には、他の病気よりも神聖でも神聖でもないように見えるが、他の病気と同様に起源からくる自然な原因が あるのである。人はその性質と原因を無知と驚異から神聖視するが、それは他の病気とは全く違うからである。そして、この神性という概念は、彼らがそれを理 解できないことと、それを治す方法が単純であることによって維持されている、人は浄化と呪文によってそれから解放されるからである。しかし、もしそれが素 晴らしいという理由で神聖視されるのであれば、1つの病気の代わりに、神聖視される多くの病気が存在することになる。日常熱、三日熱、四日熱は、それほど 素晴らしいとは思われていないが、その起源においてこの病気に劣らず神聖で神聖であると私には思われる。また、私は、人が明白な原因なしに狂い、呆然とな り、同時に場違いな多くのことをするのを見る。また、私は、多くの人が睡眠中にうめき、叫び、ある者は窒息状態になり、ある者は飛び起きて戸外に逃げ、目 覚めるまで理性を奪われ、その後、青白く弱いが前のように元気になり理性を取り戻すのを知る。これは一度ではなく頻繁に起こるであろう。また、このような ことは数多くあり、特に述べるのは退屈であろう。 |
| They who first referred this
malady to the gods appear to me to have been just such persons as the
conjurors, purificators, mountebanks, and charlatans now are, who give
themselves out for being excessively religious, and as knowing more
than other people. Such persons, then, using the divinity as a pretext
and screen of their own inability to of their own inability to afford
any assistance, have given out that the disease is sacred, adding
suitable reasons for this opinion, they have instituted a mode of
treatment which is safe for themselves, namely, by applying
purifications and incantations, and enforcing abstinence from baths and
many articles of food which are unwholesome to men in diseases. Of sea
substances, the surmullet, the blacktail, the mullet, and the eel; for
these are the fishes most to be guarded against. And of fleshes, those
of the goat, the stag, the sow, and the dog: for these are the kinds of
flesh which are aptest to disorder the bowels. Of fowls, the cock, the
turtle, and the bustard, and such others as are reckoned to be
particularly strong. And of potherbs, mint, garlic, and onions; for
what is acrid does not agree with a weak person. And they forbid to
have a black robe, because black is expressive of death; and to sleep
on a goat's skin, or to wear it, and to put one foot upon another, or
one hand upon another; for all these things are held to be hindrances
to the cure. All these they enjoin with reference to its divinity, as
if possessed of more knowledge, and announcing beforehand other causes
so that if the person should recover, theirs would be the honor and
credit; and if he should die, they would have a certain defense, as if
the gods, and not they, were to blame, seeing they had administered
nothing either to eat or drink as medicines, nor had overheated him
with baths, so as to prove the cause of what had happened. But I am of
opinion that (if this were true) none of the Libyans, who live in the
interior, would be free from this disease, since they all sleep on
goats' skins, and live upon goats' flesh; neither have they couch,
robe, nor shoe that is not made of goat's skin, for they have no other
herds but goats and oxen. But if these things, when administered in
food, aggravate the disease, and if it be cured by abstinence from
them, godhead is not the cause at all; nor will purifications be of any
avail, but it is the food which is beneficial and prejudicial, and the
influence of the divinity vanishes. |
Los
primeros que refirieron esta enfermedad a los dioses me parece que eran
personas como los prestidigitadores, purificadores, monteses y
charlatanes de ahora, que se presentan como excesivamente religiosos y
que saben más que los demás. Tales personas, entonces, utilizando la
divinidad como pretexto y pantalla de su propia incapacidad para
prestar cualquier ayuda, han dado a conocer que la enfermedad es
sagrada, añadiendo razones adecuadas para esta opinión, han instituido
un modo de tratamiento que es seguro para ellos mismos, a saber,
mediante la aplicación de purificaciones y encantamientos, y la
imposición de la abstinencia de baños y muchos artículos de comida que
son insalubres para los hombres en las enfermedades. De las sustancias
marinas, el surmullet, la cola negra, el salmonete y la anguila; pues
estos son los peces de los que más hay que cuidarse. Y de las carnes,
las de la cabra, el ciervo, la cerda y el perro, pues éstas son las
clases de carne más aptas para desordenar los intestinos. De las aves,
el gallo, la tortuga y la avutarda, y las demás que se consideran
especialmente fuertes. Y de las hierbas, la menta, el ajo y las
cebollas; porque lo que es acre no conviene a una persona débil. Y
prohíben tener una túnica negra, porque el negro es expresión de
muerte; y dormir sobre una piel de cabra, o llevarla, y poner un pie
sobre otro, o una mano sobre otra; porque todas estas cosas se
consideran obstáculos para la cura. Todo esto lo ordenan con referencia
a su divinidad, como si poseyeran más conocimiento, y anunciando de
antemano otras causas para que si la persona se recuperara, de ellos
