diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:27 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:27 -0700 |
| commit | 0a01987e4cb061088b6e9ca3af218133ae071c49 (patch) | |
| tree | e717bed0b569a21c2fb5dfd1204aa9197ec38288 /old | |
Diffstat (limited to 'old')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1062-8.txt | 1129 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1062-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 21771 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1062-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 22416 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1062-h/1062-h.htm | 1362 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1062.txt | 1129 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/1062.zip | bin | 0 -> 21757 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/old/1epoe10.txt | 1031 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/old/1epoe10.zip | bin | 0 -> 19483 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/old/1epoe10h.htm | 1340 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/old/1epoe10h.zip | bin | 0 -> 21867 bytes |
10 files changed, 5991 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/1062-8.txt b/old/1062-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..645199b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1062-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1129 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of First Gutenberg Collection of Edgar Allan +Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: First Gutenberg Collection of Edgar Allan Poe + +Author: Edgar Allan Poe + +Posting Date: June 6, 2010 [EBook #1062] +Release Date: October, 1997 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUTENBERG COLLECTION--E. A. POE *** + + + + +Produced by Levent Kurnaz and Jose Menendez + + + + + + + +This is our second experimental effort at cataloguing multiple items in +a single file. In the first instance we use the same index number for +each item, and just used multiple entries for that file in the index. +In this, the second instance, we have used separate index numbers for +the collection and for all the entries in that collection. Let us know +which you prefer. We have traditionally used the smallest number of +index entries--as somewhat of a protest against others who have copied +Etexts and wanted it to appear as if they had more Etext than Project +Gutenberg or various other etext collections. We want to make our +Etexts as easy as possible to find and work with, but, not to "pad" our +work. However, we prefer to post short works for you in collections, +to eliminate you having to download all 11 kilobytes of our header and +"legal fine print" to get files of sizes less than the headers. Please +email me on this. Thanks! Michael S. Hart, hart@pobox.com + + + + +The Raven + +by Edgar Allan Poe + +October, 1997 [Etext #1064]* + + + +THE RAVEN + + + + Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, + Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-- + While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, + As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. + "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-- + Only this and nothing more." + + Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, + And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. + Eagerly I wished the morrow;--vainly I had sought to borrow + From my books surcease of sorrow--sorrow for the lost Lenore-- + For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-- + Nameless here for evermore. + + And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain + Thrilled me--filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; + So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating + "'Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door-- + Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door; + This it is and nothing more." + + Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, + "Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; + But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, + And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, + That I scarce was sure I heard you"--here I opened wide the door-- + Darkness there and nothing more. + + Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, + Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before; + But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, + And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?" + This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-- + Merely this and nothing more. + + Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, + Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before. + "Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice; + Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery explore-- + Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-- + 'Tis the wind and nothing more. + + Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, + In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore. + Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he, + But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-- + Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-- + Perched, and sat, and nothing more. + + Then the ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, + By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, + "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, + Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-- + Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + + Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, + Though its answer little meaning--little relevancy bore; + For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being + Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door-- + Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door, + With such name as "Nevermore." + + But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only + That one word, as if its soul in that one word he did outpour + Nothing farther then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered-- + Till I scarcely more than muttered: "Other friends have flown before-- + On the morrow _he_ will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before." + Then the bird said "Nevermore." + + Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken, + "Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store, + Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster + Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-- + Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore + Of 'Never--nevermore.'" + + But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling, + Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door; + Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking + Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-- + What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore + Meant in croaking "Nevermore." + + This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing + To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core; + This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining + On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er, + But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er + _She_ shall press, ah, nevermore! + + Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer + Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor. + "Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee--by these angels he hath sent thee + Respite--respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! + Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + + "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!-- + Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, + Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-- + On this home by Horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore-- + Is there--_is_ there balm in Gilead?