Browse:Doctor Robinson: Jacksonville, Fla. (Volume 1, entries 3100)
Doctor Robinson: Jacksonville, Fla.
Volume 1, entries 3100. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → MORE DOCTORS DESCRIBED BY LAYMEN. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 3100
Yo' know when ah first gone [to him], he say ah wus poisoned. An' mah mother an' father befo' dey died, ah wus ovah 27 yeahs, dey had worked on me - dey had got a doctor yo' know tuh cure me. De first doctor dey got, dis doctor dey say wus de one. He didn't do me no good - yo' know, he worked on me. So dey let dat un go an' dey got another one. An' de doctor whut dey got fo' me, dey say dat's de one had fixed it - had deviled me inside. An' he seemed lak he wus goin' he'p me an' ah stayed up, yo' know, round de home - git so ah could be up an' down. An' after ah got sick, yo' see, dey had tuh go an' git another doctor. But ah saw dis doctor in de spirit on a Wednesday night. De Lawd show me where a man come tuh me an' he pull out some of mah hair heah [demonstrates], some heah, an' ah wus.
(From the top of the head and from side of the temples.)
Dat's whut in one of mah dreams - on a Wednesday night ah dreamed it. An' he come dat Sunday. Mah cousin brought him unbeknowst tuh papa dere - jes' lak ah dreamed it on a Wednesday night. So he [doctor] came an' he axt him [father]. He [father] say, "Yes," he had a very sick girl heah. An' he tole, say, "Yes." [Doctor] say, "Well, do yo' care fo' me tuh do anything fo' yo' daughter?" He say, "Yes. So he went on back tuh Jacksonville. He wus runnin' a bar - a barroom, but dis man is daid now but he help me. He come on back an' one Sunday he pull out some hair - yo' know, Jes' lak ah dream it, an' tole me tuh hole mahself right ovah de fire-hearth. He tole mah mother tuh give me some sulphur an' some gun- powder an' one mo' stuff [three ingredients], but ah forgot. An' jes' hol' mah haid ovah it like dat chew know, an' he say it wus a spell on me. Seemed lak somepin wus talkin' tuh me lak ah wus dyin', yo' know, all de time - be scarry an' hot, chew know. Well, ah wus bein' pregnant, see. Two weeks after dis baby born, den dat turn out on me. So dey thought ah had heart trouble, an' so de doctors all examine me. Dr. Kidd, he's buried an' gone, he tole me, says, "Yo' ain't got no heart trouble." He had look everywheres. It wus a spell on me. An' so it went an' went. An' sometimes ah couldn't raise dis arm. Sometime ah couldn't raise dis one. Sometime ah look at cha an' ah couldn't talk. Some- time mah feet chew know would turn in de back an' ah jes' drag: An' sometime ah couldn't eat, an' sometime ah could eat. Sometime nature couldn't hold me tuh save her life - ah'd eat so much yo' know. An' it jes' keep on like dat chew know for about a yeah, jes' right down till dis man, yo' know, worked on me an' got be bettah. So he went tuh de no'th an' he tole mah father dat he'd tried whut all tuh cure me. But, after he got me up he nevah did come back. He tole me he'll send de money but he's de one dat worked on me - Mr. Robinson. He's daid. So ah keep on an' ah come on tuh Brunswick, yo' see, an' ah stay ovah heah an' ah went in business an' ah got married den. So dis woman - ah wus ovah on Bay Street an' this woman come an' hit me on de shoulder. An' when she hit me - mah husband sent me after dat meat yo' see. An' when ah went back an' she hit me on de shoulder - when ah come back ah wus down in de shoulder like dat, an' ah went on an' ah tole him. So he tole mah mother an' dem were. An' so every place ah moved he [first doctor?] send dem wit dis poison. She always claimed it wus a spell agin. Dey had it where it could [come to life] every once in a while. An' every Place ah go, dis thing worries me but hit moves, see, in mah stomach an' wiggles an' come up all in mah throat sometime. Sometime in mah face yo' kin see it. An' it jes' make me feel sick. But on de young moon an' de full moon dat de time it worries me. An' den it goes into dis left foot. Yo' see, it will wiggle under dere sometime an' crawl. An' when it time fo' me tuh work, it'll stop me from workin'.
(That thing is still bothering you?)
Yassuh.
(You weren't cured then?)
Dat's whut dey say. Every once in awhile ah kin feel it.
(Didn't anybody cure you?)
De man say - he he'ped me up though.