The laughter of death

(4500 deaths to date from smallpox)
Penna: “How horrible!!…”
Mayor: “How horrible!”
Joe Public: “This is it! An epidemic that could have been vanquished perfectly well in the beginning, six months ago, when it killed 20 people a month; that it was not on a whim or relaxation and that now it laughs at those responsible!… I don’t know what I pay for these taxes that flay me! Perhaps for this: to see the people who govern me dumbfounded!”
Oswaldo Cruz: “Without mandatory vaccines, I can do nothing!…”
Smallpox: “Nothing, huh? Hahaha!!!…”
(O Malho, Rio de Janeiro, 1908)