This past week I have been a bit sick and it reminded me of a section of a book from Professor DeRose I translated called I Remember. This inspired me to share with you the image of the book as well as the text itself. Please find the translation below:
One day the old man didn’t come to contemplate at the river. I went to his home, which was nearby. He lived in a small tent and, from what I could see, he had very few belongings. He was laying down on a hammock made of vegetable fiber and I could tell he was unwell. I asked if he had anyone to look after him, if he had a wife or children. He answered me with a husky low voice that he had never had time for family life. Every moment of his life had been dedicated to learning the philosophy of self-knowledge from his Master. The result of his dedication was wellbeing and a long life.
“But you got sick.” I said.
“Yes, all animals get sick and die one day,” he grumbled “I would have been sick more often, and would have died at the same age as everyone else, without the practices of my science. However, even if my discipline had not given me all these additional years of life, it would still have been worth it all the lucidity it has brought me. Nothing has more value than knowledge.” concluded the old man.
On that day I did not take care of my family obligations, instead I stayed to take care of the wise man. He instructed me to hand pick specific herbs that were used in many ways: some of them he chewed; others, he asked me to macerate and apply to his chest; and yet others, I left soaking so that its active principle could be absorbed by water, and later drunk.
Caring for the wise old man was a priceless lesson on medicinal herbs: how to recognize them, learn what they were for, and how to use them. I was so absorbed in my duties that time passed without me noticing, and when I realized this, twilight was already upon us.
