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Leung Man-tao

Listening Guide

1. In the final installment of The Plague, what becomes of Oran?
2. How do people react after a disaster, and what do they do?
3. Why is the plague a metaphor for “purity in life”?
4. Can we resist “forgetting”?

Related to This Episode

The Plague

The story concerns an outbreak in Oran, Algeria, where a sudden plague leaves everyone at a loss.
Politicians are arrogant and ignorant, conceal facts, shift blame, and even try to profit from the disaster. An obscure man who once led a listless life suddenly becomes a prominent figure by using black-market connections to bring prohibited goods into the city. Ordinary people are frightened and helpless, selfish and greedy, living from day to day in despair.
The plague-stricken city is sealed off and no one can enter or leave freely. Those trapped inside constantly long for relatives and friends outside. A journalist visiting on assignment is forced to live without family or friends and joins a volunteer team simply to pass the time. Dr. Rieux steps forward to treat the sick and forms deep friendships with several companions, while his own wife remains far away in a sanatorium, her fate unknown.

Albert Camus

Albert Camus (November 7, 1913–January 4, 1960) was born in Mondovi, French Algeria. A French novelist, philosopher, playwright, and critic, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.
At the heart of Camus’s thought is humanism and the question of human dignity, a fundamental concern that ran through his writing, life, and political struggles. The Myth of Sisyphus and The Stranger established the central themes of his literary work and contain the key questions of his later writings. In proposing that Sisyphus is happy, Camus’s essential motive lies not in the absurd, because the absurd cannot tell us what happiness or unhappiness is. He imagines Sisyphus as happy because only a happy life accords with human dignity. Revolt is what manifests dignity. Condemned to eternal punishment yet happy, Sisyphus embodies revolt—the only form of revolt possible under those conditions.
*Background information adapted from Wikipedia

Excerpt

The cool, expansive sky shimmered above the buildings, while near the hills the stars looked unusually hard, like flint. He remembered the night when he and Tarrou had climbed onto this terrace and put the plague aside. Tonight was not very different, except that the sea sounded louder at the foot of the cliffs. The air was light and motionless, freed from the salty scent carried by the warm autumn wind. Yet the city’s waves of noise still beat against the walls below the rooftop. This, however, was a night of deliverance rather than resistance. In the distance, a dark-red glow marked the brightly lit boulevards and squares. On this night of liberation, desire had broken free, and its roar reached Rieux’s ears.
The first official fireworks rose from the darkened harbor. A prolonged cheer from the entire city drifted toward him. Cottard, Tarrou, and the men and woman whom Rieux had loved and lost—whether dead or guilty—were all forgotten now. The old invalid had been right: people were always the same. Yet this was both their strength and their innocence, and beyond all his suffering, Rieux joined them in these. The cheering continued, rising wave after wave and echoing below the terrace, while multicolored fireworks filled the sky ever more densely. Dr. Rieux therefore decided to write the chronicle that ends here: not to join those who remain silent, but to bear witness for the victims of the plague, to leave at least a record of the injustice and violence done to them, and to state simply what one learns amid such disasters—that there is more in human beings to admire than to despise.
Yet he also knew that this chronicle could not be the account of a final victory. It bears witness only to what people were compelled to do in danger, and to what must be done again when similar circumstances return: all those who cannot be saints but refuse to submit to calamity must set aside their private suffering, strive to be healers, and tirelessly resist the terror produced by pestilence and its weapons.
Rieux listened to the joyful clamor rising from the city but did not forget that such joy was always under threat. He knew what the rejoicing crowd did not: medical books tell us that the plague bacillus never dies or disappears. It can lie dormant for decades in furniture, linen, cellars, trunks, handkerchiefs, or scraps of paper, patiently waiting for the day when plague once again rouses its rats and sends them to die in a happy city, bringing disaster and instruction to its people.
*From Albert Camus, The Plague, translated into Chinese by Li Yumin

Question of the Episode

What is a person writing for?

