The medicine men were therefore treated with the profoundest awe4 and respect. And the medicine women came in also for their share of veneration5 and often of superstitious6 dread7; for their mysterious incantations were supposed to have been taught to them by fairies and the spirits of the mountain.
The Irish from the most remote antiquity8 were devoted9 to mystical medicine, and had a remarkable10 knowledge of cures and remedies for disease, obtained through the power and action of herbs on the human frame.
The physicians of the pagan era formed a branch of the Druid priesthood, and were treated with distinguished11 honour. They had special places assigned to them at the royal banqueting table at Tara, and a certain revenue was secured to them that they might live honourably12.
When in attendance on a patient the doctor was entitled by law to his diet, along with four of his pupils; but if he failed to cure from deficiency of skill, he was obliged to refund13 the fees and pay back all the expenses of his keep; a measure which no doubt greatly stimulated14 the serious attention of the learned ollamhs of healing to the case in hand.
So great, indeed, was the importance attached to the healing art in Ireland, that even prior to the Christian15 era, a building of the nature of an hospital was erected16 at Tara, near to the palace of the king. This was called “The House of Sorrow,” and the sick and wounded were provided there with all necessary care.
On one occasion it is recorded that a great chief and prince out of Munster was brought to “The House of Sorrow” to be treated of wounds received in battle, but the attendant, through treachery,187 placed poison in the wounds, and then closed them so carefully that there was no external sign, though the groans18 of the wounded man were terrible to hear. Then the learned Fioneen was sent for, “the prophetic physician,” as he was called, from his great skill in diagnosis19; and when he arrived with three of his pupils at the hospital they found the chief lying prostrate20, groaning21 in horrible agony.
“What groan17 is that?” asked the master of the first pupil.
“It is from a poisoned barb,” he answered.
“And what groan is that?” asked the master, of the second pupil.
“It is from a hidden reptile,” he answered.
“And what groan is that?” asked Fioneen of the third pupil.
“It is from a poisoned seed,” he answered.
Then Fioneen set to work, and having cauterized22 the wounds with red hot irons, the poisonous bodies were extracted from beneath the skin, and the chief was healed.
In later times the Irish physicians were much celebrated23 for their learning, and numerous Irish medical manuscripts are in existence, both in Ireland and England, and are also scattered24 through the public libraries of the continent. They are chiefly written in Latin, with a commentary in Irish, and show a thorough knowledge on the part of the writers of the works of Hippocrates, Galen, Aristotle, and others as celebrated. For after the introduction of Christianity Latin was much cultivated in the Irish schools, and the priests and physicians not only wrote, but could converse25 fluently in Latin, which language became the chief medium of communication between them and the learned men of the continent. But the most ancient mode of procedure amongst the Irish ollamhs and adepts26 was of a medico-religious character; consisting of herb cures, fairy cures, charms, invocations, and certain magical ceremonies. A number of these cures have been preserved traditionally by the people, and form a very interesting study of early medical superstitions27, as they have been handed down through successive generations; for the profession of a physician was hereditary28 in certain families, and the accumulated lore29 of centuries was transmitted carefully from father to son by this custom and usage.
Many of the ancient cures and charms are strange and mystic, and were accompanied by singular mysterious forms, which no doubt in many cases aided the cure; especially amongst a people so imaginative and susceptible30 to spiritual influences as the Irish. Others show a fervent31 faith and have a pathetic simplicity32 of expression, such as we find in “The Charm against Sorrow,” and others, from the original Irish, of equal pathos33 and tenderness, to be quoted further on. The utterance34 evidently of a people of188 deep, almost sublime35, faith in the Divine power of the Ruler of the world, and of the ever-present ministration of saints and angels to humanity.
Every act of the Irish peasant’s life has always been connected with the belief in unseen spiritual agencies. The people live in an atmosphere of the supernatural, and nothing would induce them to slight an ancient form or break through a traditional usage. They believe that the result would be something awful; too terrible to be spoken of save in a whisper, should the customs of their forefathers36 be lightly interfered37 with.
