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.
這是埃及孟斐斯另一個悶熱早晨。 當陽光照亮了尼羅河時, 派瑟雪檢查了一下她的庫存。 蜂蜜、大蒜、孜然、 皂莢樹樹葉、洋杉油。 這些都是她用來治療病人 必要的用品,且庫存充足。 派瑟雪是一位 swnw (埃及文),也就是醫生。
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.
為了要成為醫生, 她得要接受抄寫員的訓練, 並研讀存放在帕安卡 (生命之屋)中的醫學草紙。 現在她在那裡教她自己的學生。 在開始教書前,派瑟雪 要先為一位病人看病。
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.
神殿建造工地的一位工人 傷到了他自己的手臂。 當派瑟雪抵達時, 很顯然工人的手已經斷了, 更糟的是,他的骨頭 已經碎裂成數塊。 派瑟雪將傷口包紮固定。 她的下一站是生命之屋。
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.
在路上,派瑟雪被一位女子攔住。 這位女子的兒子被蠍子螫傷。 派瑟雪看過許多類似的螫傷, 清楚知道要如何處理。 她必須要唸一段咒語, 把毒逼出來。 她開始背誦咒語, 祈求塞爾凱特,也就是醫生的 守護神和有毒生物的女神。 派瑟雪背誦咒語的方式, 就好像她是塞爾凱特一樣。 這種指揮式的方法, 成功的機會最大。 在她唸完了最後一句之後, 她另外也試著用一把刀 把毒液割出來。 派瑟雪收好東西準備離開, 但這名女子有另一個問題。
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.
她想要知道她是否懷孕了。 派瑟雪解說了她 萬無一失的懷孕測試法: 種下兩顆種子:一顆大麥 和一顆二粒小麥。 接著,每天在種子上撒尿。 如果植物長出來了, 她就是懷孕了。 大麥種子表示孩子是男孩, 二粒小麥種子表示孩子是女孩。 派瑟雪也建議可以做一段 對生育女神哈索爾的禱告。 當派瑟雪終於抵達了生命之屋,
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.
她撞見了醫生兼祭師伊賽西。 她有禮貌地問候伊賽西, 但她認為祭師都很自以為是。 她並不羨慕伊賽西的 「neru pehut」角色, 「neru pehut」的直譯是 皇室的肛門牧人, 或是皇家肛門的守護者。 生命之屋裡面和以往 一樣很吵,有抄寫員、
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.
祭師、醫生,和學生。 貯存在這裡的不僅是 醫療資訊的草紙, 還有各種記錄的草紙。 派瑟雪的兒子阿克和闐 很努力在複製文件, 這是成為抄寫員的訓練的一部分。 他是位特別有前途的學生, 但他能獲准來學習, 是因為派瑟雪本身是位抄寫員, 同樣的,派瑟雪的父親也是。 若沒有家人在這個行業中, 男孩會非常難取得這種教育, 女孩則完全不可能。 派瑟雪負責管理孟斐斯所有 女性醫生及在受訓中的未來醫生。
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.
男性有他們自己的管理者, 因為男性醫生不受女性管理。 今天,派瑟雪教的是解剖學。 她給學生小考的主題是 metu, 也就是身體的各血脈管, 用來傳輸血液、 空氣、尿液, 甚至不好的精神。 派瑟雪準備要離開了,
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.
此時有位蒼白的瘦女子在門邊 搭訕她,請求她幫忙做檢查。 那名女子的手臂下方 有個一碰就痛的大腫塊。 派瑟雪探查了這個贅生物, 發現它摸起來是冷的, 且像未成熟的河曼果一樣硬。 她曾經讀過像這樣的疾病, 但從未親眼看過。 沒有治療方法、藥物, 或咒語可以治好這種腫瘤。 所有的文獻都給予 同樣的建議:什麼都不要做。 傳遞完壞消息之後, 派瑟雪走到外面。
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.
她在生命之屋的階梯上逗留, 欣賞黃昏時的城市。 儘管她盡力而為, 永遠都還是會有 她無法幫助的病人, 就像長了腫瘤的那名女子。 派瑟雪忘不了這些人, 但她沒有時間多想。 再過短短幾週, 尼羅河每年的泛濫就會開始, 帶給土壤生命,讓隔年能夠豐收, 也會帶來一大群新病人。