"that we will do."
48 So the men spent the evening, and in the morning journeyed home. And The Old Fox went to work on The Book of The Law, forgetting all about the young man and his injury, until some days later, a servant again came to his door. "Master," he announced, "there are three men here to see you. One is the young man who was here before. The other two are a Healer and his young assistant. They desire greatly to speak to you."
49 The Old Fox entered The Temple, and the young man approached. "Lord," he explained, "this is the Surgeon Gray Serpent, and his assistant, Gray Boar. When I returned to my city, I happened to meet him and mentioned to him how you had treated the wound. He was curious to see how it was healing and offered to change the bandage. To our amazement, when he removed it, the wound was completely healed!
50 Now, he has tried your procedure of dressing wounds, and has been very pleased with it. He desires that you teach him more of The Lords Way of Healing."
51 The Healer fell to his kenes. "Oh, Great Teacher," he begged, "One of Supreme Wisdom. Share with me your magic!"
52 The Old Fox motioned him to get up. "Whatever The Lords will give me," he said, "I will tell you You do not have to beg. But I am very busy now, working on a special project. Stay with us. After evening meal and worship, I will sit with you, and what The Lords will tell me, that I will give you."
53 "You are blessed," cried The Healer, "blessed, indeed! We will be ready!"
54 So that evening after everyone else had left The Temple, The Old Fox sat before The Symbol Of The Lords with his three visitors facing him, the young assistant sitting with writing board, pen and ink ready to take down what was given.
55 "Now," requested The Old Fox, "ask me what you will, and The Lords will answer."
56 "I have always bathed wounds," explained the surgeon, "cleaned them as best I could, and bandaged them. But I have never had the results that I have had when I use your magic! What difference does boiling the rags make? What purpose does it serve?"
57 "It kills the germs," The Old Fox told him, "that live everywhere. They are like an invading army. When you put a dirty rag on an open wound, they enter the body and overwhelm it.
58 Parts of the body that were not injured by the wound are poisoned by these tiny animals and die. The body has soldiers to fight these animals, but sometimes their numbers are just too many and the body's soldiers are overwhelmed, and the body dies."
59 "Like The Green Rot?" asked the surgeon, "Or The Red Pus? These are caused by these germs, these tiny animals?"
60 "That is so," The Old Fox told him. "Spirit says the cleaner you make your workplace, the cleaner you make your instruments, the better your chances of a successful cure.
61 Your instruments should be washed every time you use them then put in boiling water for several minutes, then stored in a clean, tightly-sealed box. Your work area should be scrubbed every day with strong soap and rinsed with boiling water."
62 "These sound like simple things," the Surgeon answered, "but I will do them. Now sometimes," he continued, "I must cut very deep into someone, or do a lot of sewing, and the pain is often times too much for them to bear. And though I repair their wounds, their heart stops and they die. Is there any way, Lord, that this can be prevented?"
63 "There are several drugs," explained The Old Fox, "that can make a person sleep a deep sleep for a considerable amount of time. This sleep is so deep that they would feel no pain while you cut and sew.
64 I do not know precisely what these drugs are, but there is, in this city, a Healer, by the name of Roaring Turtle who has a great deal of knowledge in these things.
65 I have often heard it said that he desires to learn the ways of a Surgeon, so that he will not have to send away badly injured people, but heal them himself.
66 Now, if you were to join with him, and teach him the ways of the knife and needle, he would teach you the ways of the herb and the drug. And then, together, you could teach others."
67 "A Surgeon and a Herb Healer working together, combining their knowledge?" The Surgeon asked. "It's unheard of! Each type of Healer jealously guards their secrets, passing them on only to their apprentices, or selling them to other Healers."
68 "This is not as it should be," argued The Old Fox. "All Healers should share their knowledge. Their should be a School for Healers, just as there is a School for engineers and scribes. A Healer's task is to tend the sick and injured. By keeping secrets from one-another, you fail in that task."
69 "I have often thought that same thing," answered Gray Serpent. "But I have never found other Healers that agree with me. Perhaps this one you speak of will be the one I have so long sought. I will seek him out and see if we can accomplish what you suggest. Now, Lord, I have one further question.
70 There is one disease that has often troubled me. It starts as black areas on a person's body, that quickly spread. Wherever the dark areas appear, the skin there rots and dies, and sometimes the flesh beneath it. The patients often heal, but are left weak and scarred.
71 Sometimes I can slow the disease by removing the affected area, but it only reappears someplace else. Is there no solution, no magic that will stop this disease?"
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