In the Western Islands especially, the old superstitions that have come down from the ancient times are observed with the most solemn reverence38, and the people in fact, as to their habits and ideas, remain much the same as St. Patrick left them fourteen hundred years ago. The swift currents of thought that stir the great centres of civilization and impel39 the human intellect on its path of progress, have never reached them; all the waves of the centuries drift by their shores and leave them unchanged.
It is therefore in the islands and along the western coast that one gathers most of those strange legends, charms, mysteries, and world-old superstitions which have lingered longer in Ireland than in any other part of Europe.
Many of those included in the following selection were narrated40 by the peasants, either in Irish, or in the expressive41 Irish-English, which still retains enough of the ancient idiom to make the language impressively touching42 and picturesque43. The ancient charms which have come down by tradition from a remote antiquity are peculiarly interesting from their deep human pathos, blended with the sublime trust in the Divine invisible power, so characteristic of the Irish temperament44 in all ages. A faith that believes implicitly45, trusts devoutly46, and hopes infinitely47; when the soul in its sorrow turns to heaven for the aid which cannot be found on earth, or given by earthly hands. The following charms from the Irish express much of this mingled48 spirit of faith and hope:—
AGAINST SORROW.
A charm set by Mary for her Son, before the fair man and the turbulent woman laid Him in the grave.
The charm of Michael with the shield;
Of the palm-branch of Christ;
Of Bridget with her veil.
The charm which God set for Himself when the divinity within Him was darkened.
A charm to be said by the cross when the night is black and the soul is heavy with sorrow.
189
A charm to be said at sunrise, with the hands on the breast, when the eyes are red with weeping, and the madness of grief is strong.
A charm that has no words, only the silent prayer.
点击收听单词发音
1 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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2 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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3 afflicted | |
使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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5 veneration | |
n.尊敬,崇拜 | |
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6 superstitious | |
adj.迷信的 | |
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7 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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8 antiquity | |
n.古老;高龄;古物,古迹 | |
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9 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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10 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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11 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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12 honourably | |
adv.可尊敬地,光荣地,体面地 | |
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13 refund | |
v.退还,偿还;n.归还,偿还额,退款 | |
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14 stimulated | |
a.刺激的 | |
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15 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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16 ERECTED | |
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立 | |
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17 groan | |
vi./n.呻吟,抱怨;(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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18 groans | |
n.呻吟,叹息( groan的名词复数 );呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
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19 diagnosis | |
n.诊断,诊断结果,调查分析,判断 | |
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20 prostrate | |
v.拜倒,平卧,衰竭;adj.拜倒的,平卧的,衰竭的 | |
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21 groaning | |
adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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22 cauterized | |
v.(用腐蚀性物质或烙铁)烧灼以消毒( cauterize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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24 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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25 converse | |
vi.谈话,谈天,闲聊;adv.相反的,相反 | |
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26 adepts | |
n.专家,能手( adept的名词复数 ) | |
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27 superstitions | |
迷信,迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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28 hereditary | |
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的 | |
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29 lore | |
n.传说;学问,经验,知识 | |
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30 susceptible | |
adj.过敏的,敏感的;易动感情的,易受感动的 | |
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31 fervent | |
adj.热的,热烈的,热情的 | |
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32 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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33 pathos | |
n.哀婉,悲怆 | |
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34 utterance | |
n.用言语表达,话语,言语 | |
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35 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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36 forefathers | |
n.祖先,先人;祖先,祖宗( forefather的名词复数 );列祖列宗;前人 | |
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37 interfered | |
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉 | |
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38 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
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39 impel | |
v.推动;激励,迫使 | |
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40 narrated | |
v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41 expressive | |
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的 | |
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42 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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43 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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44 temperament | |
n.气质,性格,性情 | |
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45 implicitly | |
adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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46 devoutly | |
adv.虔诚地,虔敬地,衷心地 | |
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47 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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48 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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