難以置信!狡猾的咧嘴貓將我拖進牠的噩夢!不過是不小心踩到牠的尾巴,需要這麼計較嗎?!而這個大約在19世紀的噩夢情境更是奇妙,我們碰到三種不同的醫師。
一開始碰到來自英國長老教會的馬雅各醫師,他從台灣的高雄到臺南進行宣教及診療。咧嘴貓說當時傳教士為了傳教,時常透過慈善醫療的方式,施行立即見效的手術,例如拔牙、白內障移除等,消除台灣人對於西方宗教的反感。——對咧嘴貓來說,最大的惡夢就是工作:牠把消毒醫療器材的工作都推給我,自己卻在一旁偷懶,真是太過分了 !
逃離西式醫院後,我們在一家中藥行裡遇到漢人中醫,他們透過望、聞、問、切的「四診」來評估病因。咧嘴貓看著中醫師拿針刺激人體穴位實行針灸,又用竹子製成的真空罐替病人拔罐,嚇得招牌笑容都沒了。
不過最後碰到的原住民巫醫才真正嚇人-原住民相信萬物皆有靈,生病是因為鬼神作祟,需要借助巫醫的法力來驅逐身上的惡靈。在一連串複雜的祈神與問靈儀式中,我抓著草藥躲在一旁,看到巫醫想抽咧嘴貓的骨頭作為儀式中的獸骨而到處逃竄。牠終於放棄報復我的想法,將我拉出這個噩夢。
Unbelievable! The cunning Cheshire Cat dragged me into its nightmare! What's the big deal if I stepped on its tail by accident? The setting for this nightmare, most likely in the nineteenth century, was even more incredible. We encountered three different kinds of doctors.
First, we met Doctor James L. Maxwell of the English Presbyterian Mission, who traveled from Kaohsiung to Tainan, Taiwan, to undertake missionary work and practice medicine. According to the Cheshire Cat, missionaries at that time were often involved in charity medical care and performed surgery with immediate therapeutic results, such as tooth extraction and cataract removal, in order to lessen Taiwanese hostility to western religions.
Work is Cheshire Cat's worst nightmare, so it transferred the disinfection of medical equipment entirely to me while doing nothing itself. It's outrageous!
We came across Han Chinese traditional doctors at a traditional Chinese herbal pharmacy after leaving the Western hospital. To determine the source of disease, they apply the “four diagnostic methods”: observation, auscultation and olfaction, inquiry, and pulse feeling and palpation. As the Chinese traditional doctors used needles to stimulate acupressure points on the human body and bamboo sucking tanks to perform cupping on the patient, Cheshire Cat was so terrified that its trademark smile vanished.
Meeting the aboriginal witch doctor, however, was our most scary experience; aboriginal people believe that everything in the world has a spirit. Since it is the ghost that causes illness, the witch doctor's magic power is required to expel the evil spirit from the human body. After a series of complicated prayers to and communicating with spirits, I took the herbal medication and hid aside, watching Cheshire Cat dart around as the witch doctor tried to extract its bones for the ritual's animal bone sacrifice. Cheshire Cat finally gave up on its revenge scheme and pulled me out of the nightmare.