I appeared at Valencia in January for a second examination in general
pathology, and failed for the second time.
I began to consider giving up my intended profession.
I found that I had lost what little liking I had for it. As I had no
friends in Valencia, I never left the house; I had nowhere to go. I
passed my days stretched out on the roof, or, else, in reading. After
debating long what I should do, and realizing fully that there was no
one obvious plan to pursue, I determined to finish my course, committing
the required subjects mechanically. After adopting this plan, I never
failed once.
When I came up for graduation, the professors made an effort to put some
obstacles in my way, which, however, were not sufficient to detain me.
Admitted as a physician, I decided next to study for the doctor's degree
at Madrid.
My former fellow-students, when they saw that now I was doing nicely,
all exclaimed:
"How you have changed! Now you pass your examinations."
"Passing examinations, you know, is a combination, like a gambling
game," I told them.
"I have found a combination."
X
AS A VILLAGE DOCTOR
I returned to Burjasot, a small town near Valencia, where my family
lived at the time, a full-fledged doctor. We had a tiny house, besides a
garden containing pear, peach and pomegranate trees.
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