Chapter 25 Chapter 24 Confidence on the platform

There were several other such camps in the city, and for the sake of prudence I cannot say more about them in the absence of direct sources.However, one thing to mention is the existence of these isolation camps, the smell of people emanating from them, the loud blaring of the tweeters at dusk, the mystery of the walls, and the fear of these abandoned places , All this has become a heavy mental burden on the citizens, making everyone even more panicked and anxious.Their friction and conflicts with the municipal authorities have increased accordingly. Towards the end of November, the morning weather has become very cold.The downpour washed the road surface clean. After the rain, the sky seemed to have been washed. There was not a trace of cloud in sight. Under the clear sky, the road after the rain glistened.Every morning, a pale sun pours bright sunlight over the city in the frigid air.In the evening, on the contrary, the weather warmed up again, which was the time Tarrou had chosen for his heart-to-heart conversation with Dr. Rieux.

One evening, around ten o'clock, after a long and tiring day, Tarrou accompanied Rieux to the home of the old asthmatic.Starlight shone softly over the houses of the old uptown, and a breeze blew quietly across the dark crossroads.After a quiet journey, the two arrived at the old man's house.The old man kept telling them that there were some people in the city who were at odds with the municipality, that those lucrative jobs always went to certain people, that the people who were always taking risks would have their turn one day. Unlucky for myself.The old man rubbed his hands and said triumphantly that it seemed that there might be another big quarrel.He kept commenting on the situation while the doctors nursed him.

They heard someone moving above them.The patient's wife, noticing Tarrou's eagerness to inquire, explained to them that some of the neighbors were on the terrace.At the same time, they also learned that the view from the terrace is very beautiful, and that the terrace of a house is often connected with the terrace of another house, so that women in the neighborhood can visit each other without leaving home. . "Yes," said the old man, "go up and have a look, the air is very good there." When they got there, they found the platform empty except for three chairs.Looking from one side, as far as the eye could see, there were rows of platforms stretching away to meet at last a dark, rock-like mass which they recognized as far as they could see. Same as the first mountain.From the other side, beyond a few streets and the darkened port, one could see all the way to the horizon, where the sea and the sky, with their undulating waves, were faintly visible.In the distance, they knew, it was a cliff, and further away, a gleam of twilight always appeared and disappeared with regularity, and they could not see the twilight object: this was the lighthouse on the channel.It has been signaling ships to detour to other ports since the spring.The wind blows the clouds away, the night sky is clear, and the bright stars are shining. The faint light on the distant lighthouse is like silver-gray dust passing by, flashing across the starry sky from time to time.The breeze brought the smell of grass and stone.There was silence all around.

"It's a pleasant day," said Rieux, sitting down, "as if the plague had never been here." Tarrou turned his back on Rieux and looked out to sea. "Yes," he said after a while, "it's a nice day." He went and sat down beside Rieux, and looked at the doctor carefully.Three times a twilight appeared on the horizon.The sound of tableware clashing reached their ears from the depths of the street.A door in the house slammed. Tarrou asked in a very natural voice: "Rieux, don't you ever want to know who I am? Do you consider me a friend?"

Rieux replied: "I consider you a friend. However, neither of us had time." "Well, that reassures me. Would you like to make this our moment of friendship?" Rieux smiled at him in reply. "Well then..." A few streets away, a car seemed to be gliding quietly on the wet road for a while.The car drove away, followed, and a vague exclamation from a distance broke the silence again.Then, the surroundings returned to silence, and the two of them were only accompanied by the silent sky and the stars.Tarrou got up and sat down on the railing of the terrace, facing Rieux, who was comfortably seated in his chair.At a glance, I saw a burly figure stuck in the starry sky like a silhouette.He talked for a long time, and the following is the general content of his speech: "Rieux, let's talk briefly. I was afflicted by the plague long before I got acquainted with this city and encountered this plague. It can be said that I and everyone Same. But some people are not aware of it or are content with the status quo, while others are aware of it and seek to get rid of it. And I have always wanted to get rid of it.

