COUNTESS ROSTOV had not recovered her strength when she received the news of Natasha's illness. Weak as she still was, she set out at once for Moscow with Petya and the whole household, and the Rostovs moved from Marya Dmitryevna's into their own house, where the whole family were installed.

Natasha's illness was so serious that, luckily for herself and her parents, all thought of what had caused it, of her conduct and of the breaking off of her engagement, fell into the background. She was so ill that no one could consider how far she was to blame for all that had happened, while she could not eat nor sleep, was growing visibly thinner, coughed, and was, as the doctors gave them to understand, in actual danger. Nothing could be thought of but how to make her well again. Doctors came to see Natasha, both separately and in consultation¹. They said a great deal in French, in German, and in Latin. They criticised one another, and prescribed the most diverse remedies for all the diseases they were familiar with. But it never occurred to one of them to make the simple reflection that they could not understand the disease from which Natasha was suffering, as no single disease can be fully² understood in a living person; for every living person has his individual peculiarities³ and always has his own peculiar⁴, new, complex complaints unknown to medicine—not a disease of the lungs, of the kidneys, of the skin, of the heart, and so on, as described in medical books, but a disease that consists of one out of the innumerable combinations of ailments⁵ of those organs. This simple reflection can never occur to doctors (just as a sorcerer cannot entertain the idea that he is unable to work magic spells) because it is the work of their life to undertake the cure of disease, because it is for that that they are paid, and on that they have wasted the best years of their life. And what is more, that reflection could not occur to the doctors because they saw that they unquestionably were of use; and they certainly were of use to all the Rostov household. They were of use, not because they made the patient swallow drugs, mostly injurious (the injury done by them was hardly perceptible because they were given in such small doses). They were of use, were needed, were indispensable in fact (for the same reason that there have always been, and always will be, reputed healers, witches, hom?opaths and allopaths), because they satisfied the moral cravings of the patient and those who loved her. They satisfied that eternal human need of hope for relief, that need for sympathetic action that is felt in the presence of suffering, that need that is shown in its simplest form in the little child, who must have the place rubbed when it has hurt itself. The child is hurt, and runs at once to the arms of its mother or nurse for them to kiss or rub the tender spot, and it feels better for the kissing and rubbing. The child cannot believe that these stronger, cleverer creatures have not the power to relieve its pain. And the hope of relief and the expressions of sympathy as the mother rubs it comfort it. To Natasha the doctors took the place of the mother, kissing and rubbing her “bobo,” when they declared that all the trouble would soon be over, if the coachman were to drive to the chemist's shop, in Arbatsky Place, and buy—for a rouble and seventy copecks—those powders and pills in a pretty little box, and if those powders were given to the patient in boiled water

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1 consultation
n.咨询；商量；商议；会议
参考例句：
The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。 The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

2 fully
adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地
参考例句：
The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。 They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 peculiarities
n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪
参考例句：
the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点 He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

4 peculiar
adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的
参考例句：
He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。 He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

5 ailments
疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )
参考例句：
His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。 He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

6 precisely
adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地
参考例句：
It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。 The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

7 beverage
n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料
参考例句：
The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。 Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

8 detailed
adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的
参考例句：
He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。 A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

9 consolation
n.安慰，慰问
参考例句：
The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。 This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

10 grudge
n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做
参考例句：
I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。 I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

11 fathomed
理解…的真意( fathom的过去式和过去分词 )； 彻底了解； 弄清真相
参考例句：
I have not yet quite fathomed her meaning. 我当时还没有完全揣摸出她是什么意思。 Have you fathomed out how to work the video yet? 你弄清楚如何操作录像机了吗？

12 gilt
adj.镀金的；n.金边证券
参考例句：
The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。 The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

13 prescription
n.处方，开药；指示，规定
参考例句：
The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。 The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

14 conceal
v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽
参考例句：
He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。 He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

15 lighter
n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级
参考例句：
The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。 The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

16 sleeplessness
n.失眠，警觉
参考例句：
Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness. 现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The doctors were puzzled by this strange continuous sleeplessness. 医生们对他的奇异的不眠感到疑惑。 来自英语晨读30分（高三）

17 stifling
a.令人窒息的
参考例句：
The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。 We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。