Episode 78: Pain [1]
Killian, the rough sailor from Ireland, was screaming wildly like a frightened child. I didn’t exactly think he was a coward. After all, once you became an adult, the thought of being naked in front of others, even if they were fully clothed and you didn’t know them, was still pretty unsettling.
Plus, there was that mercury…
Wow… I don’t think I can watch this anymore.
I had seen mercury thermometers before. I wasn’t sure what they looked like just before I came back, but when I was young in Korea, mercury thermometers were common.
But this…
“Ugh, uhhh! Help me! This… You want me to drink this?”
“There’s also an injection method, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Jémel poured the mercury, a heavy metal that looked like liquid silver, into a cup with an indifferent expression. Honestly, it was more like: “Open your mouth. Here comes the mercury.”
“Ugh, ugh! Oh my God! You people are crazy!”
“I don’t know who’s going to do it. Who’s this man, sleeping around even though he has syphilis? Catch him!”
I didn’t know why, but the assistants in this era had probably worked as police officers in their past lives. They were professionals at tying people up. It was just that there were no delirium patients in the ICU to deal with here.
“Eep, eep! Hold his nose. Open his mouth.”
Killian struggled, but soon he was on his knees with his limbs bound. If Liston had meant to do it, a single strike of his blade could have severed Killian’s head, but thankfully, no one did that. Instead, they forced his mouth open and poured the mercury down his throat.
Am I crazy? My brain is being pickled in the nineteenth century.
Fortunately, the worst was avoided. The amount of mercury was significantly smaller than what the previous patient had been given. That earlier patient was in the terminal stage, stage-three syphilis, while this one had stage two, so it seemed like they were attempting to slow the condition. I didn’t know if it would have any effect, but at least this patient probably had more time.
I guess I’ll have to go to the condom factory after work today…
Now that we had gathered some sizes, wasn’t it time to see results? Besides, I actually had to visit the chemist today. If Blundell was going to attend a social event, we needed to prepare. Of course, my goal wasn’t to actually use the condoms.
He’s the only chemist I know… We should talk about arsenic compounds.
It was more likely that this would lead nowhere. Rubber could be processed into something useful, but arsenic compounds were a completely different matter. If I recalled correctly, Ehrlich had identified the bacteria targeted by arsenic compound number 606, Salvarsan. His experiments probably tested whether the syphilis bacteria would die or not. Or maybe they killed syphilis by accident while trying to kill other germs. Either way, it felt out of sync with this era.
And let’s buy some bread and let it rot. Blue mold… Let’s try making penicillin.
I also decided to begin experiments with penicillin. Honestly, it wasn’t something I wanted to do. Mold was also an infectious agent if it entered the wrong place. People with low immunity would be at risk if it was used incorrectly. I didn’t think I could do it myself, but after seeing mercury given to someone who could be cured with a common twenty-first-century drug, I felt I had to try, even if it meant trial and error.
“Ooh, ooh ooh ooh!”
Meanwhile, mercury slowly flowed down Killian’s throat. Heavy metals entering the body… In our time, even small amounts caused uproar. These nineteenth-century doctors really were insane.
“Ooh ooh!”
“It’s useless. Mercury is heavy and liquid. It’s probably already in there. Haha.”
Killian belatedly tried to trigger his gag reflex with his fingers, but it was no use.
“And if you vomit, I’ll make you swallow it again.”
Jémel’s threat was terrifyingly realistic. He could easily force Killian to take mercury many more times. Maybe people back then were just more insensitive to pain… In this case, Killian was actually being treated as a criminal. After the Geneva Declaration, even enemies had to be treated humanely, but back then, war crimes weren’t really a concept.
“Do you have to take this every day?”
“Yes? Impossible! This… this is poison!”
“Shut up.”
Look at that. Even Liston, who invented Liston’s knife to ease patients’ pain, was told to shut up.
“Uh… I’ll have to monitor his progress. I’ll decide while watching, but why?”
“Oh, I have to tie him up. If he runs off, who knows what trouble he’ll cause.”
“Why not just cut it off?”
“Ah.”
Don’t put on a brave face! Cut what off, you crazy people! Even I, a complete outsider, got goosebumps. What did Killian think?
“Ah… no…”
It seemed like Killian was already panicking, but he passed out on his own. Even I would faint if someone told me I would be given mercury and then have my limbs chopped off. I secretly patted Killian’s shoulder to comfort him.
Then again… this syphilis bastard did make fun of me…
Of course, as I patted him, I remembered what he had done wrong, so I hit him a little harder.
Sorry, Killian. I guess I’m a nineteenth-century doctor who can’t help it.
Drip.
Following Liston’s orders, we dragged Killian toward the amputation ward.
“Ugh, ugh!”
“Help me!”
As always, the ward was filled with screams.
Even though I had heard it many times, I still couldn’t get used to it. It gave me goosebumps all over again.
“Hup. Hell… Is this hell?”
“It’s a hospital, you bastard.”
The patient woke up, looked around helplessly, and muttered something about hell. Liston seemed aggrieved for some reason. Maybe because all the branches were cut off?
From what I could see, if a few demons were released here, it would become hell even without anything else.
Even Dante would rewrite Pilgrim’s Progress if the phrase “Let all who enter here give up hope” were placed outside this hospital room. Honestly, Pilgrim’s Progress would be far better than what was happening here. I was saying this after witnessing real hell.
