“I thought,” Hans Castorp said, “that the fever came from my cold.”

“And the cold,” rejoined the Hofrat, “where does that come from? Listen, Castorp, let me tell you something, and mark my words⁠—for so far as I can tell, you’ve all the cerebral convolutions a body needs. Now: our air up here is good for the disease⁠—I mean good against the disease, you understand⁠—you think so, don’t you? Well, it is true. But also it is good for the disease; it begins by speeding it up, in that it revolutionizes the whole body; it brings the latent weakness to the surface and makes it break out. Your catarrh, fortunately for you, is a breaking-out of that kind. I can’t tell if you were febrile down below; but it is certainly my opinion that you have been from your first day up here, and not merely since you had your catarrh.”

“Yes,” Hans Castorp said, “I think so too.”