Laurus

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He had four names at various times. A person’s life is heterogeneous, so this could be seen as an advantage. Life’s parts sometimes have little in common, so little that it might appear various people lived them. When this happens, it is difficult not to feel surprised that all these people carry the same name.

He also had two nicknames. One of them—Rukinets—referred to Rukina Quarter, where he came into the world. But this person was known to most people by the nickname Doctor, because he was, more than anything, a doctor to his contemporaries. He was, one should think, something more than a doctor, because what he achieved went beyond the limits of a doctor’s possibilities.

It is thought that the word vrach, for medical doctor, comes from the word vrati, which means to say an incantation. This similarity supposes that words—words as such, no matter what they meant—played an essential role in the medical treatment process. The role of words was more significant during the Middle Ages than it is now because of the limited selection of medications. So speaking a lot was a necessity.

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