--tell me--tell me, I implore!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + + "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil! + By that Heaven that bends above us--by that God we both adore-- + Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, + It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore-- + Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore." + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + + "Be that our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting-- + "Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore! + Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has spoken! + Leave my loneliness unbroken!--quit the bust above my door! + Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + + And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting + On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; + And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming + And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadows on the floor; + And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor + Shall be lifted--nevermore! + + + + +The Masque of the Red Death + +by Edgar Allan Poe + +October, 1997 [Etext #1064]* + + + + +The Masque of the Red Death + + +The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had +ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its +seal--the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and +sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with +dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the +face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid +and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, +progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an +hour. + +But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his +dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand +hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his +court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his +castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, +the creation of the prince's own eccentric yet august taste. A strong +and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The +courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and +welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress nor +egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The +abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might +bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of +itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The +prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were +buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there +were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and +security were within. Without was the "Red Death". + +It was towards the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, +and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince +Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most +unusual magnificence. + +It was a voluptuous scene, that masquerade. But first let me tell of +the rooms in which it was held. These were seven--an imperial suite. +In many palaces, however, such suites form a long and straight vista, +while the folding doors slide back nearly to the walls on either hand, +so that the view of the whole extent is scarcely impeded. Here the +case was very different, as might have been expected from the duke's +love of the _bizarre_. The apartments were so irregularly disposed that +the vision embraced but little more than one at a time. There was a +sharp turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel +effect. To the right and left, in the middle of each wall, a tall and +narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which pursued +the windings of the suite. These windows were of stained glass whose +colour varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of the decorations +of the chamber into which it opened. That at the eastern extremity was +hung, for example in blue--and vividly blue were its windows. The +second chamber was purple in its ornaments and tapestries, and here the +panes were purple. The third was green throughout, and so were the +casements. The fourth was furnished and lighted with orange--the fifth +with white--the sixth with violet. The seventh apartment was closely +shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and +down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same +material and hue. But in this chamber only, the colour of the windows +failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes here were +scarlet--a deep blood colour. Now in no one of the seven apartments +was there any lamp or candelabrum, amid the profusion of golden +ornaments that lay scattered to and fro or depended from the roof. +There was no light of any kind emanating from lamp or candle within the +suite of chambers. But in the corridors that followed the suite, there +stood, opposite to each window, a heavy tripod, bearing a brazier of +fire, that projected its rays through the tinted glass and so glaringly +illumined the room. And thus were produced a multitude of gaudy and +fantastic appearances. But in the western or black chamber the effect +of the fire-light that streamed upon the dark hangings through the +blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in the extreme, and produced so wild a +look upon the countenances of those who entered, that there were few of +the company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all. + +It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western +wall, a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to and fro with a +dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the minute-hand made the +circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came from +the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep +and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that, +at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were +constrained to pause, momentarily, in their performance, to harken to +the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and +there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the +chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew +pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows +as if in confused revery or meditation. But when the echoes had fully +ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the assembly; the musicians +looked at each other and smiled as if at their own nervousness and +folly, and made whispering vows, each to the other, that the next +chiming of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion; and +then, after the lapse of sixty minutes, (which embrace three thousand +and six hundred seconds of the Time that flies,) there came yet another +chiming of the clock, and then were the same disconcert and +tremulousness and meditation as before. + +But, in spite of these things, it was a gay and magnificent revel. The +tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye for colours and +effects. He disregarded the _decora_ of mere fashion. His plans were +bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric lustre. There +are some who would have thought him mad. His followers felt that he +was not. It was necessary to hear and see and touch him to be _sure_ +that he was not. + +He had directed, in great part, the movable embellishments of the seven +chambers, upon occasion of this great _fête_; and it was his own guiding +taste which had given character to the masqueraders. Be sure they were +grotesque. There were much glare and glitter and piquancy and +phantasm--much of what has been since seen in "Hernani". There were +arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments. There were +delirious fancies such as the madman fashions. There were much of the +beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the _bizarre_, something of