Previously

How Can We Find Inner Peace? | The Plague 4
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Episode editor: 大壹，mu
2020.02.18
Audio in Chinese

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Featured comments

186 comments
  • 看理想编辑
    2020-02-18 20:00:18

    你身边有哪些性别偏见？留言说说

    Wooody ：工作时候 女性要付出比男人多的多的努力才会被认可或者被认为是真的有能力 不然很难打破固化思维…

    姤屯 ：袜子的颜色。

  • 如
    如果平日留心黑白里温柔地爱彩色吧
    2020-02-18 21:40:18

    我是工地的，10年了，24岁才读书，来得及吗但是累了连你的节目都听不懂，这次再武汉，听到这个节目，感觉自己还有希望，但是一去了工地，就怕这个信念有消失了，上学已经是不可能了

    如果平日留心黑白里温柔地爱彩色吧 ：你们有机会看到世界很多的东西“我将来看到儿孙满堂”也不错，但愿道长幸福，虽然你说很糟糕，但也不想你有糟糕的情绪，你已经让很多人变得更好了

    如果平日留心黑白里温柔地爱彩色吧 ：真好听的音乐，几年前评论工地读书难，如今也有了自己的小孩，不知道还生不生，估计会生，就算是劳动力。起码还有你们的陪伴，有意义，这期节目说现在很糟糕，平时我是悲观的，现在我想说但愿我的后代因为你们的努力变得更好，我没有体验，但愿他们可以体验

  • 麦苗
    2020-02-18 20:29:15

    《一千零一夜》的片尾曲响起时好感动，脑海中的画面是那个头也不回的男人。感谢道长❤️

    chainlimb ：恐怕是你爱上那个不回头的男人了🤤

    Emily zou Reply Edge ：哈哈哈，我也觉得，就像酿的时间更久一样的红酒层次感丰富很多

  • Echo qing
    2020-02-18 20:50:11

    听到最后，发现我家弟弟的语文老师相当不错，他本周留的作文就是要求学生听一集道长的“八分”特别版，然后写感想。😏这样的老师很受欢迎哦！如果道长能看到我的留言，想请教一下我家弟弟高中一年级，平时特别爱看书，最近迷上周易，天天在家讲经论道，他这样把精力都放在课业以外的杂书上，会不会太不务正业？看的书太杂，会不会也不太好呢？

    Yin~ ：哇~这个语文老师真的厉害了。

    Bob_ok ：倒是听过一个关于丰富自己知识的观点，读书或汲取知识需要像一颗大树🌳，主杆立再好添枝散叶，那所谓的杂也是有方向性的。 听以前易老师说不务正业，先要搞清楚正业是啥，严谨的说是不务专业。

  • Wooden man
    2020-02-18 23:19:42

    这大概是道长对“粉丝”过敏的原因吧：一个人去崇拜一个偶像，其实是在利用这个偶像的一些形象，来告诉别人“我是什么样的人”。按照法国社会学大师布尔迪厄的说法，这代表了某种品味的选择。品味就是人赖以区分自己，并且试图在象征性领域战胜其他人的东西。 ——梁文道

    九千个日落里 ：其实一个人表现的所有的喜欢都能让别人知道他是一个什么样的人

    Wooden man ：我有个公众号“冉阿让24601”

  • 灿烂饭米兹Xi
    2023-11-01 06:57:57

    战争亦是如此……

  • 小小梅
    2023-04-06 10:37:11

    此刻听这段，感慨万千…

  • Weis Wang
    2023-01-24 22:47:56

    2023年了，近似于结束了，内心也被摧残得差不多了，经济备受打击，不稳定，裁员，人心惶惶，看似百废待兴，但是大家都知道，伤害已然印在每个人心里，这需要多长的时间来疗愈

  • 我是大猪大
    2022-09-12 19:29:37

    哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈你们散了吧

  • 我是大猪大
    2022-09-12 19:22:13

    2022.9.12什么时候结束！

  • 如
    如果平日留心黑白里温柔地爱彩色吧
    2022-06-03 23:20:32

    真好听的音乐，几年前评论工地读书难，如今也有了自己的小孩，不知道还生不生，估计会生，就算是劳动力，起码还有你们的陪伴，有意义，这期节目说现在很糟糕，平时我是悲观的，现在我想说但愿我的后代因为你们的努力变得更好，我没有体验。但愿他们可以体验

