Chapitre 23: Chapter 23: Don’t take medicine randomly
"What do you mean?" The chief guarding the tent looked directly at Ma Shao, his voice filled with suppressed anger.
Ma Shao also felt that he was a little drunk just now, but since that was the case, he might as well speak out his thoughts and let the tribe members resist alcoholism.
He took a deep breath, walked up to the four chiefs, and said, "Strong liquor cannot be consumed in large quantities, especially for the injured. Drinking will only make it difficult for their wounds to heal."
The Apaches had naturally never heard of such a statement. When they heard it, they couldn't help but talk about it and were all skeptical.
"Drinking alcohol can make wounds difficult to heal, is this true or not..."
"That's not right. When you were bandaging me yesterday, you said that strong liquor could heal the wound. Why do you say something different today?"
Upon hearing this, Ma Shao repeated what he had just said to Chang Gun: "Rinsing the wound with strong liquor before bandaging it can indeed have a therapeutic effect, but drinking the liquor will not have this effect. It's like a bandage. If you eat a bandage, it will only give you a stomachache."
"Who told you this?" The chief guarding the tent asked, his voice still full of anger.
Ma Shao hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "My father told me."
In fact, given the Indians' cognitive level and traditional beliefs, it is most convenient to attribute the source of this advanced knowledge to revelation from the gods.
Ma Shao also knows this.
But as a physics teacher from the 21st century, he has an instinctive resistance to such things as playing tricks.
So after a brief thought, he could only blame it on his father who had passed away long ago. After all, there was no evidence and it was up to him to decide how to praise his own father.
But just as he finished speaking, a perhaps strange thought suddenly popped up in his mind... Is this considered ancestor worship?
Never mind.
"When I was a child, my father told me that he was once injured and his wound was stained with mud. He only had a bag of liquor with him, so he had to bear the pain and use the liquor to clean the wound. As a result, he unexpectedly discovered that after washing with the liquor, the wound healed much faster." Ma Shao spoke slowly as he made up the story.
After hearing this, everyone was unsure whether it was true or not, but this story sounded quite reasonable, and there was a burst of discussion.
At this time, Chiricahua Chief Oak suddenly said, "Drinking alcohol will slow down the healing of wounds. Who told you that?"
"…It's still my father." Ma Shao began to tell the story again. "At first, he thought that drinking alcohol could have the same therapeutic effect, and pouring alcohol on the wound was so painful, so he drank a lot when he was injured again. Unexpectedly, his wound became worse."
There was silence at first.
Then suddenly someone shouted, "I just drank some wine, why didn't the wound get worse? Are you lying to us?"
Ma Shao turned to look at the person who was speaking and said, "Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, just drink more and you'll know. As long as you promise to drink a bag of liquor a day, I'll give you all nine bags of liquor. If you get killed, don't come looking for me."
The wine awarded as a reward for military merit was in large wine bags, one bag was estimated to be two liters, about four pounds. Drinking four pounds of strong liquor every day for nine consecutive days, let alone being injured, even if you were not injured, drinking like this would definitely lead to death.
The man was not stupid: "Who can drink so much!"
Ma Shao looked at everyone and said, "You all know that people can't drink so much alcohol. But have you ever thought about why everyone can drink a big bag of juice every day, but no one can drink a big bag of liquor every day?"
People looked at each other, obviously unable to put it into words.
"Why?" Some people really want to know the answer.
Ma Shao continued to speak to himself: "Because juice is a kind of food, and wine is a kind of medicine."
"medicine!"
"There are two kinds of things that people eat: food and medicine. The characteristic of food is that there is no limit on the amount. People can eat as much food as their stomachs can. But medicine is just the opposite. Medicine must have a limit on the amount. Some medicines should not even be taken into the stomach." Ma Shao went on to say, "People cannot drink alcohol to fill their stomachs, which shows that alcohol is a medicine."
After a pause, he continued, "Since it is a medicine, you must not take it carelessly. Taking it carelessly will cause bad consequences, such as dizziness and vomiting..."
It may not be appropriate to explain alcohol as a medicine, and Ma Shao's expression also makes a circular argument. But he feels that only by explaining it this way can the Indians intuitively realize the irrationality of alcoholism.
After all, Indians do have a certain understanding of the idea that "medicines should not be taken randomly".
After hearing this explanation, many people present felt that it made sense, and the more they thought about it, the more it made sense.
"It turns out that alcohol is a kind of medicine. No wonder I feel so uncomfortable when I drink too much..."
"I've long felt that I shouldn't drink so much. You would rather drink until you vomit than believe me. Now you believe me, right?" Of course, there are also people in India who oppose alcoholism, and they suddenly felt confident.
"You're right. You really shouldn't drink so much."
"Hmm... But forget it this time. I've already drunk half of it. Let's finish the rest as well."
"That's right, finish drinking it this time."
Although Ma Shao's words made many tribesmen realize the wrongness of alcoholism, there is always a gap between cognition and action. Even though they understand that alcoholism is wrong, some people still can't resist the urge to drink and drink the remaining wine.
"This is the last time, I won't drink anymore!" the drunkards said with certainty.
Ma Shao felt relieved. Although there was still a long way to go to truly eradicate the alcoholic culture, at least there was a start.
The tribesmen already had some awareness of alcoholism, and he believed that this awareness would spread among all Indians.
"I think what he said makes sense. Drinking is not a good thing. I even heard that some people died from it." Chief Oak also agreed with Ma Shao's idea. After thinking for a while, he put down the wine bag and said, "Let's not drink anymore."
The chiefs of the Mescalero and Jicarilla tribes also nodded and put down the liquor in their hands.
The chief guarding the tent still had a sullen face. He wanted to drink, but that was not the most important thing. He cared more about his dignity as a chief.
But now almost everyone agreed with Ma Shao's opinion, so he couldn't get angry.
After a long silence, the man guarding the tent finally got up and left without saying a word.
Ma Shao naturally felt very embarrassed as he had just received nine eagle feathers from the great chief but their relationship became strained the next moment.
He wanted to make amends, but the chief didn't give him a chance and walked away without even looking at him.
Fortunately, at this time, the high priest of the Plains Tribe came over on a rainy day and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I will persuade him."
"Thank you, High Priest." Ma Shao was a little surprised, but still thanked him.
Rainy Day waved his hand and said, "Actually, I don't agree with drinking either. I think being drunk looks terrible, but the chief likes to drink, and I haven't found a good enough reason to stop people from drinking."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone