An ignorant doctor was treating a sick man. All the other doctors declared that the patient was in no danger, but that his illness would be slow to cure; only the ignorant one told him to put all his affairs in order, for he would not live past the next day. Then he withdrew. After some time, the patient got up and went out, pale and walking with difficulty. Our doctor met him: "Good day," he said, "how are the folk of the underworld?" "They are at peace," he replied, "because they have drunk the water of Lethe. But lately Death and Hades were making terrible threats against all the doctors, because they do not let the sick die, and they were listing them all in a register. They were going to list you too; but I threw myself at their feet, begging them, and swore that you were no true doctor, and that you had been accused without cause."
Fine words cannot compensate for a doctor's lack of skill.
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