To be sure, of madness itself there are countless
varieties, with many causes and even dissimilar
names; for perversity, eccentricity, delirium, and
lunacy are not the same thing, but are all names
that signify whether one is more or less in the grip
of the disease. The causes, too, are of one sort
with men, another with women, and even among
men they are of one sort with the young and
different with the aged; for instance, with the young
usually excess of humours, whereas in the case of the
old, groundless prejudice and insensate anger against
members of the family, attacking them frequently,
disturbs them at first, then gradually deranges them
to the point of insanity. Women are affected by
many things which easily incline them to this
ailment, especially by excessive hatred of someone,
or jealousy of an enemy who is prospering, or grief of
some sort, or anger; these passions, slowly smouldering and acquiring strength in a long lapse of time,
produce madness.
 
That, father, is what has happened to your wife,
and it may be that something has grieved her recently, for she, of course, hated nothing at all. However that may be, she has a seizure, at all events, and
in the circumstances cannot be cured by a physician.
If anyone else should engage to do it, if anyone —
should relieve her, you may then hate me as offending


 

against you. Indeed, father, I shall not hesitate to
say further that even if her case were not so wholly
desperate, but some hope of saving her still were in
sight, even then I should not have undertaken her
case lightly or ventured to prescribe for her out of
hand, fearing mischance and the slanderous tongues
of the common sort. You are aware that everybody
thinks that all stepmothers entertain some hatred
of their stepsons, even if they are good women, and
that in this they suffer from a sort of insanity affecting women in common. Perhaps someone would
have suspected, if the ailment had gone badly and
the’ remedies had not been effective, that the treatment had been malevolent and treacherous.
 
As regards your wife, father, the case stands thus,
and I tell you so after careful observation—she will
never be better, even if she takes medicine a thousand
times. For that reason it is not proper to make any
attempt, unless you are trying to force me into sheer
failure and wish to give me a bad name. Let me
continue to be envied by my fellow-practitioners !
If, however, you disown me again, I certainly,
though totally alone in the world, will not pray that
any adversity may befall you; but what if (Heaven
forfend !) your affliction returns once more? Somehow it often happens that such afflictions, under
irritation, do recur. What shall I be required to do?
I will treat you even then, you may be sure, and
shall never desert the post which Nature has commanded sons to hold, nor ever, so far as in me lies,
forget my origin. And then, if you recover your
mind, may I expect you some day to take me back
again? Look! even now by these actions of yours
you are bringing on the disorder and provoking the

 

ailment. You have only just recovered from that
terrible plight, and yet you strain your lungs shouting; more than that, you are angry, you take to
hatred, and you invoke the laws. Ah, father, that
is the way your former seizure began!