Epidemic, plague, pestilence

καὶ ὄντων αὐτῶν οὐ πολλάς πω ἡμέρας ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ ἡ νόσος πρῶτον ἤρξατο γενέσθαι τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, λεγόμενον μὲν καὶ πρότερον πολλαχόσε ἐγκατασκῆψαι καὶ περὶ Λῆμνον καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις χωρίοις, οὐ μέντοι τοσοῦτός γε λοιμὸς οὐδὲ φθορὰ οὕτως ἀνθρώπων οὐδαμοῦ ἐμνημονεύετο γενέσθαι.

[The Peloponnesians] had been in Attica only a few days when the sickness first broke out among the Athenians. It was said to have struck many places before, around Lemnos and elsewhere. But no one could remember a plague so great, or so many people dying, anywhere.

καὶ ἡ ἀπορία τοῦ μὴ ἡσυχάζειν καὶ ἡ ἀγρυπνία ἐπέκειτο διὰ παντός. καὶ τὸ σῶμα, ὅσονπερ χρόνον καὶ ἡ νόσος ἀκμάζοι, οὐκ ἐμαραίνετο, ἀλλ’ ἀντεῖχε παρὰ δόξαν τῇ ταλαιπωρίᾳ, ὥστε ἢ διεφθείροντο οἱ πλεῖστοι ἐναταῖοι καὶ ἑβδομαῖοι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐντὸς καύματος, ἔτι ἔχοντές τι δυνάμεως, ἢ εἰ διαφύγοιεν, ἐπικατιόντος τοῦ νοσήματος ἐς τὴν κοιλίαν καὶ ἑλκώσεώς τε αὐτῇ ἰσχυρᾶς ἐγγιγνομένης καὶ διαρροίας ἅμα ἀκράτου ἐπιπιπτούσης οἱ πολλοὶ ὕστερον δι’ αὐτὴν ἀσθενείᾳ διεφθείροντο.

They could find no rest and could not sleep, and this went on the whole time. As long as the disease was at its height, the body did not waste away but held out against the suffering better than anyone expected. So most people died on the ninth or the seventh day from the burning inside, while they still had some strength left. Or, if they survived that, the disease moved down into the bowels, causing severe ulcers and uncontrollable diarrhea. Most of them died later from the weakness this brought on.

γενόμενον γὰρ κρεῖσσον λόγου τὸ εἶδος τῆς νόσου τά τε ἄλλα χαλεπωτέρως ἢ κατὰ τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν φύσιν προσέπιπτεν ἑκάστῳ καὶ ἐν τῷδε ἐδήλωσε μάλιστα ἄλλο τι ὂν ἢ τῶν ξυντρόφων τι· τὰ γὰρ ὄρνεα καὶ τετράποδα ὅσα ἀνθρώπων ἅπτεται, πολλῶν ἀτάφων γιγνομένων ἢ οὐ προσῄει ἢ γευσάμενα διεφθείρετο.

The nature of the disease was beyond words. In every way it struck each victim more cruelly than human nature can bear. And in one way above all it showed that it was unlike any familiar illness. Though many bodies lay unburied, the birds and animals that feed on human flesh either stayed away or died after tasting them.

ἐν δὲ τῷ κακῷ οἷα εἰκὸς ἀνεμνήσθησαν καὶ τοῦδε τοῦ ἔπους, φάσκοντες οἱ πρεσβύτεροι πάλαι ᾄδεσθαι ‘ἥξει Δωριακὸς πόλεμος καὶ λοιμὸς ἅμ’ αὐτῷ.’

In their misery they naturally remembered an old verse that the older men said had been chanted long ago: "A Dorian war will come, and plague along with it."

ἐγένετο μὲν οὖν ἔρις τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μὴ λοιμὸν ὠνομάσθαι ἐν τῷ ἔπει ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν, ἀλλὰ λιμόν, ἐνίκησε δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος εἰκότως λοιμὸν εἰρῆσθαι· οἱ γὰρ ἄνθρωποι πρὸς ἃ ἔπασχον τὴν μνήμην ἐποιοῦντο. ἢν δέ γε οἶμαί ποτε ἄλλος πόλεμος καταλάβῃ Δωρικὸς τοῦδε ὕστερος καὶ ξυμβῇ γενέσθαι λιμόν, κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς οὕτως ᾄσονται.

People argued over whether the old verse had really said "famine" rather than "plague." For the time being, "plague" naturally won, since people shaped their memories to fit what they were suffering. But I suppose that if another Dorian war comes someday, and a famine happens to come with it, they will most likely chant the verse that way.

περὶ μὲν οὖν τοῦ χρηστηρίου τὰ γιγνόμενα ᾔκαζον ὁμοῖα εἶναι· ἐσβεβληκότων δὲ τῶν Πελοποννησίων ἡ νόσος ἤρξατο εὐθύς, καὶ ἐς μὲν Πελοπόννησον οὐκ ἐσῆλθεν, ὅτι καὶ ἄξιον εἰπεῖν, ἐπενείματο δὲ Ἀθήνας μὲν μάλιστα, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων χωρίων τὰ πολυανθρωπότατα. ταῦτα μὲν τὰ κατὰ τὴν νόσον γενόμενα.

People supposed that events were matching the oracle. The sickness broke out just after the Peloponnesians invaded, and it never entered the Peloponnese to any extent worth mentioning. It spread most of all through Athens, and after that through the most crowded of the other places. Such were the events of the sickness.

ὅσον δὲ χρόνον οἵ τε Πελοποννήσιοι ἦσαν ἐν τῇ γῇ τῇ Ἀθηναίων καὶ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐστράτευον ἐπὶ τῶν νεῶν, ἡ νόσος ἔν τε τῇ στρατιᾷ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἔφθειρε καὶ ἐν τῇ πόλει, ὥστε καὶ ἐλέχθη τοὺς Πελοποννησίους δείσαντας τὸ νόσημα, ὡς ἐπυνθάνοντο τῶν αὐτομόλων ὅτι ἐν τῇ πόλει εἴη καὶ θάπτοντας ἅμα ᾐσθάνοντο, θᾶσσον ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἐξελθεῖν.

The whole time the Peloponnesians were in Athenian territory, and the Athenians were away with their fleet, the sickness kept killing Athenians, both in the army and in the city. It was even said that the Peloponnesians left the country sooner because they feared the disease: deserters told them it was in the city, and they could see the Athenians burying their dead.

μετὰ δὲ τὴν δευτέραν ἐσβολὴν τῶν Πελοποννησίων οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι, ὡς ἥ τε γῆ αὐτῶν ἐτέτμητο τὸ δεύτερον καὶ ἡ νόσος ἐπέκειτο ἅμα καὶ ὁ πόλεμος, ἠλλοίωντο τὰς γνώμας,

After the second Peloponnesian invasion, the Athenians had a change of heart. Their land had now been ravaged twice, and they were suffering from the sickness and the war at once.

δουλοῖ γὰρ φρόνημα τὸ αἰφνίδιον καὶ ἀπροσδόκητον καὶ τὸ πλείστῳ παραλόγῳ ξυμβαῖνον· ὃ ὑμῖν πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις οὐχ ἥκιστα καὶ κατὰ τὴν νόσον γεγένηται.

"Whatever is sudden, unexpected, and beyond all calculation enslaves the spirit, and that is what has happened to you, in many ways and not least with the sickness.

‘ὑμεῖς δὲ μήτε ὑπὸ τῶν τοιῶνδε πολιτῶν παράγεσθε μήτε ἐμὲ δι’ ὀργῆς ἔχετε, ᾧ καὶ αὐτοὶ ξυνδιέγνωτε πολεμεῖν, εἰ καὶ ἐπελθόντες οἱ ἐναντίοι ἔδρασαν ἅπερ εἰκὸς ἦν μὴ ἐθελησάντων ὑμῶν ὑπακούειν, ἐπιγεγένηταί τε πέρα ὧν προσεδεχόμεθα ἡ νόσος ἥδε, πρᾶγμα μόνον δὴ τῶν πάντων ἐλπίδος κρεῖσσον γεγενημένον. καὶ δι’ αὐτὴν οἶδ’ ὅτι μέρος τι μᾶλλον ἔτι μισοῦμαι, οὐ δικαίως, εἰ μὴ καὶ ὅταν παρὰ λόγον τι εὖ πράξητε ἐμοὶ ἀναθήσετε.

"But do not be misled by citizens like these, and do not stay angry with me. You voted for war together with me. The enemy invaded and did just what was to be expected once you refused to obey them. And on top of everything we expected, this sickness came, the one thing of all that has turned out worse than anyone could foresee. I know it is part of the reason you hate me even more. That is unfair, unless you will also give me the credit whenever some unexpected good luck comes your way.