"When I was young, I lived with an innocent mind, that is to say, with a blank slate. I wasn't a distressed person, and I started out fine. Everything was fine for me. It all went pretty well: I'm mentally strong, I'm good at getting women's attention, and if I ever had certain worries, they came and went quickly. One day, I started thinking. Now... "I should tell you that I was not as poor as you were. My father was Acting Attorney General, which was a very good position. However, he had no airs, because he was born a good man. My mother was a simple and modest woman." Well, I've always loved her, but I've always been reluctant to talk about her. Usually, my father took care of me kindly. I even believe that he has been trying to understand me. He had an affair, which I am sure now, but, I'm not offended by it. He's done it in these respects without being offensive. Simply put, he wasn't an eccentric c. And if he lives like a saint, then he's not a bad guy. He's somewhere in between, that's all. He's the type of guy who elicits undue affection in others and lasts a long time.

"However, he has one peculiarity: The Travel Guide to Xiex is a book he can't put down. I don't mean that he travels a lot (only on vacation, he goes to Brittany, because he is there. There is a small villa), but that he can tell you exactly the departure and arrival times of the Paris-Berlin train, the stopover time from Lyon to Warsaw, and the exact distance between the capitals you are going to. How many kilometers. Can you tell me how to go from Briançon to Chamonix? Even a station master can't remember it. But my father can tell it exactly. He does it almost every night to enrich my knowledge in this area, and take pride in it. It also amused me, so I often asked him questions, and when I checked out his I was very happy when I answered and admitted that he was right. These little exercises brought us closer because I became one of his listeners, and he appreciated my kindness. I think that his talent in railway running time is as good as other talents.

"However, I have carried myself a little too far, and may have valued the honest man too highly, since, after all, he had only an indirect influence on my resolution. At best he gave me a chance. My father invited me to hear him speak when I was seventeen. It was a big case in the criminal courts, so of course he wanted to show his talents. I also think now that he wanted to encourage me to inherit my father's business through this opening ceremony, this kind of ceremony that shocked and excited the young people's imagination. Because I was also very curious at the time, and wanted to see what kind of posture he appeared in and listen to what he said on a different occasion than at home. Apart from this, I had no other ideas. At that time, I I always thought that the opening of the court, like the annual National Day review on July 14, or the award at the end of the semester, is natural and inevitable. My concept of this aspect was very abstract at the time, and it did not make me feel at all. feeling anxious.

"But the only thing that made an impression on me that day was the criminal. I think he was guilty, and it doesn't matter what he committed. The criminal was a short guy of about thirty, with reddish-brown hair and a pathetic look. He seemed determined to admit everything, and he seemed so terrified of what he had done and what would happen to him that after a few minutes my attention was all drawn to him. He looked like an owl frightened out of its wits by a bright light. His bow tie was on one side, he was only biting the nails of one hand, the nails of his right hand... Anyway, I don't need to say any more, of course you Know that he is a real person.

"However, I didn't realize this until then, because before that, I only thought of him in the simple concept of 'defendant'. I can't say that I forgot my father was there at that time, but I seemed to be seized by something in my gut, and I focused all my attention on this criminal defendant. I heard almost nothing, and I felt that someone wanted to kill this living person. My instincts pushed me blindly toward him like a tidal wave. I didn't really come to my senses until my father read the indictment. "My father was wearing a red cassock, and he looked uncharacteristically. His usual good-natured look and friendly demeanor had long since disappeared. His mouth was moving frequently, and a long series of long sentences kept coming. The ground sprang out of his mouth like a poisonous snake. I understood: he demanded the execution of this man in the name of Du Hui, and he even demanded that the prisoner's head be cut off. Yes, he just said: "This head should be fell off.' But all in all, there is not much difference between the two sentences, and the result is the same anyway, because he finally took the head off, but he didn't do the actual work. I heard the end all the time, and at the same time I always felt a dizzying familiarity with the unfortunate man that my father never had. As is customary, at executions — at what might be called the last hour, to put it mildly, but really at the basest moment of murder — my father was obliged to be there.

