Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen

When the countess received the news of Natasha's illness, she was still not fully recovered and was weak, but she took Petya and the whole family to Moscow, so that the Rostovs moved from Marya Dmitrievna's house. Entered his own house and lived permanently in Moscow. Fortunately for herself and her relatives, Natasha's illness was so serious that her illness, her behaviour, her thoughts of breaking up with her fiancé, had all taken a back seat.She was so ill that it was impossible to think how much of her fault she was in all that had happened, she did not eat or sleep, she saw she was losing weight, she coughed a lot, and from the doctor's words she felt that she was still in danger.You should just want to help her.The doctors came to see Natasha.Sometimes they consulted, they talked a lot in French, German, Latin, they blamed each other, and prescribed all kinds of medicines for various diseases; but none of them thought of the simple truth that they could not To know what ailment Natasha has is just as impossible to know what ailment a living person suffers from: because every living person has his own peculiarities, often special, complex, The diseases that are not recorded in the medical codes are not the lung diseases, liver diseases, skin diseases, heart diseases, neuropathy, etc. that are recorded in the medical codes, but one of the syndromes of countless diseases on these various organs at the same time.It is impossible for doctors to think of this simple truth (this is like a wizard who would not think that his witchcraft is not effective), because their life's work is to cure diseases, because they can earn money to eat by treating diseases, and because here They spent the best years of their lives in their careers.But the main thing—the reason why the doctors did not think of it was because they saw that they were undoubtedly useful, and indeed beneficial to the Rostov family.Their benefit is not that they force the patient to swallow most of the harmful stuff (the harm is hardly felt, since they give very little of the harmful substance), they are beneficial, necessary, necessary (reason— There are and will be quacks, witches, homeopaths, and poisons) because they serve the spiritual needs of the sick and those who care about them.They fulfill a timeless human need, the need for relief in times of suffering, the need for compassion and action.They fulfill that eternal human need--in its most primitive form in the child--to touch the spot where it hurts.The child is bumped and immediately thrown into the arms of the mother or nurse, hoping to kiss and rub the sore spot, and after rubbing and kissing the sore spot, he will feel relieved.The child does not believe that the strongest and wisest in the family cannot help him relieve his pain, so the hope of relief, and the sympathy of his mother when she touches his red bumps, comfort him.Doctors were good for Natasha, because they kissed and stroked her sores, and it was believed that if the coachman now went to the pharmacy on the Arbat and spent one ruble and seventy kopecks for a box of powders and pills in attractive packages, And take those medicines (no more and no less) with boiled water every two hours, and the disease will be cured.

How can they watch without doing anything, if they don't give pills on time, give warm drinks, chicken pies, and don't follow the doctor's orders for all the details of life (it is the comfort of the whole family to follow the doctor's orders), then, Sonia What could the earl and countess do?If he didn't know that Natasha's illness was worth thousands of rubles, and thousands more to save her; if he didn't know, if she never recovered, he would still spend thousands of rubles to send her abroad if he hadn't told at length how Medigier and Ferrer were ignorant of medicine, but Fritz understood it, Mudrov was better at diagnosis, and how the Count could bear his daughter's illness ?What could the countess do if she did not sometimes quarrel with her daughter because she did not obey the doctor's orders?

"You'll never recover like this," she said, forgetting her pain in anger, "if you don't listen to the doctor and don't take your meds on time! You know it's not super joking". , will cause pneumonia," the Countess was already very relieved to say this medical term which she was not alone in understanding. If Sonia hadn't had that pleasant feeling: during the first three nights she hadn't taken off her clothes. Clothes, ready to act strictly according to the doctor's orders, and now she often stays up late, in order not to miss the opportunity to take the somewhat poisonous pills in a small gold box, then what will happen to her? Even to Na Tasha herself, although she said that there was no medicine for her and that it was all nonsense, she was glad that she had to take the medicine on time when everyone sacrificed for her. She even felt sorry for her. Follow the doctor's advice, to show that she doesn't believe in treatment and doesn't value her own life.

The doctor came every day, taking her pulse, looking at the coating on her tongue, and joking with her regardless of her sad expression.But when he went to another room, and the countess hurried out with him, he put on another serious face, shook his head thoughtfully, and said that, despite the danger, he hoped that this last A dose of medicine will work, one must wait and see; probably a mental illness, but... The countess, trying to hide from herself and the doctor, slipped a gold coin into the doctor's hand, and returned to the patient each time with a feeling of relief. Natasha's illness was characterized by eating little, sleeping little, coughing, and always feeling lethargic.The doctors said the patient needed medical help, so they kept her in the suffocating city.In the summer of 1812 the Rostovs did not go to the country.

Although taking a lot of pills, potions, and powders, the gadget-loving ma-dame Schoss collected a large number of bottle "boxes" of medicines, and despite the lack of the country life to which she was accustomed, youth prevailed; Natasha's Grief began to cast over the impressions of everyday life, which no longer tormented her heart so painfully, pain began to become a thing of the past, and Natasha began to feel better physically.