Story of the Villager and his Ass

The ass of a villager died, so he set the head upon a vine in his garden in order that it might ward off the Evil Eye.

A sage old man passed by and laughingly remarked: “Dost think, O friend, this will effect thy purpose? In life, the ass could not protect itself from blows; so, in weakness, did it die.”

What knows the physician of the condition of the sick, when, helpless, he himself will die through illness?