Summary

The omniscient narrator dominates Chapter 11, describing the plague’s journey from Africa to Europe. The tale begins in Alexandria, where a “cabin boy must leave his ship, for Judith to The omniscient narrator dominates Chapter 11, describing the plague’s journey from Africa to Europe. The tale begins in Alexandria, where a “cabin boy must leave his ship, for Judith to contract the pestilence and for a tragedy to be set in motion, halfway across the world” (131). The cabin boy encounters a pet monkey at the port of Alexandria. Fleas jump from the monkey to the cabin boy, who carries them onto a merchant ship. The fleas infect the cats and crew on board, multiplying and spreading the plague as the ship travels from country to country. In Venice, the ship accepts merchandise from an injured glassmaker. The glassmaker’s wound requires his...