The Scarlet Plague

I

I

The way led along upon what had once been the embankment of a railroad. But no train had run upon it for many years. The forest on either side swelled up the slopes of the embankment and crested across it in a green wave of trees and bushes. The trail was as narrow as a man’s body, and was no more than a wild-animal runway. Occasionally, a piece of rusty iron, showing through the forest-mould, advertised that the rail and the ties still remained. In one place, a ten-inch tree, bursting through at a connection, had lifted the end of a rail clearly into view. The tie had evidently followed the rail, held to it by the spike long enough for its bed to be filled with gravel and rotten leaves, so that now the crumbling, rotten timber thrust itself up at a curious slant. Old as the road was, it was manifest that it had been of the mono-rail type.

Jalan itu membentang di atas apa yang dahulu merupakan tanggul sebuah jalur kereta api. Namun sudah bertahun-tahun tidak ada kereta yang melintasinya. Hutan di kedua sisi menjalar naik ke lereng tanggul dan menutupinya dalam gelombang hijau pepohonan dan semak. Jalan setapak itu sesempit tubuh manusia, tak lebih dari lintasan binatang liar. Sesekali, sepotong besi berkarat yang menyembul dari tanah humus menandakan bahwa rel dan bantalannya masih ada. Di satu tempat, sebatang pohon berdiameter sepuluh inci yang menerobos di sambungan rel telah mengangkat ujung sebuah rel hingga terlihat jelas. Bantalan kayunya rupanya mengikuti rel, tertahan oleh pakunya cukup lama hingga bagian bawahnya terisi kerikil dan daun-daun busuk, sehingga kini kayu yang lapuk dan rapuh itu mencuat dengan kemiringan yang aneh. Setua apa pun jalur itu, jelas bahwa dahulu ia berjenis rel tunggal.

An old man and a boy travelled along this runway. They moved slowly, for the old man was very old, a touch of palsy made his movements tremulous, and he leaned heavily upon his staff. A rude skull-cap of goat-skin protected his head from the sun. From beneath this fell a scant fringe of stained and dirty-white hair. A visor, ingeniously made from a large leaf, shielded his eyes, and from under this he peered at the way of his feet on the trail. His beard, which should have been snow-white but which showed the same weather-wear and camp-stain as his hair, fell nearly to his waist in a great tangled mass. About his chest and shoulders hung a single, mangy garment of goat-skin. His arms and legs, withered and skinny, betokened extreme age, as well as did their sunburn and scars and scratches betoken long years of exposure to the elements.

Seorang lelaki tua dan seorang anak laki-laki menyusuri lintasan itu. Mereka bergerak lambat, sebab lelaki tua itu sudah sangat renta, sedikit kelumpuhan membuat gerakannya gemetar, dan ia bertumpu berat pada tongkatnya. Sebuah topi tempurung kasar dari kulit kambing melindungi kepalanya dari terik matahari. Dari bawahnya terurai seuntai tipis rambut putih kotor yang bernoda. Sebuah pelindung mata yang dibuat dengan cerdik dari selembar daun besar menaungi matanya, dan dari baliknya ia mengamati jalan yang diinjak kakinya di jalur itu. Janggutnya, yang seharusnya seputih salju tetapi menunjukkan kerusakan cuaca dan noda api unggun yang sama seperti rambutnya, terurai hampir sampai ke pinggang dalam gumpalan besar yang kusut. Di dada dan bahunya tergantung selembar pakaian kulit kambing yang kudisan. Lengan dan kakinya, kurus dan layu, menandakan usia yang sangat lanjut, sebagaimana kulitnya yang terbakar matahari serta bekas luka dan goresannya menandakan bertahun-tahun terpapar alam.