sería el honor y el crédito; y si muriera, tendrían una cierta defensa,
como si los dioses, y no ellos, tuvieran la culpa, viendo que no le
habían administrado nada para comer o beber como medicinas, ni lo
habían sobrecalentado con baños, para probar la causa de lo que había
sucedido. Pero soy de la opinión de que (si esto fuera cierto) ninguno
de los libios, que viven en el interior, estaría libre de esta
enfermedad, ya que todos duermen sobre pieles de cabra, y viven de
carne de cabra; ni tienen sofá, túnica, ni zapato que no sea de piel de
cabra, pues no tienen otros rebaños que los de cabras y bueyes. Pero si
estas cosas, cuando se administran en la comida, agravan la enfermedad,
y si se cura con la abstinencia de ellas, la divinidad no es la causa
en absoluto; ni las purificaciones servirán de nada, sino que es la
comida la que es beneficiosa y perjudicial, y la influencia de la
divinidad se desvanece. | この病気を最初に神々に言及した人々は、ちょうど今の呪術師、浄化師、山師、詐欺師のような人々で、過度に宗教的であり、他の人々よりも多くのことを知っ ていると自称していたようである。このような人々は、神性を口実にして、自分たちが何の援助もできないことを盾に、この病気は神聖なものだと言い張り、こ の意見にふさわしい理由を付け加えて、自分たちにとって安全な治療法、すなわち浄化と呪文を適用し、風呂と、病気の人間にとって不健全な多くの食物の禁欲 を強制する方法を制定してきた。海の物では、スルメ、クロダイ、ボラ、ウナギ、これらは最も警戒すべき魚類です。また肉類では、山羊、雄鹿、雌豚、犬の 肉。これらは最も腸を乱しやすい肉の種類である。鳥類では、雄鶏、亀、ヒシクイ、その他特に強いとされるもの。また水菜，ミント，ニンニク，タマネギも。 刺激性のあるものは弱い人に合わないからである。また黒い衣を持つことも禁じられている。黒は死を表すからである。ヤギの皮の上で寝ることも、それを着る ことも、片足を他の足に、あるいは片手を他の足に置くことも禁じられている。これらはすべて治療の妨げになると考えられているからである。これらはすべ て、その神性に関連して、あたかもより多くの知識を持っているかのように命じており、他の原因をあらかじめ公表して、もしその人が回復すれば、彼らの名誉 と信用になるようにし、もしその人が死ぬなら、彼らではなく神々が非難するように、一定の弁明をすることになる、つまり彼らは薬として何も食べたり飲んだ りしていないし、風呂で彼を過熱させていないので、起こった原因を証明できるのである。しかし私は、（もしこれが本当なら）内陸部に住むリビア人は誰もこ の病気にかからないだろうと思う。なぜなら、彼らは皆、ヤギの皮の上で眠り、ヤギの肉で生活し、ヤギと牛の他に牛を飼っていないため、ヤギの皮でできてい ないソファ、衣、靴はないのだ。しかし、これらのものが食物に投与されると病気を悪化させ、それらを断つことによって治るならば、神性は全く原因ではな い。また、浄化も何の役にも立たず、有益であり有害であるのは食物であり、神性の影響は消失するのである。 |
| Thus, they who try to cure these
maladies in this way, appear to me neither to reckon them sacred nor
divine. For when they are removed by such purifications, and this
method of cure, what is to prevent them from being brought upon men and
induced by other devices similar to these? So that the cause is no
longer divine, but human. For whoever is able, by purifications
conjurations, to drive away such an affection, will be able, by other
practices, to excite it; and, according to this view, its divine nature
is entirely done away with. By such sayings and doings, they profess to
be possessed of superior knowledge, and deceive mankind by enjoining
lustrations and purifications upon them, while their discourse turns
upon the divinity and the godhead. And yet it would appear to me that
their discourse savors not of piety, as they suppose, but rather of
impiety, and as if there were no gods, and that what they hold to be
holy and divine, were impious and unholy. This I will now explain. |
Por
lo tanto, los que tratan de curar estas enfermedades de esta manera, me
parece que no las consideran sagradas ni divinas. Porque cuando se
eliminan por medio de tales purificaciones y este método de curación,
¿qué puede impedir que sean traídas a los hombres e inducidas por otros
dispositivos similares a éstos? De modo que la causa ya no es divina,
sino humana. Porque quien es capaz, por medio de conjuros de
purificación, de ahuyentar tal afecto, podrá, por medio de otras
prácticas, excitarlo; y, según esta opinión, su naturaleza divina queda
totalmente eliminada. Con tales dichos y hechos, profesan estar
poseídos de un conocimiento superior, y engañan a la humanidad
ordenando lustraciones y purificaciones sobre ellos, mientras su
discurso gira en torno a la divinidad y la divinidad. Y, sin embargo,
me parece que su discurso no huele a piedad, como ellos suponen, sino
más bien a impiedad, y como si no hubiera dioses, y lo que ellos
consideran santo y divino, fuera impío e impío. Esto lo explicaré ahora. | したがって、この方法でこれらの病気を治そうとする者たちは、私にはそれらを神聖視も神格化もしないように見える。なぜなら、このような浄化と、このよう な治療法によって取り除かれたとき、これと似たような他の装置によって、人にもたらされ、誘発されるのを防ぐことができるだろうか？その原因は、もはや神 的なものではなく、人間的なものである。なぜなら、浄化の呪文によってそのような愛情を追い払うことができる者は、他の実践によってそれを興奮させること ができるからである。この見解によれば、その神性は完全に取り除かれている。このような言動によって、彼らは優れた知識を有していると公言し、神性と神格 について論じる一方で、人間に対して艶出しと浄化を命じて人間を欺くのである。しかし、私には、彼らの言説は、彼らが考えるような敬虔さではなく、むしろ 不敬の香りがし、まるで神々が存在せず、彼らが神聖かつ神であるとするものが、不敬かつ不浄であるかのように見えるのである。これについては、今説明しよ う。 |
| For, if they profess to know how
to bring down the moon, darken the sun, induce storms and fine weather,
and rains and droughts, and make the sea and land unproductive, and so
forth, whether they arrogate this power as being derived from mysteries
or any other knowledge or consideration, they appear to me to practice
