The Peacock Sheds His Tail

by Alice Tisdale Hobart

THE SERPENT-WREATHED STAFF the serpent wreathed staff ALICE TISDALE HOBART THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY, INC. INDIANAPOLIS Publishers NEW YORK With profound gratitude I dedicate this book to the two who have been inextricably woven into this and all the other novels I have written DR. JOEL GOLDTHWAIT who because of his great knowledge and understanding brought me out of invalidism and made possible for me the arduous work of writing and MRS. ANNE STODDARD who recommended to the Century Magazine my first fiction and throughout all the years since has without stint given me the benefit of her sensitive and perceptive mind CARVED on the doors of medical buildings and hospitals, stamped on seals and charters, used as the insignia of the Medical Corps, printed on the title pages of books is the caduceus, the sign and symbol of healing-a staff, two wings at its top, two serpents entwining it. A symbol with the power of a symbol to convey vast areas of experience. In the ancient temples of the East the living serpent was used in the rites of healing, In time it gave place to the serpent symbol. Into the hieroglyph ics of Egypt the entwined serpents were woven. On the walls of the temples of India are the opposed and balanced serpents, male and female, the bearers of life and healing. The Hebrews had the emblem-the brazen serpent raised on a pole by Moses so that the people might look upon it and be healed, From ancient Babylon the symbol, a rod wreathed with two serpents, was carried to Greece, For long centuries the symbol disappeared, then reappeared, Mysteriously it made its way across Europe until it reached England, In its long journey at times doves hovered over it, once griffins, and inGreece the wings of the herald were added. Sometimes it was a bare staff, but always serpent en twined, Finally tipped with wings it came to America, EARLY on a June morning in 1942 Dr. Samuel Towne went quietly out of his house, crossed the lawn, and passed through an opening in the lilac hedge which surrounded his garden. Although the darkness was not entirely dispelled by the pale light of the approaching dawn, from long habit he walked sure-footedly along the faintly discernible paths until he reached a bed of roses. Taking a trowel from the pocket of the loose cotton jacket he was wearing, he knelt and began loosening the soil around the bushes. He had come to his garden this morning because he had found through past experience that when he had a problem, either medical or personal, which perplexed him he was often able to solve it if his hands were close to the earth. Today marked a change in his life for which he thought he had pre pared himself, but when he woke this morning he realized he had not. In appreciation of his services to the hospital which he had helped to found forty years ago the lately completed orthopedic wing for children was to be given his name today at the annual commencement exercises of the medical students. The conferring of this honor upon him marked his retirement both as head of the hospitals staff and as dean of the medical school. At seventy-seven he needed to slow down, but he felt that during the fifty years he had specialized in the baffling causes of arthritis he had acquired knowledge which still could with benefit be drawn upon by the younger doctors at the hospital had he been given a position of consultant. What he had learned through years ofstudy about the mechanics of the body and the manifestations of arthritis which result from wrong use of the human machine was not yet, he knew, fully understood by his fellow spe cialists. Furthermore, the physician who was to take his place considered disease an entity in itself, something Dr. Towne vigorously denied. Although he believed the body was a machine that when damaged demanded the most scientific care, he believed also the spirit transcended it and must be en listed in the fight against disease...

Genres: Historical Fiction

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

Alice Tisdale Hobart, born Alice Nourse in Lockport, New York, was an American novelist. Her most famous book, Oil for the Lamps of China, which was also made into a film, drew heavily on her experiences as the wife of an American oil executive in China amid the turmoil of the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty in 1912.

Reviews

[Jim Puskas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hobart's reputation rested primarily on her accounts of 19ty century China; she may have been out of her comfort zone with this novel. The state of latent unrest and power imbalance that characterized post-revolutionary Mexico is sharply depicted. The historical setting, well researched by the author, defines the novel and dominates the lives of its characters. Regrettably, I found the personalities sketchy in nature, each clearly representative of their sector and their point of view but they fail to emerge as real, living people. The effort to merge a political drama with a human one didn't quite solidify, perhaps because Hobart was attempting too much; the hidebound, racist attitudes of the ruling families, grimly clinging to the supposed glory of a long dead Spanish empire may have been accurately drawn but they soon become cloying, thereby robbing individual characters (who might otherwise have been attractive in their own way) of any sympathy in the reader. Despite her best efforts, Hobart was stranded in the role of an outside observer who attempts to be even handed but ends up sounding like an apologist.

[Stephanie Gates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect when I chose this book to read for my 2020 challenge, since my copy doesn't have a dust jacket, and I'd never heard of it or the author before. I chose it because I love peacocks. Shallow, I know. But I am so glad that I did read it, as it helped introduce me to a Mexico that I had never learned about in school, and makes me want to read more about that historical time period and more by the author.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

superb book!!! I felt like i was visiting with this family in Mexico. I will reread it many times. Very educational as well as entertaining.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to immerse yourself in the history and culture of post-revolutionary Mexico from all points of view, this book is for you.