the +terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust. +To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of +dreams. And these--the dreams--writhed in and about taking hue from +the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the +echo of their steps. And, anon, there strikes the ebony clock which +stands in the hall of the velvet. And then, for a moment, all is +still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock. The dreams are +stiff-frozen as they stand. But the echoes of the chime die away--they +have endured but an instant--and a light, half-subdued laughter floats +after them as they depart. And now again the music swells, and the +dreams live, and writhe to and fro more merrily than ever, taking hue +from the many tinted windows through which stream the rays from the +tripods. But to the chamber which lies most westwardly of the seven, +there are now none of the maskers who venture; for the night is waning +away; and there flows a ruddier light through the blood-coloured panes; +and the blackness of the sable drapery appals; and to him whose foot +falls upon the sable carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a +muffled peal more solemnly emphatic than any which reaches _their_ ears +who indulged in the more remote gaieties of the other apartments. + +But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them beat +feverishly the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly on, until +at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon the clock. And +then the music ceased, as I have told; and the evolutions of the +waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy cessation of all things +as before. But now there were twelve strokes to be sounded by the bell +of the clock; and thus it happened, perhaps, that more of thought +crept, with more of time, into the meditations of the thoughtful among +those who revelled. And thus too, it happened, perhaps, that before the +last echoes of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were +many individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of +the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention of no +single individual before. And the rumour of this new presence having +spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at length from the whole +company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of disapprobation and +surprise--then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust. + +In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may well be +supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited such sensation. +In truth the masquerade licence of the night was nearly unlimited; but +the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod, and gone beyond the +bounds of even the prince's indefinite decorum. There are chords in the +hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. +Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, +there are matters of which no jest can be made. The whole company, +indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of +the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure was tall +and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the +grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to +resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest +scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. And yet all +this might have been endured, if not approved, by the mad revellers +around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the +Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in _blood_--and his broad brow, with +all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror. + +When the eyes of the Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral image +(which, with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully to sustain +its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he was seen to be +convulsed, in the first moment with a strong shudder either of terror +or distaste; but, in the next, his brow reddened with rage. + +"Who dares,"--he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near +him--"who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and +unmask him--that we may know whom we have to hang, at sunrise, from the +battlements!" + +It was in the eastern or blue chamber in which stood the Prince +Prospero as he uttered these words. They rang throughout the seven +rooms loudly and clearly, for the prince was a bold and robust man, and +the music had become hushed at the waving of his hand. + +It was in the blue room where stood the prince, with a group of pale +courtiers by his side. At first, as he spoke, there was a slight +rushing movement of this group in the direction of the intruder, who at +the moment was also near at hand, and now, with deliberate and stately +step, made closer approach to the speaker. But from a certain nameless +awe with which the mad assumptions of the mummer had inspired the whole +party, there were found none who put forth hand to seize him; so that, +unimpeded, he passed within a yard of the prince's person; and, while +the vast assembly, as if with one impulse, shrank from the centres of +the rooms to the walls, he made his way uninterruptedly, but with the +same solemn and measured step which had distinguished him from the +first, through the blue chamber to the purple--through the purple to +the green--through the green to the orange--through this again to the +white--and even thence to the violet, ere a decided movement had been +made to arrest him. It was then, however, that the Prince Prospero, +maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, +rushed hurriedly through the six chambers, while none followed him on +account of a deadly terror that had seized upon all. He bore aloft a +drawn dagger, and had approached, in rapid impetuosity, to within three +or four feet of the retreating figure, when the latter, having attained +the extremity of the velvet apartment, turned suddenly and confronted +his pursuer. There was a sharp cry--and the dagger dropped gleaming +upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate +in death the Prince Prospero. Then, summoning the wild courage of +despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the +black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect +and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in +unutterable horror at finding the grave cerements and corpse-like mask, +which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any +tangible form. + +And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come +like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the +blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing +posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with +that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. +And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over +all. + + + + +The Cask of Amontillado + +by Edgar Allan Poe + +October, 1997 [Etext #1065]* + + + +The Cask of Amontillado + + +The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but +when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know +the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance +to a threat. _At length_ I would be avenged; this was a point +definitely settled--but the very definitiveness with which it was +resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but +punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution +overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger +fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong. + +It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given +Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to +smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile _now_ was at +the thought of his immolation. + +He had a weak point--this Fortunato--although in other regards he was a +man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his +connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. +For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and +opportunity--to practise imposture upon the British and Austrian +_millionaires_. In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, +was a quack--but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this +respect I did not differ from him materially: I was skillful in the +Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could. + +It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the +carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with +excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. +He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was +surmounted by the conical cap and bells. I was so pleased to see him, +that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand. + +I said to him--"My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably +well you are looking to-day! But I have received a pipe of what passes +for Amontillado, and I have my doubts." + +"How?" said he. "Amontillado? A pipe? Impossible! And in the middle +of the carnival!" + +"I have my doubts," I replied; "and I was silly enough to pay the full +Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. You were not to +be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain." + +"Amontillado!" + +"I have my doubts." + +"Amontillado!" + +"And I must satisfy them." + +"Amontillado!" + +"As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If any one has a +critical turn, it is he. He will tell me--" + +"Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry." + +"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your +own." + +"Come, let us go." + +"Whither?" + +"To your vaults." + +"My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive +you have an engagement. Luchesi--" + +"I have no engagement;--come." + +"My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with +which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. +They are encrusted with nitre." + +"Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado! You +have been imposed upon. And as for Luchesi, he cannot distinguish +Sherry from Amontillado." + +Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my arm. Putting on a mask +of black silk, and drawing a _roquelaire_ closely about my person, I +suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo. + +There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in +honour of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the +morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. +These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate +disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned. + +I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to Fortunato, +bowed him through several suites of rooms to the archway that led into +the vaults. I passed down a long and winding staircase, requesting him +to be cautious as he followed. We came at length to the foot of the +descent, and stood together on the damp ground of the catacombs of the +Montresors. + +The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap jingled +as he strode. + +"The pipe," said he. + +"It is farther on," said I; "but observe the white web-work which +gleams from these cavern walls." + +He turned towards me, and looked into my eyes with two filmy orbs that +distilled the rheum of intoxication. + +"Nitre?" he asked, at length. + +"Nitre," I replied. "How long have you had that cough?" + +"Ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! +ugh! ugh!" + +My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes. + +"It is nothing," he said, at last. + +"Come," I said, with decision, "we will go back; your health is +precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as +once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We +will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, +there is Luchesi--" + +"Enough," he said; "the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I +shall not die of a cough." + +"True--true," I replied; "and, indeed, I had no intention of alarming +you unnecessarily--but you should use all proper caution. A draught of +this Medoc will defend us from the damps." + +Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a long row of +its fellows that lay upon the mould. + +"Drink," I said, presenting him the wine. + +He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused and nodded to me +familiarly, while his bells jingled. + +"I drink," he said, "to the buried that repose around us." + +"And I to your long life." + +He again took my arm, and we proceeded. + +"These vaults," he said, "are extensive." + +"The Montresors," I replied, "were a great and numerous family." + +"I forget your arms." + +"A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent +rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel." + +"And the motto?" + +"_Nemo me impune lacessit_." + +"Good!" he said. + +The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own fancy grew +warm with the Medoc. We had passed through walls of piled bones, with +casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of +catacombs. I paused again, and this time I made bold to seize +Fortunato by an arm above the elbow. + +"The nitre!" I said; "see, it increases. It hangs like moss upon the +vaults. We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle +among the bones. Come, we will go back ere it is too late. Your +cough--" + +"It is nothing," he said; "let us go on. But first, another draught of +the Medoc." + +I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave. He emptied it at a +breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed and threw +the bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand. + +I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movement--a grotesque one. + +"You do not comprehend?" he said. + +"Not I," I replied. + +"Then you are not of the brotherhood." + +"How?" + +"You are not of the masons." + +"Yes, yes," I said; "yes, yes." + +"You? Impossible! A mason?" + +"A mason," I replied. + +"A sign," he said, "a sign." + +"It is this," I answered, producing a trowel from beneath the folds of +my _roquelaire_. + +"You jest," he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. "But let us proceed +to the Amontillado." + +"Be it so," I said, replacing the tool beneath the cloak and again +offering him my arm. He leaned upon it heavily. We continued our +route in search of the Amontillado. We passed through a range of low +arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived at a deep +crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to +glow than flame. + +At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another less +spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the +vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris. Three +sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this manner. From +the fourth side the bones had been thrown down, and lay promiscuously +upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size. Within the +wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones, we perceived a still +interior recess, in depth about four feet in width three, in height six +or seven. It seemed to have been constructed for no especial use +within itself, but formed merely the interval between two of the +colossal supports of the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one +of their circumscribing walls of solid granite. + +It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull torch, endeavoured to +pry into the depth of the recess. Its termination the feeble light did +not enable us to see. + +"Proceed," I said; "herein is the Amontillado. As for Luchesi--" + +"He is an ignoramus," interrupted my friend, as he stepped unsteadily +forward, while I followed immediately at his heels. In an instant he +had reached the extremity of the niche, and finding his progress +arrested by the rock, stood stupidly bewildered. A moment more and I +had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, +distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of +these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the +links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure +it. He was too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I +stepped back from the recess. + +"Pass your hand," I said, "over the wall; you cannot help feeling the +nitre. Indeed, it is _very_ damp. Once more let me _implore_ you to +return. No? Then I must positively leave you. But I must first render +you all the little attentions in my power." + +"The Amontillado!" ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from his +astonishment. + +"True," I replied; "the Amontillado." + +As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of bones of which +I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I soon uncovered a quantity +of building stone and mortar. With these materials and with the aid of +my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche. + +I had scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I discovered +that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great measure worn off. The +earliest indication I had of this was a low moaning cry from the depth +of the recess. It was _not_ the cry of a drunken man. There was then a +long and obstinate silence. I laid the second tier, and the third, and +the fourth; and then I heard the furious vibrations of the chain. The +noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to +it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labours and sat down upon +the bones. When at last the clanking subsided, I resumed the trowel, +and finished without interruption the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh +tier. The wall was now nearly upon a level with my breast. I again +paused, and holding the flambeaux over the mason-work, threw a few +feeble rays upon the figure within. + +A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the +throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back. For a +brief moment I hesitated--I trembled. Unsheathing my rapier, I began +to grope with it about the recess; but the thought of an instant +reassured me. I placed my hand upon the solid fabric of the catacombs, +and felt satisfied. I reapproached the wall; I replied to the yells of +him who clamoured. I re-echoed--I aided--I surpassed them in volume +and in strength. I did this, and the clamourer grew still. + +It was now midnight, and my task was drawing to a close. I had +completed the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth tier. I had finished a +portion of the last and the eleventh; there remained but a single stone +to be fitted and plastered in. I struggled with its weight; I placed +it partially in its destined position. But now there came from out the +niche a low laugh that erected the hairs upon my head. It was +succeeded by a sad voice, which I had difficulty in recognizing as that +of the noble Fortunato. The voice said-- + +"Ha! ha! ha!--he! he! he!--a very good joke indeed--an excellent jest. +We shall have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo--he! he! +he!--over our wine--he! he! he!" + +"The Amontillado!" I said. + +"He! he! he!--he! he! he!--yes, the Amontillado. But is it not getting +late? Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady Fortunato +and the rest? Let us be gone." + +"Yes," I said, "let us be gone." + +"_For the love of God, Montresor!_" + +"Yes," I said, "for the love of God!" + +But to these words I hearkened in vain for a reply. I grew impatient. +I called aloud-- + +"Fortunato!" + +No answer. I called again-- + +"Fortunato--" + +No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and +let it fall within. There came forth in reply only a jingling of the +bells. My heart grew sick on account of the dampness of the catacombs. +I hastened to make an end of my labour. I forced the last stone into +its position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected +the old rampart of bones. For the half of a century no mortal has +disturbed them. _In pace requiescat!_ + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of First Gutenberg Collection of Edgar +Allan Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUTENBERG COLLECTION--E. A. POE *** + +***** This file should be named 1062-8.txt or 1062-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/6/1062/ + +Produced by Levent Kurnaz and Jose Menendez + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/1062-8.zip b/old/1062-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a72fc8b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1062-8.zip diff --git a/old/1062-h.zip b/old/1062-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc89fa9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1062-h.zip diff --git a/old/1062-h/1062-h.htm b/old/1062-h/1062-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..077c5e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1062-h/1062-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1362 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>The First Project Gutenberg Collection Of Edgar Allan +Poe</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +DIV.book { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; } +TABLE.bold { font-weight: bold; } +P { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } +P.noindent { text-indent: 0em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; } +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of First Gutenberg Collection of Edgar Allan +Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: First Gutenberg Collection of Edgar Allan Poe + +Author: Edgar Allan Poe + +Posting Date: June 6, 2010 [EBook #1062] +Release Date: October, 1997 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUTENBERG COLLECTION--E. A. POE *** + + + + +Produced by Levent Kurnaz and Jose Menendez + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<center> +<hr size="3" width="90%" noshade> +<br> +<h1>THE FIRST<br> +PROJECT GUTENBERG<br> +COLLECTION<br> +OF EDGAR ALLAN POE</h1> + +<hr size="3" width="90%" noshade> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<br> +<table class="bold" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary= +"Contents"> +<tr> +<td><a href="#1">THE RAVEN</a></td> +<td> [Etext #1063]</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#2">THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH</a></td> +<td> [Etext #1064]</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#3">THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO</a></td> +<td> [Etext #1065]</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> + +<br> +<hr width="90%"> +<br> +<center> +<h2><a name="1">THE RAVEN</a></h2> + +<br> +<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="6" summary= +"The Raven"> +<tr> +<td><font size="+1">O</font>NCE upon a midnight dreary, while I +pondered, weak and weary,<br> +Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten +lore—<br> +While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a +tapping,<br> +As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.<br> +“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, +“tapping at my chamber door—<br> +<p class="noindent">Only this and nothing more.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,<br> +And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the +floor.<br> +Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to +borrow<br> +From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost +Lenore—<br> +For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name +Lenore—<br> +<p class="noindent">Nameless here for evermore.