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- Альбер Камю
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- Стр. 166/187
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In
truth
,
a
rent
had
just
appeared
in
the
opaque
veil
that
had
for
many
months
surrounded
the
town
;
and
every
Monday
,
everybody
could
gather
from
the
radio
news
bulletins
that
the
gap
was
getting
wider
and
that
they
would
finally
be
able
to
breathe
.
The
consolation
was
still
only
a
negative
one
,
with
no
practical
consequences
.
But
whereas
previously
people
would
have
learned
with
some
incredulity
that
a
train
had
left
or
a
boat
arrived
,
or
even
that
cars
were
once
more
going
to
be
allowed
to
drive
around
,
the
announcement
of
these
events
in
mid
-
January
would
not
have
caused
any
surprise
.
No
doubt
it
was
not
much
.
But
this
slight
difference
in
fact
reflected
the
vast
distance
that
our
townspeople
had
moved
in
the
direction
of
hope
.
And
you
could
say
that
as
soon
as
it
became
possible
for
people
to
have
the
tiniest
scrap
of
hope
,
the
effective
reign
of
the
plague
was
over
.
The
fact
remains
,
however
,
that
throughout
the
month
of
January
our
fellow
-
citizens
reacted
in
contradictory
ways
,
veering
from
excitement
to
depression
.
So
new
attempts
at
escape
were
recorded
,
at
the
very
moment
when
the
statistics
were
most
favourable
.
The
authorities
were
very
surprised
by
this
—
as
were
the
sentry
posts
,
apparently
,
since
most
of
the
escapes
succeeded
.
But
in
point
of
fact
those
who
escaped
at
this
moment
obeyed
natural
feelings
.
In
some
people
,
the
plague
had
embedded
such
deep
scepticism
that
they
could
not
get
rid
of
it
,
so
there
was
no
longer
anywhere
for
hope
to
attach
itself
in
them
.
Even
now
,
when
the
time
of
the
plague
had
passed
,
they
continued
to
live
according
to
its
rules
.
Events
had
overtaken
them
.
With
others
,
however
—
and
these
were
to
be
found
especially
among
those
who
had
until
then
lived
apart
from
those
they
loved
—
after
this
long
period
of
confinement
and
despondency
,
the
rising
wind
of
hope
lit
a
fever
and
an
impatience
which
deprived
them
of
all
control
over
themselves
.
A
sort
of
panic
seized
them
at
the
idea
that
they
might
perhaps
die
so
close
to
the
end
,
that
they
would
not
see
the
person
that
they
adored
and
that
there
would
be
no
reward
for
their
long
period
of
suffering
.
For
months
they
had
persisted
in
waiting
,
with
self
-
effacing
tenacity
,
despite
prison
and
exile
;
and
now
the
first
sign
of
hope
was
enough
to
destroy
what
fear
and
despair
had
not
managed
to
dent
.
They
dashed
off
like
madmen
to
beat
the
plague
,
unable
to
follow
its
progress
down
to
the
final
moment
.
At
the
same
time
,
though
,
spontaneous
signs
of
optimism
appeared
.
For
one
thing
,
there
was
a
marked
fall
in
prices
.
From
a
strictly
economic
point
of
view
,
this
was
impossible
to
explain
.
The
same
problems
remained
:
the
quarantine
rules
were
still
applied
at
the
gates
and
food
supplies
had
certainly
not
improved
.
So
we
were
witnessing
a
strictly
non
-
material
phenomenon
,
as
though
the
retreat
of
the
plague
had
repercussions
everywhere
.
At
the
same
time
the
optimism
spread
to
those
who
had
previously
lived
in
groups
and
who
had
been
forced
by
the
disease
to
separate
.
The
two
religious
houses
in
the
town
began
to
re
-
form
and
communal
life
was
able
to
resume
.
The
same
applied
to
the
military
who
were
once
more
gathered
into
barracks
that
had
been
left
empty
;
they
went
back
to
their
normal
life
as
a
garrison
.