ἔτυχον μὲν ὢν ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ κατὰ θέρους ἀκμὴν, νόσος δὲ κατέσχε λοιμώδης πάντας σχεδὸν τοὺς προσχώρους.

At the height of summer I was staying at my house outside the city. A plague-like sickness took hold of almost everyone who lived nearby.

πάντα δʼ ἦν μεστὰ ἀθυμίας, οἰμωγῆς, στόνου, δυσκολίας ἁπάσης, ἦσαν δὲ κἀν τῇ πόλει νόσοι δειναί.

The whole place was full of despair, wailing, groaning, and every kind of misery. In the city, too, there were terrible sicknesses.

ταύτης τῆς κόρης Ἑρμείας ἐκεῖνος ἀδελφὸς ἦν, ὃς ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ νόσῳ, ὅτε καὶ ἡ θεὸς ἐφάνη μοι, ἀπέθανε καὶ αὐτὸς σχεδὸν ὡς εἰπεῖν ἀντʼ ἐμοῦ.

This girl's brother was the Hermias who died during the great sickness, when the goddess appeared to me. He too died, one might almost say, in my place.

建安二十二年癘氣流行

In the twenty-second year of the Jian'an era [217], a pestilent qi spread through the land.

或以為疫者鬼神所作

Some people thought the epidemic was the work of ghosts and spirits.

此乃隂陽失位寒暑錯時是故生疫

What happened is this: yin and yang had left their proper places, and cold and heat had come at the wrong times. That is why the epidemic arose.

昔年疾疫親故多罹其災徐陳應劉一時俱逝

Some time ago, when the epidemic came, many of my relatives and old friends were struck by the disaster. Xu, Chen, Ying, and Liu [four writers at the Cao court] all died within a short time.

mouet quosdam quod sit nobis cum ceteris mortalitas ista communis.

Some are troubled that this mortality falls on us and on everyone else alike.

Multi ex nostris in hac mortalitate moriuntur, hoc est multi ex nostris de saeculo liberantur.

Many of our people are dying in this mortality. That is to say, many of our people are being set free from the world.

mortalitas ista Iudaeis et gentibus et Christi hostibus pestis est, Dei seruis salutaris excessus est.

This mortality is a plague to the Jews and the pagans and the enemies of Christ; to the servants of God it is a departure that brings salvation.

pauore mortalitatis et temporis accenduntur trepidi, constringuntur remissi, excitantur ignaui, desertores conpelluntur ut redeant, gentiles coguntur ut credant, uetus fidelium populus ad quietem uocatur, ad aciem recens et copiosus exercitus robore ‖307‖ fortiore colligitur pugnaturus sine metu mortis, cum proelium uenerit, qui ad militiam tempore mortalitatis accedit.

Fear of the mortality and of these times sets the timid on fire, braces the slack, and wakes the lazy. Deserters are compelled to return; pagans are driven to believe. The faithful of long standing are called to their rest, while a fresh and plentiful army gathers for the battle line, stronger than before. Those who enlist during the mortality will go into battle unafraid of death when the fight comes.

Quid deinde illud, fratres dilectissimi, quale est, quam pertinens, quam necessarium, quod pestis ista et lues quae horribilis et feralis uidetur explorat iustitiam singulorum et mentes humani generis examinat, an infirmis seruiant sani, an propinqui cognatos pie diligant, an misereantur seruorum languentium domini, an deprecantes aegros non deserant medici, an feroces uiolentiam suam conprimant, an rapaces auaritiae furentis insatiabilem semper ardorem uel metu mortis extinguant, an ceruicem flectant superbi, an audaciam leniant inprobi, an pereuntibus caris uel sic aliquid diuites largiantur et donent sine herede morituri.

And then, dearest brothers, think what this means: how fitting it is, how necessary. This plague and pestilence, which seems so terrible and deadly, searches out the justice of each person and tests the minds of humankind. It asks whether the healthy serve the sick, whether relatives truly love their own family, and whether masters pity their sick slaves. It asks whether doctors stand by the sick who beg for their help, and whether the fierce hold back their violence. It asks whether the greedy, at least for fear of death, will put out the fire of their raging greed, which nothing ever satisfies. It asks whether the proud will bend their necks and the shameless will tame their boldness. And it asks whether the rich, at least now, as their loved ones die and they face death without heirs, will give something away.

ut nihil aliud mortalitas ista contulerit, hoc christianis et Dei seruis plurimum praestitit quod martyrium coepimus libenter adpetere, dum mortem discimus non timere.

Even if this mortality had done nothing else, it has done Christians and servants of God this great service: we have begun to seek martyrdom gladly, while we are learning not to fear death.

Sed fortasse aliquis opponat et dicat: ‘hoc me ergo in praesenti mortalitate contristat quod qui paratus ad confessionem fueram et ad tolerantiam passionis toto me corde et plena uirtute deuoueram martyrio meo priuor, dum morte praeuenior’.

But perhaps someone will object: "This is what grieves me in the present mortality. I was ready to make my confession. I had given myself with my whole heart and all my courage to enduring a martyr's suffering. Now death has come first, and I am robbed of my martyrdom."

Ὑπὸ δὲ τοὺς χρόνους τούτους λοιμὸς γέγονεν, ἐξ οὗ δὴ ἅπαντα ὀλίγου ἐδέησε τὰ ἀνθρώπεια ἐξίτηλα εἶναι. ἅπασι μὲν οὖν τοῖς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐπισκήπτουσιν ἴσως ἂν καὶ λέγοιτό τις ὑπ’ ἀνδρῶν τολμητῶν αἰτίου λόγος, οἷα πολλὰ φιλοῦσιν οἱ ταῦτα δεινοὶ αἰτίας τερατεύεσθαι οὐδαμῆ ἀνθρώπῳ καταληπτὰς οὔσας, φυσιολογίας τε ἀναπλάσσειν ὑπερορίους, ἐξεπιστάμενοι μὲν ὡς λέγουσιν οὐδὲν ὑγιές, ἀποχρῆν δὲ ἡγούμενοι σφίσιν, ἤν γε τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων τινὰς τῷ λόγῳ ἐξαπατήσαντες πείσωσι.

Around this time a plague broke out that came close to wiping out the whole human race. Now, for every disaster sent from heaven, bold men may perhaps offer some account of its cause. People who are clever at such things love to dream up causes that no human being could ever grasp, and to invent far-fetched theories about nature. They know perfectly well that nothing they say is sound. But they think it is enough if they can fool a few of the people they meet and win them over with their arguments.

εἴτε γὰρ χωρίων ἐνοικήσει εἴτε νόμῳ διαίτης, ἢ φύσεως τρόπῳ, ἢ ἐπιτηδεύμασιν, ἢ ἄλλῳ ὅτῳ ἀνθρώπων ἄνθρωποι διαφέρουσιν, ἐν ταύτῃ δὴ μόνῃ τῇ νόσῳ τὸ διαλλάσσον οὐδὲν ὤνησεν.

People differ from one another in where they live, in their way of life, in temperament, in their occupations, and in every other way that one person can differ from another. But in this disease alone, none of those differences did anyone any good.

ἐπέσκηψε δὲ τοῖς μὲν ὥρᾳ θέρους, τοῖς δὲ χειμῶνι, τοῖς δὲ κατὰ τοὺς ἄλλους καιρούς. λεγέτω μὲν οὖν ὥς πη ἕκαστος περὶ αὐτῶν γινώσκει καὶ σοφιστὴς καὶ μετεωρολόγος, ἐγὼ δὲ ὅθεν τε ἤρξατο ἡ νόσος ἥδε καὶ τρόπῳ δὴ ὅτῳ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους διέφθειρεν ἐρῶν ἔρχομαι.

It attacked some people in summer, some in winter, and others in the other seasons. So let every sophist and every student of the heavens give his own opinion on these matters. I will go on to tell where this disease began and how it destroyed people.

ἀρξαμένη δὲ ἀεὶ ἐκ τῆς παραλίας ἡ νόσος ἥδε, οὕτω δὴ ἐς τὴν μεσόγειον ἀνέβαινε χώραν. δευτέρῳ δὲ ἔτει ἐς Βυζάντιον μεσοῦντος τοῦ ἦρος ἀφίκετο,

The disease always started on the coast and moved from there up into the inland country. It reached Byzantium in the second year, in the middle of spring,

τισὶ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως ὁ λοιμὸς ἐπεγίνετο, ἀλλ’ ὄψιν ὀνείρου ἰδόντες ταὐτὸ τοῦτο πρὸς τοῦ ἐπιστάντος πάσχειν ἐδόκουν, ἢ λόγου ἀκούειν προλέγοντος σφίσιν ὅτι δὴ ἐς τῶν τεθνηξομένων τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἀνάγραπτοι εἶεν.

For some, though, the plague did not come this way. Instead, they had a dream in which they seemed to suffer this same thing from a figure standing over them. Or in the dream they seemed to hear a voice telling them ahead of time that their names had been written down among those who were going to die.

