Chapter 24 Chapter 23 The Quarantined Father

This year's Day of the Dead is different.Of course, the weather is in season, because it has changed suddenly, and the cooler weather drove the autumn tiger away.As in previous years, gusts of cold wind kept blowing, and large clouds rushed from one end of the horizon to the other, casting shadows on the roofs of houses, but after the clouds passed, November's warm gold The sun was shining on the houses again.The first raincoats have already appeared.It was noticed that there were a surprising number of rubberized, gleaming raincoats.It turned out that the newspaper reported that when a severe plague occurred in the South two hundred years ago, doctors wore oiled clothes to prevent themselves from contracting the disease.So those stores took advantage of the opportunity to dump a stock of outdated clothes that everyone hoped would make them immune.

But while the cityscape reflects the seasons, the cemetery is deserted and deserted.At this time in previous years, the tram was filled with the fragrance of chrysanthemums, and crowds of women came to the place where their relatives were buried and placed flowers on their graves.On this day, people want to compensate the deceased for being forgotten and alone in the underworld for many months.However, this year, no one wants to miss the dead, precisely because people have thought too much about them.Now people no longer sweep their graves with three-point regret and seven-point sadness.They are no longer the abandoned dead whose graves are visited once a year to say they have not been forgotten.They are dead ghosts who broke into people's lives to make trouble, so people should forget them.Therefore, this year's Day of the Dead can be said to have been cleverly mixed up.According to Cottard (Tarrou found him speaking more and more sarcastically), every day was now the Day of the Dead.

It is true, the plague fires burned brighter in the crematorium.Day by day, the number of dead did not increase. It seemed that the plague had reached its peak smoothly. Like a meticulous civil servant, it completed its killing tasks accurately and regularly every day.In principle, and according to authorities, this is a good sign.For example, the curve on the graph of the plague situation first continued to rise and then moved in a horizontal direction, which greatly comforted Dr. Richard.He said: "This chart is very good, very good." He believes that the plague has reached a so-called stable state, and in the future, the epidemic will only ease.He attributed this to Dr. Castel's new serum, which had not long ago had indeed obtained some unexpected results.Old Dr. Castel did not deny it, but he believed that, in fact, people could not make any predictions about the plague, because in the history of epidemics, it can be seen that epidemics often suddenly and unexpectedly flare up again.For a long time, the province has wanted to appease the public's anxiety, but due to the severity of the epidemic, it has been unable to do so. Now it plans to convene all doctors and ask them to make a report on the epidemic to the province.But at this time, Dr. Richard himself was killed by the plague, and this happened just in the stable stage of the epidemic.

In the face of this must have been startling, but after all, unintelligible example, the Provincial Government suddenly became pessimistic and disappointed, which was as illogical as it had previously adopted an optimistic attitude.As for Castel, he is still meticulously developing his serum.In short, all the public places in the city have been converted into hospitals or isolation places, except the provincial capital, which is only because it is necessary to leave a place as a meeting place.However, in general, since the epidemic was relatively stable during this period, the medical organization established by Rieux was sufficient to cope with the situation.Physicians and assistants who are overwhelmed by work need not worry about greater efforts.They just have to go on with their regular, though superhuman, jobs.The various plague-infected lungs that had appeared were now spreading to all corners of the city, like the wind, blowing a fire in the lungs of the people, and the fire was growing hotter.In the process of vomiting blood, many patients were killed more quickly.With this new form of plague, the danger of infection is now greater.On this point, to be honest, the opinions of the experts have been conflicting.However, for safety reasons, health and epidemic prevention personnel continue to wear sterile gauze masks.In any case, at first glance, the disease seemed to have spread.However, as cases of bubonic plague are decreasing, the total figure remains the same.

