1
00:01:02,196 --> 00:01:03,663
True.
2
00:01:03,697 --> 00:01:05,665
Nervous
3
00:01:05,699 --> 00:01:09,396
very, very dreadfully nervous
I had been and am...
4
00:01:09,436 --> 00:01:12,599
but why will you say
that I am mad?
5
00:01:12,639 --> 00:01:15,608
The disease had sharpened
my senses...
6
00:01:15,642 --> 00:01:17,769
not destroyed,
not dulled them.
7
00:01:17,811 --> 00:01:22,771
Above all was the sense
of hearing acute.
8
00:01:22,816 --> 00:01:26,183
I heard all things
in the heaven and in the earth.
9
00:01:26,220 --> 00:01:29,246
I heard many things in hell.
10
00:01:29,289 --> 00:01:32,349
How, then, am I mad?
11
00:01:32,392 --> 00:01:35,020
Hearken and observe
how healthily...
12
00:01:35,062 --> 00:01:39,021
how calmly I can tell you
the whole story.
13
00:01:39,066 --> 00:01:41,034
It is impossible to say...
14
00:01:41,068 --> 00:01:43,696
how first the idea
entered my brain...
15
00:01:43,737 --> 00:01:48,037
but once conceived,
it haunted me day and night.
16
00:01:48,075 --> 00:01:51,044
Object there was none.
Passion there was none.
17
00:01:51,078 --> 00:01:53,706
I loved the old man.
He had never wronged me.
18
00:01:53,747 --> 00:01:58,081
He had never given me insult.
For his gold I had no desire.
19
00:01:58,118 --> 00:02:03,146
I I think it was his eye.
20
00:02:03,190 --> 00:02:05,522
Yes, it was this.
21
00:02:05,559 --> 00:02:08,790
One of his eyes resembled
that of a vulture...
22
00:02:08,829 --> 00:02:12,765
a pale blue eye
with a film over it.
23
00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,463
Whenever it fell upon me,
my blood ran cold.
24
00:02:16,503 --> 00:02:19,097
And so, by degrees,
very gradually...
25
00:02:19,139 --> 00:02:24,167
I made up my mind to take
the life of the old man...
26
00:02:24,211 --> 00:02:28,477
and thus to rid myself
of the eye forever.
27
00:02:28,515 --> 00:02:32,747
Now this is the point.
You fancy me mad.
28
00:02:32,786 --> 00:02:36,745
Well, madmen know nothing,
but you should have seen me.
29
00:02:36,790 --> 00:02:39,350
You should have seen
how wisely I proceeded...
30
00:02:39,393 --> 00:02:41,657
with what caution,
with what foresight.
31
00:02:41,695 --> 00:02:43,663
I was never kinder
to the old man...
32
00:02:43,697 --> 00:02:47,827
than during the whole week
before I killed him.
33
00:02:47,868 --> 00:02:51,360
And every night,
about midnight...
34
00:02:51,405 --> 00:02:54,533
I turned the latch
of his door...
35
00:02:54,575 --> 00:02:58,875
and I opened it,
oh, so gently.
36
00:02:58,912 --> 00:03:01,039
And then, when I had made
an opening...
37
00:03:01,081 --> 00:03:02,708
sufficient for my head...
38
00:03:02,749 --> 00:03:05,217
I put in a dark lantern...
39
00:03:05,252 --> 00:03:09,211
all closed, closed
so that no light shone out...
40
00:03:09,256 --> 00:03:11,986
and then I thrust in my head.
41
00:03:12,025 --> 00:03:14,493
Oh, you would have
laughed to see...
42
00:03:14,528 --> 00:03:16,996
how cunningly
I thrust it in.
43
00:03:17,030 --> 00:03:22,161
I moved it very slowly
very, very slowly...
44
00:03:22,202 --> 00:03:26,161
so that I might not disturb
the old man's sleep.
45
00:03:26,206 --> 00:03:28,674
It took me an hour...
46
00:03:28,709 --> 00:03:31,303
to place my whole head
within the opening...
47
00:03:31,345 --> 00:03:35,782
so far that I could see him
as he lay upon his bed.
48
00:03:35,816 --> 00:03:39,183
Now, would a madman have been
so wise as this?
49
00:03:39,219 --> 00:03:42,848
And then, when my head
was well in the room...
50
00:03:42,890 --> 00:03:49,523
I undid the lantern cautiously,
oh, so cautiously.
51
00:03:49,563 --> 00:03:52,031
I undid it just so much...
52
00:03:52,065 --> 00:03:56,229
that a single thin ray
fell upon the vulture eye.
53
00:03:56,270 --> 00:04:01,071
This I did for 7 long nights,
every night at midnight.
54
00:04:01,108 --> 00:04:06,239
But I found the eye
always closed...
55
00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:08,680
and so it was impossible
to do the work...
56
00:04:08,715 --> 00:04:12,310
for it was not the old man
who vexed me...
57
00:04:12,352 --> 00:04:14,047
but his evil eye.
58
00:04:14,087 --> 00:04:16,954
And every morning,
when the day broke...
59
00:04:16,990 --> 00:04:19,458
I I went boldly
into the chamber...
60
00:04:19,493 --> 00:04:21,518
and spoke courageously to him...
61
00:04:21,561 --> 00:04:24,291
calling him by name
in a hearty tone...
62
00:04:24,331 --> 00:04:26,925
and inquiring
how he had passed the night.
63
00:04:26,967 --> 00:04:28,434
So, you see,
he would have been...
64
00:04:28,468 --> 00:04:30,936
a very profound old man
indeed...
65
00:04:30,971 --> 00:04:34,372
to suspect that every night,
just at 12:oo...
66
00:04:34,408 --> 00:04:37,309
I looked in upon him
while he slept.
67
00:04:37,344 --> 00:04:40,177
Upon the eighth night...
68
00:04:40,213 --> 00:04:45,674
I was more than usually cautious
in opening the door.
69
00:04:45,719 --> 00:04:50,679
A watch's minute hand moves
more quickly than did mine.
70
00:04:50,724 --> 00:04:52,191
Never before that night...
71
00:04:52,225 --> 00:04:54,193
had I felt the extent
of my own powers.
72
00:04:54,227 --> 00:04:57,628
I I could scarcely contain
my feelings of triumph.
73
00:04:57,664 --> 00:04:59,359
I had my head in the room...
74
00:04:59,399 --> 00:05:01,890
and was about to open
the lantern...
75
00:05:01,935 --> 00:05:05,371
when my thumb slipped
on the tin fastening...
76
00:05:05,405 --> 00:05:07,202
and the old man sprang up
in the bed...
77
00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,731
crying out, "Who's there?"
78
00:05:12,512 --> 00:05:15,606
I kept quite still
and said nothing.
79
00:05:15,649 --> 00:05:20,677
For a whole hour,
I did not move a muscle.
80
00:05:20,721 --> 00:05:24,122
And in the meantime,
I did not hear him lie down.
81
00:05:24,157 --> 00:05:27,524
He was still sitting up
in the bed listening.
82
00:05:27,561 --> 00:05:29,722
Presently I heard
a slight groan...
83
00:05:29,763 --> 00:05:36,396
and I knew it was the groan of
long, drawn out mortal terror.
84
00:05:36,436 --> 00:05:40,099
It was not a groan
of pain or of grief. Oh, no.
85
00:05:40,140 --> 00:05:43,109
No, it was the low,
stifled sound that arises...
86
00:05:43,143 --> 00:05:47,671
from the bottom of the soul
when overcharged with awe.
87
00:05:47,714 --> 00:05:50,649
I knew the sound well.
88
00:05:50,684 --> 00:05:53,448
Many a night just at midnight,
when all the world slept...
89
00:05:53,487 --> 00:05:55,512
it had welled up
from my own bosom...
90
00:05:55,555 --> 00:05:57,182
deepening with
its dreadful echo...
91
00:05:57,224 --> 00:06:01,718
the terrors that
that distracted me.
92
00:06:01,762 --> 00:06:04,356
I say I knew it well.
93
00:06:04,398 --> 00:06:07,026
I I knew what
the old man felt...
94
00:06:07,067 --> 00:06:11,128
and I pitied him,
although I chuckled at heart.
95
00:06:11,171 --> 00:06:13,469
I I knew that
he had been lying awake...
96
00:06:13,507 --> 00:06:15,475
ever since
the first slight noise...
97
00:06:15,509 --> 00:06:17,602
when he had turned in the bed.
98
00:06:17,644 --> 00:06:19,839
His fears had been
ever since growing upon him.
99
00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:22,348
He had been trying
to fancy them causeless...
100
00:06:22,382 --> 00:06:23,679
but could not.
101
00:06:23,717 --> 00:06:25,480
He had been saying to himself...
102
00:06:25,519 --> 00:06:27,987
"It's nothing but the wind
in the chimney."
103
00:06:28,021 --> 00:06:30,649
"It's only a mouse
crossing the floor."
104
00:06:30,690 --> 00:06:34,649
"It is merely a cricket
which has made a single chirp."
105
00:06:34,694 --> 00:06:36,161
Yes.
106
00:06:36,196 --> 00:06:38,664
Yes, he had been trying
to comfort himself...
107
00:06:38,698 --> 00:06:40,666
with these suppositions...
108
00:06:40,700 --> 00:06:43,396
but he had found it
all in vain...
109
00:06:43,437 --> 00:06:46,668
because death,
in approaching him...
110
00:06:46,706 --> 00:06:51,507
had stalked with
his black shadow before him...
111
00:06:51,545 --> 00:06:53,979
and enveloped the victim.
112
00:06:54,014 --> 00:06:58,383
He felt the presence of my head
within the room.
113
00:06:58,418 --> 00:07:01,148
When I had waited a long time,
very patiently...
114
00:07:01,188 --> 00:07:05,921
without hearing him lie down,
I resolved to open a little...
115
00:07:05,959 --> 00:07:09,986
a very, very little crevice
in the lantern.
116
00:07:10,030 --> 00:07:11,224
So I opened it...
117
00:07:11,264 --> 00:07:13,732
oh, you cannot imagine
how stealthily...
118
00:07:13,767 --> 00:07:17,066
until at length,
a single dim ray...
119
00:07:17,104 --> 00:07:18,696
like the thread of a spider...
120
00:07:18,738 --> 00:07:22,196
shot from out the crevice
and full upon the vulture eye.
121
00:07:22,242 --> 00:07:23,937
It was open.
122
00:07:23,977 --> 00:07:25,877
Wide, wide open.
123
00:07:25,912 --> 00:07:28,779
And I grew furious
as I gazed upon it.