impiety, and either to fancy that there are no gods, or, if there are,
that they have no ability to ward off any of the greatest evils. How,
then, are they not enemies to the gods? For if a man by magical arts
and sacrifices will bring down the moon, and darken the sun, and induce
storms, or fine weather, I should not believe that there was anything
divine, but human, in these things, provided the power of the divine
were overpowered by human knowledge and subjected to it. But perhaps it
will be said, these things are not so, but, not withstanding, men being
in want of the means of life, invent many and various things, and
devise many contrivances for all other things, and for this disease, in
every phase of the disease, assigning the cause to a god. Nor do they
remember the same things once, but frequently. For, if they imitate a
goat, or grind their teeth, or if their right side be convulsed, they
say that the mother of the gods is the cause. But if they speak in a
sharper and more intense tone, they resemble this state to a horse, and
say that Poseidon is the cause. Or if any excrement be passed, which is
often the case, owing to the violence of the disease, the appellation
of Enodia is adhibited; or, if it be passed in smaller and denser
masses, like bird's, it is said to be from Apollo Nomius. But if foam
be emitted by the mouth, and the patient kick with his feet, Ares then
gets the blame. But terrors which happen during the night, and fevers,
and delirium, and jumpings out of bed, and frightful apparitions, and
fleeing away,-all these they hold to be the plots of Hecate, and the
invasions the and use purifications and incantations, and, as appears
to me, make the divinity to be most wicked and most impious. For they
purify those laboring under this disease, with the same sorts of blood
and the other means that are used in the case of those who are stained
with crimes, and of malefactors, or who have been enchanted by men, or
who have done any wicked act; who ought to do the very reverse, namely,
sacrifice and pray, and, bringing gifts to the temples, supplicate the
gods. But now they do none of these things, but purify; and some of the
purifications they conceal in the earth, and some they throw into the
sea, and some they carry to the mountains where no one can touch or
tread upon them. But these they ought to take to the temples and
present to the god, if a god be the cause of the disease. Neither truly
do I count it a worthy opinion to hold that the body of man is polluted
by god, the most impure by the most holy; for were it defiled, or did
it suffer from any other thing, it would be like to be purified and
sanctified rather than polluted by god. For it is the divinity which
purifies and sanctifies the greatest of offenses and the most wicked,
and which proves our protection from them. And we mark out the
boundaries of the temples and the groves of the gods, so that no one
may pass them unless he be pure, and when we enter them we are
sprinkled with holy water, not as being polluted, but as laying aside
any other pollution which we formerly had. And thus it appears to me to
hold, with regard to purifications. |
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| But this disease seems to me to
be no more divine than others; but it has its nature such as other
diseases have, and a cause whence it originates, and its nature and
cause are divine only just as much as all others are, and it is curable
no less than the others, unless when, the from of time, it is
confirmed, and has became stronger than the remedies applied. Its
origin is hereditary, like that of other diseases. For if a phlegmatic
person be born of a phlegmatic, and a bilious of a bilious, and a
phthisical of a phthisical, and one having spleen disease, of another
having disease of the spleen, what is to hinder it from happening that
where the father and mother were subject to this disease, certain of
their offspring should be so affected also? As the semen comes from all
parts of the body, healthy particles will come from healthy parts, and
unhealthy from unhealthy parts. And another great proof that it is in
nothing more divine than other diseases is, that it occurs in those who
are of a phlegmatic constitution, but does not attack the bilious. Yet,
if it were more divine than the others, this disease ought to befall
all alike, and make no distinction between the bilious and phlegmatic. |
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| But the brain is the cause of
this affection, as it is of other very great diseases, and in what
manner and from what cause it is formed, I will now plainly declare.
