Chapter 13: Xenophon (1)

“Giorgris, help me restrain Asistes.”

“Herpus, soak the linen in the cold water and put it on his forehead, then wiped the sides of his neck with another linen.”

“Hielos, you wring out the linen that has been boiled and cleanly wipe his wound.”

“Take the knife out of the boiling water and heat it on the fire.”

When Davos took the knife, he hesitated. After all, the previous steps were common sense, which modern people can do. But the wound is a wedge shaped and must be opened and debrided. He only saw peasants getting injured in the mountain village in his previous life, sometimes the hospital is too far away and just let the barefoot doctor[1] do it.

He gritted his teeth and said: “Giorgris restrain him tightly!” After saying that, he cut the skin with a knife.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“He had gotten quiet!” Herpus exclaimed in surprise.

Davos wiped the sweat on his forehead with his hand and looked at Asistes, who was no longer struggling and sighed in relief: “Keep wiping his forehead and neck with cold water, and… pay attention to the linen on his wound. If you find that it is covered with pus, follow my previous method and give him another debridement…”

“Okay, Davos!” At this moment, Herpus’ attitude became more respectful, and treat Davos similar to his teacher

Davos glanced at the small piece of wood on the ground that got taken out deeply inside the wound and felt a sense of achievement.

He went out of the room with Hielos and Giorgris, and the people waiting outside anxiously rushed up to ask about Asistes.

“He is much better!” Giorgris said proudly.

People cheered in surprise.

Davos said busily: “Asistes is not out of danger yet, these two days are the most dangerous time for him, he must rely on himself to fight against his illness. Herpus will take care of him according to my method.”

Davos said to Antonios: “Make sure to give your nephew plenty of water, but remember to not make him drink raw water, the water must be boiled then cooled down. In addition, when he wakes up, cook an oatmeal for him.”

“But he will spit it out.” Antonios said awkwardly.

“If he vomits, then feed him again. He consumed too much and needs food to replenish it.” Davos sighed and glanced at the people around him and said, “Asistes needs a quiet place to recover, don’t let other people go in to disturb him. Keep the room ventilated, and it is better to dry the air with fire…”

Antonios seriously remembered it and finally couldn’t help but asked a question: “If everything is done, will Asistes be fine?”

Davos is silent, if it is in his previous life, a bottle of antibiotics would solve the problem. But this is a primitive age in which there are few doctors and medicines, and he himself is not an expert.

He couldn’t make a conclusion and could only say: “We did our best. It now depends on him.” He hurriedly left after seeing the eyes of the people that slightly revering him.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Sorry, I have to go back.”

“Hold on, Davos will be back soon.”

When Davos and the others returned to their place, they saw Matonis dragging someone.

When he saw Davos, he shouted happily: “Hey, Davos, you’re finally back! I brought Xenophon for you!”

Xenophon? ! Davos’ eyes widened, and the man was looking at him.

In Davos’ eyes: Xenophon is around 30 years old, he is not very tall and has the common features of Greeks, black curly hair, high bridge nose, square face, thick beard, and in particular, a fairly wide forehead and a pair of smart and perceptive eyes.

When Xenophon saw that Davos was a childish boy, he was somewhat disappointed. Soon he found something special about this young man, the people behind him who are obviously older than him, surrounded him like he is their leader and made him distinct.

“Xenophon of Athens?” asked the young man.

“Yes.”

“Student of Socrates?”

“That’s right.” Xenophon was even more curious, everyone in his camp knows that he is Athenian, but only few people knows that he is a student of Socrates. Most of the Greeks who came to Persia are from the poor people of Ionia, Thessaly, and Thrace. They had no money, no land, and could hardly make a living, they can only come out to sell their lives to earn money, and of course, most of them are illiterate. Not to mention Xenophon, who is still a nobody, even the famous Socrates of Greece, not many people know of him.

“Which teacher did you learn from?” Xenophon asked.

“I haven’t studied Greek.” Davos said.

His answer stunned Xenophon. His self-confidence on his illiteracy made it difficult for Xenophon to develop a trace of contempt.

“Davos, today I went to various camps for a walk, I heard that there is a Xenophon in the camp of Proxenus, so I brought him to you, is it him?” Matonis said as if asking for a praise.

“Your companion insisted on dragging me over and telling me that the ‘God’s Favored’ is looking for me, and said a lot of things about you along the way.” Xenophon said with a forced smile.

“Thank you, Matonis!” For a person who kept his casual words in  his mind and worked hard to accomplish them, Davos has only gratitude in his heart, he then said to Xenophon: “Matonis is a very enthusiastic person, you can feel it if you have been with him for a long time.”

Matonis scratched his embarrassingly.

Xenophon understood Davos’ roundabout apology, he shrugged his shoulders and said that he didn’t care, he then stared at Davos and asked: “So everything he said about God’s Favored is true?”

“What do you think? Will the gods bless the Greeks in Persian land?” Davos asked.

“Of course! No matter where we are, the gods will never abandon us!” Xenophon answered without thinking: “I can come here was also under Apollo’s oracle.”

Xenophon’s answer surprised Davos, isn’t the more knowledgeable a person is, the more they believe on themselves and atheism?

He underestimated the extent to which the Greeks worshiped the gods and asked with amazement: “What is the oracle of Apollo?”

Xenophon spoke with a slight excitement.

It turned out that six months ago, in Athens, he received an invitation from a friend, Proxenus, in the letter, Proxenus told Xenophon that the Persian prince is a great man and sincere to the Greeks, he handed the recruitment of talented Greek to him, he has accepted the recruitment of Cyrus the Younger and invited Xenophon to help him in Asia Minor, and promised to recommend Xenophon to the Persian prince.

At that time, Athens had just ended the Spartan-supported tyrannical rule of the “The Thirty Tyrants[2]”. 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 of Athens made the young Xenophon want to increase his knowledge and broaden his horizons in Asia Minor, but he hesitated. For it was with the help of Cyrus the Younger that allowed Sparta to defeat Athens, fearing of getting punished by the Athenian government for Xenophon’s association with Cyrus the Younger, Socrates then sent him to Delphi to ask the gods.

Xenophon asked Apollo, which God he would offer his pray in order for him to successfully accomplish this journey and allow him to return home safely? The oracle told him the name of the god, and only after offering a sacrifice to the god designated by the oracle, did he set sail to Asia Minor and joined Proxenus’ troops.

“Which god did the oracle of Delphi said?” Olivos who was listening and couldn’t wait to ask.

Xenophon looked at Davos and said slowly and clearly: “H-a-d-e-s!”

[1] Barefoot Doctor – a nickname for part-time paramedical worker in rural areas trained in simple techniques of diagnosis and treatment.

[2] Thiry Tyrants were a pro-Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC. .

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