διὸ δὴ ἅπαντες αὐτοὺς οὐχ ἧσσον ἢ τοὺς πονουμένους ᾠκτίζοντο, οὐχ ὅτι τῷ λοιμῷ ἐπιέζοντο ἐκ τοῦ προσιέναι (οὔτε γὰρ ἰατρῷ οὔτε ἰδιώτῃ μεταλαχεῖν τοῦ κακοῦ τοῦδε τῶν νοσούντων ἢ τῶν τετελευτηκότων ἁπτομένῳ ξυνέβη, ἐπεὶ πολλοὶ μὲν ἀεὶ καὶ τοὺς οὐδὲν σφίσι προσήκοντας ἢ θάπτοντες ἢ θεραπεύοντες ταύτῃ δὴ τῇ ὑπουργίᾳ παρὰ δόξαν ἀντεῖχον, πολλοὶ δὲ τῆς νόσου ἀπροφασίστως αὐτοῖς ἐπιπεσούσης εὐθὺς ἔθνησκον), ἀλλ’ ὅτι ταλαιπωρίᾳ πολλῇ εἴχοντο.

So everyone pitied the nurses as much as the sick. It was not that the nurses caught the plague by coming near the sick. (No doctor or anyone else caught this disease by touching the sick or the dead. Many people who kept burying or nursing even strangers held out in that work against all expectation. Meanwhile, many others fell sick for no visible reason and died at once.) People pitied the nurses because of the great hardship they endured.

Ἡ μὲν οὖν νόσος ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἐς τέσσαρας διῆλθε μῆνας, ἤκμασε δὲ ἐν τρισὶ μάλιστα.

In Byzantium the disease lasted four months, and it was at its height for about three.

τὰ μὲν οὖν ἀμφὶ τῷ λοιμῷ ἔν τε τῇ ἄλλῃ Ῥωμαίων γῇ καὶ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ταύτῃ πη ἔσχεν. ἐπέσκηψε δὲ καὶ ἐς τὴν Περσῶν γῆν καὶ ἐς βαρβάρους τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας.

That, roughly, is how things went with the plague in the rest of the Roman land and in Byzantium. But it also struck the Persians' land, and all the other barbarians.

○乙未。勅曰。如聞。此日、太宰府疫死者多。思欲救療疫気、以済民命。是以。奉幣彼部神祇。為民祷祈焉。又府大寺及別国諸寺。読金剛般若経。仍遣使賑給疫民。并加湯薬。又其長門以還諸国守、若介。専斎。或道饗祭祀。

Eighth month, twelfth day. The emperor gave an order: “I hear that many people in the Dazaifu have lately died of the epidemic. I wish to heal those struck by the epidemic qi and so save the people’s lives. Let offerings be made to the kami of that region, with prayers on the people’s behalf. Let the great temple of the Dazaifu and the temples of its other provinces read the Diamond Sutra. Send envoys to give relief to the sick, and give them medicines as well. And let the governors of the provinces from Nagato on toward the capital, or their assistants, keep themselves strictly pure by fasting, or else perform the road-feast rites.”

○丙午。太宰府言。管内諸国、疫瘡大発。百姓悉臥。今年之間、欲停貢調。許之。

Twenty-third day. The Dazaifu reported: “Epidemic sores have broken out widely in the provinces under us, and the common people are all sick in bed. For this year we ask to stop sending tax goods to the capital.” The request was granted.

○戊戌。詔。以災変数見。疫癘不已。大赦天下。[...]高年百歳以上賜穀三石。九十以上穀二石。八十以上穀一石。孝子・順孫。義夫・節婦、表其門閭。終身勿事。鰥寡惸独、篤疾之徒、不能自存者。所在官司、量加賑恤。

Intercalary eleventh month, seventeenth day. The emperor decreed: “Disasters and strange signs keep appearing, and the pestilence does not end. So I declare a general amnesty throughout the realm. To the old who are one hundred or more, give three koku [large measures] of grain; to those ninety or more, two koku; to those eighty or more, one koku. For dutiful sons and obedient grandsons, devoted husbands and faithful wives, honor the gates of their homes and villages, and free them from labor duty for life. As for widowers and widows, orphans and the childless old, and the gravely ill who cannot support themselves, let the local officials give them relief as they see fit.”

是歳。年頗不稔。自夏至冬。天下患豌豆瘡〈　俗曰裳瘡。　〉夭死者多。

This year the harvest was very poor. From summer to winter, people throughout the realm suffered from pea sores (commonly called mogasa), and many died before their time.

○戊辰。詔曰、如聞。比年、太宰所管諸国。公事稍繁。労役不少。加以。去冬疫瘡。男女惣困。農事有廃。五穀不饒。宜免今年田租、令続民命。

Tenth month, twenty-second day. The emperor said: “I hear that in recent years public business has grown heavy in the provinces under the Dazaifu, and the people have had much labor to do. On top of that, the epidemic sores of last winter left men and women alike in distress. Farm work was neglected, and the five grains did not grow well. Let this year’s rice-field tax be waived, so that the people can go on living.”

○癸亥。太宰管内諸国。疫瘡時行。百姓多死。詔、奉幣於部内諸社以祈祷焉。又賑恤貧疫之家。并給湯薬療之。

Nineteenth day. In the provinces under the Dazaifu the epidemic sores were spreading, and many of the common people died. The emperor ordered offerings to be made at the shrines of the region, with prayers. Relief was also given to poor households struck by the sickness, along with medicines to treat them.

○壬辰。詔曰。四月以来。疫旱並行、田苗燋萎。由是。祈祷山川。奠祭神祇。未得効験。至今猶苦。朕以不徳、実致茲災。思布寛仁、以救民患。宜令国郡審録寃獄。掩骼埋胔。禁酒断屠。高年之徒。鰥寡惸独。及京内僧尼男女。臥疾不能自存者。量加賑給。又普賜文武職事以上物。大赦天下。[...]

Nineteenth day. The emperor said: “Since the fourth month, epidemic and drought have come together, and the rice seedlings in the fields have scorched and withered. So we have prayed to the mountains and rivers and made offerings to the kami. But we have seen no result, and even now the people are suffering. Truly it is my lack of virtue that has brought this disaster. I wish to spread kindness and mercy, to save the people from their troubles. Let the provinces and districts review the cases of people wrongly imprisoned. Let them cover exposed bones and bury the rotting dead. Let wine be forbidden and the slaughter of animals stopped. As for the aged, widowers and widows, orphans and the childless old, and the monks, nuns, men, and women of the capital who lie sick and cannot support themselves, give them relief as each one needs. Let gifts also be given to all civil and military officials who hold posts. I declare a general amnesty throughout the realm.”

○六月甲辰朔。廃朝。以百官官人患疫也。

Sixth month, first day. Court was suspended, because the officials of all the government offices were sick with the epidemic.

○秋七月丁丑。賑給大倭。伊豆。若狭三国飢疫百姓。」散位従四位下大野王卒。

Autumn, seventh month, fifth day. Relief was given to the common people suffering from famine and epidemic in three provinces: Yamato, Izu, and Wakasa. Prince Ōno, who held rank but no post, died.

○壬午。賑給伊賀。駿河。長門三国疫飢之民。

Tenth day. Relief was given to the people suffering from epidemic and famine in three provinces: Iga, Suruga, and Nagato.

○乙未。大赦天下。詔曰。比来。縁有疫気多発。祈祭神祇。猶未得可。而今右大臣。身体有労。寝膳不穏。朕以惻隠。可大赦天下、救此病苦。[...]

Twenty-third day. A general amnesty was declared throughout the realm. The emperor said: “Lately the epidemic qi has been breaking out widely. We have prayed and made offerings to the kami, but we have still found no relief. And now the Minister of the Right is ill, and he cannot sleep or eat in peace. Out of pity for him, I declare a general amnesty throughout the realm to save him from this suffering.”

是年春。疫瘡大発。初自筑紫来。経夏渉秋。公卿以下天下百姓。相継没死不可勝計。近代以来、未之有也。

In the spring of this year the epidemic sores broke out on a great scale. They came first from Tsukushi [Kyushu]. Through the summer and on into autumn, from the high nobles down to the common people of the realm, people died one after another, more than could be counted. Nothing like it had happened in recent times.

太政官符。東海東山北陸山陰山陽南海等道諸國司。合臥疫之日治身及禁食物等事柒條。

Order of the Council of State to the governors of the provinces of the Tōkaidō, Tōsandō, Hokurikudō, San’indō, San’yōdō, and Nankaidō circuits. Seven articles in all, on caring for the body and on foods to avoid while lying sick with the epidemic.

