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- Альбер Камю
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- Стр. 119/187
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The
relatives
got
into
one
of
the
taxis
still
allowed
to
operate
and
the
cars
headed
for
the
cemetery
at
full
speed
,
taking
a
route
that
avoided
the
town
centre
.
At
the
gate
the
convoy
was
halted
by
gendarmes
who
stamped
an
official
pass
,
without
which
it
was
impossible
to
have
what
our
townsfolk
called
a
"
last
home
"
,
then
the
gendarmes
stepped
back
and
the
cars
pulled
up
beside
a
square
where
a
number
of
graves
were
waiting
to
be
filled
.
A
priest
met
the
party
because
funeral
services
in
church
had
been
banned
.
The
coffin
was
brought
out
to
the
accompaniment
of
prayers
,
ropes
were
placed
around
it
,
it
was
dragged
along
,
slipped
,
hit
the
bottom
of
the
grave
.
The
priest
shook
the
holy
water
over
it
and
already
the
first
clods
of
earth
were
crashing
against
the
lid
.
The
ambulance
had
left
a
short
time
before
to
be
washed
down
with
disinfectant
and
,
while
the
shovelfuls
of
clay
gave
off
an
increasingly
dull
sound
,
the
family
piled
back
into
the
taxi
.
A
quarter
of
an
hour
later
they
were
back
home
.
In
this
way
everything
really
happened
with
the
greatest
speed
and
the
minimum
of
risk
.
And
needless
to
say
,
at
least
at
the
start
,
it
is
clear
that
the
natural
feelings
of
the
relatives
were
offended
.
But
in
time
of
plague
,
these
are
considerations
which
cannot
concern
us
:
everything
was
sacrificed
to
efficiency
.
Moreover
,
while
at
the
start
the
morale
of
the
people
was
affected
by
such
practices
—
because
the
desire
to
be
decently
buried
is
more
widespread
than
you
might
think
—
luckily
,
after
a
short
while
,
there
was
an
urgent
problem
of
food
supplies
and
the
attention
of
the
inhabitants
turned
towards
more
immediate
concerns
.
Taken
up
with
queuing
,
pulling
strings
and
filling
forms
if
they
wanted
to
eat
,
people
did
not
have
time
to
worry
about
how
others
were
dying
around
them
and
how
they
themselves
would
one
day
die
.
So
these
material
difficulties
which
seemed
like
an
affliction
would
eventually
be
seen
to
have
been
a
boon
.
All
would
have
been
for
the
best
if
the
epidemic
had
not
spread
,
as
we
have
seen
.
For
coffins
were
starting
to
be
in
short
supply
,
and
there
was
not
enough
cloth
for
shrouds
or
space
in
the
cemetery
.
Something
had
to
be
done
.
The
simplest
thing
,
still
for
reasons
of
efficiency
,
seemed
to
be
to
group
funerals
together
and
when
necessary
to
increase
the
number
of
journeys
between
the
hospital
and
the
cemetery
.
So
,
as
far
as
Rieux
’
s
hospital
was
concerned
,
they
had
five
coffins
for
the
time
being
.
Once
these
were
full
,
the
ambulance
loaded
them
.
At
the
cemetery
the
coffins
were
emptied
,
the
corpses
,
grey
as
iron
,
were
loaded
on
stretchers
and
waited
in
a
specially
prepared
hanger
,
the
coffins
were
sprayed
with
an
antiseptic
solution
and
taken
back
to
the
hospital
,
then
the
process
began
again
,
as
often
as
necessary
.
The
whole
thing
was
well
organized
and
the
Prefect
expressed
his
satisfaction
.
He
even
told
Rieux
that
,
when
all
was
said
and
done
,
this
was
preferable
to
hearses
driven
by
black
slaves
which
one
read
about
in
the
chronicles
of
earlier
plagues
.
"
Yes
,
"
Rieux
said
.
"
The
burial
is
the
same
,
but
we
keep
a
card
index
.
No
one
can
deny
that
we
have
made
progress
.
