There were four of us, George, William Samuel Harris, myself, my friends call把…叫做 me Jay, and Montmorency. We were sitting in my room and were smoking冒烟 and talking about our bad health健康. We were all feeling very ill and we were unhappy不快乐的 about it. Harris said he felt dizzy眩晕的 sometimes有时. George felt dizzy眩晕的 too. My big problem was my liver肝. I knew I had a bad liver肝. I had read about all the symptoms症状 of liver肝 disease病 in a book.
I had every symptom症状 that was written. Every time I read about an illness病, I've realized实现 that I have it. One day, I had a little health健康 problem. I went to the British Museum Library to read about it. After some time, I began reading about another illness病. I don't remember the name now, but it was something terrible可怕的. I knew I had that terrible可怕的 illness病 too. I began reading the book from the letter A to the letter Z.
I had the symptoms症状 of all the diseases病 in the book, except for one. I didn't have housemaid's knee. This made me a bit一点 unhappy不快乐的. Why didn't I have housemaid's knee too? With all the diseases病 I had, I knew my life was short. I tried尝试 to examine检查 myself. I tried尝试 to feel my heart. I tried尝试 to look at my tongue舌头. When I had walked into the library, I had been a happy, healthy man. When I left it, I was a very ill man.
I went to see my doctor. He is an old friend. Whenever I think I am ill, he examines检查 me and says I'm fine. A doctor really真正地 must have practice实践. This time, I thought, he will get more practice实践 with me than with a thousand normal正常的 patients病人. After all, normal正常的 patients病人 have only one or two diseases病 each. "Well, what's wrong with you?" he asked. I said, "If I tell you what is wrong with me, you will die before I finish. Life is too short.
I'll tell you what is not wrong with me. I don't have housemaid's knee, but I have everything else其它." I told him about what I had read at the library. He looked at me carefully小心地. He listened to my heart and looked at my tongue舌头. After that, he wrote a prescription指示 and gave it to me. I put it in my pocket and went out. I didn't read the prescription指示. I took it to the chemists化学家 and gave it to him.
He read it and gave it back to me. He said, "I don't have the things on the prescription指示." "But you're a chemist化学家, aren't you?" I asked. He said, "You're right, sir. I'm a chemist化学家. I don't have a shop and a hotel." I read the prescription指示. It said, "Every six hours, one pound磅 of good fresh meat, one pint品脱 of beer啤酒. Every morning, one ten-mile英里 walk. Go to bed no later than eleven o'clock each night, and don't read books about things you don't understand(understood) 理解."
I followed跟随 the doctor's prescription指示. It saved救 my life. I now feel rather宁可 well, except for my liver肝 problem. The main主要的 symptom症状 of liver肝 disease病 is a general总的 feeling感情 of sleepiness想睡 and no interest兴趣 in working. I have suffered受苦 from this illness病 ever在任何时候 since I was a boy. Medical医学的 science科学 was not advanced先进的 in those days. Doctors did not know that I had liver肝 illness病. They thought I was lazy. People called把…叫做 me a lazy little devil魔鬼 and said, "Go and do your work."
They did not know I was ill with liver肝 disease病. Instead代替 of giving me liver肝 pills药丸, they gave me blows击 on the head. Those blows击 were good for me, because after each blow击, I went to do my work. That old remedy治疗 worked better than a box of modern现代的 pills药丸. That evening, George, William Harris and I sat in my room. We described形容 our illnesses病. I explained解释 to George and William Harris how I felt in the morning. William Harris told us how he felt when he went to bed.
Then George stood up and told us how he felt at night. George always thinks he is ill, but there is really真正地 nothing wrong with him. At that moment, Mrs. Poppets, the housekeeper女管家, served为…服务 our dinner. We were not hungry. We ate some meat, onions and cake. We had no interest兴趣 in food. We began talking about our illnesses病 again. We all knew that our illnesses病 were caused造成 by too much work. "We need a rest休息," said Harris. "A rest休息 and a change改变," George added.
"Our minds头脑 are tired from too much work. We must rest使休息 our minds头脑." "Let's go to the countryside乡下," I said. "We'll find a nice, quiet place with no people." Harris said, "Oh, how boring无趣的. In the country, everyone goes to bed at eight o'clock. You can't even甚至 find a newspaper. If you want a rest休息 and a change改变, then the best place is the sea." "What a terrible可怕的 idea想法," I said. "A sea trip[C] 旅行 gives you seasickness. Who wants a whole完整的 week of seasickness?
You leave on Monday and you're feeling well. On Tuesday, you feel worse. Then on Wednesday, you're really真正地 sick. On Thursday and Friday, you're almost几乎 dead. On Saturday, you can finally最后 drink a few teaspoons茶匙 of tea. On Sunday, you can walk again and eat some food. Then on Monday, you're happy because it's time to get off the ship." So George said, "Let's go up the river. We'll have fresh air and quiet on the river. The hard work on the boat小船 will make us hungry so we'll enjoy our food.
We'll be so tired at the end of the day that we'll sleep well." Harris said, "You don't have any trouble问题 sleeping, George. There are only 24 hours in the day and you sleep most最多的 of that time. If you sleep any more更, you're dead. However然而, I like your idea想法 of a holiday假日 on the River Thames." I liked it too. George was surprised感到惊讶的 that we both liked his idea想法. The only唯一的 one who didn't like the idea想法 was Montmorency, my fox狐狸 terrier.
He looked at us with his big eyes. "You like the idea想法, but I don't," his face said. "On the river, there's nothing for me to do. I don't like looking at the trees. I certainly一定 don't smoke冒烟. If I see a rat, you won't stop the boat小船 so I can run after it. When I'm asleep, you'll probably或许 rock摇动 the boat小船 and I'll fall into the river. The whole完整的 idea想法 is stupid愚蠢的." We were three to one, so we decided决定 to go on the river trip[C] 旅行.