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Illustration by Harry Clarke, 1919 |
Edgar Allan Poe at he the Wikipedia: click here
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Deathwatch beetle |
Presentation, by Àngels Gallardo
Edgar Allan Poe
He was a writer, poet, crític reviewer and journalist, and he has been recognized as one of the best authors of short horror stories.
The Tell-Tale Heart:
The history relates the obsession of a man for an old man who has a pale blue eye.
We don't know the man who explains what happened, which was the relation between two men and what their names were, but we know that they were living together in an old house.
He was so obsessed with the pale blue eye of the old man that he thought he would kill him.
Every night at twelve o'clock, he went to the bedroom of the old man to watch him sleeping to see if he had his pale blue eye open.
After eight nights, he saw that his eye was open and decided to kill him.
The old man shrieked when the man wanted to kill him, and a neighbour who heard it called the police.
The man had a guilty conscience, and, at the end, he confessed the crime to the police officers.
QUESTIONS
“The
disease had sharpened my senses”. Do you know a case where an illness can
sharpen the senses? They used to say that tuberculosis sharpened the sexual appetite.
Say
something about the narrator. Could the narrator be a woman? Why?
Who was
the old man?
What
was the relationship between the narrator and the victim?
What is
the “evil eye”? What are your superstitions?
There
is a saying “Better the devil you know (than the devil you don't).” What do you
prefer: something /somebody new (unknown) or something /somebody old (known)?
Why?
“The
beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage”. Do you think this is
true? What stimulates you into courage?
Who
were the three men, and why did they come to the house?
How
long did the murder and the hiding of the body last?
Why didn’t
the murderer kill the man one of the seven first nights?
What do
you think is the noise of “a watch when enveloped in cotton”?
VOCABULARY
dark lantern, chuckle, awe,
well up, marrow, tattoo, yell, stone dead, wan, tub, foam, dissemble
A scene of the most horrible butchery ensued. The bound
seamen were dragged to the gangway. Here the cook stood with an axe, striking
each victim on the head as he was forced over the side of the vessel by the
other mutineers. In this manner twenty-two perished, and Augustus had given
himself up for lost, expecting every moment his own turn to come next. But it
seemed that the villains were now either weary, or in some measure disgusted
with their bloody labour; for the four remaining prisoners, together with my
friend, who had been thrown on the deck with the rest, were respited while the
mate sent below for rum, and the whole murderous party held a drunken carouse,
which lasted until sunset. They now fell to disputing in regard to the fate of
the survivers, who lay not more than four paces off, and could distinguish
every word said. Upon some of the mutineers the liquor appeared to have a
softening effect, for several voices were heard in favour of releasing the
captives altogether, on condition of joining the mutiny and sharing the
profits. The black cook, however (who in all respects was a perfect demon, and
who seemed to exert as much influence, if not more, than the mate himself),
would listen to no proposition of the kind, and rose repeatedly for the purpose
of resuming his work at the gangway. Fortunately, he was so far overcome by
intoxication as to be easily restrained by the less bloodthirsty of the party,
among whom was a line-manager, who went by the name of Dirk Peters. This man
was the son of an Indian squaw of the tribe of Upsarokas, who live among the
fastnesses of the Black Hills near the source of the Missouri. His father was a
fur-trader, I believe, or at least connected in some manner with the Indian
trading-posts on Lewis river. Peters himself was one of the most purely
ferocious-looking men I ever beheld. He was short in stature—not more than four
feet eight inches high—but his limbs were of the most Herculean mould. His
hands, especially, were so enormously thick and broad as hardly to retain a
human shape. His arms, as well as legs, were bowed in the most
singular manner, and appeared to possess no flexibility whatever. His head was
equally deformed, being of immense size, with an indentation on the crown (like
that on the head of most negroes), and entirely bald. To conceal this latter
deficiency, which did not proceed from old age, he usually wore a wig formed of
any hair-like material which presented itself—occasionally the skin of a
Spanish dog or American grizzly bear. At the time spoken of he had on a portion
of one of these bearskins; and it added no little to the natural ferocity of
his countenance, which betook of the Upsaroka character. The mouth extended
nearly from ear to ear; the lips were thin, and seemed, like some other portions
of his frame, to be devoid of natural pliancy, so that the ruling expression
never varied under the influence of any emotion whatever. This ruling
expression may be conceived when it is considered that the teeth were
exceedingly long and protruding, and never even partially covered, in any
instance, by the lips. To pass this man with a casual glance, one might imagine
him to be convulsed with laughter—but a second look would induce a shuddering
acknowledgment, that if such an expression were indicative of merriment, the
merriment must be that of a demon. Of this singular being many anecdotes were
prevalent among the seafaring men of Nantucket. These anecdotes went to prove
his prodigious strength when under excitement, and some of them had given rise
to a doubt of his sanity. But on board the Grampus, it seems, he was regarded
at the time of the mutiny with feelings more of derision than of anything else.