124
00:07:28,815 --> 00:07:32,649
I saw it with perfect
distinctness, all a dull blue...
125
00:07:32,686 --> 00:07:34,483
with a hideous veil over it...
126
00:07:34,521 --> 00:07:37,251
that chilled the very marrow
of my bones.
127
00:07:37,290 --> 00:07:39,758
But I could see nothing else...
128
00:07:39,793 --> 00:07:41,761
of the old man's face
or person...
129
00:07:41,795 --> 00:07:45,253
for I had directed the ray,
as if by instinct...
130
00:07:45,298 --> 00:07:48,597
precisely on the damned spot.
131
00:07:48,635 --> 00:07:52,833
Now, have I not told you...
132
00:07:52,873 --> 00:07:54,568
that what you mistake
for madness...
133
00:07:54,608 --> 00:07:57,839
is but overacuteness
of the senses?
134
00:07:57,878 --> 00:08:00,506
Now, I say,
there came to my ears...
135
00:08:00,547 --> 00:08:04,176
a low, dull, quick sound...
136
00:08:04,217 --> 00:08:09,348
such as a watch makes
when enveloped in cotton.
137
00:08:09,389 --> 00:08:11,755
I knew that sound well, too.
138
00:08:11,791 --> 00:08:16,421
It was the beating
of the old man's heart.
139
00:08:16,463 --> 00:08:19,489
It increased my fury
as the beating of a drum...
140
00:08:19,533 --> 00:08:22,195
stimulates the soldier
to courage...
141
00:08:22,235 --> 00:08:25,762
but even yet,
I refrained and kept still.
142
00:08:25,805 --> 00:08:27,932
I scarcely breathed.
143
00:08:27,974 --> 00:08:32,035
Meantime, the hellish tattoo
of the heart increased.
144
00:08:32,078 --> 00:08:34,410
It grew quicker
and quicker and quicker...
145
00:08:34,447 --> 00:08:37,211
and louder and louder
every instant.
146
00:08:37,250 --> 00:08:39,718
The old man's terror
must have been extreme.
147
00:08:39,753 --> 00:08:42,620
It grew louder, I say
louder every moment.
148
00:08:42,656 --> 00:08:45,124
Do you mark me well?
149
00:08:45,158 --> 00:08:48,594
I have told you
that I am nervous. So I am.
150
00:08:48,628 --> 00:08:50,619
And now, at the dead hour
of the night...
151
00:08:50,664 --> 00:08:53,155
amid the dreadful silence
of this old house...
152
00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:55,327
so strange a noise
as this excited me...
153
00:08:55,368 --> 00:08:57,029
to uncontrollable terror.
154
00:08:57,070 --> 00:09:01,734
Yet for some minutes longer,
I refrained and stood still.
155
00:09:01,775 --> 00:09:05,074
But the beating grew
louder and louder.
156
00:09:05,111 --> 00:09:07,375
I thought the heart must burst.
157
00:09:07,414 --> 00:09:10,474
And now
a new anxiety seized me
158
00:09:10,517 --> 00:09:12,985
the sound would be heard
by a neighbor.
159
00:09:13,019 --> 00:09:15,283
The old man's hour had come.
160
00:09:15,322 --> 00:09:16,619
With a loud yell...
161
00:09:16,656 --> 00:09:19,318
I threw the lantern
and leapt into the room.
162
00:09:19,359 --> 00:09:23,159
He shrieked... once, only once.
163
00:09:23,196 --> 00:09:24,993
In an instant,
I dragged him to the floor...
164
00:09:25,031 --> 00:09:27,932
and pulled
the heavy bed over him.
165
00:09:27,968 --> 00:09:33,804
I then smiled gaily
to find the deed so far done.
166
00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:39,301
For many minutes, the heart
beat on with a muffled sound.
167
00:09:39,346 --> 00:09:41,507
Still, this did not vex me.
168
00:09:41,548 --> 00:09:44,244
It would not be heard
through the wall.
169
00:09:44,284 --> 00:09:47,651
And then, at last...
170
00:09:47,687 --> 00:09:50,053
it ceased.
171
00:09:50,090 --> 00:09:53,719
The old man was dead.
172
00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,890
I removed the bed
and examined the corpse.
173
00:09:57,931 --> 00:10:03,164
Yes. Yes, he was stone,
stone dead.
174
00:10:03,203 --> 00:10:05,831
I placed my hand
upon the heart...
175
00:10:05,872 --> 00:10:07,965
and held it there
for many minutes.
176
00:10:08,008 --> 00:10:10,875
There was no pulsation.
177
00:10:10,910 --> 00:10:13,902
He was stone dead.
178
00:10:13,947 --> 00:10:17,110
His eye would trouble me
no more.
179
00:10:17,150 --> 00:10:22,349
Now, if you still
think me mad...
180
00:10:22,389 --> 00:10:24,357
you will think so
no longer...
181
00:10:24,391 --> 00:10:27,690
when I describe
the wise precautions I took...
182
00:10:27,727 --> 00:10:30,821
for the concealment
of the body.
183
00:10:30,864 --> 00:10:33,526
First I I dismembered
the corpse.
184
00:10:33,566 --> 00:10:37,297
I cut off the head
and then the arms and the legs.
185
00:10:37,337 --> 00:10:42,001
I then took up 3 planks from
the flooring of the chamber...
186
00:10:42,042 --> 00:10:45,341
and I deposited all
beneath the floor.
187
00:10:45,378 --> 00:10:48,506
I then replaced the boards
so cleverly, so cunningly...
188
00:10:48,548 --> 00:10:51,847
that no human eye,
not even his...
189
00:10:51,885 --> 00:10:54,410
could have detected
anything wrong.
190
00:10:54,454 --> 00:10:56,149
There was nothing to wash out
191
00:10:56,189 --> 00:10:57,884
no stain of any kind...
192
00:10:57,924 --> 00:10:59,414
no blood spot whatsoever.
193
00:10:59,459 --> 00:11:01,689
I had been too wary for that.
194
00:11:01,728 --> 00:11:05,687
A tub had caught it all.
195
00:11:05,732 --> 00:11:09,930
And then, when I had made an end
of these labors...
196
00:11:09,969 --> 00:11:13,564
it was 4:oo...
197
00:11:13,606 --> 00:11:17,337
still dark as midnight.
198
00:11:17,377 --> 00:11:19,845
As the bell sounded...
199
00:11:19,879 --> 00:11:23,508
there came a knocking
at the street door.
200
00:11:23,550 --> 00:11:26,986
I I went down to open it
with a light heart...
201
00:11:27,020 --> 00:11:29,887
for what had I now to fear?
202
00:11:29,923 --> 00:11:34,758
There entered 3 men
who introduced themselves...
203
00:11:34,794 --> 00:11:38,195
with perfect suavity
as officers of the police.
204
00:11:38,231 --> 00:11:41,291
A shriek had been heard
by a neighbor during the night.
205
00:11:41,334 --> 00:11:43,802
Suspicion of foul play
had been aroused...
206
00:11:43,837 --> 00:11:45,464
and they, the officers...
207
00:11:45,505 --> 00:11:48,303
had been dispatched
to search the premises.
208
00:11:48,341 --> 00:11:51,242
I smiled,
for what had I to fear?
209
00:11:51,277 --> 00:11:52,801
I bade the gentlemen welcome.
210
00:11:52,846 --> 00:11:55,815
The shriek, I said,
was my own in a dream.
211
00:11:55,849 --> 00:11:59,546
The old man, I mentioned,
was absent in the country.
212
00:11:59,586 --> 00:12:02,714
I took my visitors
all over the house...
213
00:12:02,756 --> 00:12:05,554
and I bade them search
and search well.
214
00:12:05,592 --> 00:12:10,962
I led them, at length,
to his chamber.
215
00:12:10,997 --> 00:12:16,902
I showed them his treasures,
secure, undisturbed.
216
00:12:16,936 --> 00:12:19,097
In the enthusiasm
of my confidence...
217
00:12:19,139 --> 00:12:21,505
I brought chairs
into the room...
218
00:12:21,541 --> 00:12:24,669
and desired them here to rest
from their fatigues...
219
00:12:24,711 --> 00:12:26,178
while I myself...
220
00:12:26,212 --> 00:12:29,272
in the wild audacity
of my perfect triumph...
221
00:12:29,315 --> 00:12:33,308
placed my own feet
upon the very spot...
222
00:12:33,353 --> 00:12:37,084
beneath which reposed the corpse
of the victim.
223
00:12:37,123 --> 00:12:40,991
The officers were satisfied.
My manner had convinced them.
224
00:12:41,027 --> 00:12:43,188
I was singularly at ease.
225
00:12:43,229 --> 00:12:46,357
They sat, and while
I answered cheerily...
226
00:12:46,399 --> 00:12:48,594
they chatted familiar things.
227
00:12:48,635 --> 00:12:53,698
But ere long,
I felt myself getting pale...
228
00:12:53,740 --> 00:12:55,708
and I wished them gone.
229
00:12:55,742 --> 00:13:00,270
My head ached, and I fancied
a ringing in my ears.
230
00:13:00,313 --> 00:13:02,975
But still they sat
and they chatted.
231
00:13:03,016 --> 00:13:05,883
The ringing became
more distinct.
232
00:13:05,919 --> 00:13:08,353
I talked more freely
to get rid of the feeling...
233
00:13:08,388 --> 00:13:11,118
but it continued and gained
definitiveness...
234
00:13:11,157 --> 00:13:13,455
until at length I I found
that the noise was...
235
00:13:13,493 --> 00:13:15,825
not within my ears.
236
00:13:15,862 --> 00:13:18,160
It was a low, dull,
quick sound...
237
00:13:18,198 --> 00:13:22,157
such a such a sound
as a watch makes...
238
00:13:22,202 --> 00:13:24,693
when enveloped in cotton.
239
00:13:26,372 --> 00:13:30,308
I gasped for breath,
yet the officers heard it not.
240
00:13:30,343 --> 00:13:32,777
I talked more quickly,
more vehemently...
241
00:13:32,812 --> 00:13:35,144
but the noise steadily
increased.
242
00:13:35,181 --> 00:13:37,809
I arose, and I argued
about trifles...
243
00:13:37,851 --> 00:13:40,115
but the noise increased
steadily.
244
00:13:40,153 --> 00:13:42,178
Why would they not be gone?
245
00:13:42,222 --> 00:13:45,714
I paced the floor to and fro
with heavy strides...
246
00:13:45,758 --> 00:13:49,956
as if excited to fury
by the observation of the men...
247
00:13:49,996 --> 00:13:51,793
but the noise steadily
increased.
248
00:13:51,831 --> 00:13:54,197
Oh, God. What could I do?
