NOTE: - 4 -

...[nutritious], light, and easily digestible foods, that is to say: well-cooked rice or groats *spas* [yogurt soup], prepared with good butter or good oil or with almonds; broth of freshly slaughtered chicken or pullet meat; *alibukhari* [dried plums], blackthorn, cornelian cherry, dock, nettle, spinach, mallow, roasted apple or quince. By no means should the patient be fed melon, apricot, cucumber, fresh figs, raw apples, walnuts, acorns, and others like these. Of fruits, the patient may be permitted to eat only a little at a time: well-ripened pears, pomegranates, bitter orange, sweet orange, *alibukhari*, black bullace, *zambul* [damson], wild strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, watermelon, currants; but beware that they are not too cold, for it is confirmed by thousands of trials that in our world the eating of excessively unripe and rotten fruits becomes the cause of diseases. 16. For drinking, one must use plain water or beer, and beware of all kinds of cold drinks. 17. When the patient feels that gradually his health is turning for the better, his appetite too has opened, and he desires various kinds of things to eat, one must not change the diet too quickly, nor feed him so much until he is full; rather, he must eat frequently and little by little. Nor should he use drinks to excess, especially cold [ones]. If he desires wine, he may drink it mixed with water—only one part out of six—and that, too, a good and old wine. 18. Many, through lack of understanding, strive to force food upon the patient, even though he has no appetite at all; for they believe that by eating he will grow strong and recover. They fear greatly when for one or two days the patient eats nothing; they think that he will die, and instead of strengthening [him], they aggravate the illness all the more. The stomach and intestines of the patient are not robust; hence nature itself does not demand food. They must take care to administer medicines in proper order, [and] the appetite will open of its own accord. 19. After recovery, when the weather is fine, before dinner he should go out for a stroll on foot or on horseback, only...