These
small
events
had
great
symbolic
significance
.
The
population
lived
in
this
secret
turmoil
until
January
25
.
In
that
week
the
figures
fell
so
low
that
,
after
consulting
the
medical
commission
,
the
Prefecture
announced
that
the
epidemic
could
be
considered
under
control
.
Admittedly
,
the
communiqué
added
—
in
a
spirit
of
caution
that
the
population
could
not
fail
to
applaud
—
that
the
gates
of
the
town
would
remain
closed
for
two
more
weeks
and
sanitary
measures
continued
for
a
month
.
During
this
period
,
at
the
slightest
indication
that
the
plague
might
resume
,
"
the
status
quo
should
be
maintained
and
the
necessary
measures
continued
for
as
long
as
necessary
"
.
However
,
everyone
was
unanimous
in
considering
these
provisions
a
mere
formality
and
,
on
the
evening
of
January
25
,
the
town
was
filled
with
joyful
excitement
.
To
contribute
to
the
general
mood
of
celebration
the
Prefect
gave
the
order
to
put
on
the
town
lights
as
in
pre
-
plague
times
.
Beneath
a
cold
,
clear
sky
,
the
townspeople
spilled
out
into
the
brightly
lit
streets
in
noisy
,
laughing
groups
.
Admittedly
,
in
many
houses
the
shutters
remained
closed
and
families
spent
this
evening
in
silence
while
others
were
filling
it
with
their
noisy
celebrations
.
However
,
for
many
of
these
mourners
,
there
was
also
profound
relief
,
either
because
the
fear
of
seeing
other
relatives
carried
off
was
finally
appeased
,
or
else
because
the
feeling
of
their
own
personal
preservation
was
more
acute
.
But
the
families
which
were
to
remain
least
touched
by
the
general
joy
were
,
undoubtedly
,
those
who
at
that
very
moment
had
a
patient
fighting
against
the
plague
in
hospital
and
who
,
in
the
quarantine
centres
or
in
their
own
homes
,
were
waiting
for
the
pestilence
to
be
truly
done
with
them
,
as
it
had
now
finished
with
others
.
Certainly
,
these
people
had
hopes
,
but
they
stored
them
up
and
kept
them
in
reserve
,
refusing
to
draw
on
them
before
they
really
had
the
right
to
do
so
.
And
this
waiting
,
this
silent
watch
,
somewhere
between
agony
and
joy
,
seemed
to
them
more
cruel
still
,
in
the
midst
of
the
general
rejoicing
.
But
these
exceptions
did
not
at
all
detract
from
the
satisfaction
of
the
rest
.
Of
course
the
plague
was
not
yet
over
and
it
would
prove
as
much
.
Yet
in
everyone
’
s
mind
,
weeks
before
the
real
events
,
trains
were
whistling
as
they
left
on
endless
tracks
,
and
ships
ploughed
the
shining
seas
.
The
following
day
,
spirits
would
be
calmed
and
doubts
return
.
But
for
the
moment
the
whole
town
shook
,
bursting
out
of
those
enclosed
spaces
,
dark
and
motionless
,
in
which
it
had
put
down
its
roots
of
stone
and
finally
began
to
move
with
its
load
of
survivors
.
That
evening
Tarrou
and
Rieux
,
Rambert
and
the
rest
,
walked
in
the
midst
of
the
crowd
,
and
they
too
felt
they
were
treading
on
air
.
Long
after
leaving
the
boulevards
Tarrou
and
Rieux
could
still
hear
the
sounds
of
happiness
following
them
,
at
the
same
time
as
in
deserted
side
-
streets
they
walked
past
windows
with
closed
shutters
.
And
precisely
because
of
their
tiredness
,
they
could
not
separate
this
suffering
,
which
continued
behind
the
shutters
,
from
the
joy
that
filled
the
streets
only
a
short
distance
away
.
The
coming
deliverance
was
two
-
faced
,
combining
laughter
and
tears
.