I have been thus particular in speaking of Dirk Peters, because, ferocious as
he appeared, he proved the main instrument in preserving the life of Augustus,
and because I shall have frequent occasion to mention him hereafter in the
course of my narrative—a narrative, let me here say, which, in its latter
portions, will be found to include incidents of a nature so entirely out of the
range of human experience, and for this reason so far beyond the limits of
human credulity, that I proceed in utter hopelessness of obtaining credence for
all that I shall tell, yet confidently trusting in time and progressing science
to verify some of the most important and most improbable of my statements.
[...]
Shortly afterward an incident occurred which I am induced to look upon as more intensely productive of emotion, as far more replete with the extremes first of delight and then of horror, than even any of the thousand chances which afterward befell me in nine long years, crowded with events of the most startling, and, in many cases, of the most unconceived and unconceivable character. We were lying on the deck near the companion-way, and debating the possibility of yet making our way into the storeroom, when, looking towards Augustus, who lay fronting myself, I perceived that he had become all at once deadly pale, and that his lips were quivering in the most singular and unaccountable manner. Greatly alarmed, I spoke to him, but he made me no reply, and I was beginning to think that he was suddenly taken ill, when I took notice of his eyes, which were glaring apparently at some object behind me. I turned my head, and shall never forget the ecstatic joy which thrilled through every particle of my frame, when I perceived a large brig bearing down upon us, and not more than a couple of miles off. I sprung to my feet as if a musket bullet had suddenly struck me to the heart; and, stretching out my arms in the direction of the vessel, stood in this manner, motionless, and unable to articulate a syllable. Peters and Parker were equally affected, although in different ways. The former danced about the deck like a madman, uttering the most extravagant rhodomontades, intermingled with howls and imprecations, while the latter burst into tears, and continued for many minutes weeping like a child.
The vessel in sight was a large hermaphrodite brig, of a Dutch build, and painted black, with a tawdry gilt figurehead. She had evidently seen a good deal of rough weather, and, we supposed, had suffered much in the gale which had proved so disastrous to ourselves; for her foretopmast was gone, and some of her starboard bulwarks. When we first saw her, she was, as I have already said, about two miles off and to windward, bearing down upon us. The breeze was very gentle, and what astonished us chiefly was, that she had no other sails set than her foresail and mainsail, with a flying jib—of course she came down but slowly, and our impatience amounted nearly to phrensy. The awkward manner in which she steered, too, was remarked by all of us, even excited as we were. She yawed about so considerably, that once or twice we thought it impossible she could see us, or imagined that, having seen us, and discovered no person on board, she was about to tack and make off in another direction. Upon each of these occasions we screamed and shouted at the top of our voices, when the stranger would appear to change for a moment her intention, and again hold on towards us—this singular conduct being repeated two or three times, so that at last we could think of no other manner of accounting for it than by supposing the helmsman to be in liquor.
No person was seen upon her decks until she arrived within about a quarter of a mile of us. We then saw three seamen, whom by their dress we took to be Hollanders. Two of these were lying on some old sails near the forecastle, and the third, who appeared to be looking at us with great curiosity, was leaning over the starboard bow near the bowsprit. This last was a stout and tall man, with a very dark skin. He seemed by his manner to be encouraging us to have patience, nodding to us in a cheerful although rather odd way, and smiling constantly so as to display a set of the most brilliantly white teeth. As his vessel drew nearer, we saw a red flannel cap which he had on fall from his head into the water; but of this he took little or no notice, continuing his odd smiles and gesticulations. I relate these things and circumstances minutely, and I relate them, it must be understood, precisely as they appeared to us.
