Gil Blas and Dr. Sangrado
by Alain Rene LeSageGenre: Drama
Setting:
Format of Original Source: Short Story
Recommended Adaptation Length:
Candidate for Adaptation? Not Reviewed
EXCERPT:
“In good sooth, Gil Blas, I marvel not that you are no better than you are; you do not drink enough, my friend. Water taken in a small quantity serves only to separate the particles of bile and set them in action; but our practise is to drown them in a copious drench. Fear not, my good lad, lest a superabundance of liquid should either weaken or chill your stomach; far from thy better judgment be that silly fear of unadulterated drink. I will insure you against all consequences; and if my authority will not serve your turn, read Celsus. That oracle of the ancients makes an admirable panegyric on water; in short, he says in plain terms that those who plead an inconstant stomach in favor of wine, publish a libel on their own viscera, and make their constitution a pretense for their sensuality.”
As it would have been ungenteel in me to run riot on my entrance into the medical career, I pretended thorough conviction; indeed, I really thought there was something in it. I therefore went on drinking water on the authority of Celsus; or, to speak in scientific terms, I began to drown the bile in copious drenches of that unadulterated liquor; and though I felt my self more out of order from day to day, prejudice won the cause against experience. It is evident therefore that I was in the right road to the practise of physic.
COMMENTS:
“Gil Blas and Dr. Sangrado” is one of a series of stories; he’s a kind of a folk hero…a stable boy who gets captured by robbers, and learns trickery and one-upsmanship from the inside, so he can triumph in practically any trade or profession he desires. In this particular story, Gil Blas becomes apprenticed to a doctor, and the author uses the opportunity to skewer medical practices of the day. There’s not much still relevant in this particular story, but can you create a modern-day Gil Blas and, y’know, skewer medical practices of today?
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