The brain of man, as in all other animals, is double, and a thin
membrane divides it through the middle, and therefore the pain is not
always in the same part of the head; for sometimes it is situated on
either side, and sometimes the whole is affected; and veins run toward
it from all parts of the body, many of which are small, but two are
thick, the one from the liver, and the other from the spleen. And it is
thus with regard to the one from the liver: a portion of it runs
downward through the parts on the side, near the kidneys and the psoas
muscles, to the inner part of the thigh, and extends to the foot. It is
called vena cava. The other runs upward by the right veins and the
lungs, and divides into branches for the heart and the right arm. The
remaining part of it rises upward across the clavicle to the right side
of the neck, and is superficial so as to be seen; near the ear it is
concealed, and there it divides; its thickest, largest, and most hollow
part ends in the brain; another small vein goes to the right ear,
another to the right eye, and another to the nostril. Such are the
distributions of the hepatic vein. And a vein from the spleen is
distributed on the left side, upward and downward, like that from the
liver, but more slender and feeble. |
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| By these veins we draw in much
breath, since they are the spiracles of our bodies inhaling air to
themselves and distributing it to the rest of the body, and to the
smaller veins, and they and afterwards exhale it. For the breath cannot
be stationary, but it passes upward and downward, for if stopped and
intercepted, the part where it is stopped becomes powerless. In proof
of this, when, in sitting or lying, the small veins are compressed, so
that the breath from the larger vein does not pass into them, the part
is immediately seized with numbness; and it is so likewise with regard
to the other veins. |
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| This malady, then, affects
phlegmatic people, but not bilious. It begins to be formed while the
foetus is still in utero. For the brain, like the other organs, is
depurated and grows before birth. If, then, in this purgation it be
properly and moderately depurated, and neither more nor less than what
is proper be secreted from it, the head is thus in the most healthy
condition. If the secretion (melting) the from the brain be greater
than natural, the person, when he grows up, will have his head
diseased, and full of noises, and will neither be able to endure the
sun nor cold. Or, if the melting take place from any one part, either
from the eye or ear, or if a vein has become slender, that part will be
deranged in proportion to the melting. Or, should depuration not take
place, but congestion accumulate in the brain, it necessarily becomes
phlegmatic. And such children as have an eruption of ulcers on the
head, on the ears, and along the rest of the body, with copious
discharges of saliva and mucus,-these, in after life, enjoy best
health; for in this way the phlegm which ought to have been purged off
in the womb, is discharged and cleared away, and persons so purged, for
the most part, are not subject to attacks of this disease. But such as
have had their skin free from eruptions, and have had no discharge of
saliva or mucus, nor have undergone the proper purgation in the womb,
these persons run the risk of being seized with this disease. |
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| But should the defluxion make
its way to the heart, the person is seized with palpitation and asthma,
the chest becomes diseased, and some also have curvature of the spine.