However, growing difficulties with food supplies have raised other concerns.Speculators took advantage of the fire and sold at high prices staples that were generally missing from the market.Thus the poor are in a very difficult position, while the rich have almost everything they want, and want nothing.The contagion of the plague, which treats all equally and without favoritism, might have strengthened the sense of equality among the inhabitants of the city, but in fact, on the contrary, by the usual selfishness of the people, the plague has increased the sense of injustice in everyone's mind.Of course, all that remains is the unquestionable equality of all in the face of death, but this kind of equality is something no one wants to enjoy.The poor who starve miss the neighboring towns and villages, where life is free and bread is cheap.Because they couldn't get enough to eat here, they had an idea, an unreasonable idea, that they should have been let go here long ago.Thus, at last the slogan spread through the town: "Give no bread, give fresh air!" It can sometimes be seen on the walls, and sometimes heard as the prefect passes by.This ironic remark was a call to demonstrations, which, although quickly suppressed, were serious enough for all to see.

The newspapers, of course, obeyed the orders from above, and trumpeted optimism at all costs.As soon as you open the newspaper, you can read that the current situation is characterized by the fact that the population of the city is "a moving example of calm and calm" in the face of danger.But in this isolated city where nothing can be kept secret, no one will believe this "model" made by all the residents of the city.To get a firm idea of ​​what is meant by composure and coolness, one need only go to a place of isolation, or to one of the isolation camps organized by the administration.However, the author happened to be busy elsewhere at that time, and I didn't know the situation inside, so I can only quote the facts written by Tarrou here.

Tarrou recorded in his notebooks a visit he had made with Rambert to one of the isolation camps at the municipal stadium.The stadium was situated almost at the gates of the city, facing on one side a tramway street and on the other a clearing that extended to the edge of the plateau on which the city stood.The stadium is generally surrounded by high concrete walls, so as long as some sentries are set up at the four exits, it will be difficult for people to escape.At the same time, the surrounding walls also prevent some curious people outside from disturbing the unfortunate people who are locked inside and quarantined.These unfortunates, though they could not see the trams, could hear them rumbling all day long, and whenever they noticed a particularly loud tram, they could guess that it was the time of the commute to or from the office.Therefore, they also know that although they are excluded from life, life still continues a few meters away from them, but this high concrete wall separates them from the outside world, creating two completely different lives. Different worlds, even if they are placed on some planets separately, are not so different.

One Sunday afternoon Tarrou and Rambert decided to go to the stadium.They were accompanied by the football player Gonzales, who had been brought in by Rambert and who finally agreed to take care of the stadium in rotation after hearing what the reporters had said.Rambert wanted to introduce him to the camp director.Gonzales said during his meeting with Rambert and Tarrou that, before the plague, that was exactly when he would start playing in his jersey.Now that all the stadiums have been requisitioned and games are no longer possible, he feels idle, and so does his demeanor.That's one of the reasons he accepted the supervisor job, but he only agreed to be on duty on weekends.The weather was half cloudy and half sunny that day. Gonzales looked up and said with regret that this kind of weather, which neither rains nor is hot, is most suitable for playing football.He tried to recall the smell of rubbing turpentine in the locker room before the game, the rickety stands, the brightly colored jerseys on the tan court, lemons or cold thirst-quenching sodas at halftime.Furthermore, Tarrou noted the following incident.Passing the rough roads in the suburbs along the way, Gonzales kicked the stones as if they were footballs, trying to kick them into the gutter hole, and when he hit, he said, "One to zero. "When he finishes a cigarette, he blows the butt forward and then tries to catch it with his foot in the air.Near the stadium, some kids were playing with a ball, and they kicked the ball at the three men, so Gonzales kicked it right back to them.

The three finally walked into the stadium.The stands were full of people.Hundreds of red tents were set up on the sports field.There are bedding and packages in the tent, and you can see from a distance that the stands have not been removed, mainly to allow those who live inside to hide when it is hot or rainy, but they have to go back when the sun goes down. Go to the tent.Showers have been installed under the stands, and the former players' locker rooms have been converted into offices and infirmaries.Most of the people living in the isolation camp were in the stands, while others wandered around the edge of the sports field, and some squatted at the entrance of the tent, watching everything around them with expressionless eyes.In the stands, many people lay there, as if expecting something.