一凡是疫病名赤斑瘡。初發之時。既似瘧疾。未出前。臥床之苦。或三四日。或五六日。瘡出之間。亦經三四日。支體府藏。大熱如燒。當是之時。欲飲冷水。固忍莫飲。瘡入欲愈。熱氣漸息。痢患更發。早不療治。遂成血痢。〈痢發之間。或前或後。無有定時。〉其共發之病。亦有四種。或咳嗽〈志波不岐〉。或嘔逆〈多麻比〉。或吐血。或鼻血。此等之中。痢是最急。宜知此意。能勤救治。

This epidemic disease is called red spot sores. When it first appears, it looks like an intermittent fever. Before the sores come out, the sick lie suffering in bed for three or four days, or five or six. The sores then take another three or four days to come out. The limbs and inner organs burn with fever as if on fire. At this point the sick want to drink cold water, but they must hold back firmly and not drink. As the sores go down and begin to heal, the fever slowly eases, and then diarrhea breaks out. If it is not treated early, it turns into bloody diarrhea. (The diarrhea may come earlier or later; there is no fixed time.) Four other illnesses also come with it: coughing (in Japanese, shiwabuki), retching (tamahi), vomiting blood, and nosebleeds. Of all these, the diarrhea is the most urgent. Understand this, and work hard to save and treat the sick.

以前四月已來。京及畿內。悉臥疫病。多有死亡。明知諸國佰姓。亦遭此患。仍條件狀。國傳送之。至宜寫取。即差郡司主帳已上一人。宛使早達前所。無有留滯。其國司巡行部內。告示百姓。若無粥饘等料者。國量宜賑給官物。具狀申送。今便以官印印之。符到奉行。

Since the fourth month, everyone in the capital and the home provinces has fallen sick with the epidemic, and many have died. Clearly the common people of the provinces are suffering from it too. That is why the articles above have been written out. Each province is to pass this order on. When it arrives, have it copied. Then at once send one official of the district, a clerk or higher, as messenger to carry it quickly to the next province, without delay. The governors are to travel through their provinces and announce it to the common people. If any have nothing to make gruel with, the province is to judge what is fitting, give them relief from government stores, and send a full report. This order now bears the Council’s seal. When it arrives, carry it out.

And on þis ylcan geare. æfter Candelmæssan. cóm se stranga winter. mid forste and mid snawe and mid eallon ungewederon. ꝥ næs nan man þa on liue ꝥ mihte gemunan swa strāgne winter swa se wæs. ge þurh mancwealm ge þurh orfcwealm. ge fugelas and fixas þurh þone micelan cyle and hunger forwurdan.

And in this same year, after Candlemas, the hard winter came, with frost and snow and every kind of foul weather. No one then alive could remember a winter as hard as that one, for the deaths of people and of cattle. Birds and fish died of the great cold and hunger.

[...] On ðes ilces geares wearð swa micel flod on sc̃e Laurent' messe dæig ꝥ feola tunes and men weorðon adrencte. and brigges to brokene. and corn and mædwe spilt mid ealle. and hunger and cwealm on men and on erue. and on ealle westme swa micel untime wearð swa hit ne wæs feola gear ær. [...]

This same year there was such a great flood on St. Lawrence’s Day that many villages and people were drowned and bridges were broken. Grain and meadows were completely ruined. There was hunger and sickness among people and cattle, and every crop failed worse than it had for many years.

Ðis gear æfter Cristesmesse on an Mone niht æt þe forme slæp wæs se heouene oðe norð half eall swilc hit wære bærnende fir. swa ꝥ ealle ðe hit sægon wæron swa of færed swa hi næfre ær ne wæron. ꝥ wæs on iii id' Janr'. Ðes ilces geares wæs swa micel orf cwalm swa hit næfre ær ne wæs on manne gemynd ofer eall Engle land. ꝥ wæs on næt and on swin. swa ꝥ on þa tun þa wæs tenn ploges oðer twelfe gangende ne be læf þær noht an. and se man þa heafde twa hundred oðþe ðre hundred swin ne beleaf him noht an. Þær æft' swulten þa henne fugeles. þa scyrte ða flescmete and se ceose and se butere. God hit bete þa his wille beð. [...]

This year, after Christmas, on a Monday night, in the first sleep, the whole northern sky looked as if it were burning fire. Everyone who saw it was more frightened than they had ever been. That was on January 11. This same year there was a cattle plague worse than any in living memory, all over England. It struck cattle and pigs. In a village where ten or twelve plows had been working, not one was left. A man who had had two or three hundred pigs had not one left. After that the hens died. Then meat ran short, and cheese and butter. God mend it, when it is his will.

وفيها: وقع الوباء ببلاد أزبك وخلت قرى ومدن من الناس، ثم اتصل الوباء بالقرم حتى صار يخرج منها في اليوم ألف جنازة أو نحو ذلك حكى لي ذلك من أثق به من التجار، ثم اتصل الوباء بالروم وهلك منهم خلق وأخبرني تاجر من أهل بلدنا قدم من تلك البلاد أن قاضي القرم قال: أحصينا من مات بالوباء فكانوا خمسة وثمانين ألفا غير من لا نعرفه، والوباء اليوم بقبرس والغلاء العظيم أيضا.

This year the pestilence struck the lands of Uzbek, and villages and cities were emptied of people. Then the pestilence reached the Crimea, until about a thousand funerals left the city in a single day. A merchant I trust told me this. Then the pestilence reached the Rum, and a great many of them died. A merchant from our town who came back from those lands told me what the judge of the Crimea had said: “We counted those who died of the pestilence. There were eighty-five thousand, not counting those we do not know about.” Today the pestilence is in Cyprus, and so are very high prices.

فمنها: اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد وسلم ونجنا بجاهه من طغيان الطاعون وسلم الطاعون روع وأمات وابتدأ خبره من الظلمات فواها له من زائر من خمس عشرة سنة دائر ما صين عنه الصين ولا منع منه حصن حصين سل هنديا في الهند واشتد على السند وقبض بكفيه وشبك على بلاد أزبك وكم قصم من ظهر فيما وراء النهر، ثم ارتفع ونجم وهجم على العجم وأوسع الخطا إلى أرض الخطا وقرم القرم ورمى الروم بجمر مضطرم وجر الجرائر إلى قبرص والجزائر ثم قهر خلقا بالقاهرة وتنبهت عينه لمصر فأذاهم بالساهرة وأسكن حركة الإسكندرية فعمل شغل الفقراء مع الحريرية.

From the essay: O God, bless our master Muhammad and grant him peace. Through his favor with You, save us from the tyranny of the plague, and keep us safe. The plague brought terror and death. Its story began in the Land of Darkness. Alas for this visitor, making its rounds for fifteen years! China was not shielded from it, and the strongest fortress could not keep it out. It drew its Indian blade in India, and it pressed hard on Sind. It seized the lands of Uzbek with both hands and locked its fingers around them. How many backs it broke in Transoxiana! Then it rose up, came into view, and fell on the Persians. It stretched its stride as far as Cathay. It gnawed at the Crimea and pelted the Rum with blazing coals. It dragged its crimes to Cyprus and the islands. Then it conquered people in Cairo. Its eye woke up to Egypt, and it struck them down on the plain of the Last Day. It stilled the bustle of Alexandria, and there it did the work of the Sufi poor among the Hariri brethren.

(يا أيها الطاعون أن حماه من ... خير البلاد ومن أعز حصونها)
(لا كنت حين شممتها فسممتها ... ولتمت فاها آخذا بقرونها)

O plague, Hama is one of the best of lands, the strongest of its fortresses. Curse you! You smelled it and you poisoned it, and kissed its mouth, holding it by its locks.

Siculis vero de hujusmodi pace nimium congaudentibus, & sub pace existentibus tranquilla Deum collaudantibus de tam immenso dono, quod antiqui Reges Siculi hactenus obtinere minime potuerant, pestis letifera fuit in insula Sicilie universaliter exorta, occasione quadam subscripta.

The Sicilians were overjoyed at this peace. Living at peace at last, they praised God for so great a gift, one the kings of Sicily before them had never been able to win. Then a deadly plague broke out all over the island of Sicily. This is how it happened.

Messanenses vero cognoscentes dictam eorum repentinam mortem eis incurrere propter Januensium galearum adventum, eos de portu & civitate predicta cum festinantia maxima expulerunt. Remansitque dicta infirmitas in civitate predicta, ex qua sequuta extitit immensa mortalitas.

When the people of Messina realized that this sudden death had come on them because of the Genoese galleys, they drove the Genoese out of the port and the city as fast as they could. But the sickness stayed in the city, and a great mortality followed.

E in questo tempo si cominciò in Siena la grande Mortalità, la maggiore, e la più oscura, e la più horribile, che mai si potesse dire, o immaginare; e così bastò infino all'Ottobre 1348. Ella fo di tanta oscurità, che morivano gli huomini, e le donne quasi di subito. Enfiava l'anguinaja, e 'l ditello, e di subito favellando si morivano.

