Chapter 15 Chapter 14 The Hand of Death

Shortly after the sermon, the weather turned hot and it was the end of June.After the belated rain that fell on the Sunday of the sermon, the next day, the summer weather suddenly appeared on the sky and over the houses.First, the hot air blew all day, drying the walls.The scorching sun is in the sky, and the city is scorched under the continuous heat wave and scorching sun all day long. Except for the arcade road and inside the houses, there seems to be no place in the whole city that is not scorched by the harsh sun.The sun is fixed on the people in the city everywhere, and when they stop, they get more sunburned.Since the intense heat of the past few days coincided with the death toll that soared to nearly 700 people a week, depression swept the city.Between the flat roads and houses with terraces in the suburbs, the noise of the lively city gradually diminished.In this part of the world the people used to move about by the doorways, but now all the doors were closed and the shutters were closed, whether it was to keep out the plague or the heat, it was impossible to say.However, there were groans from some rooms.In the past, when encountering this kind of situation, people with good intentions gathered in the street to listen. Now, after a long period of panic, their hearts seem to have hardened. Although everyone heard the groan, they walked or lived as usual, taking it as a natural human being. language and take it lightly.

Clashes often occurred near the checkpoint, and the police had to use weapons, causing a commotion in the dark.Someone was definitely injured, and there were rumors of death in the city, but in a city of such heat and horror, anything would be exaggerated.In any case, dissatisfaction is indeed growing, and the authorities, bracing for worse, are seriously considering what to do if these disaster-driven residents revolt.Newspapers published a reiteration of the ban on leaving the city, and threatened imprisonment for violators.Patrols patrol the city.Often on the quiet and hot road, the sound of horseshoes stepping on the road is heard first, and then some horse teams are seen marching between rows of closed windows.The patrol passed, and an uneasy silence fell over the menaced city again.A few gunshots can also be heard from time to time: some specially organized squads have recently been ordered to kill dogs and cats that may spread fleas. Such short shots also added to the city's vigilant atmosphere.

The surroundings were silent and steaming.In the eyes of the already frightened citizens, everything becomes extra noticeable.For the first time, the color of the sky and the smell of the land, which appear when the seasons change, are also attracting attention for the first time.Everyone was filled with dread, because everyone understood that the heat would encourage the plague, and at the same time everyone felt that summer had indeed come.At night, the coughing of swifts from above the city becomes clearer.The twilight made the June sky extraordinarily open, and the song of swifts seemed out of harmony with the scenery.The flowers in the market, the ones that are not yet in bud, are all in full bloom. After the morning market, the petals are scattered on the dusty sidewalks, and people can clearly see the late spring.Once upon a time, the god of spring was parading among the colorful flowers, but now he has slowly disappeared under the double pressure of plague and heat.To the whole city the summer sky, the streets gray with dust and despondency, were as menacing as the hundreds of deaths that weighed down the city every day.The scorching sun keeps showing off its majesty, which is the time to make people sleepy and take a vacation, but it is no longer as tempting as it used to be, playing in the water or indulging in indulgence. It can only give people a sense of emptiness.The bronzed complexions that used to glisten with joy in this season are no longer to be seen.The scorching sun and the plague extinguished all colors and drove away all joy.

This is a major change brought about by the blight.Usually, this city man always welcomes the arrival of summer with joy and encouragement.At that time the whole city opened its gates to the sea, and young people flocked to the beach.This summer is completely different. The seashore closer to the city is designated as a restricted area, and the body no longer has the right to enjoyment.What to do in this situation?It was Tarrou who gave the most faithful description of our life at that time.Of course, he was constantly watching the general picture of the spread of the plague, and he noted a turning point in the epidemic: the radio stations no longer reported hundreds of deaths a week but sometimes ninety-two a day, sometimes a hundred and seven. people, sometimes as many as one hundred and twenty. "The newspapers and the authorities have done their best to report the plague. They think that this will lighten the terrible image of the plague, because the number of 130 people per day is smaller than the number of 900 people per week. "He also described some tragic, moving and thrilling scenes of the plague.For example, once when he passed a deserted residential area with closed shutters, he looked up and saw a woman suddenly opened a window, let out two shrill screams, and then lowered the shutters to close her dark room again. Room.On the other hand, he noted the situation: pharmacies were sold out of mint lozenges, because many people kept them in their mouths to prevent infection.

He also continued to make observations of those whom he had a particular fancy for.He told us that the little old man who played with cats had lived a miserable life.It turned out that one morning, just as Tarrou wrote, a few shots and buckshots killed most of the cats, and the rest fled the street in panic.The same day the little old man came out on the balcony at the customary hour, looked a little surprised, bent over the end of the street, and waited patiently.His hand tapped lightly on the iron railing of the balcony. He waited for a while, tore some small pieces of paper, went back in and out, and after a while, he closed the French windows angrily, and suddenly disappeared.In the next few days, the same scene repeated several times, but from the look of the little old man, it could be seen that he was getting more and more depressed and disappointed.A week later, Tarrou waited in vain for this man who should appear every day, the windows were tightly closed, and the distress of the people inside can be imagined. "During the plague, it is forbidden to spit on cats," was the conclusion of the notebook.

