I had
a granddaughter; she also--" Here the old woman broke down, and
began to whine like a cat.
The doctor asked, "What has happened to you?"
Without answering this question, the woman began to relate the history
of her life; and when, amid much crying, she had finished, the doctor
again asked, "What do you want now? What has happened to you?" Again
she began the unequalled story of her life; but the doctor showing
much impatience, she changed it for that of Hira, of Hira's mother,
and Hira's husband.
With much difficulty the doctor at last arrived at her meaning, to
which all this talking and crying was quite irrelevant. The old woman
desired some medicine for Hira. Her complaint, she said, was a species
of lunacy. Before Hira's birth, her mother had been mad, had
continued so for some time, and had died in that condition. Hira had
not hitherto shown any sign of her mother's disorder; but now the old
woman felt some doubts about her. Hira would now laugh, now weep, now,
closing the door, she would dance. Sometimes she screamed, and
sometimes became unconscious. Therefore her grandmother wanted
medicine for her. After some reflection the doctor said, "Your
daughter has hysteria.
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