PREACHING THE GOSPEL, HEALING THE SICK
TELLING OF THE DAILY ROUTINE
LIKE the apostle of old, the missionary must be ready, however heavy the
claim upon his time, to receive all who come.
At any hour of the day, we may hear the clatter of sticks upon the
ground indicating that some of our neighbours, whose minute feet prevent
them from walking unaided, have found their way through the open front
door and brought some friends to see the house of the foreigner.
The Chinese woman is an inveterate sightseer, but unfortunately the
attractions of Hwochow are not many; there is no end, however, to the
marvels found within the walls of the Mission compound.
The leader of the party is frequently our old friend, Goat's Mother, the
members of her clan being numerous and of an inquisitive nature.
The well-favoured Goat, aged five years, wears a brilliant yellow cotton
jacket, on which are sketched in bold brush work every species of
venomous insect. On his left shoulder is a scorpion, while centipedes,
beetles, and other forms of poisonous insect life cover his back and
chest. To his right shoulder is stitched a diminutive pair of
red-and-green trousers. The yellow coat is his protection from stings
and bites, the tiny trousers from measles, and longevity is secured by a
heavy silver padlock, which hangs from his neck by a silver chain.
With much assistance from the Bible-women the whole party climb the few
steps leading to the verandah, and exhausted by the effort, gratefully
accept our invitation to be seated in the guest-room.
Tea is offered, but we know better than to press them to partake of any
refreshment, for these women have been warned on no account to let food
or drink pass their lips while under our roof, lest by a magic spell
they find themselves compelled to become Christians.
The room is furnished in conventional Chinese style--a square table with
scarlet embroidered table-skirt, and backed by an ornate arrangement of
banner, scrolls, vases, and teacups, with stiff chairs on either side.
Our guests' first observation is to remark upon the surprising
cleanliness of the apartment, the next is to ask where we sleep, and the
third is to comment freely upon our personal appearance.
"Have you turned sixty yet?" I am asked, and much surprise is expressed
at the information supplied by Goat's Mother that I have not yet seen my
fortieth birthday. "It is the white hair that makes her look so old," is
the comment offered in explanation of my fair complexion.
Goat's Mother has brought her relations on a promise that they shall
see the foreigner's bedroom and "little iron tailor,"[11] hear the
musical box, and be allowed to inspect the enormous saucepan in which
the school food is made, ending up with a visit to the rooms where the
women read the Bible.
Before, however, these favours can be granted, as she well knows, the
party must be prepared to give its attention to the one topic upon which
the missionaries never fail to speak. This proves to be more interesting
than they had anticipated, for one wall of our guest-room is decorated
with pictures which illustrate interesting stories, the application of
which throws light upon that problem which confronts every human heart:
"How can the burden of sin be removed?"
The time passes quickly and most of the wonders have been seen, when a
piercing yell from the young Goat indicates that the limit of his
patience has been reached. The orders of this small autocrat allow of no
question, and further intercourse is impossible, for his shrieks will
not cease until his wishes have been complied with. The whole party
rises, and we follow them, urging them to "walk slowly" and to come
again on Sunday. "We will come, we will come," several answer, but
others are deep in a discussion as to what provision is possible for our
old age, seeing that we have neither husband nor son.
As they disappear through, the street door, they meet a fresh group
entering who are in turn received by the Bible-women. Thus, from day to
day, the Word is preached and cast as bread upon the waters. Sometimes
a woman will return in a few days to hear more, and sometimes, years
later, in a remote mountain hamlet a woman will greet us with a smile,
surprised that we do not remember her visit to our house, when, as she
reminds us, we told her about Jesus, the Son of God.
* * * * *
With those women who come as patients to the dispensary, we enter upon a
more intimate relationship. The payment of their fee entitles them to
three visits, of which they take full advantage and often come under our
care for a much longer course of treatment.