On the other hand, when Tarrou returned at night, he was always sure to find the watchman pacing up and down the hall with a sullen face.The old man kept reminding everyone he met that he had foreseen what was happening now.Tarrou admitted to having heard him prophesying a catastrophe, but reminded him that it was an earthquake.The old night watchman said: "Ah! It would be great if this was an earthquake! After a violent earthquake, people will stop talking... count how many people died and how many people lived, and the matter is over. But this Damn the plague, even the unaffected can't get rid of it!"

Hotel managers are no better than others.At first, the tourists were unable to leave the country, so they had to stay in the hotel.But slowly, as the plague continued, many travelers preferred to move in with friends.In the past the hotel rooms were full because of the plague, and then they were kept empty for the same reason, because no new tourists came to the city.Tarrou was one of the few remaining tenants, and the manager never missed an opportunity to tell him that if he had not been motivated by such a desire to please the last customers, his hotel would have been closed long ago.He also often asked Tarrou to estimate how long the plague would last. Tarrou said: "It is said that the cold will stop the disease." It will take months..." He also affirmed that it would be a long time after the plague was over before tourists would visit the city.The plague devastated tourism.

Mr. Odon, the owl who had been absent in the restaurant for a while, reappeared, but only with his two well-trained puppies.His wife is understood to have cared for her own mother before attending her funeral and is currently in quarantine herself. "I don't agree with this approach," said the manager. "Whether it's quarantined or not, of course she is suspicious, but everyone in this family is also unavoidable." From this point of view, Tarrou told him, everyone was suspicious.But the manager was categorical and unwavering on the matter: "No, sir, neither you nor I are suspicious, but they are."

But Mr. Othon has not changed at all because of this. This time, the plague god has wasted his efforts on him.He entered the dining room in the same way, sat down before his children, and addressed them in the same old, refined, spiteful way.It's just that the boy changed his appearance, wearing black clothes like his sister, with a somewhat bent body, like the shrunken shadow of his father.The old man on the night watch did not like M. Othon, and he said to Tarrou: "Ah, that man, he can go to his death fully dressed, like this, and he doesn't need the undertaker's make-up, just go straight away."

Paneloux's sermon, which Tarrou also wrote, but with the following comment: "I understand this enthusiasm for goodwill. At the beginning and end of a disaster, one always has to say something nice. In the first case In the second case, the habit has not yet disappeared. In the second case, the habit has returned. It is only at the moment when the disaster is really imminent that people get used to reality. That is to say: get used to silence. Just wait and see." Tarrou concluded by writing that he had had a long conversation with Dr. Rieux, in which he mentioned only that the conversation had been congenial, and that he mentioned, in passing, the bright chestnut eyes of old Madame Rieux.He curiously asserted that a good-natured look had always been more powerful to him than the plague.He concludes with a rather long account of the old asthmatic who was treated by Rieux.

