Need answer fast — it’s for work, and the deadline is today.
The cartoon, which is from 1904, can be seen here, though you have to scroll down a little. It shows Osvaldo Cruz and his “troops” setting out to vaccinate the Brazilian public against smallpox. The Portuguese sentences are:
Ou vae ou racha! — Google translate tells me this means “Get in or leave.”
She says there is something wrong with the second line, as it doesn’t make any sense to her. She’s Portuguese, not Brazilian, so perhaps it’s Brazilian slang for something.
In other words, ‘Rest in peace, public tranquility’.
I explained that the cartoon has something to do with health care. She thinks perhaps “a muque” is actually “À míngua”, which means lacking, or taken to the minimum.
So the gist of the entire caption would be "“Taking it to the extreme, a lack (or minimum) of health care means the death of public tranquility”.
Thank you, Chefguy, and please thank your friend for taking the time to help out a stranger. It sounds as though the cartoon is anti-Cruz, saying he’s taking the whole health-care thing too far and making too many waves.
Ah, yes. Checking now from my work computer, I see that you have to register (for free, FWIW) with The Lancet in order to see the whole article. I’d forgotten that I’d done that.