"Ever since I saw that Shakes Travel Guide, I've been disgusted. I've hated courts, capital punishment, and executions ever since. I was horrified to discover that my father may have been involved in multiple Such a murder, and he gets up very early on such days. Yes, he always winds the alarm clock on such occasions. I dare not tell my mother these things, but I Observing her more closely, I realized that there was no longer any affection between them, and that my mother was leading a life of asceticism. This led me to forgive my mother, as I then That's what I said. After a while, I understood that I didn't need to forgive her, because my mother was very poor before she got married, and it was poverty that made her learn to live with it. "You must be waiting for me to say this right now: I ran away from home right away. No, I stayed home for months, almost a year or so. But during that time, I was in pain. One night my dad was looking for his alarm clock again because he was going to get up early the next day. I stayed up all night. When he came home the next day, I was gone. The next thing I did was To put it bluntly, my father sent people looking for me, so I went to him, I didn't explain anything to him, I told him calmly, if he forced me to go home, I would kill myself. He has a milder nature , finally agreed with me to leave, but he made a comment, thinking that this kind of behavior of wanting to live freely is very stupid (this is how he understood my behavior, and I didn't refute him at all), he still held back Sincere tears asked me in every possible way. After a long time, I often went home to visit my mother and saw him at the same time. I think these contacts have satisfied him. As for me, I have no regard for him. No resentment, just a little melancholy. When he died, I took my mother to live with me. If she hadn't died later, she would still live with me now. "The reason why I have made this lengthy account of this initial experience is that it was the beginning of everything. Now I will speak quickly. From the age of eighteen, I left the affluent environment and lived A life of poverty. I worked many jobs just to make ends meet. Things always went well. But my concern was the death penalty. I had to settle for this reddish-brown owl. So I used to be like people I have been involved in politics, as I said. All in all, I don't want to be a plague patient. I used to think that the society I lived in was based on the death penalty, and that my fight against this society was to fight against murder. .I thought so, and other people have said it to me, and in the end, it was basically true. So I stood with some other people I loved and still love Together. I have held on to this for a long time. In any country in Europe where such struggles have occurred, I have had a part in them. Well, let's not talk about that. 'Of course, I understood then that we occasionally sentence people to death.However, people tell me that these deaths are necessary in order to achieve a world where no one kills again.In a sense this was true then, but I am afraid I cannot hold to such truths now, anyhow.One thing is for sure, and that is that I was hesitant.But then I kept thinking about the owl, so I kept going.Until one day, I witnessed an execution (it was in Hungary), and the same dizzying scene that I encountered in the courtroom as a child once again blurred my vision (I was an adult at the time). "You've never seen someone shot, have you? No, of course. The spectators are usually invited, and the audience is also selected in advance. As a result, you can only stay at the level of authority in pictures and books: blindfolded Cloth strips, people tied to wooden posts, and a few soldiers in the distance. Let me tell you, this is not the case! On the contrary, the execution team stood one and a half meters away from the prisoner. Do you know this? If the prisoner Walk two steps forward, and his chest will touch the soldiers' long guns! Do you know this? At such a short distance, the soldiers will concentrate the bullets on his heart area, and they will shoot a bullet that can stick their fists in. You know that too? No, you don't know all this, because people don't talk about these details. To the plague patients, human sleep is more sacred than life, and we should not go to Disturbing the sleep of these decent people. Only people with low style do that, and style is about not sticking to your guns, that's a well-known fact. But I haven't had a good night's sleep since then. I'm just low on style, constantly insisting Opinion, that is, constantly thinking about these things. "So I learned the fact that I had been plague-stricken for so long that I thought I was fighting the plague with righteousness. At least, that was my case. I learned that I had indirectly Approved and even contributed to the death of thousands of people, because I endorsed every action and principle that ultimately led to death. Others don't seem to feel guilty about it, or at least they never speak of it themselves ...and I get a lump in my throat when I think about it. I'm with them, but I'm alone. Sometimes when I confide in them about my insecurities, they tell me that it's the issues that are currently being debated that should be considered. , and they also fed me often touching truths, and forced me to accept what I could not accept. But I replied that in these cases, the plague patients in red surplices