The brig came on slowly, and now more steadily than before, and—I cannot speak calmly of this event—our hearts leaped up wildly within us, and we poured out our whole souls in shouts and thanksgiving to God for the complete, unexpected, and glorious deliverance that was so palpably at hand. Of a sudden, and all at once, there came wafted over the ocean from the strange vessel (which was now close upon us) a smell, a stench, such as the whole world has no name for—no conception of—hellish—utterly suffocating—insufferable, inconceivable. I gasped for breath, and, turning to my companions, perceived that they were paler than marble. But we had now no time left for question or surmise—the brig was within fifty feet of us, and it seemed to be her intention to run under our counter, that we might board her without her putting out a boat. We rushed aft, when, suddenly, a wide yaw threw her off full five or six points from the course she had been running, and, as she passed under our stern at the distance of about twenty feet, we had a full view of her decks. Shall I ever forget the triple horror of that spectacle? Twenty-five or thirty human bodies, among whom were several females, lay scattered about between the counter and the galley, in the last and most loathsome state of putrefaction! We plainly saw that not a soul lived in that fated vessel! Yet we could not help shouting to the dead for help! Yes, long and loudly did we beg, in the agony of the moment, that those silent and disgusting images would stay for us, would not abandon us to become like them, would receive us among their goodly company! We were raving with horror and despair—thoroughly mad through the anguish of our grievous disappointment.
As our first loud yell of terror broke forth, it was replied to by something, from near the bowsprit of the stranger, so closely resembling the scream of a human voice that the nicest ear might have been startled and deceived. At this instant another sudden yaw brought the region of the forecastle for a moment into view, and we beheld at once the origin of the sound. We saw the tall stout figure still leaning on the bulwark, and still nodding his head to and fro, but his face was now turned from us so that we could not behold it. His arms were extended over the rail, and the palms of his hands fell outward. His knees were lodged upon a stout rope, tightly stretched, and reaching from the heel of the bowsprit to a cathead. On his back, from which a portion of the shirt had been torn, leaving it bare, there sat a huge seagull, busily gorging itself with the horrible flesh, its bill and talons deep buried, and its white plumage spattered all over with blood. As the brig moved further round so as to bring us close in view, the bird, with much apparent difficulty, drew out its crimsoned head, and, after eying us for a moment as if stupified, arose lazily from the body upon which it had been feasting, and, flying directly above our deck, hovered there a while with a portion of clotted and liver-like substance in its beak. The horrid morsel dropped at length with a sullen splash immediately at the feet of Parker. May God forgive me, but now, for the first time, there flashed through my mind a thought, a thought which I will not mention, and I felt myself making a step towards the ensanguined spot. I looked upward, and the eyes of Augustus met my own with a degree of intense and eager meaning which immediately brought me to my senses. I sprang forward quickly, and, with a deep shudder, threw the frightful thing into the sea.
The body from which it had been taken, resting as it did upon the rope, had been easily swayed to and fro by the exertions of the carnivorous bird, and it was this motion which had at first impressed us with the belief of its being alive. As the gull relieved it of its weight, it swung round and fell partially over, so that the face was fully discovered. Never, surely, was any object so terribly full of awe! The eyes were gone, and the whole flesh around the mouth, leaving the teeth utterly naked. This, then, was the smile which had cheered us on to hope! this the—but I forbear. The brig, as I have already told, passed under our stern, and made its way slowly but steadily to leeward. With her and with her terrible crew went all our gay visions of deliverance and joy. Deliberately as she went by, we might possibly have found means of boarding her, had not our sudden disappointment, and the appalling nature of the discovery which accompanied it, laid entirely prostrate every active faculty of mind and body. We had seen and felt, but we could neither think nor act, until, alas, too late. How much our intellects had been weakened by this incident may be estimated by the fact, that, when the vessel had proceeded so far that we could perceive no more than the half of her hull, the proposition was seriously entertained of attempting to overtake her by swimming!
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