249
00:13:54,234 --> 00:13:57,863
I foamed, I raved, I swore.
250
00:13:57,904 --> 00:14:01,567
I swung the chair by which
I had been sitting...
251
00:14:01,608 --> 00:14:03,803
grated it upon the boards.
252
00:14:03,843 --> 00:14:05,936
But the noise rose
above all.
253
00:14:05,979 --> 00:14:09,312
It it grew louder,
louder...
254
00:14:09,349 --> 00:14:12,944
and still the men chatted
pleasantly and smiled.
255
00:14:12,986 --> 00:14:15,216
Was it possible
that they heard not?
256
00:14:15,255 --> 00:14:19,692
Oh, almighty God, no.
No, they heard.
257
00:14:19,726 --> 00:14:21,387
They suspected.
258
00:14:21,427 --> 00:14:23,156
They knew.
259
00:14:23,196 --> 00:14:25,892
They were making a mockery
of my horror.
260
00:14:25,932 --> 00:14:29,333
I could bear those
hypocritical smiles no longer.
261
00:14:29,369 --> 00:14:32,065
I felt that I must scream
or die.
262
00:14:32,105 --> 00:14:37,543
And now, again. Hark.
Louder. Louder. Louder. Louder.
263
00:14:37,577 --> 00:14:41,274
Villains, dissemble no more.
264
00:14:41,314 --> 00:14:43,305
I admit the deed.
265
00:14:43,349 --> 00:14:45,408
Tear up the planks. Here.
266
00:14:45,451 --> 00:14:51,720
It is the beating
of his hideous heart.
267
00:15:18,351 --> 00:15:21,809
During the dread reign
of cholera in New York...
268
00:15:21,854 --> 00:15:24,846
I had accepted
the invitation of a relative...
269
00:15:24,891 --> 00:15:26,825
to spend a fortnight
with him here...
270
00:15:26,859 --> 00:15:30,761
in the retirement of his cottage
on the banks of the Hudson.
271
00:15:30,797 --> 00:15:33,493
We should have passed the time
pleasantly enough...
272
00:15:33,533 --> 00:15:35,831
but for the fearful news...
273
00:15:35,868 --> 00:15:39,167
which reached us every morning
from the populous city.
274
00:15:39,205 --> 00:15:42,663
Not a day elapsed which did not
bring us intelligence...
275
00:15:42,709 --> 00:15:45,234
of the decease
of some acquaintance.
276
00:15:45,278 --> 00:15:48,145
We trembled at the approach
of every messenger.
277
00:15:48,181 --> 00:15:50,172
The very air from the city...
278
00:15:50,216 --> 00:15:53,185
seemed to us
redolent with death.
279
00:15:53,219 --> 00:15:57,212
I could neither speak, think,
nor dream of anything else.
280
00:15:57,256 --> 00:16:00,521
My host was of a less
excitable temperament.
281
00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,859
To the realities of terror
he was sufficiently alive...
282
00:16:03,896 --> 00:16:07,093
but of its shadows,
he had no apprehension.
283
00:16:07,133 --> 00:16:08,725
I was not so fortunate...
284
00:16:08,768 --> 00:16:11,168
and the palsying fears
of evil and death...
285
00:16:11,204 --> 00:16:13,900
had taken possession
of my soul.
286
00:16:13,940 --> 00:16:16,909
My state of mind
had been well primed...
287
00:16:16,943 --> 00:16:20,970
for the terrifying incident
which soon took place.
288
00:16:21,014 --> 00:16:24,916
Near the close
of an exceedingly warm day...
289
00:16:24,951 --> 00:16:27,419
I was alone, sitting
with a book in hand...
290
00:16:27,453 --> 00:16:29,921
at this window commanding...
291
00:16:29,956 --> 00:16:32,083
through a long vista
of the riverbanks...
292
00:16:32,125 --> 00:16:34,252
a view of a distant hill...
293
00:16:34,293 --> 00:16:36,420
the face of which
nearest my position...
294
00:16:36,462 --> 00:16:38,930
had been denuded,
by a landslide...
295
00:16:38,965 --> 00:16:41,934
of the principal portion
of its trees.
296
00:16:41,968 --> 00:16:44,436
My thoughts had been
long wandering...
297
00:16:44,470 --> 00:16:46,097
from the volume before me...
298
00:16:46,139 --> 00:16:49,939
to the gloom and desolation
of the neighboring city.
299
00:16:49,976 --> 00:16:53,104
Uplifting my eyes
from the page...
300
00:16:53,146 --> 00:16:58,448
they fell upon the naked face
of the hill and upon an object:
301
00:16:58,484 --> 00:17:03,444
Upon some living monster
of hideous conformation...
302
00:17:03,489 --> 00:17:05,957
which, very rapidly,
made its way...
303
00:17:05,992 --> 00:17:08,119
from the summit to the bottom...
304
00:17:08,161 --> 00:17:11,790
disappearing finally
in the dense forest below.
305
00:17:11,831 --> 00:17:14,732
As this creature
first came in sight...
306
00:17:14,767 --> 00:17:17,736
I doubted my own sanity,
and many minutes passed...
307
00:17:17,770 --> 00:17:20,238
before I succeeded
in convincing myself...
308
00:17:20,273 --> 00:17:22,707
that I was neither mad
nor in a dream.
309
00:17:22,742 --> 00:17:25,267
Estimating the size
of the creature...
310
00:17:25,311 --> 00:17:27,779
I concluded it
to be far larger...
311
00:17:27,814 --> 00:17:30,544
than any ship of the line
in existence.
312
00:17:30,583 --> 00:17:32,414
I say "ship of the line"...
313
00:17:32,452 --> 00:17:35,853
because the shape of the monster
suggested the idea.
314
00:17:35,888 --> 00:17:38,652
The hull of one of our
battleships might convey...
315
00:17:38,691 --> 00:17:41,751
a very tolerable conception of
the general outline.
316
00:17:41,794 --> 00:17:44,820
The mouth of the animal
was situated...
317
00:17:44,864 --> 00:17:49,961
at the end of a tube
some 6o or 7o feet in length...
318
00:17:50,002 --> 00:17:53,233
and about as thick as the body
of an ordinary elephant.
319
00:17:53,272 --> 00:17:54,933
Near the root of this trunk...
320
00:17:54,974 --> 00:17:57,943
was an immense quantity
of black, shaggy hair...
321
00:17:57,977 --> 00:17:59,945
more than could
have been supplied...
322
00:17:59,979 --> 00:18:01,947
by the coats
of a score of buffalo.
323
00:18:01,981 --> 00:18:06,441
And projecting from this hair
downwardly and laterally...
324
00:18:06,486 --> 00:18:08,954
sprang two gleaming tusks...
325
00:18:08,988 --> 00:18:12,389
not unlike
that of the wild boar...
326
00:18:12,425 --> 00:18:16,191
but of infinitely
greater dimension.
327
00:18:16,229 --> 00:18:18,891
The body was fashioned
like a wedge...
328
00:18:18,931 --> 00:18:20,796
with a point toward the earth.
329
00:18:20,833 --> 00:18:23,734
From it there were outspread
two pairs of wings
330
00:18:23,770 --> 00:18:27,729
each wing nearly
1oo yards in length...
331
00:18:27,774 --> 00:18:29,742
one pair being placed
above the other...
332
00:18:29,776 --> 00:18:33,109
and all thickly covered
with metal scales...
333
00:18:33,146 --> 00:18:38,379
each scale apparently
some 1o or 12 feet in diameter.
334
00:18:38,417 --> 00:18:42,945
But the chief peculiarity
of this horrible thing...
335
00:18:42,989 --> 00:18:46,152
was the representation of
a death's head...
336
00:18:46,192 --> 00:18:49,684
which covered nearly the whole
surface of its breast...
337
00:18:49,729 --> 00:18:53,187
and which was as accurately
traced in glaring white...
338
00:18:53,232 --> 00:18:55,291
upon the dark ground
of the body...
339
00:18:55,334 --> 00:19:00,601
as if it had been
carefully designed by an artist.
340
00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:02,801
While I regarded
this terrifying animal
341
00:19:02,842 --> 00:19:05,572
and more especially,
the appearance on its breast
342
00:19:05,611 --> 00:19:08,102
with a feeling
of horror and awe...
343
00:19:08,147 --> 00:19:12,379
I perceived the huge jaws
at the extremity of the trunk...
344
00:19:12,418 --> 00:19:15,285
suddenly expand themselves.
345
00:19:15,321 --> 00:19:17,789
And from them,
there proceeded a sound...
346
00:19:17,824 --> 00:19:21,555
so loud
and so expressive of woe...
347
00:19:21,594 --> 00:19:24,995
that it struck upon my nerves
like a knell.
348
00:19:25,031 --> 00:19:27,932
And as the monster disappeared
at the foot of the hill...
349
00:19:27,967 --> 00:19:31,596
I fell, almost fainting,
to the floor.
350
00:19:35,274 --> 00:19:37,242
Upon recovering...
351
00:19:37,276 --> 00:19:39,904
my first impulse was
to inform my friend...
352
00:19:39,946 --> 00:19:41,914
of what I had seen
and heard.
353
00:19:41,948 --> 00:19:43,745
And I can scarcely explain...
354
00:19:43,783 --> 00:19:46,081
what feeling of repugnance
it was which...
355
00:19:46,118 --> 00:19:48,450
in the end, operated
to prevent me.
356
00:19:48,487 --> 00:19:50,455
At length, one evening...
357
00:19:50,489 --> 00:19:53,583
some 3 or 4 days
after the occurrence...
358
00:19:53,626 --> 00:19:55,924
we were sitting together
in this room...
359
00:19:55,962 --> 00:19:58,430
in which I had seen
the apparition
360
00:19:58,464 --> 00:20:01,592
I occupying the same seat
at the same window...
361
00:20:01,634 --> 00:20:04,933
and he lounging
in this chair nearby.
362
00:20:04,971 --> 00:20:07,940
The association
of the place and time...
363
00:20:07,974 --> 00:20:11,205
suddenly impelled me to give him
an account of the phenomenon.
364
00:20:11,244 --> 00:20:13,212
He heard me to the end.
365
00:20:13,246 --> 00:20:15,237
At first, he laughed heartily...
366
00:20:15,281 --> 00:20:19,445
and then he lapsed into
an excessively grave demeanor...
367
00:20:19,485 --> 00:20:22,943
as if my insanity was a thing
beyond suspicion.
368
00:20:22,989 --> 00:20:24,957
At this instant,
369
00:20:24,991 --> 00:20:28,688
I again had a distinct view
of the monster...
