17. The Oceans of Disease - The Doctors' Arguments
Scene 17. The Finale to the Opera Cancer Ward, based on the book by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. In Russian.
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Story behind the song
Scene 17 Synopsis
The Oceans of Disease – the Doctor’s Arguments, (Finale)
A dark, unsettled night, before dawn, in front of the clinic. Oleg steps out of the clinic, and exits towards town, his thoughts on the long day ahead of him.
Dontsova, appears, and steps forward towards the audience.
She says that once, proud of being able to call herself a doctor, and confident of her skill, she studied a book of ancient text, to learn what it had to say about healing. She was surprised, because the book called called a physician, “an ocean of disease.” Dontsova is joined by Vera Gangart, Lev Leonadovic, and Oreshenkov, and they conclude the opera with observations and viewpoints, not necessarily taught in modern medical textbooks.
Lyrics
Scene 17 The Oceans of Disease – the Doctor’s Arguments, (Finale)
(A dark, unsettled night, before dawn, in front of the clinic. Oleg steps out of the clinic, and exits towards town, his thoughts on the long day ahead of him.)
(Dontsova, appears, and steps forward towards the audience)
Dontsova
Once upon a time, proud to say I am a doctor, and confident of my skill,
I studied an ancient book
To learn its wisdom about the art of healing,
and one of the words it used for physician,
was a word that meant, “a collector of disease,”
and another meant, “one who causes disease”
and yet another called a doctor “an ocean of diseases”
“how strange” I thought,
and I began to doubt the wisdom of this book.
(Vera Gangart, Lev Leonadovich, and Oreshenkov appear, and join Dontsova)
All
But to heal is not a simple thing, and there are times when there is a leniency for my errors –
But, the disease never makes a mistake.
Dontsova
I collect disease
and they all live here in me
I am the sickness I’m trying to heal
I am the pain
the path of the hand that heals
is the path of the hand that kills
To fight for someone’s life when they are unable
Whether you can save their life or no
All
To have a friend unto death –
Dontsova and Gangart
It helps
Lev and Oreshenkov
It helps
All
I collect disease
and they all live here in me
I am the sickness I’m trying to heal
Lev and Oreshenkov
I am the pain
All
The path of the hand that heals
is the path of the hand that kills
When the patient’s eyes say:
I am unable to fight for my own life,
And I am grateful to have you here.
End of Opera
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