  • 1
    188****8086
    2022-03-01 06:40:15

    梁先生，您好，在锵锵三人行认识了您，通过一千零一夜真正关注到您，很喜欢八分这个节目，但因为多少有些强迫症，但凡事物都想找源头，所以还在从头听八分的路上。在听到您讲公正那一期的时候就想留言了，因为胆小还是懦弱这些说不清的感受，一直到这一期才留言给您。决定在这里给您留言一是因为疫情的到来给我的生活带来了巨变，二是因为加缪是对我影响最大的作家。常常在想的一个问题，就是加缪在他的作品中隐晦提到的“存在”这个概念，一个人的界限是是“生”的存在，和“死”的虚妄。我们无法去改变“死”带来的界限，那只能在“生”的过程中探索死的意义。这里不得不说一句，我好像是天生的悲观主义者，认为人的存在本身就是荒谬的，所以在不断的思考和寻找对抗这种情绪的办法。在这过程中也逐渐了解人类的历史是就是不断重复并优化的过程，我们能做的实在有限，因为绝大部分的精力都用在了“学习”上，在这过程中才逐渐懂得要去面对试错的失败与求知“死”的欲望。对于所谓“本质”的追求，可能在求学之初就有懵懂的认知，但并没有所谓理论上的支持。讲了这么多废话，我想表达的是，我们个体的存在都是对未来或下一代的垫脚石，这么说来，似乎找到了一点人做为一个个体的存在的意义。但如果人不思考，只为生活本身，那存在又是为了什么呢？我能理解人作为动物的存在而存在，我不理解的是，人作为意识的存在，意义为何？为一滴滴探索所谓“本质”的真相吗？这感觉是太过虚无了，这种虚无让我很无助。跟您讲了这么多，更像是在跟一个可能会理解自己所处境况的人倾诉的自言自语。希望您的节目能一直顺利的做下去，至少对我自身来说是一种精神上的支持。谢谢。

  • 在路上
    2022-02-12 11:49:37

    人的记性不如猫，遗忘似乎是永远不变的确定性。文末这位粉丝的留言让我感动，他让孩子以自己语言记录，等孩子长大后再看这段记录，一定会有不同感悟。所谓命题作文，我们自小就被要求，好在遇到正常的老师，鼓励我们跳脱那些范本，写出自己真实感受，同情现在的孩子们。能听道长节目的孩子真的很棒，给这位家长点赞。

  • 在路上
    2022-02-05 19:08:02

    道长说：我不值得😂😂 也许就是因为这样的人间清醒和理性才让道长的节目受这么多人喜欢吧，总是可以从中得到很多思考，对任何人和事开始学会用不同角度去理解，而不是单一的责骂怨怪等。

  • 洛洛の梦想
    2022-01-10 23:19:58

    哈哈 从小练习说谎。学会说谎，学会编织一个精美的谎言，也是小孩成长的一个新阶段呢。 想起五六年级时写过的一篇作文“我的宠物”。我写了我家的猫咪，而班上一个拿了高分的男生写了他牵挂的一只龟（可以买回家养的小红耳龟）。 具体事情都不记得了，只是很久之后听妈妈说起这件事——老师称赞他写的很好，感情很丰富，但他的妈妈后来告诉我妈妈说，那些都是他自己编的，他家根本没有过龟，他还为此沾沾自喜了一段时日。 无论是因为妈妈对传统美德的坚持，还是因为自小熟背的《三字经》，小时候的我始终认为诚实是最重要、最不可被打破的。但那一刻我好像被点醒了似的，似乎懂得有些事情不是靠诚实就能够成功的，反倒是“撒谎”才能有更大的获利。 也许我学到了一些撒谎的技巧，也许在朋友看来，我有时候还是固执而笨拙。我觉得，诚实这条底线，在那个时候开始，就已经是一条虚线来。 现在想想，的确是很有意思的一件事情。