The Treatment and the Cure Read Online Free Page A

screws are saying. Maybe:
    “Tarbutt seems a bit lethargic.”
    “He was going like steam a minute ago.”
    “Yeah, he’s very erratic, isn’t he.”
    “We’d better mention it.”
    So you work a bit faster, but not too fast, or too slow. You’re concentrating so hard on timing every move to what you think is a proper balance between fast and slow that you feel giddy. You imagine what the screws might think if you fell over:
    “Tarbutt fell over.”
    “Yeah, for no apparent reason.”
    “Peculiar.”
    “We’ll have to report it.”
    You try to steady yourself. You take deep breaths. You’re sure the screws are watching you and talking about you and you feel a wild urge to go up to them and assure them that you’re not mentally disturbed or anything like that. You imagine how it would go:
    “Er, I was wondering if you’ve noticed anything odd about my behaviour?” you might say. “How d’you mean, Len?”
    “I mean … well … whether you think I’m mentally disturbed.”
    “Why should we think that?”
    “Because of the way I was working.”
    “What about the way you were working?”
    “Well, fast and then slow.”
    “Why were you working like that?”
    “I was a bit, sort of worried about how it might look. I mean, I wasn’t worried, I was just thinking how it might look to anyone who was watching me.”
    “Do you think someone’s watching you?”
    “Well, no, I mean, not really. I mean, I’m not worried about it.”
    “You seem worried.”
    “No.”
    By now you know that you’ve made things much worse. You’ve delivered yourself to that small room at the end of the verandah.
    “Tell us about this person you think is watching you.”
    “I don’t think anyone is watching me.”
    “You said someone or something is watching you.”
    “No.”
    “Do you hear this person’s voice when he’s watching you?” “No.”
    “He just watches you.” “Nobody watches me.”
    “That’s not what you said a minute ago. Is it?” “No.”
    “This creature or whatever it is, can you see him?”
    “There isn’t any creature.”
    “So he’s a person then? A human?”
    “No.”
    “A sort of spirit?”
    “Look, he’s nothing!”
    “A sort of nothingness that watches you?” “There’s nothing there at all!”
    “Does this nothingness ever try to harm you? Does he tell you to do things?”
    “Do what things?” “You tell us, we want to help you.” “Christ! You’re twisting everything around!” “Don’t get upset, Len.”
    “I can’t help getting upset when you twist things.” “Is that what the nothingness tells you? That we’re twisting things? That we’re trying to harm you?”
    “I don’t think you’re trying to harm me at all.” “You said we’re twisting things.” “I just mean that you’ve got it wrong.” “We’re trying to understand, Len. We really are. If you tell us about this nothingness, this spirit or whatever it is, we’ll be able to understand better.”
    “Can’t we just forget the whole thing?”
    “No, Len, we can’t. This belief of yours about the Nothingness Spirit is obviously making you very distressed and unhappy.”
    “There isn’t any Nothingness Spirit! Please believe me!”
    “But you just told us about it.”
    “I didn’t!”
    “Well, how would we know about it if you didn’t tell us.” “You just invented it.”
    “No, it’s something in your own mind, Len.”
    “My mind’s all right. Honestly.”
    “Do you know what this place is, Len?”
    “Of course I do.”
    “What is it?”
    “A psychiatric hospital.”
    “That’s right. And why do people come to psychiatric hospitals?”
    “Because of mental problems.”
    “Right. And you’re here, aren’t you?”
    “Yes, but my mind’s all right.”
    “Are you saying you’re being held unjustly?”
    “No, I wouldn’t say that.”
    “So, you admit that you need treatment?”
    “I suppose so.”
    “That’s fine. It shows you have what’s called