Katje

Sarah replied, "I understand. But I feel like you have just given me a riddle to solve. Thinks differently. Does some things well. Does not do some other things well. Can you give me any clues?" Sarah shrugged her shoulders.

Roger said, "Oh, I did not intend to do that. Let give you an an idea. What she does not do well." Roger's eyes swept around the room, and he pointed to a table with six people engaged in a lively conversation. He turned to face Sarah and explained, "Katje would have trouble if she were at that table. She would quickly get lost and not be able to follow the conversation. If asked a question, she would either give a one word answer or simply freeze. And she would be fully aware of her awkwardness, too, and things would get worse. She would either sulk or find some reason to excuse herself. So she does not leave her father's house very often because she wants to avoid being embarrassed by things like that."

Sarah said, "You did say that she does some things well."

"Oh, yes. She is very organized. Great at bookkeeping. In fact, she does that for me, not that my accounts are very hard to do. She has a nice little library, and its not just for show, either. She has read some of her books to me." Roger sat back, half closed his eyes, and smiled broadly. "That is one thing I love about Katje. Before long I get her views as well as the author's. She is fun and interesting when that happens."

Sarah said, "She sounds like a nice person! I thought that she might be subject to bouts of madness or short-tempered from the way that you described her."

Roger replied, "Well, I try to just tell stories rather than use one or two words to describe her. I don't like that. For example, a doctor might say that she has an imbalance of humours. Too much black bile. Melancholic. Now I am afraid that people would think they know exactly what Katje is, once they find the right word for her. But words include notions that may not be true. So I like to avoid words and just describe what she is like and hope that gives a clearer picture."

Sarah shook her head a little. "I lost you. I don't quite know what you mean by black bile."

Roger said, "Sorry. It is something I learned from one of the surgeons at Saint Sebastian's. The body has four humours - phlegm, yellow bile, black bile, and blood. People with too much yellow bile get angry quickly. People with good blood are cheerful and generous. If they have too much blood, they are capricious to the point of losing judgment. I have been told that I am rich in blood, not to the point of losing judgment. Usually."

Roger laughed softly at himself, and Sarah laughed in response. Roger continued, "Phlegm is good for judgment and keeping one's cool in a crisis, but too much phlegm can make one cold and unsociable. I would say that Katje is rich in phlegm, but not to the point of imbalance. And then there is the black bile. Or as the surgeon calls it the 'melancholy.' It is a pretty name, and a little bit is good. Melancholy allows a person to withdraw and think deeply. Some think that it serves as the inspiration to create things previously unimagined by others. But it is not so pretty when you have too much. A person with an excess of black bile feels down. Sometimes very down, to the point where there is no hope. And unlike the other humours, it can take a long time to absorb the black bile and get back into balance."

Sarah translated Katje's symptoms into the popular medical jargon of her place and time. Intelligent. Probably what we would call introverted, maybe with some sort of social anxiety disorder. Also possibly subject to bouts of depression.

Sarah continued the conversation.

1. She asked a question about Katje.
2. She changed the direction of the conversation by asking some of the books in Katje's library.
3. The topic of the conversation changed to something of immediate interest - ideas on what songs and entertainment might be popular with the people in the city.

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