“Hey, Pyeong. What are you doing? You need to tie him up.”
“Ah… yes, yes.”
Somehow, I found myself playing the Grim Reaper.
“Please save me. I’m like this… Please, don’t leave me here!”
The pleading patient’s arms and legs were tied to a bed that wasn’t very wide. I noticed pus here and there, probably from infected wounds.
“Should I gag him? It’s so noisy.”
“Yes…?”
Liston made a gag. You’re crazy. If you’re going to do that, leave all of them here. To be honest, Killian was the quietest one!
“Anyway, let’s go. We are heroes.”
“Please help me!”
Heroes? No matter how you looked at it, they looked like villains themselves…
“Ah, Professor Blundell.”
Since I was now a nineteenth-century doctor, I could stop thinking about Killian as soon as we left the room.
“Huh? Why stop?”
I was never a particularly bad person. Look at Blundell, with that peaceful face. Liston was still talking about the gag, but I let that slide.
“You should get a condom.”
“No… why say that in such a public place?”
“I’m giving it to you for free. Don’t you like it? This size fits you perfectly… no, they say it’s appropriate. I’ll give you some other sizes too, so you can share them with the people you meet.”
“Is this person getting worse?”
Blundell frowned but stayed.
“So, when are you going?”
He asked me instead. Back then, people were honest about their desires. Liston probably wanted to see what was going on behind the scenes too. It wouldn’t be hard, since they came in different sizes.
“I’m leaving now. Anyway, that patient already took the mercury, so there’s nothing else to do, right?”
Acute mercury poisoning could cause vomiting or headaches, but what was the point of knowing that? These people, and I, were just unlucky patients who couldn’t receive proper treatment. As I said, there was nothing left to do here. The same went for Blundell. If there was an emergency, like a pregnant woman, they would come to terminate the pregnancy, not save her. Emergency medicine at the time was disorganized. Once, a nobleman addicted to alcohol came in and said he wanted to practice ninjutsu…
If there had been a real lawsuit, all of you would be dead.
Still, nothing happened because the idea that life was precious was widespread. It seemed sensible at first glance. You had to be treated in order to save lives. But I was treating patients like Russian roulette. If lawsuits started, the hospital would become a prison overnight.
“Of course.”
“Should I gag him and go?”
“That’s a bit much… Anyway, brother, let’s go.”
“Me? Oh, did mine come out too?”
I went to the factory with Liston, who was unusually eager, and with my senior, Alfred, attached to us as usual. Passing through that rough alley, the chemist inside welcomed us. Things had progressed to a prototype now, but it still wasn’t good. That was fine since we hadn’t sold it yet. Still, he was about to become rich. I had made so much trouble that I needed a proper job before thinking about making more money.
“Haha, this is… haha.”
“Then we’ll go first.”
“On foot? Dangerous… no, no. Let’s go see.”
Liston and Blundell left first, probably eager to demonstrate the prototype. We younger ones stayed behind. I wasn’t very interested. I liked Korean people, but I was the only Korean here. Besides, from now on, I intended to make great progress for mankind. I didn’t know when, but eventually.
“Arsenic…? You’re going to give arsenic to people?”
Of course, this wasn’t easy. Arsenic was a colorless, odorless poison that had been used for ages. Even in the twenty-first century, it was still used as a pesticide.
“Yes. It cures syphilis.”
“How do you know that?”
“In Joseon, they use some arsenic. It’s dangerous, but… I thought maybe we could change its composition a bit.”
“I’d rather have mercury… no, mercury has been used for so long without working. But arsenic? There are many brave people in Joseon.”
“Could you help me? If it’s too difficult, please introduce me to someone else.”
“No. Thanks to you, I got a chance to get rich. I can’t just give up. I’ll take my time.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Translator’s Notes
Mercury — A toxic heavy metal historically used to treat syphilis. It could cause serious poisoning and death.
Mercury thermometer — A thermometer containing liquid mercury, once commonly used before safety concerns reduced its use.
Injection method — Refers to administering medicine directly into the body by needle. In this context, mercury injection would be highly dangerous.
Delirium — Acute confusion and agitation, often seen in severe illness or after surgery.
ICU — Intensive Care Unit, a modern hospital unit for critically ill patients.
Stage-two syphilis — A later stage of syphilis that may cause skin lesions, rashes, fever, and systemic symptoms.
Stage-three syphilis — Advanced syphilis, which can damage organs, nerves, and the brain.
Geneva Declaration — A modern medical ethics declaration requiring physicians to treat patients humanely and without discrimination.
War crimes — Serious violations of the laws of war. The narrator compares the era’s brutality to later standards of humane treatment.
Penicillin — Antibiotic later used as an effective treatment for syphilis.
Blue mold — Mold associated with the discovery and production of penicillin.
Arsenic compound — Chemical compound containing arsenic. Some controlled arsenic-based compounds were later used as early antimicrobial treatments.
Salvarsan / Compound 606 — Early arsenic-based drug developed for syphilis treatment.
Acute mercury poisoning — Sudden toxic reaction to mercury exposure, which can cause vomiting, headache, neurological damage, and other severe symptoms.
Amputation ward — Hospital ward where limb-removal surgeries and related patients are handled.
Pus — Thick fluid produced during infection, often seen in infected wounds.