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Literary notes about indigestion (AI summary)

Across literary works, the word "indigestion" has been employed in a surprisingly varied manner, functioning sometimes as a literal malady and at other times as a metaphor for inner unrest or societal decay. In ancient texts like those of Apicius, indigestion appears in a very practical context, described as a condition remedied by carefully prepared spiced salts to aid digestion ([1], [2], [3], [4]). In contrast, later literary figures use the term more figuratively: it can imply a disruption of thought or a metaphorical discomfort, as seen when it symbolizes a kind of intellectual or emotional disturbance ([5], [6]). Authors such as Oscar Wilde and Herman Melville even infuse the term with wit, linking indigestion to everything from the physical consequences of overindulgence to personal or social discontent ([7], [8], [9], [10]). Thus, "indigestion" spans a broad spectrum in literature—from its roots as a medical complaint to its more abstract uses as a commentary on the human condition.
  1. [ILLS] SALES CONDITOS AD MULTA THESE SPICED SALTS ARE USED AGAINST INDIGESTION, TO MOVE THE BOWELS, AGAINST ALL ILLNESS, AGAINST PESTILENCE
    — from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius
  2. Many contract indigestion—nature’s most subtle punishment.
    — from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius
  3. [1] OR IN A WINE SAUCE; [and] YOU WILL FIND THEM TO BE TENDER AND NOT CAUSING INDIGESTION.
    — from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius
  4. The violent expansion of the figs in the stomachs, or the fermentation caused acute indigestion which killed the pigs.
    — from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius
  5. Besides, you forget, Cæsar, an indigestion declares itself immediately, while a prick or a bite occasions a delay of a day or two.’
    — from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
  6. German intellect is indigestion; it can assimilate nothing.
    — from Ecce Homo by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
  7. And that was the result of the Indian climate, and marriage, and indigestion, and other things of that kind.
    — from The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde
  8. He seemed suffering from an unusually bad night's rest, induced by severer indigestion than common.
    — from Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street by Herman Melville
  9. I always deemed him the victim of two evil powers—ambition and indigestion.
    — from Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street by Herman Melville
  10. Bursting with money and indigestion.
    — from Ulysses by James Joyce

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