370
00:20:28,728 --> 00:20:31,561
to which, with a shout
of absolute terror...
371
00:20:31,597 --> 00:20:33,394
I now directed his attention.
372
00:20:33,432 --> 00:20:34,922
"Look. Look."
373
00:20:34,967 --> 00:20:39,700
He looked eagerly but maintained
that he saw nothing...
374
00:20:39,739 --> 00:20:42,572
although I designated minutely
the course of the creature...
375
00:20:42,608 --> 00:20:46,772
as it made its way down
the naked face of the hill.
376
00:20:46,812 --> 00:20:48,803
I was now immeasurably
alarmed...
377
00:20:48,848 --> 00:20:51,476
for I considered the vision
either as an omen of my death...
378
00:20:51,517 --> 00:20:55,385
or worse, as a forerunner
of an attack of madness.
379
00:20:55,421 --> 00:20:59,187
I threw myself passionately back
in the window seat...
380
00:20:59,225 --> 00:21:03,423
and for some moments,
I buried my face in my hands.
381
00:21:03,462 --> 00:21:05,453
My host, however...
382
00:21:05,498 --> 00:21:09,127
had in some degree resumed
the calmness of his demeanor...
383
00:21:09,168 --> 00:21:11,762
and questioned me
very rigorously...
384
00:21:11,804 --> 00:21:16,332
in respect to the conformation
of the visionary creature.
385
00:21:16,375 --> 00:21:19,401
When I had fully satisfied him
on this head...
386
00:21:19,445 --> 00:21:23,677
he sighed deeply, as if relieved
of some intolerable burden...
387
00:21:23,716 --> 00:21:26,184
and then he stepped
to the bookcase...
388
00:21:26,218 --> 00:21:29,676
and brought forth one
of the ordinary synopses...
389
00:21:29,722 --> 00:21:32,691
of natural history.
390
00:21:32,725 --> 00:21:36,786
He then requested me
to exchange seats with him.
391
00:21:36,829 --> 00:21:39,263
He took my place
at the window and...
392
00:21:39,298 --> 00:21:42,426
opening the book,
resumed his discourse.
393
00:21:42,468 --> 00:21:44,936
"But for your minuteness,"
he said...
394
00:21:44,971 --> 00:21:46,598
"in describing the monster...
395
00:21:46,639 --> 00:21:48,266
"I might never have had it
in my power...
396
00:21:48,307 --> 00:21:50,275
"to demonstrate to you
what it was.
397
00:21:50,309 --> 00:21:51,606
"In the first place...
398
00:21:51,644 --> 00:21:54,272
"let me read to you
a schoolboy account...
399
00:21:54,313 --> 00:21:58,773
"of the genus Sphinx
of the family Crepuscularia...
400
00:21:58,818 --> 00:22:02,219
"of the class of Insecta,
or insects.
401
00:22:02,254 --> 00:22:04,279
"The account runs thus:
402
00:22:04,323 --> 00:22:08,282
"'4 membranous wings covered
with little colored scales...
403
00:22:08,327 --> 00:22:10,295
"'of metallic appearance:
404
00:22:10,329 --> 00:22:12,354
"'Mouth forming
a rolled tube...
405
00:22:12,398 --> 00:22:15,231
"'produced by an elongation
of the jaws...
406
00:22:15,267 --> 00:22:18,065
"'upon the sides of which
are found...
407
00:22:18,104 --> 00:22:21,733
"'the rudiments of mandibles
and downy palpae:
408
00:22:21,774 --> 00:22:23,742
"'Abdomen pointed.
409
00:22:23,776 --> 00:22:25,744
"'The death's headed
410
00:22:25,778 --> 00:22:29,236
"'The death's headed sphinx
has occasioned much terror...
411
00:22:29,281 --> 00:22:30,908
"'among the unlearned...
412
00:22:30,950 --> 00:22:35,250
"'by the melancholy kind
of cry which it utters...
413
00:22:35,287 --> 00:22:38,085
"'and the insignia
of death...
414
00:22:38,124 --> 00:22:40,422
which it wears
upon its corselet."'
415
00:22:40,459 --> 00:22:42,757
He closed the book
and leaned back in the seat...
416
00:22:42,795 --> 00:22:44,763
placing himself accurately
in the position...
417
00:22:44,797 --> 00:22:47,265
which I had occupied
at the moment...
418
00:22:47,299 --> 00:22:49,233
of beholding the monster.
419
00:22:49,268 --> 00:22:51,930
"Ah, there it is,"
he exclaimed.
420
00:22:51,971 --> 00:22:54,940
"It is reascending
the face of the hill...
421
00:22:54,974 --> 00:22:58,603
"and a very remarkable creature
I admit it to be.
422
00:22:58,644 --> 00:23:01,943
"Still, it is by no means
so large...
423
00:23:01,981 --> 00:23:05,280
"or so distant
as you had imagined it.
424
00:23:05,317 --> 00:23:07,285
"For the fact is...
425
00:23:07,319 --> 00:23:11,221
"that as it wriggles
its way up this thread...
426
00:23:11,257 --> 00:23:14,715
"which some spider has wrought
along the window sash...
427
00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:18,218
"I find it to be
about 1/16 of an inch...
428
00:23:18,264 --> 00:23:20,391
"in its extreme length...
429
00:23:20,433 --> 00:23:26,895
"and also about
1/16 of an inch distant...
430
00:23:26,939 --> 00:23:30,431
from the pupil of my eye."
431
00:23:53,966 --> 00:23:56,935
The thousand injuries
of Fortunato...
432
00:23:56,969 --> 00:23:59,267
I had borne as best I could...
433
00:23:59,305 --> 00:24:02,433
but when he ventured
upon insult...
434
00:24:02,475 --> 00:24:04,636
I vowed revenge.
435
00:24:04,677 --> 00:24:07,339
Now, you, who so well know
the nature of my soul...
436
00:24:07,379 --> 00:24:08,937
will not suppose, however...
437
00:24:08,981 --> 00:24:12,109
that I gave utterance
to a threat.
438
00:24:12,151 --> 00:24:15,052
At length, I would be avenged.
439
00:24:15,087 --> 00:24:19,183
I would not only punish,
but punish with impunity.
440
00:24:19,225 --> 00:24:22,251
It must be understood
that neither by word nor deed...
441
00:24:22,294 --> 00:24:26,993
had I given Fortunato cause
to doubt my good will.
442
00:24:27,032 --> 00:24:29,865
I continued to smile
in his face...
443
00:24:29,902 --> 00:24:33,394
but he did not perceive
that my smile now...
444
00:24:33,439 --> 00:24:37,136
was at the thought
of his immolation.
445
00:24:37,176 --> 00:24:39,770
He had a weak point,
this Fortunato...
446
00:24:39,812 --> 00:24:42,940
although in other regards,
he was a man to be respected...
447
00:24:42,982 --> 00:24:44,643
and even feared.
448
00:24:44,683 --> 00:24:48,949
He prided himself
in his connoisseurship of wine.
449
00:24:48,988 --> 00:24:51,923
I was skillful in the Italian
vintages myself...
450
00:24:51,957 --> 00:24:54,289
and bought largely
whenever I could.
451
00:24:54,326 --> 00:24:57,261
It was about dusk one evening...
452
00:24:57,296 --> 00:25:00,857
during the supreme madness
of the carnival season...
453
00:25:00,900 --> 00:25:02,800
that I encountered my friend.
454
00:25:02,835 --> 00:25:05,599
He accosted me
with excessive warmth...
455
00:25:05,638 --> 00:25:07,503
for he had been drinking much.
456
00:25:07,540 --> 00:25:10,600
The man wore the costume
of a jester.
457
00:25:10,643 --> 00:25:11,871
He had on tights...
458
00:25:11,911 --> 00:25:15,779
and his head was surmounted
by the conical cap and bells.
459
00:25:15,814 --> 00:25:18,783
I was so pleased to see him
that I thought...
460
00:25:18,817 --> 00:25:21,786
I should never have done
with wringing his hand.
461
00:25:21,820 --> 00:25:23,788
I said to him,
"My dear Fortunato...
462
00:25:23,822 --> 00:25:25,289
"you are luckily met.
463
00:25:25,324 --> 00:25:27,918
"How remarkably well
you are looking today.
464
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:32,420
"Oh, I have received a keg of
what passes for Amontillado...
465
00:25:32,464 --> 00:25:35,024
and I have my doubts."
466
00:25:35,067 --> 00:25:36,898
"How?" said he.
467
00:25:36,936 --> 00:25:40,235
"Amontillado? A cask?
Lmpossible.
468
00:25:40,272 --> 00:25:42,365
And in the middle
of the carnival?"
469
00:25:42,408 --> 00:25:44,399
"Well, I have my doubts...
470
00:25:44,443 --> 00:25:47,742
"and I was silly enough to pay
the full Amontillado price...
471
00:25:47,780 --> 00:25:49,907
"without consulting you
in the matter.
472
00:25:49,949 --> 00:25:51,416
"You were not to be found...
473
00:25:51,450 --> 00:25:53,645
and I was fearful
of losing a bargain."
474
00:25:53,686 --> 00:25:56,678
"Amontillado? Amontillado?"
475
00:25:56,722 --> 00:25:57,882
"Yes.
476
00:25:57,923 --> 00:26:01,415
"As you are engaged,
I am on my way to meet Luchesi.
477
00:26:01,460 --> 00:26:04,429
"If anyone has
a critical turn, it is he.
478
00:26:04,463 --> 00:26:05,987
He will tell me."
479
00:26:06,031 --> 00:26:10,365
"Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado
from sherry."
480
00:26:10,402 --> 00:26:13,371
"And yet some fools
will have it...
481
00:26:13,405 --> 00:26:15,839
that his taste
is a match for your own."
482
00:26:15,874 --> 00:26:19,173
"Come. Let us go
to your vault."
483
00:26:19,211 --> 00:26:24,205
"Oh, my friend, no, I will not
impose upon your good nature.
484
00:26:24,250 --> 00:26:28,118
I perceive you have
an engagement. Luchesi"
485
00:26:28,153 --> 00:26:30,849
"I have no engagement.
Come."
486
00:26:30,889 --> 00:26:32,379
"My friend, no.
487
00:26:32,424 --> 00:26:34,051
"It is not the engagement...
488
00:26:34,093 --> 00:26:38,393
"but the severe cold with which
I perceive you are afflicted.
489
00:26:38,430 --> 00:26:40,398
"The vaults are
insufferably damp.
490
00:26:40,432 --> 00:26:42,127
They are encrusted
with mold."
491
00:26:42,167 --> 00:26:44,397
"Let us go nevertheless.
