Chapter 50 Fifty

I think some people are born in a certain place, so to speak, they don't deserve it.Chance throws them into a random environment, but they always miss a hometown that they don't know where it is.They are strangers in their birthplace; the leafy lanes they have known so well from childhood, the populous streets in which they play with their companions, are to them but a place of passage.They may spend their whole lives aliens among their kindred and remain aloof among the only scenes they have ever known.Perhaps it is this strangeness in the native land that compels them to travel to foreign lands in search of a permanent residence.Perhaps in the depths of their hearts still lurked the habits and inclinations of so many generations ago, calling these wanderers back to the lands their ancestors left in ancient times.Sometimes a man stumbles upon a place and feels mysteriously that this is exactly where he lives, the home he has been looking for.So he settled down in these unseen scenes and among strangers, as if everything here was familiar to him since he was a child.Here at last he found peace.

I told Tiare a story about a man I knew at St Thomas' Hospital.This is a Jew named Abraham.He was a blond, stocky young man.She is shy and kind, but very talented.He was enrolled on a scholarship, and during the five years of study, as long as he had the opportunity to apply for any kind of scholarship, no one else would take it.He was first a resident physician and later a resident surgeon.No one does not recognize his extraordinary talent.At last he was elected to the governing body, and his future was assured.According to the inferences of the world, he will definitely become famous and rich in his own career.Before taking office he wanted a vacation; and as he had no money of his own he took a position as a doctor on a tramp bound for the Mediterranean.There is usually no doctor on this kind of freighter, but because there is a senior surgeon in the hospital who knows the manager of a shipping company that runs this route, the freighter hired Abraham because of the manager's affection.

A few weeks later, hospital leaders received a resignation letter, and Abraham declared his decision to relinquish the envied position.This incident made people feel extremely surprised, and all sorts of strange rumors spread like wildfire.Whenever a man does something unexpected, his acquaintances invent for him the most incredible motives.But since someone was ready to fill the void he left, Abraham was soon forgotten.No one ever heard from him again.The man just disappeared from people's memory. About ten years later, I once took a boat to Alexandria [note: in Egypt. 】.One morning before landing, I was told to line up with other passengers and wait for the doctor to come on board to check my body.The doctor who came was a poorly dressed and stout man.When he took off his hat, I found that the man's hair was completely bald.I felt as if I had seen him somewhere before.Suddenly, I remembered.

abraham.I shouted. He turned his head, a look of surprise on his face.After a while, he also recognized me and immediately held my hand.After we had both marveled at each other, he invited me to supper at the British Club when he heard that I was going to spend the night in Alexandria.After our meeting, I expressed again that meeting him in this place was beyond my expectation.His current position is rather lowly, and his impression is very shabby.After that he told me his story.When he set off on a holiday in the Mediterranean, his whole thought was to go back to London again and take up his duties at St. Thomas' Hospital.One morning the freighter he was on docked in Alexandria, and from the deck he watched the sunlit white city and the crowds on the pier.He saw the natives in rags, the Negroes from the Sudan, the noisy crowds of Greeks and Italians, the Turks in their turkey caps, he saw the sun and the blue sky. Sky.At this moment, a strange change occurred in his state of mind, and he couldn't describe what happened.The incident happened very suddenly, according to him, like a thunderbolt on a sunny day; but he felt that this analogy was not appropriate, so he changed his words and said that he seemed to have received some inspiration.His heart seemed to be pulled by something.Suddenly, he felt a surge of ecstasy, a sense of infinite freedom.He felt as if he had returned to his hometown, and he made up his mind then and there that he would spend the rest of his life in Alexandria.There was no difficulty in getting off the freighter; twenty-four hours later he was ashore with all his belongings.

The captain must think you are crazy.I said with a smile. I don't care what other people think.It was not me who did this, but a force in my body far stronger than my own will.When I got ashore, I looked around, thinking I was going to a small hotel owned by a Greek; I thought I knew where to find it.guess what?I walked to the front of this hotel without any difficulty, and I recognized the place as soon as I saw it. Have you been to Alexandria in the past? No.I had never left the UK before this trip abroad. Before long, he found a job at a public hospital, where he has remained ever since.

Have you never regretted it? there has never been.Didn't regret it for a minute.I earn just enough to live on, but I feel content.I don't ask for anything, I just want to live like this until I die.I live very well. I left Alexandria the next day, and I did not think about Abraham again until a short while ago.That was me with another old friend who was a doctor, Alec.When Carl Mikael had dinner together.Carl Mikael was back in England for a short break and I happened to meet him on the street.He did a great job in the Great War and was knighted.I congratulated him.We made an appointment to spend an evening together and catch up with each other.I promised to have dinner with him, and he suggested not inviting others so that we could have an undisturbed conversation.He had an old house in Queen Ann Street, which was very elegantly furnished, for he was a man of great taste.I saw a painting by Bellotto[Note] on the wall of the dining room, and two works by Giovanni[Note] that I admired.When his wife, a tall, pleasant-looking woman in gold, left us, I smiled and told him how much his life had changed since we were medical students. big.In those days we considered a meal in a shabby Italian restaurant in Westminster Bridge Street to be a luxury.Alec now.Carl Mikael holds important positions in half a dozen large hospitals, and I estimate that he can earn ten thousand pounds a year.Being knighted this time is just the first honor he will enjoy sooner or later.

【Note】Bernardo.Bellotto: (1720︱1780), Italian painter of the Venetian School. 【Note】John.Zofani: (1733︱1810), a British painter born in Germany. I'm doing pretty well, he said, but oddly enough, it's all down to a stroke of luck. I don't understand what you mean? don't know?Do you remember Abraham?It should have been him who should have made great achievements.As a student, he beat me down everywhere.Be it bonuses or stipends, he took them away from me;If he goes on like this, my position is his now.He is a genius at surgery.No one can compete with him.When he was appointed registrar of St. Thomas Affiliated Medical College, I had absolutely no hope of entering the governing body.I can only practice as a doctor, and you know how likely it is for an ordinary medical practitioner to jump out of this slot.But Abraham stepped aside, and I took his place.This gave me the opportunity to step up.

I think what you say is true. It's all luck.I think Abraham must be mentally abnormal.There's nothing to save the poor man.He got a little job as a quarantine officer or something at the Alexandria health department.I was told that he lived with an ugly old Greek woman, and had half a dozen pups with leprosy.So I think the question is not whether a person is smart or not, what really matters is personality.What Abraham lacked was personality. personality?It seems to me that it takes a strong personality to be willing to throw away a life's career after only half an hour's consideration because one sees a greater significance in another way of life.If you take this step rashly and never regret it later, you need more personality.But I didn't say anything.Alec.Carl Mikael continued to meditate and said:

Of course, I would be hypocritical if I pretended to regret what Abraham did.Anyway, it was precisely because he took such a step that I took advantage of it.He was smoking a long Corona Havana, puffing comfortably.But I should feel sorry for his squandering his talents if the matter had nothing to do with me personally.It hurts so much for a man to spoil himself like that. I very much doubt that Abraham really spoiled himself.Doing what you want to do most, living in the environment you love, being indifferent and peaceful, and not contending with the world, is this ruining yourself?On the contrary, to be a famous surgeon with an annual salary of ten thousand pounds and marry a beautiful wife is success?I think it all depends on how a person sees the meaning of life, on what he thinks he owes to society and what is required of himself.But still I said nothing; who am I to argue with a Sir?