Chapter 13 Xenophon (I)

 "Giorgis, help me hold down Acistus."

 "Helps, you fold the linen in the cool water and put it on his forehead. Then keep rubbing the sides of his neck with another linen cloth."

 "Xylos, you wring out a linen cloth scalded with boiling water and wipe around the wound."

 "Take the knife out of the boiling water and bring it back to the fire."

 When Davos took the knife, he hesitated. After all, the previous steps were common sense, as any modern man would do. But this wound was wedge-shaped and had to be opened and cleared. He had only asked the barefoot doctor to do this in his previous life when he had seen peasants injured in mountain villages, sometimes when the hospital was too far away.

 He gritted his teeth and said, "Giorgis press tight!" With that, he cut the skin with his knife.

 ...............

 "He's quieter!" Helps exclaimed in surprise.

 Davos wiped away the beads of sweat on his forehead with his hand, and looked at Acistus, who was no longer struggling hard, and secretly sighed with relief, "Insist on constantly wiping his forehead and neck with cool water, and ... keep an eye on the linen over the wounds, and if you find that it is again stained with pus, then do as I did before, and give him another Cleanse the wound ..."

 "Yes, Davos!" At the moment, Helps was as respectful as if Davos was his teacher.

 Davos glanced at the small scrap of wood removed from the depths of the wound on the floor, and a sense of accomplishment washed over him.

 He walked out of the house with Xellos and Georghis, and the anxiously waiting people outside swarmed around, asking about Acistus.

 "He's much better!" Giorgis said proudly.

 People let out cheers of amazement.

 Davos was busy saying, "Acistus is not yet out of danger, and these two days have been the most dangerous for him; he must fight the disease on his own. Helps will take care of him with all his might, as I have done."

 Davos added to Antonius, "Be sure to give your nephew plenty of water to drink, but remember not raw water, but water that has been boiled and allowed to cool. Also, when he is more awake, boil oatmeal porridge for him."

 "But he'll spit it out." Antonius said with difficulty.

 "Feed him again if he throws up. He's consumed too much and needs food to sustain him." Davos sighed and swept his eyes around the group before adding, "Ashestus needs to recuperate quietly, don't let anyone else in to disturb him. Keep the house ventilated and ideally build a fire to keep the air dry ..."

 Antonius took careful note of it, and at last could not resist asking again, "If everything is done right, will Acistus be well?"

 Davos was silent: in a previous life, a bottle of antibiotics would have solved the problem. But this was an obscurantist era with a lack of medicine, plus he was a two-timer himself.

 He couldn't make a definitive statement, except to say, "We do our best. In the end, it's up to him." Looking at the slightly admiring eyes of the crowd, he hurriedly excused himself.

 ............... ...

 "I'm sorry, I have to get back."

 "Just wait a little longer, Davos will be right back."

 Davos and the others returned to their quarters just as they saw Matonis yanking hard on a man.

 Seeing Davos, he shouted happily, "Hey Davos, you're finally back! I brought Xenophon for you!"

 Xenophon? Davos' eyes widened, and the man was watching him.

 In Davos' eyes: Xenophon was about thirty years of age, not very tall, with the usual Greek physiognomy of dark curly hair, a high nose, a country face, a thick bushy beard, and, more unusually, a rather broad forehead and soulful, searching eyes.

 Xenophon's heart was a little disappointed when he saw that Davos turned out to be a boyish older boy. Soon he realized what was so special about the young man: the men behind the young man, who were obviously older than him, were nevertheless flanking him as if they were following a chieftain, setting him apart from the rest.

 "Xenophon of Athens?" The young man asked

 "Right."

 "A student of Socrates?"

 "Exactly." Xenophon's curiosity intensified: he was an Athenian, and most of the people in his camp knew it. Socrates' students were known to only a few. Most of the Greeks on this expedition to Persia were from the poor of Ionia, Thessaly, and Thrace, with no money, no land, and no way to make a living, so they had come out to sell their lives to earn money, and of course, most of them were illiterate. Not to mention Xenophon, who was still a nobody, or even Socrates, who was a famous man in Greece, not many people knew about him.

 "Which teacher did you study under?" Xenophon asked busily.

 "I can't read a word of Greek." Davos said matter-of-factly.

 His answer made Xenophon freeze. The confident look on his face that illiteracy was no big deal actually made it difficult for Xenophon to muster a hint of contempt.

 "Davos, I made it a point to walk around the various camps today, and I heard that there was a Xenophon in Proxinus' camp, so I brought him to you, I think it's him, isn't it?" Martonius said as if inviting credit.

 "This companion of yours had to drag me here, and said that I was someone that some 'God's Favorite' was looking for by name, and said quite a bit about you along the way." Xenophon said with a wry smile.

 "Thank you, Matonis!" With nothing but gratitude in his heart for someone who took what he casually said to heart and tried to fulfill it, Davos added to Xenophon, "Martonis is a very passionate man, you'll be able to feel it after spending time with him."

 Matonis scratched his head in embarrassment.

 Xenophon caught on to Davos' euphemistic apology and shrugged, indicating that he didn't care, before staring at Davos and asking, "So is everything he said true? The Divine Favorite?"

 "What do you think? Will the gods still bless the Greeks in the land of the Persians?" Davos asked rhetorically.

 "Of course! No matter where we are, the gods and goddesses never abandon us!" Xenophon replied without thinking, "I was able to come here by Apollo's oracle as well."

 Xenophon's answer surprises Davos: isn't it true that the more knowledgeable a person is, the more they will believe in themselves and in atheism?

 He underestimated how much the Greeks worshipped their gods and goddesses and asked in amazement, "What's with the oracle of Apollo?"

 Xenophon recounted with slight excitement.

 Originally, six months ago, he received a letter invitation from his friend Proxenus in Athens, in which Proxenus told Xenophon that the Persian prince Cyrus the Younger was a great man, full of goodwill to the Greeks, and recruited talented Greeks to do work for him, and that he had already accepted Cyrus the Younger's recruitment, inviting Xenophon to go to Asia Minor to help him, and promising to recommend Xenophon to this Persian prince.

 At that time, Athens had just ended the brutal rule of the "Thirty Tyrants" supported by Sparta, and the democrats adopted a moderate policy to restore the order of the city-state, and at the same time reached a reconciliation with Sparta. The peace and quiet of Athens made the young Xenophon want to go to Asia Minor to increase his knowledge and broaden his horizons, but he was a bit hesitant, so he consulted his teacher Socrates. Because it was with the help of Cyrus the Younger that Sparta defeated Athens, and because he feared that Xenophon's association with Cyrus the Younger would be punished by the Athenian government, Socrates sent him to Delphi to ask for an oracle.

 Xenophon inquired of the god Apollo to whom he should make offerings and prayers to succeed in accomplishing the journey he had in mind, and who would surely return home in safety. The oracle told him the name of the god, and after making offerings to the designated god, he set sail for Asia Minor and joined Proxenus.

 "What is the name of the god given to you by the Oracle of Delphi?" Oliverus, who was listening, asked impatiently.

 Xenophon looked at Davos and said, slowly and clearly, "Ha-di-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee!" .