492
00:26:44,436 --> 00:26:46,404
"The cold is
merely nothing. Ha.
493
00:26:46,438 --> 00:26:49,407
"Amontillado?
You have been imposed upon.
494
00:26:49,441 --> 00:26:51,409
"As for Luchesi...
495
00:26:51,443 --> 00:26:55,402
he cannot distinguish sherry
from Amontillado."
496
00:26:55,447 --> 00:26:59,406
Thus speaking, Fortunato
possessed himself of my arm.
497
00:26:59,451 --> 00:27:01,919
I, putting on
a mask of black silk...
498
00:27:01,954 --> 00:27:04,923
and drawing a cape closely
about my person...
499
00:27:04,957 --> 00:27:07,425
suffered him to hurry me
to my palazzo.
500
00:27:07,459 --> 00:27:08,926
Oh, there were
no attendants at home.
501
00:27:08,961 --> 00:27:10,861
They had absconded
to make merry...
502
00:27:10,896 --> 00:27:12,693
in honor of the time.
503
00:27:12,731 --> 00:27:15,859
I took from their sconces
two torches...
504
00:27:15,901 --> 00:27:17,869
and, giving one
to Fortunato...
505
00:27:17,903 --> 00:27:20,201
bowed him through
several suites of rooms...
506
00:27:20,239 --> 00:27:23,208
to the archways that led
into the vaults.
507
00:27:23,242 --> 00:27:26,370
I passed down a long
and winding staircase...
508
00:27:26,412 --> 00:27:29,381
requesting him to be cautious
as he followed.
509
00:27:29,415 --> 00:27:32,384
We came at length
to the foot of the descent...
510
00:27:32,418 --> 00:27:34,386
and stood together
on the damp ground...
511
00:27:34,420 --> 00:27:39,221
of the catacombs
of the Montresors my family.
512
00:27:39,258 --> 00:27:41,726
The gait of my friend
was unsteady...
513
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,355
and the bells on his
jester's cap jingled...
514
00:27:45,397 --> 00:27:46,864
as he strode.
515
00:27:46,899 --> 00:27:48,867
"Where is the cask?"
516
00:27:48,901 --> 00:27:53,395
"It is farther on,
but observe the white webwork...
517
00:27:53,439 --> 00:27:56,636
which gleams from
these cavern walls."
518
00:27:56,675 --> 00:27:57,835
"Mold?"
519
00:27:58,977 --> 00:28:00,945
"Mold. Mold, yes.
520
00:28:00,979 --> 00:28:02,970
How long have you had
that cough?"
521
00:28:04,516 --> 00:28:06,984
My poor friend found it
impossible to reply...
522
00:28:07,019 --> 00:28:08,486
for many minutes.
523
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,215
"It is nothing, nothing."
524
00:28:10,255 --> 00:28:13,850
"Come, we will go back.
Your health is precious.
525
00:28:13,892 --> 00:28:16,861
"You are rich, respected,
admired, beloved.
526
00:28:16,895 --> 00:28:20,023
"You are a man to be missed.
For me it is no matter.
527
00:28:20,065 --> 00:28:21,362
"We will go back.
528
00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,198
"You will be ill,
and I cannot be responsible.
529
00:28:24,236 --> 00:28:26,568
Besides, there is Luchesi."
530
00:28:26,605 --> 00:28:30,063
"Enough, enough.
The cough is a mere nothing.
531
00:28:30,109 --> 00:28:35,513
It will not kill me.
I shall not die of a cough."
532
00:28:35,547 --> 00:28:38,015
"True, true.
533
00:28:38,050 --> 00:28:40,018
"And, indeed...
534
00:28:40,052 --> 00:28:43,886
"I had no intention
of alarming you unnecessarily...
535
00:28:43,922 --> 00:28:47,380
"but you should use
all proper caution.
536
00:28:47,426 --> 00:28:51,726
A draught of this Medoc will
defend us against the damp."
537
00:28:51,764 --> 00:28:54,062
Here I knocked off
the neck of a bottle...
538
00:28:54,099 --> 00:28:56,397
which I drew from
a long row of its fellows...
539
00:28:56,435 --> 00:28:57,902
that lay upon the mold.
540
00:28:57,936 --> 00:29:01,736
"Drink," I said,
presenting him the wine.
541
00:29:01,774 --> 00:29:05,904
He raised it to his lips
with a sneer.
542
00:29:05,944 --> 00:29:08,742
He paused and nodded
to me familiarly...
543
00:29:08,781 --> 00:29:11,909
while his bells jingled.
544
00:29:11,950 --> 00:29:17,946
"I drink to the buried
that repose around us."
545
00:29:17,990 --> 00:29:21,221
"And I to your long life."
546
00:29:21,260 --> 00:29:26,357
Yes, he again took my arm,
and we proceeded.
547
00:29:26,398 --> 00:29:30,858
The wine sparkled in his eyes,
and the bells jingled.
548
00:29:30,903 --> 00:29:33,701
My own fancy grew warm
with the Medoc.
549
00:29:33,739 --> 00:29:37,368
We had passed through walls
of piled bones...
550
00:29:37,409 --> 00:29:40,708
with casks and puncheons
intermingling...
551
00:29:40,746 --> 00:29:43,874
into the inmost recesses
of the catacombs.
552
00:29:43,916 --> 00:29:46,384
I paused again,
and this time made bold...
553
00:29:46,418 --> 00:29:48,750
to seize Fortunato
by an arm.
554
00:29:48,787 --> 00:29:51,381
"The mold you see?
It increases.
555
00:29:51,423 --> 00:29:54,881
"It hangs like moss
upon the vaults.
556
00:29:54,927 --> 00:29:56,895
"We are below
the river's bed.
557
00:29:56,929 --> 00:30:01,389
"The drops of moisture trickle
among the bones.
558
00:30:01,433 --> 00:30:04,061
"Come, we will go back
ere it is too late.
559
00:30:04,102 --> 00:30:05,399
Your cough"
560
00:30:05,437 --> 00:30:08,406
"It is nothing.
Let us go on.
561
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:12,672
Let us proceed to
the Amontillado."
562
00:30:12,711 --> 00:30:15,145
"Be it so."
563
00:30:15,180 --> 00:30:17,080
He leaned heavily
upon my arm.
564
00:30:17,115 --> 00:30:20,414
We continued our route
in search of the Amontillado.
565
00:30:20,452 --> 00:30:22,920
We passed through a range
of low arches
566
00:30:22,955 --> 00:30:24,582
descended, passed on.
567
00:30:24,623 --> 00:30:28,218
And descending again,
arrived at a deep crypt...
568
00:30:28,260 --> 00:30:30,751
in which the foulness
of the air...
569
00:30:30,796 --> 00:30:35,256
caused our torches to glow
rather than flame.
570
00:30:35,300 --> 00:30:37,928
At the most remote end
of the crypt...
571
00:30:37,970 --> 00:30:41,428
there appeared another room,
less spacious.
572
00:30:41,473 --> 00:30:43,941
Its walls had been lined
with human remains...
573
00:30:43,976 --> 00:30:46,444
piled to the vault overhead...
574
00:30:46,478 --> 00:30:49,276
in the fashion of
the great Catacombs of Paris.
575
00:30:49,314 --> 00:30:51,441
3 sides of this
interior crypt...
576
00:30:51,483 --> 00:30:53,951
were still ormented
in this manner.
577
00:30:53,986 --> 00:30:57,945
From the fourth, the bones
had been thrown down...
578
00:30:57,990 --> 00:31:00,788
and lay in a mound
upon the earth.
579
00:31:00,826 --> 00:31:02,794
Within the wall
thus exposed...
580
00:31:02,828 --> 00:31:05,126
by the displacing
of the bones...
581
00:31:05,163 --> 00:31:08,963
we perceived
a still interior recess
582
00:31:09,001 --> 00:31:11,902
in depth about 4 feet,
in width 3...
583
00:31:11,937 --> 00:31:13,905
in height 6 or 7
584
00:31:13,939 --> 00:31:18,000
cut into
the solid granite.
585
00:31:18,043 --> 00:31:21,911
"Proceed.
Herein is the Amontillado.
586
00:31:21,947 --> 00:31:23,881
As for Luchesi"
587
00:31:23,916 --> 00:31:26,316
"He is an ignoramus."
588
00:31:26,351 --> 00:31:28,911
He stepped
unsteadily forward...
589
00:31:28,954 --> 00:31:31,422
while I followed
immediately at his heels.
590
00:31:31,456 --> 00:31:35,085
In an instant he had reached
the extremity of the niche...
591
00:31:35,127 --> 00:31:39,257
and finding his progress
arrested by the rock...
592
00:31:39,298 --> 00:31:42,096
stood stupidly bewildered.
593
00:31:42,134 --> 00:31:44,602
In the surface
of the granite...
594
00:31:44,636 --> 00:31:48,436
there happened to be
two iron staples.
595
00:31:48,473 --> 00:31:53,775
From one depended a short chain:
From the other a padlock.
596
00:31:53,812 --> 00:31:56,781
It was but the work
of a few seconds...
597
00:31:56,815 --> 00:32:01,275
to throw the links about
his waist and secure them.
598
00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:04,949
He was too much astounded
to resist.
599
00:32:04,990 --> 00:32:09,051
Withdrawing the key,
I stepped back from the recess.
600
00:32:09,094 --> 00:32:12,894
"Pass your hand
over the wall, Fortunato.
601
00:32:12,931 --> 00:32:15,900
"You cannot help
but feel the mold.
602
00:32:15,934 --> 00:32:19,062
"Indeed, it is very damp.
603
00:32:19,104 --> 00:32:22,904
"Once more, let me
implore you to return.
604
00:32:22,941 --> 00:32:27,571
"No? Then I must positively
leave you...
605
00:32:27,613 --> 00:32:29,581
"but I must first render you...
606
00:32:29,615 --> 00:32:32,584
all the little attentions
in my power."
607
00:32:32,618 --> 00:32:34,483
"The Amontillado."
608
00:32:34,519 --> 00:32:38,114
"True. The Amontillado."
609
00:32:38,156 --> 00:32:40,124
As I said these words,
I busied myself...
610
00:32:40,158 --> 00:32:43,127
among the pile of bones
of which I have spoken.
611
00:32:43,161 --> 00:32:45,129
Throwing them aside...
612
00:32:45,163 --> 00:32:50,123
I soon uncovered a quantity
of building stone and mortar.
613
00:32:50,168 --> 00:32:52,932
With these materials
and with the aid of a trowel...
614
00:32:52,971 --> 00:32:59,467
I began vigorously to wall up
the entrance of the niche.
