English Original
An old man, finding himself ill, sent for a physician, who prescribed for him and went away.
Then the old man sent for another physician, saying nothing of the first, and an entirely different treatment was ordered.
This continued for some weeks, the physicians visiting him on alternate days and treating him for two different disorders, with constantly enlarging doses of medicine and more and more rigorous nursing. But one day they accidentally met at his bedside while he slept, and a violent quarrel ensued when the truth came out.
"My good friends," said the patient, awakened by the noise of the dispute and apprehending the cause of it, "pray be more reasonable. If I could for weeks endure you both, can you not for a little while endure each other? I have been well for ten days, but have remained in bed in the hope of gaining by repose the strength that would justify me in taking your medicines. So far I have touched none of it."
中文翻译
一位老人生病了，派人请来一位医生。医生为他开了处方后便离开了。
随后，老人又请来了另一位医生，对第一位医生只字未提，结果得到了完全不同的治疗方案。
这种情况持续了好几周。两位医生隔日轮流上门，按照两种不同的病症为他治疗，药量不断加大，护理也愈发严格。然而有一天，老人睡着时，两位医生意外地在他的病榻前相遇了。真相大白，一场激烈的争吵随之爆发。
"我的好朋友们，"病人被争吵声惊醒，明白了缘由后说道，"请理智一些。如果我能忍受你们两人数周之久，你们难道就不能彼此容忍片刻吗？我的病已经好了十天了，但我仍卧床不起，是希望通过休养恢复体力，好有理由服用你们的药。不过，到目前为止，我一点药都没碰过。"