would also be plausible and say some convincing reasons, and if I agree with the irresistible reasons and compelling circumstances put forward by the plague patients, I cannot deny the same reasons given by the plague patients. They pointed out to me that if one were to go along with There is a good way for these people in red robes, and that is to let them monopolize the right to sentence. However, I thought at the time that if I made a concession once, I would have to make concessions to the end. It seems that history has also confirmed me With this kind of thinking, aren’t they all scrambling to kill people today?! They are all jealous, and they can only do this. "But, anyway, it's not arguing with other people that concerns me, but the reddish-brown owl, the dirty business of the courts: the filthy beaks that close a lock The man in chains announced his imminent death, and arranged for his death so that he would spend the whole night in the terror of dying, with his eyes open and his arms tied to die. The hole in the chest is what I can't forget. I Thought, while waiting to figure things out (at least to me), I don't in the slightest -- do you hear? -- approve of this disgusting carnage. Yes, in the absence of Until I figured it out, I decided to adopt this blind obstinacy. "My mind hasn't changed since then. For a long time I have felt immensely ashamed that I was a murderer, even if it was indirect but also out of good intentions, and that doesn't change the fact. Over time I found that even those who are kinder than others can't help killing people today, or let others kill people, because this is in line with the logic of their lives. I also found that in this world, our Every action could lead to the death of some people. Yes, I was ashamed all the time, I learned, we all lived in the plague at that time, so I lost my peace of mind. To this day, I still try to understand them Everyone, trying not to be anyone's enemy, wants to find the lost peace in this way. I only know that in order to stop being a plague patient, you have to do what you have to do, and only in this way Doing so that we can hope for peace, or, failing that, a peaceful death. And it is the only way to alleviate people's suffering, if not to save them, at least to use as little as possible. They suffer, and sometimes even do them a little good. Therefore, I reject everything that kills people, and any justification for it, whether direct or indirect, whether justified or unreasonable. "Therefore, the plague has not taught me anything, or else it has taught me that I should fight it with you. I know from reliable sources (yes, Rieux, I am very serious about life. well understood, you can see that), everyone has the plague, because there is no one in the world, yes, no one is immune to the plague. Therefore, we must constantly watch out yourself, or if you are not careful, you will breathe your breath into someone else's face and thereby infect him with the plague. Only germs are produced naturally. The rest, such as health, integrity and purity, are, so to speak, by the will. the work of a will that should never cease. The upright man, that is, the man who hardly infects anyone with disease, is always careful not to be distracted as much as possible. And in order to be never distracted, It takes willpower, a state of tension! Yes, Rieux, it is tiring to be a plague sufferer. But it is even more tiring not to be a plague sufferer. That is why everyone seems Very tired. Because everyone has a little bit of plague today. But, because of this, some people who don't want to be plague sufferers feel exhausted. For them, there is nothing but death. can relieve them of this fatigue. "From now on, I know that I am worthless to the world itself. From the moment I gave up killing, I sentenced myself to eternal exile. Now others will make history. I too Know, I can't judge these people on the surface. I'm not qualified to be a reasonable murderer. Of course, this is not a merit. However, I still want to be like I am now, and I have learned humility. I'm just saying, in this There are scourges and victims on earth, and one should refuse to side with the scourge as much as possible. This may seem simple to you, but I don't know if it is simple, but I know that what I say is true. I I have heard many great truths, which almost confuse me, and have led many others to agree to murder. It made me understand that all the misfortunes of people are caused by them Confusing words. So, in order to be right, I decided to be unambiguous in speech and action. Therefore, I say, there is nothing in this world except evil and victims. If If, when I say this, I myself become a scourge, then, at least, I don't want to. I try to make myself an innocent murderer. You see, this is not a luxury! "Of course, there should be a third kind of person, that is, real doctors, but in fact, people encounter real doctors very rarely, and it may be difficult to find them. So, I decided to stand on my side in any case. The side of the victim, in order to limit the damage. Among the victims, I can at least try to know how to reach the third level of man, that is, to achieve peace." At last Tarrou swung his legs and tapped the platform lightly with his foot.After a silence, Rieux straightened himself up and asked Tarrou if he knew of a way to peace. "Yes, that's compassion." An ambulance bell rang twice in the distance.The exclamations that were still