615
00:32:59,511 --> 00:33:02,947
I scarcely laid
the first tier of the masonry...
616
00:33:02,981 --> 00:33:07,782
when I discovered that
the intoxication of Fortunato...
617
00:33:07,819 --> 00:33:10,287
had in a great measure
worn off.
618
00:33:10,322 --> 00:33:12,722
The earliest indication
I had of this was...
619
00:33:12,758 --> 00:33:16,888
a low, moaning cry
from the depth of the recess.
620
00:33:16,928 --> 00:33:20,386
It was not the cry
of a drunken man.
621
00:33:20,432 --> 00:33:23,731
Then there was a long
and obstinate silence.
622
00:33:23,769 --> 00:33:26,567
I laid the second tier
and the third and the fourth...
623
00:33:26,605 --> 00:33:31,235
and then I heard the furious
vibrations of the chain.
624
00:33:31,276 --> 00:33:33,904
The noise lasted for
several minutes during which...
625
00:33:33,945 --> 00:33:38,405
that I might hearken to it
with the more satisfaction...
626
00:33:38,450 --> 00:33:43,911
I ceased my labors
and sat down upon the bones.
627
00:33:43,955 --> 00:33:46,082
When at last
the clanking subsided...
628
00:33:46,124 --> 00:33:47,591
I resumed the trowel...
629
00:33:47,626 --> 00:33:49,594
and finished
without interruption...
630
00:33:49,628 --> 00:33:53,428
the fifth, the sixth,
and the seventh tier.
631
00:33:53,465 --> 00:33:57,925
The wall was now nearly upon
a level with my breast.
632
00:33:57,969 --> 00:34:02,770
I again paused and, holding
the torch over the mason work...
633
00:34:02,808 --> 00:34:07,006
threw a few feeble rays
upon the figure within.
634
00:34:07,045 --> 00:34:11,880
A succession of loud
and shrill screams...
635
00:34:11,917 --> 00:34:14,545
bursting suddenly from the
throat of the chained form...
636
00:34:14,586 --> 00:34:17,384
seemed to thrust me
violently back.
637
00:34:17,422 --> 00:34:20,880
For a brief moment
I hesitated, I trembled.
638
00:34:20,926 --> 00:34:24,384
Then I placed my hand
upon the solid fabric...
639
00:34:24,429 --> 00:34:28,229
of the catacombs
and felt satisfied.
640
00:34:28,266 --> 00:34:30,063
I reapproached the wall.
641
00:34:30,102 --> 00:34:33,071
I replied to the yells
of him who clamored.
642
00:34:33,105 --> 00:34:35,733
I reechoed, I aided...
643
00:34:35,774 --> 00:34:39,073
I surpassed them in volume
and in strength.
644
00:34:39,111 --> 00:34:43,445
I did this,
and the clamorer grew still.
645
00:34:43,482 --> 00:34:45,746
It was now midnight...
646
00:34:45,784 --> 00:34:48,252
and my task was drawing
to a close.
647
00:34:48,286 --> 00:34:51,744
I had completed the eighth,
the ninth, and the tenth tier.
648
00:34:51,790 --> 00:34:55,419
I had finished a portion
of the last the 11th.
649
00:34:55,460 --> 00:34:58,258
There remained
but a single stone...
650
00:34:58,296 --> 00:35:00,764
to be fitted
and plastered in.
651
00:35:00,799 --> 00:35:03,427
I struggled
with its weight.
652
00:35:03,468 --> 00:35:07,404
I placed it partially
in its destined position.
653
00:35:07,439 --> 00:35:11,705
But now there came
from out the niche...
654
00:35:11,743 --> 00:35:14,712
a low laugh
that erected the hairs...
655
00:35:14,746 --> 00:35:16,771
upon the back of my neck.
656
00:35:19,785 --> 00:35:23,881
"A very good joke indeed
an excellent jest.
657
00:35:23,922 --> 00:35:27,881
"We will have many a rich laugh
about it at the palazzo...
658
00:35:27,926 --> 00:35:29,621
over our wine."
659
00:35:31,096 --> 00:35:32,825
"The Amontillado?"
660
00:35:34,633 --> 00:35:37,568
"Yes, the Amontillado.
661
00:35:37,602 --> 00:35:39,900
"But is it not
getting late?
662
00:35:39,938 --> 00:35:42,907
"Will they not be waiting
for us at the palazzo
663
00:35:42,941 --> 00:35:45,409
"the Lady Fortunato
and the rest?
664
00:35:45,443 --> 00:35:47,308
Let us be gone."
665
00:35:47,345 --> 00:35:50,644
"Yes, let us be gone."
666
00:35:50,682 --> 00:35:55,312
"For the love of God,
Montresor."
667
00:35:55,353 --> 00:36:00,154
"Yes, for the love
of God, Fortunato."
668
00:36:00,192 --> 00:36:04,754
But to these words I hearkened
in vain for a reply.
669
00:36:04,796 --> 00:36:06,423
I grew impatient.
670
00:36:06,464 --> 00:36:11,458
I called aloud,
"Fortunato? Fortunato?"
671
00:36:11,503 --> 00:36:12,868
No answer still.
672
00:36:12,904 --> 00:36:16,032
I thrust a torch through
the remaining aperture...
673
00:36:16,074 --> 00:36:18,372
and let it fall within.
674
00:36:18,410 --> 00:36:22,870
There came forth in return
only a jingling of the bells.
675
00:36:22,914 --> 00:36:26,042
My heart grew sick...
676
00:36:26,084 --> 00:36:29,542
on account of the dampness
of the catacombs.
677
00:36:29,588 --> 00:36:31,715
I hastened to make
an end of my labor.
678
00:36:31,756 --> 00:36:35,886
I forced the last stone
into its position.
679
00:36:35,927 --> 00:36:37,895
I plastered it up.
680
00:36:37,929 --> 00:36:39,726
Against the new masonry...
681
00:36:39,764 --> 00:36:43,530
I erected
the old rampart of bones.
682
00:36:43,568 --> 00:36:49,234
For the half of a century,
no mortal has disturbed them.
683
00:36:49,274 --> 00:36:52,266
/n pace requ/escat.
684
00:37:34,419 --> 00:37:40,380
I was sick sick unto death
with that long agony.
685
00:37:40,425 --> 00:37:43,724
I felt that my senses
were leaving me.
686
00:37:43,762 --> 00:37:46,230
The dread sentence of death...
687
00:37:46,264 --> 00:37:50,223
was the last distinct phrase
which reached my ears.
688
00:37:50,268 --> 00:37:54,398
After that, the voices
of the Inquisition judges...
689
00:37:54,439 --> 00:37:59,399
seemed to merge in one dreamy,
indeterminate hum.
690
00:37:59,444 --> 00:38:03,403
I saw the lips
of the black robed judges
691
00:38:03,448 --> 00:38:06,417
white and thin
even to grotesqueness...
692
00:38:06,451 --> 00:38:09,420
writhing with
their deadly locution
693
00:38:09,454 --> 00:38:12,184
fashioning the syllables
of my name...
694
00:38:12,223 --> 00:38:16,353
and the decree of death
by torture.
695
00:38:16,394 --> 00:38:20,353
And then the blackness loomed
close up against my skin...
696
00:38:20,398 --> 00:38:23,856
snuffing out even
the evil whiteness...
697
00:38:23,902 --> 00:38:25,870
of those damning lips...
698
00:38:25,904 --> 00:38:28,372
driving all sensibility
into retreat...
699
00:38:28,406 --> 00:38:33,708
in a mad rushing descent
as of the soul into Hades.
700
00:38:33,745 --> 00:38:40,878
Then silence and stillness
and night were the universe.
701
00:38:40,919 --> 00:38:43,387
I had swooned...
702
00:38:43,421 --> 00:38:46,879
yet shadows of memory
reflect dimly...
703
00:38:46,925 --> 00:38:49,393
upon the inner walls
of my mind
704
00:38:49,427 --> 00:38:51,395
shadows of tall figures...
705
00:38:51,429 --> 00:38:54,887
that lifted and bore me
down, down...
706
00:38:54,933 --> 00:38:59,893
to a place of flatness
and dampness and silence.
707
00:38:59,938 --> 00:39:04,898
Silence...
and all is madness.
708
00:39:04,943 --> 00:39:07,571
I would not open my eyes.
709
00:39:07,612 --> 00:39:10,581
I felt that I lay
upon my back unbound.
710
00:39:10,615 --> 00:39:12,515
I reached out my hand...
711
00:39:12,550 --> 00:39:16,850
and it fell heavily upon
something damp and hard.
712
00:39:16,888 --> 00:39:20,346
I longed, yet dared not
to employ my vision.
713
00:39:20,392 --> 00:39:23,361
It was not that I feared
to look upon things horrible...
714
00:39:23,395 --> 00:39:25,863
but that I grew aghast...
715
00:39:25,897 --> 00:39:28,695
lest there should
be nothing to see.
716
00:39:28,733 --> 00:39:32,191
At length, with a wild
desperation at heart...
717
00:39:32,237 --> 00:39:34,467
I quickly unclosed
my eyes.
718
00:39:34,506 --> 00:39:37,703
My worst thoughts
were confirmed.
719
00:39:37,742 --> 00:39:41,701
The blackness of eternal night
encompassed me.
720
00:39:41,746 --> 00:39:43,714
I struggled for breath.
721
00:39:43,748 --> 00:39:47,206
The intensity of the darkness
seemed to oppress and stifle me.
722
00:39:47,252 --> 00:39:49,220
Perspiration burst
from every pore...
723
00:39:49,254 --> 00:39:54,214
and stood in big cold beads
upon my forehead.
724
00:39:54,259 --> 00:39:57,228
I thrust my arms wildly
above and around me
725
00:39:57,262 --> 00:39:59,230
clawing, grasping...
726
00:39:59,264 --> 00:40:02,722
reaching for something
either damnable or saving...
727
00:40:02,767 --> 00:40:05,395
but something.
728
00:40:05,437 --> 00:40:07,735
Nothing.
729
00:40:07,772 --> 00:40:13,142
The agony of suspense grew
intolerable, so I arose.
730
00:40:13,178 --> 00:40:16,147
Cautiously, I stepped forward...
731
00:40:16,181 --> 00:40:18,649
my eyes straining
from their sockets...
732
00:40:18,683 --> 00:40:21,914
in hope of catching
some faint ray of light.
733
00:40:21,953 --> 00:40:25,912
But the blackness was
still a disguise.
734
00:40:25,957 --> 00:40:28,926
Until finally, a wall
735
00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:33,420
smooth, slimy, cold
a wall.
