A case from the story of a man suffering from dipsomania (drinking), recorded from his words by the author of these lines. It gives a rather characteristic sketch of the state of an alcoholic who decided to stop drinking alcohol.
It was a village where I had fled from the city, fleeing from my wife’s reproaches. After another drink, I decided: “Everything!” It’s time to stop drinking! The family breaks up, the job is fired, and the heart begins to play tricks. I looked at my face in the mirror, and I was so sick.
I was shaking this morning. His hands were shaking, but his head was working clearly. “I won’t get hung up, I will endure,” I said to myself and suddenly remembered how one day my neighbor at the country house (a believing man) advised: “If it is very bad, constantly repeat short prayers, for example, “Lord, have mercy,” “Lord, keep it,” etc. Although I never went to church, I never considered myself an atheist.
He started praying. After 5-10 minutes the condition improved so much that I took a shovel and decided to go out to clean the snow at the porch. I went home and I can’t believe my eyes. On the dresser, under the photo of the deceased parents, sits a hairy creature larger than a human, covered from head to toe with brown hair. The legs end with hooves, and a tail hangs from the side of the chest. I rubbed my eyes and pinched my hand. «Hairy» hasn’t disappeared. Brazenly looking at me and grinning. I have forgotten about “Lord, have mercy.”
— You okay? “Did you stop drinking?” he says, without opening his mouth (his voice sounds somewhere inside me).
I just keep quiet and shake.
— Don’t be fooled, drink a hundred grams, you’ll feel like a man!
— No, I say, enough, I’m done.
Suddenly, an unexpected pain pierced the head. I haven’t experienced this in a while.
— Does it hurt? Drink a hundred grams and it will pass.
I shook my head negatively.
— You don’t? Well, look, it’s gonna get worse.
The head suddenly pulled like a fire hoop. I snuggled, got down on a chair and moaned.
I’m not asking much. Just a hundred grams and I’ll let you go. Otherwise.
Another bout of pain almost made me climb under the ceiling. I grabbed my head. I can’t stand urine anymore. It looks like the skull is about to crack. Suddenly, like lightning, a saving thought illumines the disturbed consciousness, and I cry (it even seems out loud): “Lord, Jesus Christ, help me!”
My eyes are closed, but I feel something going on in the room. The pain subsides. I open my eyes carefully. The dresser is empty. «Hairy» has disappeared… But it turned out that the adventures on this day are not over. I had to lie down… It was a concert like I’ve never heard in my entire life. What an extraordinary music that sounded!! Perhaps Beethoven had nothing to do there. If I knew the music, if I could record it, maybe I would become a great composer! Thought… I probably wouldn’t have recorded anything; I knew too clearly who was playing the music. And with “hairy” I did not want to do anything. I probably wouldn’t be a composer.
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