At this time the great mortality began in Siena. It was the greatest, darkest, and most horrible that anyone could ever tell or imagine, and it lasted until October 1348. It was so dark that men and women died almost at once. Their groins and armpits swelled, and they died suddenly, while they were talking.

Cominciossi nelle parti d’Oriente, nel detto anno, inverso il Cattai e l’India superiore, e nelle altre provincie circustanti a quelle marine dell’oceano, una pestilenzia tra gli uomini d’ogni condizione di catuna età e sesso, che cominciavano a sputare sangue, e morivano chi di subito, chi in due o in tre dì, e alquanti sostenevano più al morire. E avveniva, che chi era a servire questi malati, appiccandosi quella malattia, o infetti di quella medesima corruzione incontanente malavano, e morivano per somigliante modo; e a’ più ingrossava l’anguinaia, e a molti sotto le ditella delle braccia a destra e a sinistra, e altri in altre parti del corpo, che quasi generalmente alcuna enfiatura singulare nel corpo infetto si dimostrava. Questa pestilenzia si venne di tempo in tempo, e di gente in gente apprendendo, comprese infra il termine d’uno anno la terza parte del mondo che si chiama Asia.

In that same year a pestilence began in the East, toward Cathay and upper India and the other lands along those ocean coasts. It struck people of every rank, age, and sex. They began to spit blood and died, some at once, some in two or three days, and some lingered longer. Whoever cared for these sick people caught the disease, or was infected with the same corruption, and at once fell ill and died in the same way. Most got a swelling in the groin, many under the armpits, right or left, and others elsewhere on the body. Almost always some single swelling appeared on the infected body. This pestilence spread over time from people to people, and within a year it took in Asia, the third part of the world.

Eodem anno pestis antea inaudita in Angliâ desaeviebat.

That same year a plague never heard of before raged through England.

In hac pestilentiâ plures Capellani & stipendiarii Curati noluerunt sine excessivo salario deservire. Hos Episcopus Roffensis dato ad Archidiaconum Roff. mandato anno MCCCXLIX. die xxvii. Junii, sub poenâ suspensionis & interdicti jussit eisdem stipendiis deservire.

During this pestilence many chaplains and hired parish priests refused to serve unless they were paid far too much. On June 27, 1349, the Bishop of Rochester sent an order to the Archdeacon of Rochester. It commanded these priests to serve for the same pay as before, on pain of suspension and interdict.

Plures etiam Clerici beneficiati, numero Parochianorum per pestem adeò diminuto, ut de reliquis oblationibus vivere non possent, beneficia sua deserverunt. Hos Episcopus mandavit Parochias suas repetere; & Rectoribus seu Vicariis Beneficiorum exilium, quorum proventus annui ad verum valorem x. marcarum se non extendunt, licentiam dedit annuatim unum Annuale vel alium Missarum numerum, pro quibus aequalia debeantur stipendia, à suis Parochianis vel alienis undequaque recipere, hujusmodi exilitate proventuum durante.

Many clergy who held parishes also abandoned them. The plague had cut the number of parishioners so far that the priests could not live on the offerings of those who were left. The bishop ordered them back to their parishes. Some parishes were so poor that their yearly income was truly worth less than ten marks. To their rectors and vicars he gave permission to take on one annual each year, or some other set of Masses paid at the same rate. They could accept these from their own parishioners or from anyone else, for as long as their income stayed so small.

شاهدت أيام الطاعون الأعظم بدمشق في أواخر شهر ربيع الثاني سنة تسع وأربعين، من تعظيم أهل دمشق لهذا المسجد ما يعجب منه وهو أن ملك الأمراء نايب السلطان أرغون شاه أمر مناديا ينادي بدمشق أن يصوم الناس ثلاثة أيام ولا يطبخ أحد بالسوق ما يؤكل نهارا، وأكثر الناس بها إنما يأكلون الطعام الذي يصنع بالسوق، فصام الناس ثلاثة أيام متوالية كان آخرها يوم الخميس،

In the days of the Great Plague at Damascus, at the end of the month of Rabi II in the year [7]49, I saw something remarkable: how much the people of Damascus revere this mosque. The king of the emirs, the sultan’s deputy, Arghun Shah, ordered a crier to proclaim through Damascus that the people should fast for three days, and that no one should cook food in the market during the day. (Most people there eat only food prepared in the market.) So the people fasted three days in a row, the last of them a Thursday.

وفي أوائل شهر ربيع الأول عام تسعة وأربعين بلغنا الخبر في حلب أن الوباء وقع بغزة وأنه انتهى عدد الموتى فيها إلى زائد على الآلف في يوم واحد! فسافرت إلى حمص فوجدت الوباء قد وقع بها، ومات يوم دخولي اليها نحو ثلاثمائة إنسان، ثم سافرت إلى دمشق ووصلتها يوم الخميس، وكان أهلها قد صاموا ثلاثة أيام وخرجوا يوم الجمعة إلى مسجد الأقدام حسبما ذكرناه في السفر الأول فخفف الله الوباء عنهم فانتهى عدد الموتى عندهم إلى ألفين وأربع مائة في اليوم! ثم سافرت إلى عجلون، ثم إلى بيت المقدس ووجدت الوباء قد ارتفع عنه ولقيت خطيبه عز الدين بن جماعة بن عم عز الدين قاضي القضاة بمصر وهو من الفضلاء الكرماء ومرتبه على الخطابة ألف درهم في الشهر.

At the beginning of the month of Rabi I in the year [7]49, news reached us in Aleppo that the pestilence had broken out in Gaza, and that more than a thousand people there had died in a single day. I traveled to Homs and found that the pestilence had struck there too. About three hundred people died on the day I arrived. Then I traveled on to Damascus and arrived on a Thursday. Its people had fasted for three days, and on the Friday they went out to the Mosque of the Footprints, as I told in the first part of this book. God lightened the pestilence for them, and the dead came to two thousand four hundred a day. Then I traveled to Ajlun, and from there to Jerusalem. I found that the pestilence had lifted there. I met its preacher, Izz al-Din ibn Jamaa, a cousin of Izz al-Din, the chief judge in Egypt. He is a learned and generous man, and he is paid a thousand dirhams a month for preaching.

ووصلت إلى مدينة تازى وبها تعرفت خبر موت والدتي بالوباء رحمها الله تعالى.

I reached the town of Taza, and there I learned that my mother had died in the pestilence, God have mercy on her.

Anno Domini mcccxlviii percussa est gens Franciae et quasi totius mundi, et hoc alio modo quam per bellum. Nam sicut fames, ut dictum est in principio, et bella, ut dictum est in processu hujus narrationis, affuerant, ita pestilentiae et tribulationes in diversis mundi partibus iterum acciderunt.

In the year of our Lord 1348 the people of France, and of almost the whole world, were struck down, and not by war. Famine had come, as I said at the beginning, and wars, as I told as this account went on. Now pestilences and troubles came again in many parts of the world.

Unde in eodem anno Parisius et in regno Franciae, et non minus, ut fertur, in diversis mundi partibus, et in sequenti anno, fuit tanta mortalitas hominum utriusque sexus, et magis juvenum quam senum, quod vix poterant sepeliri, et vix ultra duos vel tres dies in infirmitate jacebant, sed subito et quasi sani moriebantur; unde qui hodie erat sanus, cras mortuus, ad foveam portabatur. Habebant enim subito bossas sub assellis vel in inguine, quibus insurgentibus erat infallibile signum mortis; et haec infirmitas seu pestilentia a medicis epidemia vocabatur.

That year in Paris and the kingdom of France, and no less, people say, in many parts of the world, and in the following year, there was such a mortality of men and women, more young than old, that they could hardly be buried. They were seldom sick more than two or three days. They died suddenly, while they seemed almost healthy. Someone healthy today was carried to the grave dead tomorrow. They suddenly got swellings under the armpits or in the groin, and when these rose up, they were a sure sign of death. The doctors called this sickness or pestilence an epidemic.

