Vincent Van Gogh will always be remembered for his paintings and for cutting off his ear during an epileptic seizure.

One night, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were walking down a hill to get to the yellow house where they lived. Once they got there, they had dinner. Gauguin started out the front door without saying a word and heard a familiar step—fast, short, and eager. He turned around and saw Van Gogh with a razor in his hand. Van Gogh ran up to him and threatened to kill him.

Gauguin ran off to a hotel, locked the door, and went to bed. Van Gogh returned to his house and went to his room. He picked up a mirror, looked at himself and felt his life was over. He lifted the razor and felt the steel against his throat as he heard voices saying strange things to him. He then slashed his right ear off, leaving only a little of his earlobe. He dropped the razor and thrust his head into a bundle of towels. Blood dripped on the floor. Van Gogh washed the ear, wrapped it in several pieces of paper,and tied it together.

Later that night, he walked over to his girlfriend's house. The maid opened the door and Van Gogh said, "Send Rachel to me, please." A minute later, Rachel came and said, "Oh it’s you Fou-Rou. What do you want?" He replied, "I brought a present for you." She said, "For me? What is it?" He replied, "It’s a souvenir from me." Rachel opened it, and looked at the ear with horror. She fell into a dead faint.  Van Gogh turned, walked away, and went to bed.

When Van Gogh woke up, someone was taking his pulse. He looked up and saw white walls. As he looked around, he noticed that the room was bare. Van Gogh said, "Hi" in a soft voice. The doctor’s name was Dr. Rey. Van Gogh then asked, "Where am I?" Dr. Rey replied, "In the Arles Hospital." Dr. Rey had treated the wounds. Van Gogh went to touch where the ear had once been. The doctor stopped him. Dr. Rey said, "You must not touch.  I will have you already to leave in a couple weeks." Van Gogh then said, "Why is the room so bare?" The doctor said, "To protect you from hurting yourself." The room looked like a cell. Van Gogh went to sleep.

The next morning, Van Gogh woke up with his brother Theo by his side. Theo said, "I talked to Dr. Rey. It was a sun stroke. You have not been wearing a hat and it’s too much sun." Van Gogh replied, "You are right, I will start wearing a hat."