</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple +curtain<br> +Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt +before;<br> +So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood +repeating<br> +“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber +door—<br> +Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;<br> +<p class="noindent">This it is and nothing more.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no +longer,<br> +“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your +forgiveness I implore;<br> +But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came +rapping,<br> +And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,<br> +That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened +wide the door;—<br> +<p class="noindent">Darkness there and nothing more.</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there +wondering, fearing,<br> +Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream +before;<br> +But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no +token,<br> +And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, +“Lenore!”<br> +This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, +“Lenore!”—<br> +<p class="noindent">Merely this and nothing more.</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me +burning,<br> +Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before.<br> +“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at +my window lattice;<br> +Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery +explore—<br> +Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery +explore;—<br> +<p class="noindent">’Tis the wind and nothing +more.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and +flutter,<br> +In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.<br> +Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed +he,<br> +But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber +door—<br> +Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber +door—<br> +<p class="noindent">Perched, and sat, and nothing more.</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,<br> +By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,<br> +“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, +“art sure no craven,<br> +Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly +shore—<br> +Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian +shore!”<br> +<p class="noindent">Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so +plainly,<br> +Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;<br> +For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being<br> +Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber +door—<br> +Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber +door,<br> +<p class="noindent">With such name as +“Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke +only<br> +That one word, as if its soul in that one word he did +outpour.<br> +Nothing further then he uttered; not a feather then he +fluttered—<br> +Till I scarcely more than muttered: “Other friends have +flown before—<br> +On the morrow <i>he</i> will leave me, as my Hopes have flown +before.”<br> +<p class="noindent">Then the bird said, +“Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly +spoken,<br> +“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its +only stock and store,<br> +Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster<br> +Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden +bore—<br> +Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore<br> +<p class="noindent">Of +‘Never—nevermore.’”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into +smiling,<br> +Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and +door;<br> +Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking<br> +Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of +yore—<br> +What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of +yore<br> +<p class="noindent">Meant in croaking +“Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable +expressing<br> +To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s +core;<br> +This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining<br> +On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated +o’er,<br> +But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating +o’er<br> +<p class="noindent"><i>She</i> shall press, ah, nevermore!</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen +censer<br> +Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted +floor.<br> +“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent +thee—by these angels he hath sent thee<br> +Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of +Lenore!<br> +Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost +Lenore!”<br> +<p class="noindent">Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>“Prophet!” said I, “thing of +evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—<br> +Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here +ashore,<br> +Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land +enchanted—<br> +On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I +implore—<br> +Is there—<i>is</i> there balm in Gilead?—tell +me—tell me, I implore!”<br> +<p class="noindent">Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>“Prophet!” said I, “thing of +evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!<br> +By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both +adore—<br> +Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant +Aidenn,<br> +It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name +Lenore—<br> +Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name +Lenore.”<br> +<p class="noindent">Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I +shrieked, upstarting—<br> +“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s +Plutonian shore!<br> +Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has +spoken!<br> +Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my +door!<br> +Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my +door!”<br> +<p class="noindent">Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is +sitting<br> +On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;<br> +And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is +dreaming<br> +And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on +the floor;<br> +And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the +floor<br> +<p class="noindent">Shall be lifted—nevermore!</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> + +<div class="book"><br> +<hr> +<br> +<center> +<h2><a name="2">THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH</a></h2> +</center> + +<p><br> +<font size="+1">T</font>HE “Red Death” had long +devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or +so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal—the redness +and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden +dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with +dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon +the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from +the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole +seizure, progress, and termination of the disease, were the +incidents of half an hour.</p> + +<p>But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. +When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his +presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the +knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the +deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an +extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the +prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty +wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, +having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the +bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress nor egress +to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The +abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers +might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take +care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to +think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. +There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were +ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was +wine. All these and security were within. Without was the +“Red Death.”