indistinct just now gathered at the edge of the city, near the stone hill.At this moment, they heard a sound like an explosion, and then, there was silence again.Rini saw the lighthouse and asked for the light two more times.The breeze seemed to have picked up its strength, and at the same time there was a gust of salty wind blowing from the sea.They could now clearly hear the muffled sound of the waves crashing against the cliffs. "In short," said Tarrou frankly, "what interests me is what it takes to be a saint." "But you don't believe in God." "Yes. Can a man be a saint if he doesn't believe in God? That's the only concrete question I have today." Suddenly, a large twilight appeared from the side where the cry had just come, and an indistinguishable noise, along the direction of the wind, reached the ears of the two friends.The twilight immediately dimmed, and in the distance, on the edge of those platforms, there was only a faint red light left.When the wind stopped, they clearly heard first a crowd of shouts, then a burst of shooting, and finally the noise of the crowd.Tarrou stood up and listened, but they heard nothing more. Tarrou said: "There is another fight at the gates." "It's over now," Rieux replied. It will never end, Tarrou murmured, and there will be victims, because it is only natural. "That may be so," replied Rieux, "but, you know, I feel that I am bound up with the loser and not with the saint. I think I am neither interested in heroism nor in the way of the saint. I feel Interested in being a real human being." "Yes, we pursue the same goal, but my ambition is not as big as yours." Thinking Tarrou was joking, Rieux glanced at him, but in the blurred light of the night sky he saw a sad and serious face.The wind picked up again, and Rieux felt it warm against him.Tarrou cheered up and said: "You know what we have to do for friendship?" Rieux replied: "Do what you want." "Go for a sea bath. It's a noble pleasure, even for a future saint." Rieux smiled. Tarrou went on: "We have a pass to go to the jetty. In short, it would be foolish to live only under the conditions of the plague. Of course, a real man should fight for the victims, but if he therefore He doesn't love anything else anymore, so what is he fighting for?" "Yes, let's go," said Rieux. After a while, the car stopped near the fence of the port.The moon had risen, and the milky light in the night sky cast vague shadows everywhere.Behind them lay the rows of houses in the city, from which a hot, murky draft drove the two friends towards the sea.They showed a pass to a soldier, who checked them for a long time before letting them go.They walked towards the jetty across the barrel-studded grounds, which smelled of wine and fish.As they approached, a smell of iodine and seaweed told them that the sea was in sight.Then, there was the sound of waves. The sea roared softly under the huge stone foundations of the breakwater.When they climbed the embankment, thousands of hectares of waves unfolded in front of their eyes. The sea surface was as thick as velvet and as soft and smooth as animal hair.They sat down on a rock facing the sea.The water rushes up and down in a slow rhythm.The ups and downs of the sea are as calm as human breathing, and the bright reflections appear and disappear on the water.In front of them, there was a boundless night scene.Rieux stroked the uneven rock with his hands, and a strange sense of happiness filled his whole body.Turning to Tarrou, he guessed from his friend's serene serious face that Tarrou shared the same happiness, but he also knew that this happiness could not make Tarrou forget anything, certainly not. The killing of the world. They took off their clothes.Rieux jumped into the water first.At first he felt the water was a little cool, but when he resurfaced it was warm.After breaststroke for a while, he realized that the reason why the sea water was warm that night was because the sea in autumn absorbed the heat stored from the ground for several months in summer.He swam forward in an even motion, his feet beating the surface, leaving a billowing trail of foam behind him, water flowing down his arms and down his legs.He heard a loud splash: Tarrou had gone into the water.Rieux turned over and floated motionless on the water, facing the sky full of moon and stars.He takes a deep breath.Then, more and more distinctly, he heard the sound of drawing water, which was very loud in the stillness of the night. Tarrou was swimming behind him, and after a while he could even hear his breathing.Rieux rolled over and followed his friend at the same speed.Tarrou swam faster than he did, so he had to speed up.In just a few minutes, they pushed forward with the same rhythm and the same strength, lonely and far away from the world, finally freed from the city and the plague.Rieux stopped first, and then they swam back slowly.For some time on their way back to shore they encountered an icy current, and at the surprise of the sea they both picked up speed in unison. They put on their clothes again and set off on their way home without a word.But by this time they had become a pair of like-minded friends, and that evening was fondly remembered for them.When they saw the sentinels of the plague city in the distance, Rieux knew that now Tarrou and he were saying the same thing in their hearts: it was good that the plague had forgotten them for a while, but now it was time to start again.