Чума
Part II
Henceeachoneofushadtoacceptlivingfromdaytoday,aloneinthesightofheaven.Thisgeneralabandonment,whichmightinthelongrunformcharacter,beganhoweverbymakinglifefutile.Forsomeofourfellow-citizens,forexample,theywerenowsubjectedtoanotherformofslaverythatmadethemsubservienttothesunandtherain.Seeingthem,youwouldhavethoughtthatforthefirsttimetheywereexperiencingadirectimpressionoftheweather.Theirfaceswouldlightupatthesimpleappearanceofgoldenlight,whilerainydayswouldcastathickveilacrosstheirfeaturesandtheirthoughts.Afewweeksearlier,theyhadbeenabletoescapethisweaknessandthisunreasonablesubjectionbecausetheywerenotaloneintheworld,andtosomeextenttheotherpersonwholivedwiththemstoodatthefrontoftheiruniverse.Fromthismoment,however,theyseemedtohavebeenhandedovertothewhimsoftheheavens,whichistosaythattheyhopedandsufferedwithoutreason.
Finally,intheseextremesofloneliness,noonecouldhopeforhelpfromhisneighbourandeveryoneremainedalonewithhisanxieties.Ifoneofus,bychance,triedtoconfideinsomeoneordescribesomethingofhisfeelings,mostofthetimethereplythathereceived,whateveritwas,wouldwoundhim.Itwasthenthatherealizedthattheotherpersonandhewerenottalkingaboutthesamething.
