It often happened that Tarrou would go out in the evening with Cottard. He later described in his notebooks how they would plunge into the dark crowds of dusk or night-time, shoulder to shoulder, immersing themselves in a black and white crowd, lit here and there by the occasional lamp; and they would accompany the human herd towards the warm pleasures that protected it against the cold of the plague.
Sarritan egokitu zitzaion Tarrouri gauetan Cottardekin ateratzea. Kontatzen zuen ondoren, bere liburuxketan, nola jauzten ziren ilunabar edo gauetako jendetza ilunaren artera, bizkarrez bizkar, noizik eta behin farola batek distira bitxiak sortzen zituen masa zuri eta beltzean murgilduz, eta izurriaren hotzetik babesten zuten plazer beroetara zuzentzen zen gizataldearekin bat eginez.