After his interview with the doctor, he went to see the patient together.The old man received Tarrou, rubbing his hands mockingly.Sitting on the bed, with his back against the pillows and two pots of chickpeas in front of him, he saw Tarrou and said: "Ah, there's another one. It's an upside-down world now, and there are more doctors than patients. People." Died too soon, didn't he? The priest was right, and he deserved it!" Tarrou came again the next day without warning. According to the description in his notes, the old asthmatic patient used to be a sewing shop. When he was fifty years old, he thought that this industry was almost done. Since then, he never got up again after lying down. more suitable.He had a small annuity which enabled him to live to seventy-five, and quite easily.He hated the sight of a watch, and indeed there wasn't even a watch in the whole house."It's expensive and stupid to have a watch," he said. His time, and especially his only mealtimes, were counted by his two saucepans, one of which was filled with eagles when he awoke. The beans, which he filled one by one with careful and well-timed movements, into another pot, and thus found a measure of timing by how many pots he filled in a day. "Every fifteen pots," he said, "you have to eat, and that's easy." According to his wife, at a very young age he had shown certain signs of his future destiny.He was never interested in anything: work.He is not interested in friends, coffee shops, music, women, or walking on the street.He never left the city, and only once had to go to Algiers on family business, but he stopped at the station closest to Oran, and it was impossible to go any further, so he took the first train and set off. The train that came was coming home again. Tarrou expressed his astonishment at his solitary life. The old man's explanation was roughly that according to religion, the first half of a person's life goes uphill and the second half goes downhill. They could be taken away at any moment, and he had nothing to do these days, so the best thing to do was to leave it alone.Besides, he was not afraid of contradictions, because he later told Tarrou that there must be no God, because if he did, priests would be of no use.After listening to his arguments, Tarrou understood that this philosophy was closely related to his dissatisfaction with the church's frequent solicitations from him.The last point about the image of the old man seems significant: he repeatedly expresses to his interlocutor a wish that he wish to die as late as possible. "Is this a saint?" Tarrou asked himself.He answered himself again: "Yes, if holiness is the sum of all habits." At the same time, Tarrou gave a detailed description of a day spent in the infected city, so that one can get a correct idea of ​​the work and life of the people in the city this summer."No one was laughing except the drunks, and they laughed too much," he said, before beginning: "Early in the morning, a light breeze blows over a city that is sparsely populated. In the gap between the night of death raging and the day of moaning and moaning, the plague seems to take a break and take a breath. All the shops are closed, but a few of them have a sign saying 'Closed during the plague'. Explain that they will not open with other stores in a while. The newspaper sellers are sleepy, and have not yet started shouting the news of the day. They are leaning on the corner of the road, like sleepwalkers, and their posture seems to be selling newspapers to the street lamps. After a while, they will be woken up by the first trolley, stretch their arms holding newspapers, and rush to all parts of the city. The newspapers are printed with bold words: 'Plague'. 'Will there be a plague rampant? B...Professor's answer: No.''One hundred and twenty-four people died, and this is the summary of the ninety-fourth day of the plague.' "While the growing strain of paper has forced some periodicals to reduce their length, a new newspaper, the Plague Bulletin, has appeared, professing its task: 'Reporting to the citizenry the progress or decline of the epidemic in a spirit of full objectivity; They gave the most authoritative evidence of the future state of the plague; opened a column in support of all persons, known or unknown, determined to combat the disaster; lifted the spirits of the people, conveyed the instructions of the authorities, and, in short, gathered together all those of good will. effective in combating the disease that afflicts us.' In fact, the newspaper quickly switched to advertising new products that were effective against the plague. "Around six o'clock in the morning, all the newspapers were sold to the long queues outside the stores more than an hour before they opened, and then hawked on the packed trams that reached the suburbs. The trams had become the only The vehicle is very difficult to drive, and the footboards and railings are crowded with passengers. But there is a strange thing, all the passengers try to turn their backs to people to avoid mutual infection. When the station arrived, the male and female passengers in the tram swarmed down, and they hurried Busy to stay away from each other and be alone. Often there are some noises because of bad mood; bad mood is already a chronic disease of people. "After the first few trams, the city gradually woke up. A few beer shops opened their doors first, with signs on the counters such as 'Coffee out of stock' and 'Please bring your own sugar'. Then the shops opened, and the streets became lively. At the same time, the sun is gradually rising, and the hot air is slowly casting a leaden gray color on the July sky. This is the time when people with nothing to do hang out in the streets. Most people seem to want to use their wealth In order to stop the plague. In several main streets, around eleven o'clock every day, there are some young men and women parading through the market, and in them can feel the desire to live in the midst of disasters. If the plague spreads, Moral values ​​will also fade away. We will again see scenes like the Romans reveling at the graveside of the Milanese. "At noon, the restaurant was full in an instant. Customers who did not find a seat gathered in groups at the entrance of the restaurant soon. The light in the sky was weakened because of the hot weather. People who waited for the empty seats to eat stayed Beneath the sun-baked streets, restaurants are so crowded because they can greatly simplify people's food supply problems, but they can't reduce people's fear of contagion: customers tirelessly spend a lot of money. Time to wipe and wipe the tableware. Not long ago, some restaurants put up such a notice: 'Our tableware is sterilized by boiling water'. But they gradually stopped advertising, anyway, customers have to come. Besides, customers don't care Spend money. The best wine or drink that claims to be the best wine, the most expensive side dishes, everyone desperately fights to eat and drink. In a restaurant, there seems to have been a scene of panic because a customer felt that Uncomfortable, his face turned pale, he got up and left his seat, and staggered out the door quickly. "Around two o'clock, the city gradually became empty. This is the time when silence, dust, sunshine and plague gather on the street. Along the whole street of big gray houses, the heat wave continues to come, and the long His captivity was not over until the fiery nights pressed down on the bustling and noisy city. In the first few days when the weather started to turn hot, for some reason, there were sometimes no crowds at night. But now the coolness begins Returning brought people not only a kind of hope, but also a feeling of relaxation. Everyone took to the streets, talking to each other, arguing with each other, and envious of each other. Under the reflection of the sunset glow in July, full of For a couple and the bustling hustle and bustle of the city, into the embrace of a breezy summer night. Every night on the avenue, an enlightened old man in a felt hat and a bow tie walks through the crowd in vain Repeatedly shouting: 'God is great, surrender to him!' On the contrary, people are passionate about things they don't understand or things that are more important than God. At the beginning, people thought that this epidemic was just a common disease, so religion still retains its place; now that they see the seriousness of the matter, they think of pleasure-seeking. The anguish that was carved on their faces by day changes in the hot, dusty evening. And mad excitement and clumsy debauchery set the heads of all the townspeople aflame. "I'm like them. What does death matter to a man like me? There's nothing wrong with people doing it if they're going to die anyway."