</p> + +<p>It was towards the close of the fifth or sixth month of his +seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, +that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a +masked ball of the most unusual magnificence.</p> + +<p>It was a voluptuous scene, that masquerade. But first let me +tell of the rooms in which it was held. These were seven—an +imperial suite. In many palaces, however, such suites form a long +and straight vista, while the folding doors slide back nearly to +the walls on either hand, so that the view of the whole extent is +scarcely impeded. Here the case was very different, as might have +been expected from the duke’s love of the <i>bizarre</i>. +The apartments were so irregularly disposed that the vision +embraced but little more than one at a time. There was a sharp +turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel +effect. To the right and left, in the middle of each wall, a tall +and narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which +pursued the windings of the suite. These windows were of stained +glass whose color varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of +the decorations of the chamber into which it opened. That at the +eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue—and +vividly blue were its windows. The second chamber was purple in +its ornaments and tapestries, and here the panes were purple. The +third was green throughout, and so were the casements. The fourth +was furnished and lighted with orange—the fifth with +white—the sixth with violet. The seventh apartment was +closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over +the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a +carpet of the same material and hue. But in this chamber only, +the color of the windows failed to correspond with the +decorations. The panes here were scarlet—a deep blood +color. Now in no one of the seven apartments was there any lamp +or candelabrum, amid the profusion of golden ornaments that lay +scattered to and fro or depended from the roof. There was no +light of any kind emanating from lamp or candle within the suite +of chambers. But in the corridors that followed the suite, there +stood, opposite to each window, a heavy tripod, bearing a brazier +of fire, that projected its rays through the tinted glass and so +glaringly illumined the room. And thus were produced a multitude +of gaudy and fantastic appearances. But in the western or black +chamber the effect of the fire-light that streamed upon the dark +hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in the +extreme, and produced so wild a look upon the countenances of +those who entered, that there were few of the company bold enough +to set foot within its precincts at all.</p> + +<p>It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the +western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to +and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the +minute-hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be +stricken, there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound +which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of +so peculiar a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour, +the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, +momentarily, in their performance, to hearken to the sound; and +thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and there was +a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the +chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest +grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over +their brows as if in confused revery or meditation. But when the +echoes had fully ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the +assembly; the musicians looked at each other and smiled as if at +their own nervousness and folly, and made whispering vows, each +to the other, that the next chiming of the clock should produce +in them no similar emotion; and then, after the lapse of sixty +minutes (which embrace three thousand and six hundred seconds of +the Time that flies), there came yet another chiming of the +clock, and then were the same disconcert and tremulousness and +meditation as before.</p> + +<p>But, in spite of these things, it was a gay and magnificent +revel. The tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye +for colors and effects. He disregarded the <i>decora</i> of mere +fashion. His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions +glowed with barbaric lustre. There are some who would have +thought him mad. His followers felt that he was not. It was +necessary to hear and see and touch him to be <i>sure</i> that he +was not.</p> + +<p>He had directed, in great part, the movable embellishments of +the seven chambers, upon occasion of this great +<i>fête</i>; and it was his own guiding taste which had +given character to the masqueraders. Be sure they were grotesque. +There were much glare and glitter and piquancy and +phantasm—much of what has been since seen in +“Hernani.” There were arabesque figures with unsuited +limbs and appointments. There were delirious fancies such as the +madman fashions. There were much of the beautiful, much of the +wanton, much of the <i>bizarre</i>, something of the terrible, +and not a little of that which might have excited disgust. To and +fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of +dreams. And these—the dreams—writhed in and about, +taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the +orchestra to seem as the echo of their steps. And, anon, there +strikes the ebony clock which stands in the hall of the velvet. +And then, for a moment, all is still, and all is silent save the +voice of the clock. The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. +But the echoes of the chime die away—they have endured but +an instant—and a light, half-subdued laughter floats after +them as they depart. And now again the music swells, and the +dreams live, and writhe to and fro more merrily than ever, taking +hue from the many-tinted windows through which stream the rays +from the tripods. But to the chamber which lies most westwardly +of the seven, there are now none of the maskers who venture; for +the night is waning away; and there flows a ruddier light through +the blood-colored panes; and the blackness of the sable drapery +appals; and to him whose foot falls upon the sable carpet, there +comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled peal more solemnly +emphatic than any which reaches <i>their</i> ears who indulge in +the more remote gaieties of the other apartments.</p> + +<p>But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them +beat feverishly the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly +on, until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon +the clock. And then the music ceased, as I have told; and the +evolutions of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy +cessation of all things as before. But now there were twelve +strokes to be sounded by the bell of the clock; and thus it +happened, perhaps, that more of thought crept, with more of time, +into the meditations of the thoughtful among those who revelled. +And thus too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes +of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were many +individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of +the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention +of no single individual before. And the rumor of this new +presence having spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at +length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of +disapprobation and surprise—then, finally, of terror, of +horror, and of disgust.