{"id":20693,"date":"2022-10-13T08:30:26","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T12:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=20693"},"modified":"2022-10-12T21:39:35","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T01:39:35","slug":"sagas-among-the-arcana-the-plague-doctor-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2022\/10\/13\/sagas-among-the-arcana-the-plague-doctor-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Sagas Among the Arcana: The Plague Doctor, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post is a continuation of last week’s. You can read that here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t look like a doctor.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I am,\u201d it stresses.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

He imagines eyes rolling underneath that crow mask.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a plague doctor.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\n

The Two of Pentacles is Drawn \u2014 \u201ceconomy of action, caution\u201d<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Robert eventually relents and leads the \u201cplague doctor\u201d in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What a curious name,<\/span><\/i> he thinks. He tries to search deeper \u2014 recounting from old textbooks he may have read in school. <\/span>Why is it familiar? Is that an actual profession?<\/span><\/i> Not to mention that \u201cplague\u201d is such an archaic term \u2014 he knows that at least \u2014 no one has used it in centuries. Perhaps a \u201cplague doctor\u201d came from that time. <\/span>But how would their skill be different from a regular doctor?<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading the doctor up to his mother\u2019s room, Robert notices that the creature is somewhat shorter than him. It also has a heavy gait, which is likely the result of the too many robes that it wears.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They pause before Robert opens the door.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIs that what this all is? A plague?\u201d he questions carefully. His voice is so low, he doubts that he\u2019s even saying anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it hears him. \u201cWhat else would it be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It takes a step forward. A leathered glove reaches from underneath the robes, about to twist the door knob.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert quickly catches it in a tight grip. He expects it to turn into a taloned appendage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A minute passes. No one speaks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The doctor\u2019s hand shakes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can help them \u2014 whoever is sick.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert stares at the ground, refusing to look at the crow-like face. He feels pathetic \u2014 once again a boy taking scoldings from his mother.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHave you helped anyone else?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo. You will be the first.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He squeezes tighter, hoping it hurts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen how can I know your medicine works?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt will work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou could make her worse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIs it your mother that is sick?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he answers without thinking, then curses. <\/span>Shit.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMy medicine works especially well on women.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What a strange claim to make.<\/span><\/i> The thought makes Robert hesitate. <\/span>It feels like such a lie.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Yet, sacrificing caution, Robert believes it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He opens the door.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Two of Pentacles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

To be continued . . .\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is a continuation of last week’s. You can read that here. \u201cYou don\u2019t look like a doctor.\u201d \u201cOf course I am,\u201d it stresses. He imagines eyes rolling underneath that crow mask. \u201cI\u2019m a plague doctor.\u201d The Two of Pentacles is Drawn \u2014 \u201ceconomy of action, caution\u201d Robert eventually relents and leads the \u201cplague […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2257,"featured_media":19691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1257,778,1865],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20693"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2257"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20696,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20693\/revisions\/20696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}