这是一个充满怀疑的时代，但尽管我们对先辈们曾虔诚信奉的许多事物的信念已经淡化，我们对药瓶的治疗功效的信心却与他们如出一辙。
This is a sceptical age, but although our faith in many of the things in which our forefathers fervently believed has weakened, our confidence in the curative properties of the bottle of medicine remains the same as theirs.
对药物的这种现代信仰，可以从医疗服务系统每年的药物账单节节攀升、达至天文数字、且目前毫无停止增长之迹象这一事实中得到印证。
This modern faith in medicines is proved by the fact that the annual drug bill of the Health Services is mounting to astronomical figures and shows no signs at present of ceasing to rise.
我院门诊部就诊的大多数患者认为，除非他们能带回家一种有形的药物——一瓶药水、一盒药片或一小罐药膏——否则便觉得没有得到充分的治疗；而门诊负责医生也不过是太乐意满足他们这些要求罢了。
The majority of the patients attending the medical out-patients departments of our hospitals feel that they have not received adequate treatment unless they are able to carry home with them some tangible remedy in the shape of a bottle of medicine, a box of pills, or a small jar of ointment, and the doctor in charge of the department is only too ready to provide them with these requirements.
打发患者走人，没有比满足他们的要求更快捷的方法了；而且，由于公共医疗体系中的大多数医生工作负荷沉重，几乎没有时间就饮食、正确的生活方式以及戒除恶习的必要性等事项提供那些耗时且不受欢迎的建议，那瓶药、那盒药片和那罐药膏几乎总会被顺手发给他们。
There is no quicker method of disposing of patients than by giving them what they are asking for, and since most medical men in the Health Services are overworked and have little time for offering time-consuming and little-appreciated advice on such subjects as diet, right living, and the need for abandoning bad habits etc., the bottle, the box, and the jar are almost always granted them.
对药瓶怀有如此信念的，也绝非只有那些无知且教育程度低下的人。
Nor is it only the ignorant and ill-educated person who has such faith in the bottle of medicine.
据说，托马斯·卡莱尔听闻友人亨利·泰勒患病之后，立即动身前往探视，随身携带着放在口袋里的一瓶剩余药物——那是此前曾为卡莱尔夫人的一次小恙所开的处方药。
It is recounted of Thomas Carlyle that when he heard of the illness of his friend, Henry Taylor, he went off immediately to visit him, carrying with him in his pocket what remained a bottle of medicine formerly prescribed for an indisposition of Mrs. Carlyle's.
卡莱尔对口袋里那瓶药的成分一无所知，对朋友所患疾病的性质一无所知，对妻子此前究竟出了什么毛病也一无所知；然而，曾在一种病症中如此有效的药物，想必对另一种病症也同样大有裨益——带着这一想法所给予的慰藉，他快步赶往亨利·泰勒家中。
Carlyle was entirely ignorant of what the bottle in his pocket contained, of the nature of the illness from which his friend was suffering, and of what had previously been wrong with his wife, but a medicine that had worked so well in one form of illness would surely be of equal benefit in another, and comforted by the thought of the help he was bringing to his friend, he hastened to Henry Taylor's house.
历史没有记载他的友人是否接受了这番医疗帮助，但很可能他接受了。
History does not relate whether his friend accepted his medical help, but in all probability he did.
服药的最大优点在于，它对服用者没有任何要求，除了忍受片刻令人不快的味道之外；而这正是所有患者对医生的要求——不费任何气力，就能得到治愈。
The great advantage of taking medicine is that it makes no demands on the taker beyond that of putting up for a moment with a disgusting taste, and that is what all patients demand of their doctors--to be cured at no inconvenience to themselves.