by
translated by David Young and Dana Habova
From Interferon, or On Theater
Oberlin College Press, 1982
? 1982 by Oberlin College Press. Used with permission.
In Alsace
on July 6, 1885,
a rabid dog knocked Joseph Meister down
and bit him fourteen times.
Meister was the first patient
saved by Pasteur's
vaccine, in thirteen
gradually increased doses
of weakened virus.
Pasteur died of ictus
ten years later.
Fifty years later
the watchman Meister
committed suicide
when the Germans
occupied Pasteur's institute
including the poor dogs.
Only the virus
never got involved.
Miroslav Holub is a Czech immunologist and poet. He has published 20 collections of poetry and essays. His work has been widely translated.
David Young is a translator and poet. He teaches in Oberlin College's Department of English.
Dana Habova is a translator living and working in Prague.
A statue outside the Pasteur Institute depicting Meister is the source of this illustration (BBC Hulton Picture Library).
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