"
Despite
these
successes
for
the
authorities
,
the
unpleasant
character
that
the
formalities
had
now
taken
on
forced
the
Prefecture
to
keep
relatives
away
from
the
ceremony
.
They
were
allowed
to
come
to
the
gate
of
the
cemetery
—
though
even
that
was
not
official
,
because
where
funerary
rites
were
concerned
,
things
had
changed
a
bit
.
At
the
far
end
of
the
cemetery
,
in
a
featureless
area
covered
in
mastic
trees
,
two
huge
pits
had
been
dug
.
There
was
a
men
’
s
grave
and
a
women
’
s
grave
.
From
this
point
of
view
,
the
authorities
respected
convention
and
it
was
only
later
when
force
of
circumstances
caused
even
this
vestige
of
modesty
to
disappear
and
men
and
women
were
buried
haphazardly
,
one
on
top
of
the
other
,
with
no
thought
of
decency
.
Luckily
,
this
extreme
confusion
affected
only
the
final
moments
of
the
pestilence
.
At
the
time
which
concerns
us
now
,
there
was
a
separation
of
pits
and
the
authorities
were
very
keen
on
it
.
At
the
bottom
of
each
,
a
thick
layer
of
quicklime
smoked
and
boiled
,
while
around
the
edges
of
the
hole
a
small
mound
of
the
same
chemical
bubbled
in
the
open
air
.
When
the
ambulances
had
completed
their
journey
,
the
stretchers
were
brought
in
procession
and
the
naked
,
slightly
twisted
corpses
were
allowed
to
slip
to
the
bottom
,
more
or
less
side
-
by
-
side
.
After
that
,
they
were
covered
with
quicklime
,
then
earth
,
but
only
up
to
a
certain
height
,
in
order
to
leave
room
for
more
occupants
to
come
.
The
following
day
,
the
relatives
were
invited
to
sign
a
register
—
which
just
showed
the
difference
that
there
may
be
between
men
and
,
for
example
,
dogs
:
you
can
keep
check
of
human
beings
.
These
operations
needed
staff
and
manpower
was
always
on
the
verge
of
running
out
.
Many
of
the
male
nurses
and
the
gravediggers
,
who
were
at
first
official
,
then
casual
,
died
of
the
plague
.
Whatever
precautions
were
taken
,
one
day
infection
occurred
.
Though
,
when
you
think
about
it
,
the
most
surprising
thing
was
that
there
was
never
a
shortage
of
men
to
do
the
job
,
for
as
long
as
the
epidemic
lasted
.
The
critical
period
occurred
shortly
before
the
plague
reached
its
peak
and
then
Dr
Rieux
’
s
fears
were
well
founded
.
There
were
not
enough
people
either
for
supervision
or
for
what
he
called
"
heavy
work
"
.
But
from
the
time
when
the
plague
really
took
hold
of
the
town
,
its
very
immoderation
had
one
quite
convenient
outcome
,
because
it
disrupted
the
whole
of
economic
life
and
so
created
quite
a
large
number
of
unemployed
.
In
most
cases
,
they
did
not
supply
supervisors
,
but
when
it
came
to
the
dirty
work
,
recruitment
became
much
easier
as
a
result
.
Indeed
,
from
this
time
onwards
,
poverty
always
triumphed
over
fear
,
to
the
extent
that
work
was
always
paid
according
to
the
risk
involved
.
The
health
services
were
able
to
draw
up
a
list
of
those
seeking
work
and
as
soon
as
a
vacancy
occurred
,
the
first
on
the
list
were
informed
and
—
assuming
that
they
had
not
gone
vacant
themselves
in
the
meantime
—
did
not
fail
to
turn
up
.
In
this
way
,
the
Prefect
,
who
had
long
refused
to
make
up
his
mind
about
employing
the
condemned
(
to
death
,
or
life
)
for
this
kind
of
work
,
was
able
to
avoid
having
recourse
to
them
.
As
long
as
there
were
men
unemployed
,
he
considered
that
such
a
decision
could
wait
.