They are an interesting crowd with their varied complaints. A child
whose arm has been badly scalded months before, and who has received no
treatment during that period but an application of rat oil and charred
matting, is in a revolting condition, a pitiful sight indeed. A young
woman who has lost her eyesight attributes her affliction to a fit of
violent temper, when for a whole day she worked herself into a frenzy,
and cried until the power of sight was gone. The victims of tubercular
disease, the scourge of North China, never fail to appear, some
evidently having fallen a prey to that form known as the "hundred days'
illness" which will carry off an apparently healthy subject in three
months.
At stated periods, children may be brought for vaccination. The method
of inoculation for the prevention of smallpox is said to have been
introduced into China by a philosopher of Szechwan, and has been
practised since the year 1014. Vaccination is now freely practised by
the Chinese doctors whose fees are generally 50 per cent. higher for
boys than for girls, the lives of the former being of so much greater
value.
The extraction of teeth is a popular diversion, and the tooth is
carefully preserved by the patient, in order that with the other earthly
remains it may be laid in the coffin on the day of her death.
Amongst the number are some whose diseases are hard to find, as in the
case of one family whose several members persistently reappeared with
such infinitesimal ailments that we felt compelled to tell them that no
further treatment was necessary. The answer we received was, that the
head of the house having become interested in Christianity had signified
to his wife his desire that she should be under treatment for a whole
year, in order that she might receive continued instruction in the
Scriptures. They thought the dispensary would serve as the best
face-saving subterfuge, therefore she said: "If there be nothing more
serious, will you wash my ears!"
Broadly speaking, the patients only recognise two categories of
illness--one described as "fire," and the other as "chill." Their chief
desire is for a diagnosis which shall clearly state under which heading
their particular ailment should be classified, and we often receive a
message to the effect that "inward fire" is causing trouble, and the
sufferer would like medicine such as was given to her on the tenth day
of the third moon, three years previously, which had wonderful
fire-extinguishing properties.
Having been accustomed to the Chinese doctor and his methods, our
patients, begging that the best may be done for them, assure the
helpers that merit will be accumulated by those who work towards this
end. All are surprised to find that a uniform fee is charged and that
there is no opportunity for bargaining, as the regular physician writes
prescriptions for first, second, or third-rate medicine, according to
the purse.
[Illustration: THE TEACHING STAFF.
(_See page 233._)
_To face page 228._]
The male and female principle in nature, by which all things are
produced and which has been called the "warp and woof of Chinese
thought," forms the basis of Chinese medical science, and every line of
treatment must be in accordance with the laws laid down by this
dualistic principle.
Unfortunately, many of the more nutritive articles of diet, such as the
fowl and the egg, are frequently denied to the sick woman as falling
under that principle which makes them unsuited to many of her illnesses,
and while it is admitted that sleep is essential to a sick man, the
female patient must not be allowed to indulge in it except at night.
Milk is renowned for its heating properties, and is most unwillingly
consumed by the tubercular patient, who believes her disease to fall
under the heading of "fire" and knows that anything so heating will only
feed the flame. Had pears, cooked or uncooked, been ordered she would
fully have appreciated the wisdom which prescribed them.
All these startling innovations are carefully and intelligently
explained by the dispensary helpers and normal students who take the
practical side of their course in First Aid, Home Nursing, and Invalid
Cookery, in the dispensary. Their labours have not been in vain, and the
presence of the Great Physician has often been manifest in the midst,
as weary, heart-sick women whose ills were beyond our help have found
healing and, touching the hem of His garment, been made perfectly whole.
As the patients scatter, the students impress afresh upon their memory
how, and in what quantity, the medicine should be taken. Only too often
the printed directions are entirely disobeyed, and the week's supply
swallowed in one dose, on the strength of that unanswerable argument
with which we wrestled in the days of childhood:
If one dose = improvement,
Twenty doses = x, _i.e._ complete cure.
FOOTNOTE:
[11] Sewing-machine.
A CASKET OF JEWELS
"Happy is she who hath believed that there shall
be a perfecting of the things which have been
spoken to her from the Lord!"--The Gospel
according to Luke.
"There is nothing more divine than the education
of children."--PLATO.
"The fate of empires depends upon the education of
children."--ARISTOTLE.
"Take heed that ye despise not--offend not--forbid
not--one of these little ones."--The Commandment
of Christ.