وأما لهذا العهد وهو آخر المائة الثامنة فقد انقلبت أحوال المغرب الذي نحن شاهدوه وتبدلت بالجملة واعتاض من أجيال البربر أهله على القدم بما طرأ فيه من لدن المائة الخامسة من أجيال العرب بما كسروهم وغلبوهم وانتزعوا منهم عامة الأوطان وشاركوهم فيما بقي من البلدان لملكهم هذا إلى ما نزل بالعمران شرقا وغربا في منتصف هذه المائة الثامنة من الطاعون الجارف الذي تحيف الأمم وذهب بأهل الجيل وطوى كثيرا من محاسن العمران ومحاها وجاء للدول على حين هرمها وبلوغ الغاية من مداها فقلص من ظلالها وفل من حدها وأوهن من سلطانها وتداعت إلى التلاشي والاضمحلال أموالها وانتقض عمران الأرض بانتقاض البشر فخربت الأمصار والمصانع ودرست السبل والمعالم وخلت الديار والمنازل وضعفت الدول والقبائل وتبدل الساكن وكأني بالمشرق قد نزل به مثل ما نزل بالمغرب لكن على نسبته ومقدار عمرانه وكأنما نادى لسان الكون في العالم بالخمول والانقباض فبادر بالإجابة والله وارث الأرض ومن عليها

But now, at the end of the eighth century, the state of the Maghrib, which we see before us, has been overturned and changed entirely. The Berber peoples who lived there from of old have been replaced by the Arab peoples who came in from the fifth century on. The Arabs broke them, overcame them, took most of their homelands, and shared the rest of their lands with them. On top of this came the sweeping plague that fell on civilization, east and west, in the middle of this eighth century. It ate away at the nations and carried off the people of that generation. It rolled up and wiped out many of the good things of civilization. It came upon the dynasties when they were old and had reached the limit of their life span. It shrank their shadow, blunted their edge, and weakened their power. Their wealth began to wither away. As humankind dwindled, the settled world fell apart. Cities and buildings were ruined, roads and waymarks wore away, houses and dwellings stood empty, and dynasties and tribes grew weak. The people who lived there changed. I imagine the East has suffered what the Maghrib suffered, in proportion to its own size and population. It is as if the voice of existence had called on the world to sink into dullness and shrink back, and the world had hurried to obey. God inherits the earth and all who are on it.

وأما كثرة الموتان فلها أسباب من كثرة المجاعات كما ذكرناه أو كثرة الفتن لاختلال الدولة فيكثر الهرج والقتل أو وقوع الوباء وسببه في الغالب فساد الهواء بكثرة العمران لكثرة ما يخالطه من العفن والرطوبات الفاسدة وإذا فسد الهواء وهو غذاء الروح الحيواني وملابسه دائما فيسري الفساد إلى مزاجه فإن كان الفساد قويا وقع المرض في الرئة وهذه هي الطواعين وأمراضها مخصوصة بالرئة وإن كان الفساد دون القوي والكثير فيكثر العفن ويتضاعف فتكثر الحميات في الأمزجة وتمرض الأبدان وتهلك

Deaths become many for several reasons. One is frequent famine, as I have said. Another is frequent unrest as the dynasty falls into disorder, so that riots and killing increase. Another is pestilence. Its cause is mostly the corruption of the air when the population is large, because so much rot and foul moisture mixes with the air. The air feeds the animal spirit and is always in contact with it. So when the air is corrupted, the corruption passes into the spirit’s temperament. If the corruption is strong, the sickness strikes the lungs. These are the plagues, and their diseases belong to the lungs. If the corruption is less strong and widespread, rot builds up and multiplies. Then fevers spread through the temperaments, and bodies sicken and die.

Au mois de Décembre fumes avertis que la mortalité s'estoit mise au peuple de Stadacona, tellement que jà en estoient morts par leur confession plus de cinquante. A cause de quoi, leur fimmes défenses de non venir à notre Fort, ni entour nous. Mais nonobstant les avoir chassés, commença la mortalité entour nous d'une merveilleuse sorte, et la plus inconnue.

In December we learned that a mortality had struck the people of Stadacona. By their own account, more than fifty of them had already died. So we forbade them to come to our fort, or anywhere near us. But even though we had chased them off, the mortality broke out among us too, in an astonishing way, and of a kind no one knew.

Era aqlla terra muy aprazivel, grossa e de boas varzeas de rios: ho aruoredo ralo de muitas nogueiras e amoreiras: diziam q estaua ho mar duas jornadas: dalli ao redor a legoa e a mea legoa auia grades pouos despouoados e cheos derua q parecia q auia dias que nã abitauã nelles gente: deziam os indios q auia dous anos que naqlla terra ouuera peste e q se mudarã pera outros pouos: nas barbacoas delles auia grande cantidade de roupa, mantas de fiado de cascas d'aruores e mantas de pena, brancas, verdes, vermelhas e amarellas a seu uso louçãs e proueitosas pera ho inuerno: auia tãbe muitos coiros de veado bẽ cortidos de cores, debuxado nelles lauores e delles feitos calças e meãs calças e çapatos:

That land was very pleasant and fertile, with good meadows along the rivers. The woods were open, with many walnut and mulberry trees. They said the sea was two days' journey away. All around, a league or half a league off, there were large towns standing empty and full of weeds, as if no one had lived in them for some time. The Indians said that two years before there had been a pestilence in that land, and the people had moved to other towns. In their barbacoas there was a great quantity of cloth: cloaks woven of thread from tree bark, and feather cloaks, white, green, red and yellow, handsome in their way and good for winter. There were also many deerskins, well tanned and dyed in colors, with designs drawn on them. From them they made leggings, stockings and shoes.

127. Chupam <J-a voo huna, vae ok ixtiquer yauabil, yxnu^-ahol, nabey xyabix ohb, ratzam xyavabix chi^-a £ana chuluh, kitzih tixibin chi camic xi^-o oher. Haok xcam ahauh Vakaki Ahmak, xe hala chic ma tipe nima £ekum, nima a£a pa qui vi ka tata ka mama pa ka vi Qa, yxnu^-ahol, ok xyabix ^-hac.

In the fifth year the sickness began, my children. First people fell sick with a cough. Then the blood was corrupted, and they were sick with yellow urine. Truly terrible was the dying in that time. Then Lord Vakaki Ahmak died. Great darkness and great night fell on our fathers and grandfathers, and on us too, my children, when the pestilence struck.

128. Vae chupam huna xyauabix vi ^-hac, ha ok xe^-iz chi camic ka tata ka mama Diego Juan; chi voo Ah ;J-axoc chi vi labal Panatacat, cuma ka mama, ha^-a ok xtiquer yavabil ^-hac. Kitzih tixibin chi camic xpe pa ru vi vinak, mani yabim viri quere ri x;J-hol vinak.

That year the pestilence spread, and our grandfather Diego Juan died. On the day 5 Ah our grandfathers carried war to Panatacat, and then the sickness of the pestilence began to spread. Truly terrible was the death that came upon the people, and the people did not escape it.

129. Xcavinak ok xtiquer yauabil, tok xecam ka tata ka mama, chi cablahuh Carney xcam ahauh Huny£ yxiquin mama.

Forty [days] after the sickness began, our fathers and grandfathers died. On the day 14 Camey, King Hunyg, your grandfather, died.

There was no towne where we had any subtile deuise practised against vs, we leauing it vnpunished or not reuenged (because wee sought by all meanes possible to win them by gentlenesse) but that within a few dayes after our departure from euerie such towne, the people began to die very fast, and many in short space; in some townes about twentie, in some fourtie, in some sixtie, & in one sixe score, which in trueth was very manie in respect of their numbers. This happened in no place that wee coulde learne but where wee had bene, where they vsed some practise against vs, and after such time; The disease also so strange, that they neither knew what it was, nor how to cure it; the like by report of the oldest men in the countrey neuer happened before, time out of minde. A thing specially obserued by vs as also by the naturall inhabitants themselues.

Some towns worked cunning plots against us, and we left them unpunished and unrevenged, because we sought by every possible means to win them by gentleness. Yet there was no such town where, within a few days after we left it, the people did not begin to die very fast, and many in a short time. In some towns about twenty died, in some forty, in some sixty, and in one a hundred and twenty, which truly was very many for their numbers. As far as we could learn, this happened in no place except where we had been, where they had plotted against us, and after that time. The disease was also so strange that they neither knew what it was nor how to cure it. By the report of the oldest men in the country, nothing like it had ever happened before, in all memory. We noticed this especially, and so did the native inhabitants themselves.

Ils s'estonnent & se plaignent souuẽt de ce que dés que les Frãçois hantent & ont commerce auec eux, ils se meurent fort, & se depeuplent. Car ils asseurent qu'auant ceste hantise, & frequentation, toutes leurs terres estoyent fort populeuses, & historient par ordre coste par coste, qu'à mesure qu'ils ont plus cõmencé à traffiquer auecques nous, ils ont plus esté rauagez de maladies: adjoustans, que la cause pourquoy les Armouchiquoys se maintiennent en leur nombrosité, c'est à leur aduis, parce qu'ils ne sont point nonchalants.

They are astonished, and they often complain, that ever since the French have come among them and traded with them, they have been dying in great numbers and their land is emptying of people. They insist that before this contact, all their lands were thickly peopled. They tell the history in order, coast by coast: the more they began to trade with us, the more they were ravaged by sickness. They add that, in their opinion, the Armouchiquois keep up their numbers because they are not idle.

Autres se plaignent qu'on leur desguise souuent, & sophistique les marchandises, & qu'on leur vend des pois, febues, prunes, pain, & autres choses gastees? & que c'est cela qui leur corromp le corps, & dont s'engendrẽt les dysenteries & autres maladies, qui ont coustume de les saisir en Automne. Ceste raison de mesme ne se propose pas sans productiõ d'exemples, dont ils ont esté souuent sur le poinct de rompre auecques nous, & de nous faire la guerre. Certes il y auroit bon besoin de pouruoir à ces meurtres execrables, par remedes conuenables si lon en pouuoit trouuer aucun.