For when a defluxion of cold phlegm takes place on the lungs and heart,
the blood is chilled, and the veins, being violently chilled, palpitate
in the lungs and heart, and the heart palpitates, so that from this
necessity asthma and orthopnoea supervene. For it does not receive the
spirits as much breath as he needs until the defluxion of phlegm be
mastered, and being heated is distributed to the veins, then it ceases
from its palpitation and difficulty of breathing, and this takes place
as soon as it obtains an abundant supply; and this will be more slowly,
provided the defluxion be more abundant, or if it be less, more
quickly. And if the defluxions be more condensed, the epileptic attacks
will be more frequent, but otherwise if it be rarer. Such are the
symptoms when the defluxion is upon the lungs and heart; but if it be
upon the bowels, the person is attacked with diarrhoea. |
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| And if, being shut out from all
these outlets, its defluxion be determined to the veins I have formerly
mentioned, the patient loses his speech, and chokes, and foam issues by
the mouth, the teeth are fixed, the hands are contracted, the eyes
distorted, he becomes insensible, and in some cases the bowels are
evacuated. And these symptoms occur sometimes on the left side,
sometimes on the right, and sometimes in both. The cause of everyone of
these symptoms I will now explain. The man becomes speechless when the
phlegm, suddenly descending into the veins, shuts out the air, and does
not admit it either to the brain or to the vena cava, or to the
ventricles, but interrupts the inspiration. For when a person draws in
air by the mouth and nostrils, the breath goes first to the brain, then
the greater part of it to the internal cavity, and part to the lungs,
and part to the veins, and from them it is distributed to the other
parts of the body along the veins; and whatever passes to the stomach
cools, and does nothing more; and so also with regard to the lungs. But
the air which enters the veins is of use (to the body) by entering the
brain and its ventricles, and thus it imparts sensibility and motion to
all the members, so that when the veins are excluded from the air by
the phlegm and do not receive it, the man loses his speech and
intellect, and the hands become powerless, and are contracted, the
blood stopping and not being diffused, as it was wont; and the eyes are
distorted owing to the veins being excluded from the air; and they
palpitate; and froth from the lungs issues by the mouth. For when the
breath does not find entrance to him, he foams and sputters like a
dying person. And the bowels are evacuated in consequence of the
violent suffocation; and the suffocation is produced when the liver and
stomach ascend to the diaphragm, and the mouth of the stomach is shut
up; this takes place when the breath does not enter by the mouth, as it
is wont. The patient kicks with his feet when the air is shut up in the
lungs and cannot find an outlet, owing to the phlegm; and rushing by
the blood upward and downward, it occasions convulsions and pain, and
therefore he kicks with his feet. All these symptoms he endures when
the cold phlegm passes into the warm blood, for it congeals and stops
the blood. And if the deflexion be copious and thick, it immediately
proves fatal to him, for by its cold it prevails over the blood and
congeals it; or, if it be less, it in the first place obtains the
mastery, and stops the respiration; and then in the course of time,
when it is diffused along the veins and mixed with much warm blood, it
is thus overpowered, the veins receive the air, and the patient
recovers his senses. |
||
| Of little children who are
seized with this disease, the greater part die, provided the defluxion
be copious and humid, for the veins being slender cannot admit the
phlegm, owing to its thickness and abundance; but the blood is cooled
and congealed, and the child immediately dies. But if the phlegm be in
small quantity, and make a defluxion into both the veins, or to those
on either side, the children survive, but exhibit notable marks of the
disorder; for either the mouth is drawn aside, or an eye, the neck, or
a hand, wherever a vein being filled with phlegm loses its tone, and is
attenuated, and the part of the body connected with this vein is
necessarily rendered weaker and defective. But for the most it affords
relief for a longer interval; for the child is no longer seized with
these attacks, if once it has contracted this impress of the disease,
in consequence of which the other veins are necessarily affected, and
to a certain degree attenuated, so as just to admit the air, but no
longer to permit the influx of phlegm. However, the parts are
proportionally enfeebled whenever the veins are in an unhealthy state.