736
00:40:33,465 --> 00:40:35,433
I followed it up...
737
00:40:35,467 --> 00:40:37,935
stepping with all that
careful distrust...
738
00:40:37,969 --> 00:40:41,097
inspired by the thousand
vague rumors...
739
00:40:41,139 --> 00:40:43,937
of the horrors of Toledo.
740
00:40:43,975 --> 00:40:46,273
Finally I took courage.
741
00:40:46,311 --> 00:40:48,279
I resolved to quit the wall...
742
00:40:48,313 --> 00:40:50,440
and to cross the enclosure...
743
00:40:50,482 --> 00:40:53,940
in as direct a line
as possible.
744
00:40:53,985 --> 00:40:56,783
The floor was
treacherous with slime.
745
00:40:56,821 --> 00:40:58,288
I advanced cautiously...
746
00:40:58,323 --> 00:41:00,951
some 1o or 12 paces
in this manner...
747
00:41:00,992 --> 00:41:02,960
when suddenly I stumbled...
748
00:41:02,994 --> 00:41:05,792
and fell violently on my face.
749
00:41:07,298 --> 00:41:10,267
In the confusion
attending my fall...
750
00:41:10,301 --> 00:41:12,701
I did not immediately
apprehend...
751
00:41:12,737 --> 00:41:15,205
a somewhat startling
circumstance.
752
00:41:15,240 --> 00:41:16,707
It was this:
753
00:41:16,741 --> 00:41:19,904
My chin rested upon the floor
of the prison...
754
00:41:19,944 --> 00:41:22,913
but my lips and the upper
portion of my head...
755
00:41:22,947 --> 00:41:25,916
touched nothing.
756
00:41:25,950 --> 00:41:29,408
At the same time,
my forehead seemed bathed...
757
00:41:29,454 --> 00:41:31,422
in a clammy vapor...
758
00:41:31,456 --> 00:41:33,924
and the peculiar smell
of decayed fungus...
759
00:41:33,958 --> 00:41:35,755
arose to my nostrils.
760
00:41:35,793 --> 00:41:42,255
I had fallen at the very brink
of a circular pit.
761
00:41:42,300 --> 00:41:45,269
Groping about the masonry
just below the margin...
762
00:41:45,303 --> 00:41:47,931
I succeeded in dislodging
a small fragment...
763
00:41:47,972 --> 00:41:50,440
and let it fall
into the abyss.
764
00:41:50,475 --> 00:41:52,272
Many seconds I waited...
765
00:41:52,310 --> 00:41:54,778
and hearkened
to its reverberations...
766
00:41:54,812 --> 00:41:57,940
as it dashed against the sides
of the chasm in its descent.
767
00:41:57,982 --> 00:42:00,951
At length there was
a sullen plunge into water...
768
00:42:00,985 --> 00:42:03,453
succeeded by loud echoes.
769
00:42:03,488 --> 00:42:06,457
At the same moment,
there came a sound...
770
00:42:06,491 --> 00:42:09,949
resembling a quick opening
of a door overhead...
771
00:42:09,994 --> 00:42:12,224
while a faint gleam of light...
772
00:42:12,263 --> 00:42:14,731
flashed suddenly
through the gloom...
773
00:42:14,766 --> 00:42:17,860
and as suddenly faded away.
774
00:42:17,902 --> 00:42:19,802
Shaking in every limb...
775
00:42:19,837 --> 00:42:22,465
I groped my way
back to the wall...
776
00:42:22,507 --> 00:42:24,975
resolving there to perish...
777
00:42:25,009 --> 00:42:29,810
rather than risk
the terrors of the pit.
778
00:42:29,847 --> 00:42:33,305
Agitation of spirit kept me
awake for many long hours...
779
00:42:33,351 --> 00:42:36,479
but at length I fell
into a deep slumber.
780
00:42:36,521 --> 00:42:41,481
Upon arousing, I found that
objects around me were visible.
781
00:42:41,526 --> 00:42:44,825
A wild sulfurous luster
782
00:42:44,862 --> 00:42:46,830
by that I was enabled to see...
783
00:42:46,864 --> 00:42:48,991
the extent and aspect
of the prison.
784
00:42:49,033 --> 00:42:51,661
What I had taken for masonry...
785
00:42:51,703 --> 00:42:55,833
seemed now to be iron
in huge plates.
786
00:42:55,873 --> 00:43:00,503
Figures of hideous fiends
in aspects of menace...
787
00:43:00,545 --> 00:43:02,012
with skeleton forms...
788
00:43:02,046 --> 00:43:04,674
overspread and disfigured
the walls.
789
00:43:04,716 --> 00:43:06,843
In the center of the floor...
790
00:43:06,884 --> 00:43:12,618
yawned the circular pit
from whose jaws I had escaped.
791
00:43:12,657 --> 00:43:14,454
Then I realized...
792
00:43:14,492 --> 00:43:19,452
that I was securely bound
to a low framework of wood.
793
00:43:19,497 --> 00:43:22,955
Strapping passed in many
convolutions about my body...
794
00:43:23,001 --> 00:43:26,129
leaving at liberty
only my head and my left arm...
795
00:43:26,170 --> 00:43:29,139
so that only
with much exertion...
796
00:43:29,173 --> 00:43:32,472
could I supply myself with food
from an earthen dish...
797
00:43:32,510 --> 00:43:34,478
which lay by my side
on the floor.
798
00:43:34,512 --> 00:43:38,949
The food in the dish was meat,
pungently seasoned.
799
00:43:38,983 --> 00:43:40,974
Looking upward...
800
00:43:41,019 --> 00:43:44,477
I surveyed the ceiling
of my prison.
801
00:43:44,522 --> 00:43:48,481
It was some 3o or 4o feet
overhead...
802
00:43:48,526 --> 00:43:49,993
and suspended therefrom was...
803
00:43:50,028 --> 00:43:52,997
what appeared
to be a huge pendulum...
804
00:43:53,031 --> 00:43:56,489
such as one might see
on antique clocks.
805
00:43:56,534 --> 00:43:58,161
While I gazed at it...
806
00:43:58,202 --> 00:44:02,662
I fancied that I saw it move
ever so slightly.
807
00:44:02,707 --> 00:44:06,165
I watched it for some
for some minutes...
808
00:44:06,210 --> 00:44:10,510
somewhat in fear,
but more in wonder.
809
00:44:10,548 --> 00:44:12,948
Then a noise attracted
my notice...
810
00:44:12,984 --> 00:44:19,287
and looking to the floor,
I saw several enormous rats.
811
00:44:19,324 --> 00:44:23,124
They had issued from the pit
with ravenous eyes...
812
00:44:23,161 --> 00:44:25,322
lured by the scent
of the meat.
813
00:44:25,363 --> 00:44:27,331
It required much effort
and attention...
814
00:44:27,365 --> 00:44:29,799
to scare them away
from the food.
815
00:44:29,834 --> 00:44:32,302
When I again cast
my eyes upward...
816
00:44:32,337 --> 00:44:34,805
what I saw confounded
and amazed me.
817
00:44:34,839 --> 00:44:37,307
The sweep of the pendulum
had increased in extent...
818
00:44:37,342 --> 00:44:39,310
by nearly a yard.
819
00:44:39,344 --> 00:44:42,472
But what mainly disturbed me
was the idea...
820
00:44:42,513 --> 00:44:46,472
that it had
perceptibly descended.
821
00:44:46,517 --> 00:44:48,485
I now observed
822
00:44:48,519 --> 00:44:51,647
with what horror
it is needless to say
823
00:44:51,689 --> 00:44:57,992
that its lower extremity was a
crescent of glittering steel...
824
00:44:58,029 --> 00:45:00,998
about a foot in length
from horn to horn
825
00:45:01,032 --> 00:45:02,499
the horns upward...
826
00:45:02,533 --> 00:45:08,335
and the under edge evidently
as keen as that of a razor.
827
00:45:08,373 --> 00:45:11,604
And it hissed as it swung
through the air.
828
00:45:11,642 --> 00:45:13,007
Inch by inch...
829
00:45:13,044 --> 00:45:17,276
with a descent only appreciable
at intervals that seemed ages...
830
00:45:17,315 --> 00:45:19,783
down and still down
it came.
831
00:45:19,817 --> 00:45:22,445
Days passed ere it swept
so closely over me...
832
00:45:22,487 --> 00:45:24,955
as to fan me
with its acrid breath.
833
00:45:24,989 --> 00:45:27,287
I prayed
for its more speedy descent.
834
00:45:27,325 --> 00:45:28,952
I grew frantically mad...
835
00:45:28,993 --> 00:45:31,291
and struggled
to force myself upward...
836
00:45:31,329 --> 00:45:35,288
against the sweep of
the fearful scimitar.
837
00:45:35,333 --> 00:45:38,962
And then suddenly I fell calm...
838
00:45:39,003 --> 00:45:42,803
and lay smiling
at the glittering death...
839
00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:47,300
as a child would
at some rare bauble.
840
00:45:47,345 --> 00:45:52,305
I saw that the crescent
was designed to cross...
841
00:45:52,350 --> 00:45:55,649
the region of my heart.
842
00:45:55,686 --> 00:45:57,813
It would fray the serge
of my garment.
843
00:45:57,855 --> 00:45:59,823
It would return and repeat
its operations...
844
00:45:59,857 --> 00:46:00,983
again and again...
845
00:46:01,025 --> 00:46:03,653
but the fraying of my garment
would be all that...
846
00:46:03,694 --> 00:46:06,060
for several minutes,
it would accomplish.
847
00:46:06,097 --> 00:46:08,657
To the right, to the left,
far and wide...
848
00:46:08,699 --> 00:46:10,496
down, steadily down
it crept...
849
00:46:10,535 --> 00:46:12,935
with the shriek of
a damned spirit:
850
00:46:12,970 --> 00:46:16,929
To my heart with
the stealthy pace of the tiger.
851
00:46:16,974 --> 00:46:19,272
I alternately laughed
and howled...
852
00:46:19,310 --> 00:46:23,804
as the odor of the sharp steel
forced itself into my nostrils.
853
00:46:23,848 --> 00:46:26,146
Down, relentlessly down...
854
00:46:26,184 --> 00:46:30,484
it vibrated finally
within 3 inches of my bosom.
855
00:46:30,521 --> 00:46:33,183
1o or 12 sweeps
would bring the steel...
856
00:46:33,224 --> 00:46:36,625
in actual contact
with my clothing.
857
00:46:36,661 --> 00:46:38,629
And then,
with this observation...
858
00:46:38,663 --> 00:46:40,961
there suddenly came over
my spirit...
