Чума
Part I
Histaskismerelytosay:"Thishappened",whenheknowsthatitdidindeedhappen,thatitaffectedthelifeofawholesocietyandthatthereareconsequentlythousandsofwitnesseswhowillweighupintheirheartsthetruthofwhatheissaying.
Moreover,thenarrator,whoseidentitywillberevealedinduecourse,wouldnothaveanyclaimtoauthorityinanenterpriseofthiskindifchancehadnotmadeitpossibleforhimtogatheraconsiderablenumberoftestimoniesandifforceofcircumstancehadnotinvolvedhimineverythingthathedescribes.Thisiswhatentitleshimtoactasahistorian.Ofcourseahistorian,evenifheisanamateur,alwayshasdocuments.Thenarratorofthishistoryhashisdocuments:firstofall,hisowntestimony,thenthatofotherssince,byvirtueofhisroleinthisstory,hecametocollecttheconfidencesofallthecharactersinit;and,finally,hehaswrittentextswhichhehappenedtoacquire.Heintendstoborrowfromthemwhenheseesfitandtousethemashewishes.Heintends…Butperhapsitistimetohavedonewithpreliminariesandcaveats,andturntothestoryitself.Thenarrativeoftheearlydaysmustbegiveninsomedetail.
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OnthemorningofApril16,DrBernardRieuxemergedfromhisconsulting-roomandcameacrossadeadratinthemiddleofthelanding.Atthetimehepushedtheanimalasidewithoutpayingattentiontoitandwentdownthestairs.