Tarrou asked Rambert: "What do they do during the day?" "Do nothing." Almost all of them are literally empty-handed and doing nothing.This large black crowd was strangely silent. "In the first few days, when they came here, they couldn't get along with each other, and they were noisy," said Rambert, "but as the days went on, they talked less and less." According to Tarrou's records, he understood the mood of these people.In the beginning, he saw them huddled together in their tents, idle, listening to the buzzing of flies or scratching themselves.If someone is willing to listen to them, they will express their anger or fear out loud.However, since the number of people in the isolation camp has increased and the quota has been greatly exceeded, fewer and fewer people are willing to listen to their complaints.So they had to be silent and suspicious of each other.In fact, there was indeed an atmosphere of suspicion, which pressed down from the gray and transparent sky and hung over the entire red isolation camp.

Yes, each of them had a look of suspicion on their faces.Since they were separated from others, it could not be for no reason, so they all had the expression on their faces that is characteristic of people who are both afraid and wondering why.Everyone Tarrou saw had glazed-eyed eyes and an air of tormented utter isolation from the life they had previously led.Since they can't think of death all the time, they just don't think about it at all. They are on vacation. "But the most unfortunate thing," Tarrou wrote, "is that they have all been forgotten, and they know it well. People who knew them in the past have forgotten them because they were thinking of other things. Understandable. As for those who love them, they are also forgotten, because these people have exhausted themselves by moving around and trying to get them out of the isolation camp. Since their relatives are preoccupied with their departure It is normal for them to forget about themselves. Later, people find that even in the most unfortunate times, no one can really think about anyone, because, to really think about a person, It means thinking about this person non-stop, and not being distracted by anything, whether it's housework, flies flying around, eating, or itching. But flies and itches always There will be. So it is not easy to pass the time well. And this, they all understand." The director of the isolation camp approached Tarrou and the three of them again and told them that a Mr. Othon wanted to see them.First he led Gonzales to his office, then led Rambert and Tarrou towards a corner of the stands.Mr. Othon, sitting alone on one side, rose to greet them when he saw them coming.He was still dressed as before, with the stiff collar on.Tarrou noticed only that his hair at the temples was much more untidy than before, standing up on end, and that the lace of one shoe was untied.The judge looked tired, and he never looked directly at the other person when he spoke.He said he was glad to see them, and he entrusted them to thank Dr. Rieux for what he had done for him. None of the others spoke. "I hope..." said the judge after a while, "Philip hasn't suffered too much." It was the first time Tarrou had heard his son's name mentioned by the magistrate, and he realized that things had changed.The sun had dipped below the horizon, and the sun slanted across the stands between two clouds, gilding the three faces. Tarrou replied: "No, no, he really has no pain." As they left, the magistrate continued to watch the sun go down. They ran to say goodbye to Gonzales, who was looking at a roster.The athlete smiled and shook hands with them. "At least I found the locker room again," he said. "It's the same." A little later, when Tarrou and Rambert were escorted out by the camp director, there was a rustling in the stands.Then, those tweeters, which are usually used to announce the results of the game or introduce the team, announced with a buzzing sound that these quarantined people should go back to their tents and dinner will be distributed.The men left the stands slowly and trudged back to the tents.When they were all settled, there were two battery cars; the kind people saw in the railway station, with two large pots, and they drove between the two tents.I saw people stretch out their arms, put two long-handled spoons into the two large pots, and then fish out the food from the pots and put them in the two lunch boxes.The battery car started again, and it stopped before the next tent to distribute dinner. "That's very scientific," Tarrou said to the supervisor. "Yes, very scientific." The supervisor said proudly while shaking hands with them. It was dusk, the sky was cloudless, and a soft, unwarming afterglow bathed the isolation camp.In the stillness of the evening, from all directions came the sound of spoons and saucers.A few bats flew around the tent, and then suddenly disappeared.From beyond the wall came the chugging of a tram on a fork in the tracks. "Poor magistrate," murmured Tarrou, as he stepped out of the camp gate, "he ought to do something for him. But how to help a magistrate?"