When in striplings the defluxion is small and to the right side, they
recover without leaving any marks of the disease, but there is danger
of its becoming habitual, and even increasing if not treated by
suitable remedies. Thus, or very nearly so, is the case when it attacks
children. |
||
| To persons of a more advanced
age, it neither proves fatal, nor produces distortions. For their veins
are capacious and are filled with hot blood; and therefore the phlegm
can neither prevail nor cool the blood, so as to coagulate it, but it
is quickly overpowered and mixed with the blood, and thus the veins
receive the air, and sensibility remains; and, owing to their strength,
the aforesaid symptoms are less likely to seize them. But when this
disease attacks very old people, it therefore proves fatal, or induces
paraplegia, because the veins are empty, and the blood scanty, thin,
and watery. When, therefore, the defluxion is copious, and the season
winter, it proves fatal; for it chokes up the exhalents, and coagulates
the blood if the defluxion be to both sides; but if to either, it
merely induces paraplegia. For the blood being thin, cold, and scanty,
cannot prevail over the but being itself overpowered, it is coagulated,
so that those parts in which the blood is corrupted, lose their
strength. |
||
| The flux is to the right rather
than to the left because the veins there are more capacious and
numerous than on the left side, for on the one side they spring from
the liver, and on the other from the spleen. The defluxion and melting
down take place most especially in the case of children in whom the
head is heated either by the sun or by fire, or if the brain suddenly
contract a rigor, and then the phlegm is excreted. For it is melted
down by the heat and diffusion of the but it is excreted by the
congealing and contracting of it, and thus a defluxion takes place. And
in some this is the cause of the disease, and in others, when the south
wind quickly succeeds to northern breezes, it suddenly unbinds and
relaxes the brain, which is contracted and weak, so that there is an
inundation of phlegm, and thus the defluxion takes place. The defluxion
also takes place in consequence of fear, from any hidden cause, if we
are the at any person's calling aloud, or while crying, when one cannot
quickly recover one's breath, such as often happens to children. When
any of these things occur, the body immediately shivers, the person
becoming speechless cannot draw his breath, but the breath (pneuma)
stops, the brain is contracted, the blood stands still, and thus the
excretion and defluxion of the phlegm take place. In children, these
are the causes of the attack at first. But to old persons winter is
most inimical. For when the head and brain have been heated at a great
fire, and then the person is brought into cold and has a rigor, or when
from cold he comes into warmth, and sits at the fire, he is apt to
suffer in the same way, and thus he is seized in the manner described
above. And there is much danger of the same thing occurring, if his
head be exposed to the sun, but less so in summer, as the changes are
not sudden. When a person has passed the twentieth year of his life,
this disease is not apt to seize him, unless it has become habitual
from childhood, or at least this is rarely or never the case. For the
veins are filled with blood, and the brain consistent and firm, so that
it does not run down into the veins, or if it do, it does not master
the blood, which is copious and hot. |
||
| But when it has gained strength
from one's childhood, and become habitual, such a person usually
suffers attacks, and is seized with them in changes of the winds,
especially in south winds, and it is difficult of removal. For the
brain becomes more humid than natural, and is inundated with phlegm, so
that the defluxions become more frequent, and the phlegm can no longer
be the nor the brain be dried up, but it becomes wet and humid. This
you may ascertain in particular, from beasts of the flock which are
seized with this disease, and more especially goats, for they are most
frequently attacked with it. If you will cut open the head, you will
find the brain humid, full of sweat, and having a bad smell. And in
this way truly you may see that it is not a god that injures the body,
but disease. And so it is with man. For when the disease has prevailed
for a length of time, it is no longer curable, as the brain is corroded
by the phlegm, and melted, and what is melted down becomes water, and
surrounds the brain externally, and overflows it; wherefore they are
more frequently and readily seized with the disease. And therefore the
disease is protracted, because the influx is thin, owing to its
quantity, and is immediately overpowered by the blood and heated all
through. |
||
| But such persons as are
habituated to the disease know beforehand when they are about to be
seized and flee from men; if their own house be at hand, they run home,
but if not, to a deserted place, where as few persons as possible will
see them falling, and they immediately cover themselves up. This they
do from shame of the affection, and not from fear of the divinity, as
many suppose. And little children at first fall down wherever they may
happen to be, from inexperience. But when they have been often seized,
and feel its approach beforehand, they flee to their mothers, or to any
other person they are acquainted with, from terror and dread of the
affection, for being still infants they do not know yet what it is to
be ashamed. |
||
| Therefore, they are attacked
during changes of the winds, and especially south winds, then also with
north winds, and afterwards also with the others. These are the
strongest winds, and the most opposed to one another, both as to
direction and power. For, the north wind condenses the air, and
separates from it whatever is muddy and nebulous, and renders it
clearer and brighter, and so in like manner also, all the winds which
arise from the sea and other waters; for they extract the humidity and
nebulosity from all objects, and from men themselves, and therefore it
(the north wind) is the most wholesome of the winds. But the effects of
the south are the very reverse. For in the first place it begins by
melting and diffusing the condensed air, and therefore it does not blow
strong at first, but is gentle at the commencement, because it is not
able at once to overcome the and compacted air, which yet in a while it
dissolves. It produces the same effects upon the land, the sea, the
fountains, the wells, and on every production which contains humidity,
and this, there is in all things, some more, some less. For all these
feel the effects of this wind, and from clear they become cloudy, from
cold, hot; from dry, moist; and whatever ear then vessels are placed
upon the ground, filled with wine or any other fluid, are affected with
the south wind, and undergo a change. And the a change. And the sun,
and the moon, it renders blunter appearance than they naturally are.
