In the Days of Feverish Delusion. (July 20, 2024)

In the Days of Feverish Delusion.

Dear my friend. I contracted Covid-19.

 One Monday morning, my son was feverish. I took him to a local clinic. There, he was tested and found Covid-19 positive. Within a week, his mother fell. (Despite the same symptom, she was tested negative.) I didn’t feel anything for a while. But two weeks later, the virus got me. (Before this, I had gotten vaccine shots multiple times. The immunization wasn’t perfect.) The clinic doctor prescribed a médicament which prevents the virus from duplicating and multiplicating.

 The symptoms were mild for my family. My son was quick to recover within a week. But I felt feverish and dizzy for weeks. In addition to the enervation, the heat waves forced me to stay inside. I picked some books which depict great outdoors so as to console my enclosed spirit.

1. The Road (1907), by Jack London.

 Many years ago, I made a visit to Oakland Museum to appreciate the special exhibition “the Paintings and Daguerreotypes of the Gold Rush years”. It was sunny and pleasant December day. After the museum, I took a walk to Jack London Square on the water front. There, I was accosted by an old man in frayed grey jacket if I had changes to spare. Then, out of nowhere, a police officer on foot came up to us. The old man looked so scared and hurried away.

Some episodes in The Road reminded me the encounter at the water front. Although Jack London didn’t live long to the old man’s age, the fear he felt a century ago could have been of the same quality as the old man’s.

After reading the story, you may want to watch Emperor of the North (1973), or vice versa.

2. To Build a fire (1902, 1907), by Jack London.

 I recommend To Build a Fire for a reading in extremely hot days. The story will make you forget heat waves for a while.

3. Old Times on the Mississippi (1876), by Mark Twain.

 The story is a lively account of professions on the steamboats on the Mississippi river. You will find how Samuel L. Clemens became Mark Twain. He states a steamboat pilot, “in those days, was the only unfettered and entirely independent human being that lived in the earth.” (Chapter 11.)

4. Okuno Hosomichi (1702), by Matsuo Basho.

 Haiku master Matsuo Basho chronicled his journey through the northern territories. Like many people in his time, Basho traveled a pilgrimage; to visit holy and sacred places. In addition, he paid homage to the traveling Kajins (poets) who lived a millennium years ago by tracing their steps.

 Travels in Basho’s time were tough and hard. In the beginning, Basho manifests that he expects hardships, that he may fall on roadside and not be able to return alive. In spite of all of these thoughts, he still expresses his desire for journey, the desire which can be shared with Jack London and Mark Twain.

 Our ancestors were thought to be born somewhere in Africa. Since then, men spread, gradually first, then rapidly, over the continents. Animals migrate mainly for seeking suitable environments for their survival. But for men, there is something more. The innate desire (curiosity) to seek what are the other side of mountains may be one of the elements which separate men from other animals. (Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997) by Jared Diamond is a curious account of the factors which affect the distribution of ethnicity and culture on the earth. I don’t remember if he counted human curiosity as a determinant factor in the book.)

References;

Diamond, Jared, Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997).

London, Jack, To Build a Fire (1902, 1907).

London, Jack, The Road (1907).

Matsuo, Basho, Okuno Hosomichi (1702).

Twain, Mark, Old Times on the Mississippi (1876).

Emperor of the North (1973), directed by Robert Aldrich, produced and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox.