Чума

           Finally,Tarrouseemedtohavebeenentirelytakenwiththecommercialcharacterofatownwhoseappearance,lifeandevenpleasuresseemedtobedictatedbyconsiderationsoftrade.Thispeculiarity—thatisthetermheusesinhisnotebooks—wasonethatTarrouapprovedof—oneofhispassagespraisingitevenendswiththeexclamation:"Atlast!"Thesearetheonlyplaceswherethetraveller’snotes,inthisperiod,seemtohavesomethingpersonalaboutthem.However,itishardtoassessthemeaningandtheseriousnessofsuchremarks.Soafterdescribinghowthediscoveryofadeadrathadcausedthecashieratthehoteltomakeamistakeinhisbill,Tarrouadded,inwritingthatwaslessclearthanusual:"Question:howcanonemanagenottolosetime?Answer:experienceitatitsfulllength.Means:spenddaysinthedentist’swaiting-roomonanuncomfortablechair;liveonone’sbalconyonaSundayafternoon;listentolecturesinalanguagethatonedoesnotunderstand,choosethemostroundaboutandleastconvenientroutesontherailway(and,naturally,travelstandingup);queueatthebox-officefortheatresandsoonandnottakeone’sseat;etc."Butimmediatelyaftertheseextravagancesoflanguageorthought,thenotebookslaunchintoadetaileddescriptionofthetramsinourtown,theirgondolashape,theirindeterminatecolourandtheircustomarydirtyappearance,endingtheseobservationswiththeexpression:"It’sremarkable"—whichexplainsnothing.