When, then, it possesses such powers over things so great and strong,
and the body is made to feel and undergo changes in the changes of the
winds, it necessarily follows that the brain should be disolved and
overpowered with moisture, and that the veins should become more
relaxed by the south winds, and that by the north the healthiest
portion of the brain should become contracted, while the most morbid
and humid is secreted, and overflows externally, and that catarrhs
should thus take place in the changes of these winds. Thus is this
disease formed and prevails from those things which enter into and go
out of the body, and it is not more difficult to understand or to cure
than the others, neither is it more divine than other diseases. |
||
| Men ought to know that from
nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports,
and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations. And by this, in an
especial manner, we acquire wisdom and knowledge, and see and hear, and
know what are foul and what are fair, what are bad and what are good,
what are sweet, and what unsavory; some we discriminate by habit, and
some we perceive by their utility. By this we distinguish objects of
relish and disrelish, according to the seasons; and the same things do
not always please us. And by the same organ we become mad and
delirious, and fears and terrors assail us, some by night, and some by
day, and dreams and untimely wanderings, and cares that are not
suitable, and ignorance of present circumstances, desuetude, and
unskilfulness. All these things we endure from the brain, when it is
not healthy, but is more hot, more cold, more moist, or more dry than
natural, or when it suffers any other preternatural and unusual
affection. And we become mad from its humidity. For when it is more
moist than natural, it is necessarily put into motion, and the
affection being moved, neither the sight nor hearing can be at rest,
and the tongue speaks in accordance with the sight and hearing. |
||
| As long as the brain is at rest,
the man enjoys his reason, but the depravement of the brain arises from
phlegm and bile, either of which you may recognize in this manner:
Those who are mad from phlegm are quiet, and do not cry out nor make a
noise; but those from bile are vociferous, malignant, and will not be
quiet, but are always doing something improper. If the madness be
constant, these are the causes thereof. But if terrors and fears
assail, they are connected with derangement of the brain, and
derangement is owing to its being heated. And it is heated by bile when
it is determined to the brain along the bloodvessels running from the
trunk; and fear is present until it returns again to the veins and
trunk, when it ceases. He is grieved and troubled when the brain is
unseasonably cooled and contracted beyond its wont. This it suffers
from phlegm, and from the same affection the patient becomes oblivious.
He calls out and screams at night when the brain is suddenly heated.
The bilious endure this. But the phlegmatic are not heated, except when
much blood goes to the brain, and creates an ebullition. Much blood
passes along the aforesaid veins. But when the man happens to see a
frightful dream and is in fear as if awake, then his face is in a
greater glow, and the eyes are red when the patient is in fear. And the
understanding meditates doing some mischief, and thus it is affected in
sleep. But if, when awakened, he returns to himself, and the blood is
again distributed along the veins, it ceases. |
||
| In these ways I am of the
opinion that the brain exercises the greatest power in the man. This is
the interpreter to us of those things which emanate from the air, when
the brain happens to be in a sound state. But the air supplies sense to
it. And the eyes, the ears, the tongue and the feet, administer such
things as the brain cogitates. For in as much as it is supplied with
air, does it impart sense to the body. It is the brain which is the
messenger to the understanding. For when the man draws the breath into
himself, it passes first to the brain, and thus the air is distributed
to the rest of the body, leaving in the brain its acme, and whatever
has sense and understanding. For if it passed first to the body and
last to the brain, then having left in the flesh and veins the
judgment, when it reached the brain it would be hot, and not at all
pure, but mixed with the humidity from flesh and blood, so as to be no
longer pure. |
||
| Wherefore, I say, that it is the
brain which interprets the understanding. But the diaphragm has
obtained its name (frenes) from accident and usage, and not from
reality or nature, for I know no power which it possesses, either as to
sense or understanding, except that when the man is affected with
unexpected joy or sorrow, it throbs and produces palpitations, owing to
its thinness, and as having no belly to receive anything good or bad
that may present themselves to it, but it is thrown into commotion by
both these, from its natural weakness. It then perceives beforehand
none of those things which occur in the body, but has received its name
vaguely and without any proper reason, like the parts about the heart,
which are called auricles, but which contribute nothing towards
hearing. Some say that we think with the heart, and that this is the
part which is grieved, and experiences care. But it is not so; only it
contracts like the diaphragm, and still more so for the same causes.
For veins from all parts of the body run to it, and it has valves, so
as to as to perceive if any pain or pleasurable emotion befall the man.
