The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. 3: Acadia, 1611-1616
History
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. 3: Acadia, 1611-1616
Canada -- History -- To 1763 (New France); Indians of North America -- Canada; Jesuits -- Missions; Jesuits -- North America
Car icy est la derniere Scene de la farce. L'Autmoin dit, que ja le
Diable estant tué, ou bien blessé, ou du moins dehors, ie ne sçay, ou
bien loin: Il reste à sçauoir s'il aura point laissé le malade blessé
à mort. Pour deuiner cela il faut qu'il songe: aussi a-il bon besoin
d'aller dormir: car il est fort trauaillé: cependant il gaigne temps
pour voir les crises de la maladie. [85] Ayant bien dormy, & songé, il
reuoit son malade, & selon les prognostiques, qu'il recognoit, il le
prononce deuoir, ou viure, ou mourir. Il n'est ja si sot de dire, qu'il
viura, s'il n'en a des prorretiques asseurez: Il dira doncques qu'il
mourra, par exemple dans trois iours. Or oyez maintenant vne belle
façon de verifier ses propheties. Premierement le malade dés qu'il est
ainsi iugé à mort ne mange point, & lon ne luy donne rien plus. Que si
le troisiesme iour venu il ne meurt point encores, ils disent, qu'il y
a ie ne sçay quoy du Diable, qui ne le permet pas expirer à son aise:
par ainsi on s'en court à l'ayde: Où? A l'eau. Quoy faire? En apporter
des pleins chauderons. Pourquoy? Pour la luy verser toute froide dessus
le v[~e]tre, & ainsi luy esteindre toute chaleur vitale si aucune [86]
luy reste. Il faut bien qu'il trespasse le troisiesme iour, puis que
s'il ne veut mourir de soy, on le tuë.
For this is the last Scene of the farce. The Autmoin says, that
the Devil being already killed, or seriously hurt, or at least gone
away, whether very far or not, I do not know, it remains to be
seen if he has given a death wound to the patient. To guess this
he will have to dream; indeed he is in great need of sleep, for he
has worked hard. Meanwhile he gains time to observe the crisis of
the disease. [85] Having slept well and dreamed he looks again at
his patient and, according to the symptoms which he observes, he
declares that he is either to live or to die. He is not so foolish
as to say that he will live, if the symptoms are not encouraging.
He will then say, for instance, that he will die in three days.
Hear now in what a fine fashion he verifies his prophecies. In the
first place the sick man, since he has been thus appointed to die,
does not eat, and they no longer offer him anything. But if he does
not die by the third day, they say that he has something of the
Devil in him, I know not what, which does not permit him to die
easily, so they rush to his aid. Where? To the water. What to do?
To bring kettles full of it. Why? To pour the cold water over his
navel, and thus extinguish all vital heat, if any [86] remain to
him. He is indeed obliged to die the third day, since if he is not
going to do it of himself, they kill him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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