It’s another sweltering morning in Memphis, Egypt. As the sunlight brightens the Nile, Peseshet checks her supplies. Honey, garlic, cumin, acacia leaves, cedar oil. She’s well stocked with the essentials she needs to treat her patients.
埃及孟菲斯, 又是酷热难当的一天。 随着阳光照亮尼罗河, 帕瑟珊检查着自己的物品。 蜂蜜、 大蒜、 小茴香、 金合欢树叶、 雪松油。 她装备好了用来 治疗病人的各种必需品。
Peseshet is a swnw, or a doctor. In order to become one, she had to train as a scribe and study the medical papyri stored at the Per Ankh, the House of Life. Now, she teaches her own students there.
帕瑟珊是一名医生, 为了成为医生, 她需要先作为记录官 接受训练, 学习生命之屋 Per Ankh 中 纸莎草纸上记录的医学知识。 现在,她在那里教授其他学生。
Before teaching, Peseshet has a patient to see. One of the workers at the temple construction site has injured his arm. When Peseshet arrives, the laborer’s arm is clearly broken, and worse, the fracture is a sed, with multiple bone fragments. Peseshet binds and immobilizes the injury.
在上课之前,她先要去看一个病人。 神庙建筑工地的一个工人 弄伤了自己的手臂。 帕瑟珊到达工地时, 发现这名工人的手臂 显然骨折了, 更糟的是,骨折很严重, 形成了几块小骨头碎片。 帕瑟珊对伤处做了捆绑固定处理。
Her next stop is the House of Life. On her way, a woman intercepts Peseshet in the street. The woman’s son has been stung by a scorpion. Peseshet has seen many similar stings and knows exactly what to do. She must say an incantation to cast the poison out. She begins to recite the spell, invoking Serqet, patron of physicians and goddess of venomous creatures. Peseshet recites the spell as if she is Serqet. This commanding approach has the greatest chance at success. After she utters the last line, she tries to cut the poison out with a knife for good measure.
她接下来要去生命之屋。 途中,一名妇女叫住帕瑟珊。 因为她的儿子被蝎子蛰伤。 帕瑟珊见过许多相似的蜇伤, 并且很清楚该如何治疗。 她必须念一种咒语让毒液流出, 她开始念诵咒语, 召唤医生庇佑者、 毒物之神塞尔凯特。 帕瑟珊念着咒语, 仿佛自己就是塞尔凯特。 这种威严的做法有极高的成功率。 在她念诵完最后一行咒语, 她试着用小刀划开伤处 让毒液流出。
Peseshet packs up to leave, but the woman has another question. She wants to find out if she is pregnant. Peseshet explains her fail-safe pregnancy test: plant two seeds: one barley, one emmer. Then, urinate on the seeds every day. If the plants grow, she’s pregnant. A barley seedling predicts a baby boy, while emmer foretells a girl. Peseshet also recommends a prayer to Hathor, goddess of fertility.
帕瑟珊收拾行装继续前行, 但这位妇女还有一个问题。 她想要知道自己是否怀有身孕, 帕瑟珊告诉她一种安全的验孕方法: 种下两颗种子: 一颗大麦,一颗二粒小麦 每天用尿液浇灌它们, 如果种子发芽,那么她就怀孕了。 大麦种子发芽预示着怀有男婴, 二粒小麦发芽则预示着怀有女婴。 帕瑟珊也建议她 向生育女神哈瑟尔祷告。
When Peseshet finally arrives at the House of Life, she runs into the doctor-priest Isesi. She greets Isesi politely, but she thinks priests are very full of themselves. She doesn’t envy Isesi’s role as neru pehut, which directly translates to herdsman of the anus to the royal family, or, guardian of the royal anus.
当帕瑟啥最终到达生命之屋, 她碰到了祭司医生伊塞西。 她礼貌地向伊塞西打招呼, 但她认为祭司们都非常自傲。 她并不嫉妒伊塞西, 他直接从牧人转变成 皇家直肠医生, 也叫做皇家肛门卫士。
Inside, the House of Life is bustling as usual with scribes, priests, doctors, and students. Papyri containing all kinds of records, not just medical information, are stored here. Peseshet’s son Akhethetep is hard at work copying documents as part of his training to become a scribe. He’s a particularly promising student, but he was admitted to study because Peseshet is a scribe, as was her father before her. Without family in the profession, it’s very difficult for boys, and impossible for girls, to pursue this education.
生命之屋里的人 如往常一样步履匆匆, 包括记录官,祭司, 医生, 和学生们。 除了医学,纸莎草文献 也包含其他各类记录, 都存放在生命之屋中。 帕瑟珊的儿子阿克提还特 正在努力抄写文件, 这是要成为记录官 所要接受的培训之一。 他前程一片大好, 但是他被允许学习 是因为母亲帕瑟珊是一名记录官。 而帕瑟珊的父亲也曾任该职。 若没有家人担任此类职位, 接受教育对于男生来说 是非常困难的, 对于女生则更是不可能。
Peseshet oversees all the female swnws and swnws-in-training in Memphis. The men have their own overseer, as the male doctors won’t answer to a woman. Today, Peseshet teaches anatomy. She quizzes her students on the metu, the body’s vessels that transport blood, air, urine, and even bad spirits.
帕瑟珊管理着孟菲斯 所有女性医师和正接受培训的女学生。 男性医师则有其他监理人员, 因为他们不会回答女性提出的问题。 今天,帕萨珊教的是解剖学。 她对学生进行提问, 问题是关于身体中运输血液、 空气、 尿液、 和不良精神的通道。
Peseshet is preparing to leave when a pale, thin woman accosts her at the door and begs to be examined. The woman has a huge, sore lump under her arm. Peseshet probes the growth and finds it cool to the touch and hard like an unripe hemat fruit. She has read about ailments like this, but never seen one. For this tumor there is no treatment, medicine or spell. All the texts give the same advice: do nothing.
帕瑟珊正准备离开时, 一名苍白瘦弱的女性 上前请求看诊。 这位女性的手臂上 长了一个大大的肿块, 帕瑟珊进行了检查, 发现肿块摸起来是凉的, 坚硬地像一个尚未熟透的血肿果实。 她曾读到过这类病症, 但却并未亲眼见过。 没有方法、药物或咒语可以 用来治疗这种肿块。 所有的文字记载 都给出同样的建议:什么也不做。
After delivering the bad news, Peseshet goes outside. She lingers on the steps of the House of Life, admiring the city at dusk. In spite of all her hard work, there will always be patients she can’t help, like the woman with the tumor. They linger with her, but Peseshet has no time to dwell. In a few short weeks, the Nile’s annual flooding will begin, bringing life to the soil for the next year’s harvest and a whole new crop of patients.
帕瑟珊告知她这个坏消息, 便走出大门。 她在生命之屋的台阶处逗留了一会儿, 欣赏着黄昏时分的城市, 虽然她努力工作, 但总会有她无能为力的病人, 就像刚才那个长有肿块的妇女。 这些病人在她脑海挥之不去, 但她没有时间总想着这些。 因为再过几周, 每年一次的尼罗河洪水即将开始, 洪水为土壤带来生命, 孕育第二年的丰收, 同时也会带来大批的病患。