Others complain that the goods they are sold are often disguised and adulterated, and that they are sold spoiled peas, beans, prunes, bread, and other things. They say it is this that corrupts their bodies and breeds the dysentery and other sicknesses that usually seize them in the autumn. This reason, too, is backed by examples. Because of it, they have often been on the point of breaking with us and making war on us. Truly, these hateful murders badly need to be stopped by fitting remedies, if any could be found.

And of these in ye time of most distres, ther was but 6. or 7. sound persons, who, to their great comendations be it spoken, spared no pains, night nor day, but with abundance of toyle and hazard of their owne health, fetched them woode, made them fires, drest them meat, made their beads, washed their lothsome cloaths, cloathed & uncloathed them; in a word, did all ye homly & necessarie offices for them wch dainty & quesie stomacks cannot endure to hear named; and all this willingly & cherfully, without any grudging in ye least, shewing herein their true love unto their freinds & bretheren. A rare example & worthy to be remembred. Tow of these 7. were Mr. William Brewster, ther reverend Elder, & Myles Standish, ther Captein & military comander, unto whom my selfe, & many others, were much beholden in our low & sicke condition. And yet the Lord so upheld these persons, as in this generall calamity they were not at all infected either with sicknes, or lamnes. And what I have said of these, I may say of many others who dyed in this generall vissitation, & others yet living, that whilst they had health, yea, or any strength continuing, they were not wanting to any that had need of them. And I doute not but their recompence is with ye Lord.

And of these, in the time of worst distress, there were only six or seven healthy persons. To their great credit be it said, they spared no pains, night or day. With great toil and risk to their own health, they fetched wood for the sick, made them fires, cooked their food, made their beds, washed their loathsome clothes, and dressed and undressed them. In a word, they did all the humble and necessary tasks for them that dainty and queasy stomachs cannot bear to hear named. And they did all this willingly and cheerfully, without the least grudging, showing in this their true love for their friends and brothers. It was a rare example, and worthy to be remembered. Two of these seven were Mr. William Brewster, their reverend elder, and Myles Standish, their captain and military commander. I myself and many others were much indebted to them in our low and sick condition. And yet the Lord so upheld these persons that in this general calamity they were not at all infected with either sickness or lameness. And what I have said of these I may say of many others who died in this general visitation, and of others still living. While they had health, or indeed any strength left, they did not fail anyone who needed them. And I do not doubt that their reward is with the Lord.

病疫之由昔以為非其時有其氣春應温而反大寒夏應熱而反大涼秋應涼而反大熱冬應寒而反大温得非時之氣長幼之病相似以為疫

As for the cause of epidemic sickness, people used to say it came from a qi that arrives out of its season. Spring should be warm, but it turns very cold; summer should be hot, but it turns very cool. Autumn should be cool, but it turns very hot; winter should be cold, but it turns very warm. People catch this out-of-season qi, and young and old fall sick in the same way. That, they said, is an epidemic.

Up betimes and to my business of settling my house and papers, and then abroad and met with Hadley, our clerke, who, upon my asking how the plague goes, he told me it encreases much, and much in our parish; for, says he, there died nine this week, though I have returned but six: which is a very ill practice, and makes me think it is so in other places; and therefore the plague much greater than people take it to be.

Up early and to my business of settling my house and papers, and then out, and met Hadley, our [parish] clerk. When I asked him how the plague goes, he told me it is growing much worse, and much worse in our parish. “For,” he says, “nine died this week, though I have reported only six.” This is a very bad practice, and makes me think it is the same in other places, and therefore that the plague is much greater than people take it to be.

Up, and after doing some business at the office, I to London, and there, in my way, at my old oyster shop in Gracious Streete, bought two barrels of my fine woman of the shop, who is alive after all the plague, which now is the first observation or inquiry we make at London concerning everybody we knew before it.

Up, and after doing some business at the office, I [went] to London. There, on my way, at my old oyster shop in Gracious Street, [I] bought two barrels from my fine woman of the shop, who is alive after all the plague. That is now the first thing we notice or ask about in London concerning everybody we knew before it.

In the evening home to supper; and there, to my great trouble, hear that the plague is come into the City (though it hath these three or four weeks since its beginning been wholly out of the City); but where should it begin but in my good friend and neighbour’s, Dr. Burnett, in Fanchurch Street: which in both points troubles me mightily. To the office to finish my letters and then home to bed, being troubled at the sicknesse, and my head filled also with other business enough, and particularly how to put my things and estate in order, in case it should please God to call me away, which God dispose of to his glory!

In the evening home to supper; and there, to my great trouble, hear that the plague is come into the City (though it hath these three or four weeks since its beginning been wholly out of the City); but where should it begin but in my good friend and neighbor’s, Dr. Burnett, in Fenchurch Street: which in both points troubles me mightily. To the office to finish my letters and then home to bed, being troubled at the sickness, and my head filled also with other business enough, and particularly how to put my things and estate in order, in case it should please God to call me away, which God dispose of to his glory!

It struck me very deep this afternoon going with a hackney coach from my Lord Treasurer’s down Holborne, the coachman I found to drive easily and easily, at last stood still, and come down hardly able to stand, and told me that he was suddenly struck very sicke, and almost blind, he could not see; so I ‘light and went into another coach, with a sad heart for the poor man and trouble for myself, lest he should have been struck with the plague, being at the end of the towne that I took him up; but God have mercy upon us all!

It struck me very deep this afternoon, going with a hackney coach from my Lord Treasurer’s down Holborn: the coachman I found to drive easily and easily, at last stood still, and come down hardly able to stand, and told me that he was suddenly struck very sick, and almost blind, he could not see. So I ’light and went into another coach, with a sad heart for the poor man and trouble for myself, lest he should have been struck with the plague, being at the end of the town that I took him up; but God have mercy upon us all!

Up betimes and to my business of settling my house and papers, and then abroad and met with Hadley, our clerke, who, upon my asking how the plague goes, he told me it encreases much, and much in our parish; for, says he, there died nine this week, though I have returned but six: which is a very ill practice, and makes me think it is so in other places; and therefore the plague much greater than people take it to be. [...] But, Lord! how every body’s looks, and discourse in the street is of death, and nothing else, and few people going up and down, that the towne is like a place distressed and forsaken.

Up betimes and to my business of settling my house and papers, and then abroad and met with Hadley, our clerk, who, upon my asking how the plague goes, he told me it increases much, and much in our parish; for, says he, there died nine this week, though I have returned but six: which is a very ill practice, and makes me think it is so in other places; and therefore the plague much greater than people take it to be. But, Lord! how everybody’s looks and discourse in the street is of death, and nothing else, and few people going up and down, that the town is like a place distressed and forsaken.

Thus this month ends with great sadness upon the publick, through the greatness of the plague every where through the kingdom almost. Every day sadder and sadder news of its encrease. In the City died this week 7,496 and of them 6,102 of the plague. But it is feared that the true number of the dead, this week is near 10,000; partly from the poor that cannot be taken notice of, through the greatness of the number, and partly from the Quakers and others that will not have any bell ring for them.

Thus this month ends with great sadness upon the public, through the greatness of the plague everywhere through the kingdom almost. Every day sadder and sadder news of its increase. In the City died this week 7,496, and of them 6,102 of the plague. But it is feared that the true number of the dead this week is near 10,000: partly from the poor that cannot be taken notice of, through the greatness of the number, and partly from the Quakers and others that will not have any bell ring for them.

It is true we have gone through great melancholy because of the great plague, and I put to great charges by it, by keeping my family long at Woolwich, and myself and another part of my family, my clerks, at my charge at Greenwich, and a mayde at London; but I hope the King will give us some satisfaction for that. But now the plague is abated almost to nothing, and I intending to get to London as fast as I can. [...] I have never lived so merrily (besides that I never got so much) as I have done this plague time, by my Lord Bruncker’s and Captain Cocke’s good company, and the acquaintance of Mrs. Knipp, Coleman and her husband, and Mr. Laneare, and great store of dancings we have had at my cost (which I was willing to indulge myself and wife) at my lodgings. [...] My whole family hath been well all this while, and all my friends I know of, saving my aunt Bell, who is dead, and some children of my cozen Sarah’s, of the plague. But many of such as I know very well, dead; yet, to our great joy, the town fills apace, and shops begin to be open again.