For when grieved the body necessarily shudders, and is contracted, and
from excessive joy it is affected in like manner. Wherefore the heart
and the diaphragm are particularly sensitive, they have nothing to do,
however, with the operations of the understanding, but of all but of
all these the brain is the cause. Since, then, the brain, as being the
primary seat of sense and of the spirits, perceives whatever occurs in
the body, if any change more powerful than usual take place in the air,
owing to the seasons, the brain becomes changed by the state of the
air. For, on this account, the brain first perceives, because, I say,
all the most acute, most powerful, and most deadly diseases, and those
which are most difficult to be understood by the inexperienced, fall
upon the brain. |
||
| And the disease called the Sacred arises from causes as the others,
namely, those things which enter and quit the body, such as cold, the
sun, and the winds, which are ever changing and are never at rest. And
these things are divine, so that there is no necessity for making a
distinction, and holding this disease to be more divine than the
others, but all are divine, and all human. And each has its own
peculiar nature and power, and none is of an ambiguous nature, or
irremediable. And the most of them are curable by the same means as
those by which any other thing is food to one, and injurious to
another. Thus, then, the physician should understand and distinguish
the season of each, so that at one time he may attend to the
nourishment and increase, and at another to abstraction and diminution.
And in this disease as in all others, he must strive not to feed the
disease, but endeavor to wear it out by administering whatever is most
opposed to each disease, and not that which favors and is allied to it.
For by that which is allied to it, it gains vigor and increase, but it
wears out and disappears under the use of that which is opposed to it.
But whoever is acquainted with such a change in men, and can render a
man humid and dry, hot and cold by regimen, could also cure this
disease, if he recognizes the proper season for administering his
remedies, without minding purifications, spells, and all other
illiberal practices of a like kind. |
Y
la enfermedad llamada sagrada surge de causas como las otras, es decir,
de aquellas cosas que entran y salen del cuerpo, como el frío, el sol y
los vientos, que son siempre cambiantes y nunca están en reposo. Y
estas cosas son divinas, de modo que no hay necesidad de hacer una
distinción, y sostener que esta enfermedad es más divina que las otras,
sino que todas son divinas, y todas humanas. Y cada una tiene su propia
naturaleza y poder peculiar, y ninguna es de naturaleza ambigua, o
irremediable. Y la mayoría de ellos son curables por los mismos medios
por los que cualquier otra cosa es alimento para uno, y perjudicial
para otro. Así, pues, el médico debe entender y distinguir la estación
de cada una, de modo que en un momento pueda atender a la alimentación
y aumento, y en otro a la abstracción y disminución. Y en esta
enfermedad, como en todas las demás, debe procurar no alimentar la
enfermedad, sino esforzarse por desgastarla administrando lo que más se
opone a cada enfermedad, y no lo que la favorece y se alía con ella.
Porque con lo que es aliado, gana vigor y aumenta, pero se desgasta y
desaparece bajo el uso de lo que se le opone. Pero quien conozca tal
cambio en los hombres, y pueda hacer que un hombre esté húmedo y seco,
caliente y frío por medio de un régimen, también podría curar esta
enfermedad, si reconoce la estación adecuada para administrar sus
remedios, sin importarle las purificaciones, los hechizos y todas las
demás prácticas antiliberales del mismo tipo. | 聖なるものと呼ばれる病気は、他のものと同じ原因から生じる。すなわち、寒さ、太陽、風など、身体に出入りするもので、常に変化し、決して静止することが ないものである。そしてこれらのものは神である。だから、区別して、この病気が他のものよりも神であるとする必要はなく、すべてが神であり、すべてが人間 である。また、それぞれに固有の性質と力を持ち、曖昧な性質のものや、回復不可能なものはない。そして、それらのほとんどは、他のものがある者にとって食 物であり、他の者にとって有害であるのと同じ手段で治療可能である。このように、医師はそれぞれの季節を理解し、区別する必要がある。ある時は滋養と増加 に注意し、別の時は除去と減少に注意することができるように。また、この病気においても、他のすべての病気と同様に、病気を養うのではなく、それぞれの病 気に最も反対するものを投与して、病気を消耗させるように努めなければならない。なぜなら、それに味方するものによって、それは活力を得て増大するが、そ れに反対するものの使用下では、消耗して消滅するからである。しかし、人のこのような変化に通じていて、養生によって人を湿らせたり乾燥させたり、暑がら せたり寒がらせたりすることができる者は、その治療薬を投与する適切な季節を認識すれば、浄化や呪文、その他この種のあらゆる非自由な慣習を気にせず、こ の病気も治すことができるだろう。 |
| http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/sacred.html |
https://www.deepl.com/ja/translator | https://www.deepl.com/ja/translator |
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