A man entered the house of a doctor in the early morning and asked to see him, saying that he was in a state in which he could not wait a single minute. The servant informed his master the doctor of the visitor's insistence; the doctor hurried into his clothes and then gave leave for him to enter. The doctor studied the man as he came toward him, and saw his hand wrapped in a bandage bound up to his neck, pallor and agitation plain upon his face. He invited him to sit and asked what ailed him. The man let out a sigh that told of the pain he was in, and answered: "I have not been able to sleep for a week. The pain in my right hand has robbed me of it — a pain whose cause I do not know to this hour. It may come of some dangerous disease, cancer, say, or another like it; and it grows from one minute to the next. So I hastened to come to you, and I hope you will deliver me from this excruciating pain, even if it should mean cutting off my hand or even burning it." The doctor took his hand and examined it, then said: "I see no need to perform any operation on it..."

The man started and cut him short: "No, no — you must perform the operation, for I want to be rid of this pain, and nothing but the operation will save me. And I beg you not to be astonished that there is no wound of any kind; the case is not a natural one." The doctor assured him that many such cases had passed before him and that he was not in the habit of being dumbfounded by them. Then he looked at the hand a second time and satisfied himself of its soundness; whereupon he asked him where he felt the pain. The man pointed to a round spot between two large veins — but he snatched his hand back when the doctor stretched out his own and touched it with a fingertip. The doctor wondered at this and asked: "Is this the place of the pain?"

"Yes!"

"And did you feel the pain when I put my finger on it?"

The man did not answer; the tears that streamed abundantly from his eyes answered for him. The doctor was silent a moment, then said: "Yours is a strange case, my man. I can see nothing in your hand!"

"Nor can I. But the pain is there, and I would rather die than leave your house without the operation."

The doctor took up the magnifying glass and examined the hand through it with all care, then took his temperature, and found his condition entirely natural. No swelling, no redness, nothing to indicate any wound or disease in it. Then his suspicions that the man was mad began to waken. He advised him to wait until

the next day, when perhaps he could help him. The patient refused any delay in performing the operation, saying that he could not endure a single minute. Then he assured him that he was speaking in full possession of his mind, and asked him to cut the part where he had shown the pain to be, down to the bone. The doctor refused.

"But why refuse?"

"Because I see no need of it."

"You mean that I am mad? Or that I am trying to deceive you?" Then he took out a large sum of money, set it before him on the table, and said:

"The matter is important enough to me that I will pay you whatever fee you ask. Please, begin the operation."

"I will not, though you gave me all the money on earth! I will not operate on a sound limb."

"And why not?"

"Because the world would mock you and think you a fool, and laugh at me for operating on a wound that does not exist."

Then the man took a small knife from his pocket and rolled up his shirtsleeve, and before the doctor could stop him he drew it across his hand, making a deep cut.

"Enough!" the doctor cried, seizing his hand for fear he would sever one of its veins. The man said:

"Since you will not perform it, I will."

Then the doctor completed the operation the man had begun with his own hand, until he had opened a wound where the man had said the pain was. The man sighed, and signs of relief appeared on his face, as though a heavy burden had been lifted from him. The doctor said:

"Has the pain gone now?"

"Yes — but please, let the blood flow; it eases me."

After the wounds were dressed, the man shook the doctor's hand in thanks, pleasure showing on his face, and said:

"Thank you; you have given me back my rest." And he departed.

Three weeks passed, and then the patient returned. He came in to the doctor with his hand bound up to his neck, the marks of exhaustion on his face and his brow damp with cold sweat, and threw himself into a chair

there, then held out his hand to the doctor without saying a word. The doctor was astonished and said:

"What has happened to you — is there