It is true we have gone through great melancholy because of the great plague, and I put to great charges by it, by keeping my family long at Woolwich, and myself and another part of my family, my clerks, at my charge at Greenwich, and a maid at London; but I hope the King will give us some satisfaction for that. But now the plague is abated almost to nothing, and I intending to get to London as fast as I can. I have never lived so merrily (besides that I never got so much) as I have done this plague time, by my Lord Brouncker’s and Captain Cocke’s good company, and the acquaintance of Mrs. Knipp, Coleman and her husband, and Mr. Lanier, and great store of dancings we have had at my cost (which I was willing to indulge myself and wife) at my lodgings. My whole family hath been well all this while, and all my friends I know of, saving my aunt Bell, who is dead, and some children of my cousin Sarah’s, of the plague. But many of such as I know very well, dead; yet, to our great joy, the town fills apace, and shops begin to be open again.

Those dreadful stories you have heard of the Plague, have very little foundation in truth. I own, I have much ado to reconcile myself to the sound of a word, which has always given me such terrible ideas; though I am convinced there is little more in it, than in a fever. As a proof of this, let me tell you, that we passed through two or three towns most violently infected. In the very next house where we lay, (in one of those places) two persons died of it. Luckily for me, I was so well received, that I knew nothing of the matter; and I was made believe, that our second cook, had only a great cold. However we left our doctor to take care of him, and yesterday they both arrived here in good health; and I am now let into the secret, that he has had the Plague. There are many that escape it, neither is the air ever infected. I am persuaded that it would be as easy a matter to root it out here, as out of Italy and France; but it does so little mischief, they are not very solicitous about it, and are content to suffer this distemper, instead of our variety, which they are utterly unacquainted with.

Those dreadful stories you have heard of the plague have very little foundation in truth. I own I have much ado to reconcile myself to the sound of a word which has always given me such terrible ideas, though I am convinced there is little more in it than in a fever. As a proof of this, let me tell you that we passed through two or three towns most violently infected. In the very next house where we lay (in one of those places) two persons died of it. Luckily for me, I was so well received that I knew nothing of the matter, and I was made believe that our second cook had only a great cold. However, we left our doctor to take care of him, and yesterday they both arrived here in good health. And I am now let into the secret that he has had the plague. There are many that escape it; neither is the air ever infected. I am persuaded that it would be as easy a matter to root it out here as out of Italy and France. But it does so little mischief, they are not very solicitous about it, and are content to suffer this distemper instead of our variety, which they are utterly unacquainted with.

Many were almost incessantly purifying, scouring, and whitewashing their rooms. Those who ventured abroad, had handkerchiefs or sponges impregnated with vinegar or camphor at their noses, or else smelling bottles with the thieves' vinegar. Others carried pieces of tarred rope in their hands or pockets, or camphor bags tied round their necks. The corpses of the most respectable citizens, even of those who did not die of the epidemic, were carried to the grave, on the shafts of a chair, the horse driven by a negro, unattended by a friend or relation, and without any sort of ceremony. People hastily shifted their course at the sight of a hearse coming towards them. Many never walked on the foot path, but went into the middle of the streets, to avoid being infected in passing by houses wherein people had died. Acquaintances and friends avoided each other in the streets, and only signified their regard by a cold nod. The old custom of shaking hands fell into such general disuse, that many were affronted at even the offer of the hand. A person with a crape, or any appearance of mourning, was shunned like a viper. And many valued themselves highly on the skill and address with which they got to windward of every person they met. Indeed it is not probable that London, at the last stage of the plague, exhibited stronger marks of terror, than were to be seen in Philadelphia, from the 25th or 26th of August till pretty late in September. When people summoned up resolution to walk abroad, and take the air, the sick cart conveying patients to the hospital, or the hearse carrying the dead to the grave, which were travelling almost the whole day, soon damped their spirits, and plunged them again into despondency.

Many were almost incessantly purifying, scouring, and whitewashing their rooms. Those who ventured abroad had handkerchiefs or sponges impregnated with vinegar or camphor at their noses, or else smelling bottles with the thieves’ vinegar. Others carried pieces of tarred rope in their hands or pockets, or camphor bags tied round their necks. The corpses of the most respectable citizens, even of those who did not die of the epidemic, were carried to the grave on the shafts of a chair, the horse driven by a negro, unattended by a friend or relation, and without any sort of ceremony. People hastily shifted their course at the sight of a hearse coming toward them. Many never walked on the footpath, but went into the middle of the streets, to avoid being infected in passing by houses wherein people had died. Acquaintances and friends avoided each other in the streets, and only signified their regard by a cold nod. The old custom of shaking hands fell into such general disuse that many were affronted at even the offer of the hand. A person with a crape, or any appearance of mourning, was shunned like a viper. And many valued themselves highly on the skill and address with which they got to windward of every person they met. Indeed it is not probable that London, at the last stage of the plague, exhibited stronger marks of terror than were to be seen in Philadelphia from the 25th or 26th of August till pretty late in September. When people summoned up resolution to walk abroad and take the air, the sick cart conveying patients to the hospital, or the hearse carrying the dead to the grave, which were traveling almost the whole day, soon damped their spirits, and plunged them again into despondency.

I had scarcely become settled in Philadelphia when in July, 1793, the yellow fever broke out, and, spreading rapidly in August, obliged all the citizens who could remove to seek safety in the country. My father took his family to Bristol on the Delaware, and in the last of August I followed him. Having engaged in commerce, and having a ship at the wharf loading for Liverpool, I was compelled to return to the city on the 8th of September, and spend the 9th there. My business took me down to the Swedes' church and up Front street to Walnut street wharf, where I had my counting-house. Everything looked gloomy, and forty-five deaths were reported for the 9th. In the afternoon, when I was about returning to the country, I passed by the lodgings of the Vicomte de Noailles, who had fled from the Revolutionists of France. He was standing at the door, and calling to me, asked me what I was doing in town. "Fly," said he, "as soon as you can, for pestilence is all around us." And yet it was nothing then to what it became three or four weeks later, when from the first to the twelfth of October one thousand persons died. On the twelfth a smart frost came and checked its ravages.

I had scarcely become settled in Philadelphia when, in July 1793, the yellow fever broke out, and, spreading rapidly in August, obliged all the citizens who could remove to seek safety in the country. My father took his family to Bristol on the Delaware, and in the last of August I followed him. Having engaged in commerce, and having a ship at the wharf loading for Liverpool, I was compelled to return to the city on the 8th of September, and spend the 9th there. My business took me down to the Swedes’ Church and up Front Street to Walnut Street wharf, where I had my countinghouse. Everything looked gloomy, and forty-five deaths were reported for the 9th. In the afternoon, when I was about returning to the country, I passed by the lodgings of the vicomte de Noailles, who had fled from the revolutionists of France. He was standing at the door, and calling to me, asked me what I was doing in town. “Fly,” said he, “as soon as you can, for pestilence is all around us.” And yet it was nothing then to what it became three or four weeks later, when from the first to the twelfth of October one thousand persons died. On the twelfth a smart frost came and checked its ravages.

On the 6th of October the Municipal Commissioner issued a proclamation under section 434 of the Municipal Act making provision for the removal to hospital of all plague patients and the disinfection and evacuation of infected houses. The assistance of the police was to be employed where necessary. The populace evinced the greatest alarm and excitement at the suggestion for the compulsory removal of the sick to hospital, and the increase in the epidemic, coupled with the operations in progress, produced widespread alarm. People fled from the city in large numbers. On the 10th of October a number of mill-hands assembled outside the Arthur Road Hospital and threatened its demolition as well as violence to the employes. On the afternoon of the 29th October a gang of nearly one thousand armed mill-hands attacked the same hospital, and were dispersed by the police. The incident was a grave indication of the general feeling. The large Municipal conservancy staff became affected by the general feeling of unrest and it was feared that a strike might occur among them. Mr. Snow stated that such a strike would have had the most appalling results. “ Bombay would, in a few days, have become uninhabitable and left to reek in a mass of sewage, sweepings and pollution, with no one at hand to conduct the daily routine of sanitation, much less to adopt a single preventive measure against plague.”

On the 6th of October the Municipal Commissioner issued a proclamation under section 434 of the Municipal Act making provision for the removal to hospital of all plague patients and the disinfection and evacuation of infected houses. The assistance of the police was to be employed where necessary. The populace evinced the greatest alarm and excitement at the suggestion for the compulsory removal of the sick to hospital, and the increase in the epidemic, coupled with the operations in progress, produced widespread alarm. People fled from the city in large numbers. On the 10th of October a number of millhands assembled outside the Arthur Road Hospital and threatened its demolition as well as violence to the employees. On the afternoon of the 29th October a gang of nearly one thousand armed millhands attacked the same hospital, and were dispersed by the police. The incident was a grave indication of the general feeling. The large Municipal conservancy staff became affected by the general feeling of unrest and it was feared that a strike might occur among them. Mr. Snow stated that such a strike would have had the most appalling results. “Bombay would, in a few days, have become uninhabitable and left to reek in a mass of sewage, sweepings and pollution, with no one at hand to conduct the daily routine of sanitation, much less to adopt a single preventive measure against plague.”