859
00:46:40,998 --> 00:46:46,459
all the keen,
collected calmness of despair.
860
00:46:46,504 --> 00:46:51,464
For the first time
in many hours or perhaps days...
861
00:46:51,509 --> 00:46:55,468
I thought
I thought of the rats.
862
00:46:55,513 --> 00:46:58,311
They had been literally
swarming around...
863
00:46:58,349 --> 00:47:00,647
the low framework
upon which I lay.
864
00:47:00,685 --> 00:47:02,653
They were wild, bold,
and ravenous...
865
00:47:02,687 --> 00:47:04,314
their red eyes glaring
upon me...
866
00:47:04,355 --> 00:47:07,324
as if they waited for
motionlessness on my part...
867
00:47:07,358 --> 00:47:08,950
to make me their prey.
868
00:47:08,993 --> 00:47:10,358
"What food," I thought...
869
00:47:10,394 --> 00:47:12,589
"have they been accustomed to
in the pit?"
870
00:47:12,630 --> 00:47:13,927
They had devoured...
871
00:47:13,965 --> 00:47:15,523
in spite of all my efforts
to prevent them...
872
00:47:15,566 --> 00:47:18,330
all but a small remnant of
the contents of the dish.
873
00:47:18,369 --> 00:47:21,930
Although my plan
was scarcely sane...
874
00:47:21,973 --> 00:47:24,771
I proceeded at once
to attempt its execution.
875
00:47:24,809 --> 00:47:27,437
With the particles
of the oily and spicy meat...
876
00:47:27,478 --> 00:47:28,604
which now remained...
877
00:47:28,646 --> 00:47:30,773
I thoroughly rubbed
the restraining binding...
878
00:47:30,815 --> 00:47:32,840
wherever I could reach it.
879
00:47:32,884 --> 00:47:36,945
Then I lay breathlessly still.
880
00:47:36,988 --> 00:47:39,456
At first the ravenous animals
were startled...
881
00:47:39,490 --> 00:47:41,458
and terrified
at the change.
882
00:47:41,492 --> 00:47:44,620
Observing, however, that
I remained without motion...
883
00:47:44,662 --> 00:47:47,290
one or two of the boldest
leapt upon the framework...
884
00:47:47,331 --> 00:47:49,299
and smelt at my bonds.
885
00:47:49,333 --> 00:47:52,302
This seemed the signal
for a general rush.
886
00:47:52,336 --> 00:47:54,861
They leapt in hundreds
upon my person.
887
00:47:54,906 --> 00:47:57,136
The measured movement
of the pendulum...
888
00:47:57,174 --> 00:47:58,869
disturbed them not at all.
889
00:47:58,910 --> 00:48:00,309
Avoiding its strokes...
890
00:48:00,344 --> 00:48:03,973
they busied themselves gnawing
the anointed bindings.
891
00:48:04,015 --> 00:48:05,312
They pressed...
892
00:48:05,349 --> 00:48:08,477
they swarmed upon me
in ever accumulating heaps.
893
00:48:08,519 --> 00:48:12,922
They writhed upon my throat.
Their cold lips sought my own.
894
00:48:12,957 --> 00:48:16,916
I was half stifled
by their thronging pressure.
895
00:48:16,961 --> 00:48:21,762
Disgust for which the world
has no name swelled my bosom...
896
00:48:21,799 --> 00:48:26,429
and chilled with
a heavy clamminess my heart.
897
00:48:26,470 --> 00:48:30,429
Yet one minute, and I felt that
the struggle would be over.
898
00:48:30,474 --> 00:48:33,443
Plainly I perceived
the loosening of the strapping.
899
00:48:33,477 --> 00:48:35,775
I knew that
in more than one place...
900
00:48:35,813 --> 00:48:37,610
it must be already severed.
901
00:48:37,648 --> 00:48:41,106
With a more than human
resolution...
902
00:48:41,152 --> 00:48:45,282
I lay still.
903
00:48:45,323 --> 00:48:48,292
Nor had I erred
in my calculations...
904
00:48:48,326 --> 00:48:50,954
nor had I endured in vain.
905
00:48:50,995 --> 00:48:55,455
I at last felt that I was free.
906
00:48:55,499 --> 00:48:59,458
But the stroke of the pendulum
already pressed upon my bosom.
907
00:48:59,503 --> 00:49:01,971
It had divided the serge
of my garment.
908
00:49:02,006 --> 00:49:03,974
Twice again it swung...
909
00:49:04,008 --> 00:49:08,809
and a sharp sense of pain
shot through every nerve...
910
00:49:08,846 --> 00:49:11,076
but the moment of escape
had arrived.
911
00:49:11,115 --> 00:49:12,742
At a wave of my hand...
912
00:49:12,783 --> 00:49:15,581
my deliverers hurried
tumultuously away.
913
00:49:15,620 --> 00:49:17,247
With a steady movement...
914
00:49:17,288 --> 00:49:20,746
I slid from the embrace
of the bindings...
915
00:49:20,791 --> 00:49:23,225
and beyond the reach
of the scimitar.
916
00:49:23,260 --> 00:49:26,627
I was free free.
917
00:49:29,133 --> 00:49:33,433
But still in the grasp
of the Inquisition.
918
00:49:33,471 --> 00:49:36,599
I had scarcely stepped from
my wooden bed of horror...
919
00:49:36,641 --> 00:49:39,269
when the motion of
the hellish machine ceased...
920
00:49:39,310 --> 00:49:41,778
and I beheld it drawn up.
921
00:49:41,812 --> 00:49:44,781
My very motion was
undoubtedly watched.
922
00:49:44,815 --> 00:49:46,442
Free.
923
00:49:46,484 --> 00:49:50,443
I had but escaped death
in one form of agony...
924
00:49:50,488 --> 00:49:54,948
to be delivered unto worse
than death in some other.
925
00:49:54,992 --> 00:49:57,961
With that thought,
I rolled my eyes nervously...
926
00:49:57,995 --> 00:50:00,964
on the barriers of iron
that hemmed me in.
927
00:50:00,998 --> 00:50:04,297
I observed that the figures
of the fiends upon the walls...
928
00:50:04,335 --> 00:50:08,465
had now assumed a startling
and most intense brilliancy.
929
00:50:08,506 --> 00:50:11,475
Demon eyes of a wild
and ghastly vivacity...
930
00:50:11,509 --> 00:50:14,774
glared upon me from
a thousand directions.
931
00:50:14,812 --> 00:50:17,474
It was unreal.
932
00:50:17,515 --> 00:50:20,484
While I breathed,
there came to my nostrils...
933
00:50:20,518 --> 00:50:24,477
the breath of the vapor
of heated iron.
934
00:50:24,522 --> 00:50:26,990
A suffocating odor
pervaded the prison.
935
00:50:27,024 --> 00:50:29,492
I panted,
I gasped for breath.
936
00:50:29,527 --> 00:50:33,486
I shrank from the burning metal
to the center of the cell.
937
00:50:33,531 --> 00:50:36,500
Amid the thought of the fiery
destruction that impended...
938
00:50:36,534 --> 00:50:39,002
the idea of the coolness
of the pit...
939
00:50:39,036 --> 00:50:42,494
came over my soul like balm.
940
00:50:42,540 --> 00:50:44,337
I rushed
to its deadly brink.
941
00:50:44,375 --> 00:50:47,242
I threw
my straining eyes below.
942
00:50:47,278 --> 00:50:49,838
The glare from
the enkindled roof...
943
00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:52,007
illuminated
its inmost recesses.
944
00:50:52,049 --> 00:50:54,517
Yet, for a wild moment,
did my spirit refuse...
945
00:50:54,552 --> 00:50:57,521
to comprehend the meaning
of what I saw.
946
00:50:57,555 --> 00:51:01,514
At length it forced,
it burned its way into my soul.
947
00:51:01,559 --> 00:51:03,186
Oh, for a voice to speak.
948
00:51:03,227 --> 00:51:06,492
Oh, horror.
Oh, any horror but this.
949
00:51:06,530 --> 00:51:10,796
The heat increased rapidly,
and once again I looked up.
950
00:51:10,835 --> 00:51:13,303
There had been a second change
in the cell...
951
00:51:13,337 --> 00:51:16,465
and now the change was
obviously in the form.
952
00:51:16,507 --> 00:51:18,134
The room had been square.
953
00:51:18,175 --> 00:51:20,473
The fearful difference
quickly increased...
954
00:51:20,511 --> 00:51:22,979
with a low, rumbling sound.
955
00:51:23,013 --> 00:51:25,481
The apartment
was shifting its form...
956
00:51:25,516 --> 00:51:27,746
into that of a rectangle.
957
00:51:27,785 --> 00:51:29,980
"Death," I screamed...
958
00:51:30,020 --> 00:51:32,921
"Any death
but that of the pit."
959
00:51:32,957 --> 00:51:34,822
Fool.
960
00:51:34,859 --> 00:51:37,327
Might I not have known
that into the pit...
961
00:51:37,361 --> 00:51:40,762
was the object
of the burning iron to urge me?
962
00:51:40,798 --> 00:51:43,995
And now closer and closer
grew the walls.
963
00:51:44,034 --> 00:51:45,331
I shrank back...
964
00:51:45,369 --> 00:51:48,668
but the closing walls pressed me
resistlessly onward.
965
00:51:48,706 --> 00:51:51,504
At length, for my seared
and writhing body...
966
00:51:51,542 --> 00:51:53,840
there was no longer
an inch of foothold...
967
00:51:53,878 --> 00:51:56,039
on the firm floor
of the prison.
968
00:51:56,080 --> 00:51:58,014
I struggled no more...
969
00:51:58,048 --> 00:52:00,016
but the agony of my soul
found vent...
970
00:52:00,050 --> 00:52:06,512
in one long, loud,
and final scream of despair.
971
00:52:06,557 --> 00:52:08,650
I felt that I tottered
upon the brink.
972
00:52:08,692 --> 00:52:09,852
Then suddenly...
973
00:52:09,894 --> 00:52:13,159
there was a discordant hum
of human voices.
974
00:52:13,197 --> 00:52:16,132
There was a loud blast
as of many trumpets.
975
00:52:16,167 --> 00:52:18,465
The fiery walls rushed back.
976
00:52:18,502 --> 00:52:20,800
An outstretched arm
caught my own...
977
00:52:20,838 --> 00:52:23,807
as I fell fainting
into the abyss.
978
00:52:23,841 --> 00:52:26,139
It was that
of General LaSalle.
979
00:52:26,177 --> 00:52:29,635
The French army
had entered Toledo.
980
00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:36,813
The Inquisition is
in the hands of its enemies.
|