</p> + +<p>In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may +well be supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited +such sensation. In truth the masquerade license of the night was +nearly unlimited; but the figure in question had out-Heroded +Herod, and gone beyond the bounds of even the prince’s +indefinite decorum. There are chords in the hearts of the most +reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the +utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are +matters of which no jest can be made. The whole company, indeed, +seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the +stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure was tall +and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of +the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly +to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the +closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. +And yet all this might have been endured, if not approved, by the +mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume +the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in +<i>blood</i>—and his broad brow, with all the features of +the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror.</p> + +<p>When the eyes of the Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral +image (which, with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully +to sustain its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he +was seen to be convulsed, in the first moment with a strong +shudder either of terror or distaste; but, in the next, his brow +reddened with rage.</p> + +<p>“Who dares”—he demanded hoarsely of the +courtiers who stood near him—“who dares insult us +with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask +him—that we may know whom we have to hang, at sunrise, from +the battlements!”</p> + +<p>It was in the eastern or blue chamber in which stood the +Prince Prospero as he uttered these words. They rang throughout +the seven rooms loudly and clearly, for the prince was a bold and +robust man, and the music had become hushed at the waving of his +hand.</p> + +<p>It was in the blue room where stood the prince, with a group +of pale courtiers by his side. At first, as he spoke, there was a +slight rushing movement of this group in the direction of the +intruder, who, at the moment was also near at hand, and now, with +deliberate and stately step, made closer approach to the speaker. +But from a certain nameless awe with which the mad assumptions of +the mummer had inspired the whole party, there were found none +who put forth hand to seize him; so that, unimpeded, he passed +within a yard of the prince’s person; and, while the vast +assembly, as if with one impulse, shrank from the centres of the +rooms to the walls, he made his way uninterruptedly, but with the +same solemn and measured step which had distinguished him from +the first, through the blue chamber to the purple—through +the purple to the green—through the green to the +orange—through this again to the white—and even +thence to the violet, ere a decided movement had been made to +arrest him. It was then, however, that the Prince Prospero, +maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, +rushed hurriedly through the six chambers, while none followed +him on account of a deadly terror that had seized upon all. He +bore aloft a drawn dagger, and had approached, in rapid +impetuosity, to within three or four feet of the retreating +figure, when the latter, having attained the extremity of the +velvet apartment, turned suddenly and confronted his pursuer. +There was a sharp cry—and the dagger dropped gleaming upon +the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterward, fell prostrate +in death the Prince Prospero. Then, summoning the wild courage of +despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into +the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure +stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, +gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave cerements and +corpse-like mask, which they handled with so violent a rudeness, +untenanted by any tangible form.</p> + +<p>And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had +come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the +revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died +each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the +ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the +flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red +Death held illimitable dominion over all.<br> +<br> +</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<center> +<h2><a name="3">THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO</a></h2> +</center> + +<p><br> +<font size="+1">T</font>HE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had +borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed +revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not +suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. <i>At +length</i> I would be avenged; this was a point definitely +settled—but the very definitiveness with which it was +resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but +punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution +overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the +avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done +the wrong.</p> + +<p>It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I +given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was +my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my +smile <i>now</i> was at the thought of his immolation.</p> + +<p>He had a weak point—this Fortunato—although in +other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He +prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have +the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is +adopted to suit the time and opportunity—to practise +imposture upon the British and Austrian <i>millionaires</i>. In +painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a +quack—but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In +this respect I did not differ from him materially: I was skilful +in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I +could.</p> + +<p>It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of +the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me +with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man +wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and +his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells. I was so +pleased to see him, that I thought I should never have done +wringing his hand.</p> + +<p>I said to him: “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. +How remarkably well you are looking to-day! But I have received a +pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my +doubts.”</p> + +<p>“How?” said he. “Amontillado? A pipe? +Impossible! And in the middle of the carnival!”</p> + +<p>“I have my doubts,” I replied; “and I was +silly enough to pay the full Amontillado price without consulting +you in the matter. You were not to be found, and I was fearful of +losing a bargain.”</p> + +<p>“Amontillado!”</p> + +<p>“I have my doubts.”</p> + +<p>“Amontillado!”</p> + +<p>“And I must satisfy them.”</p> + +<p>“Amontillado!”</p> + +<p>“As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If any +one has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell +me—”</p> + +<p>“Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry.”</p> + +<p>“And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a +match for your own.”</p> + +<p>“Come, let us go.”</p> + +<p>“Whither?”</p> + +<p>“To your vaults.”</p> + +<p>“My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. +I perceive you have an engagement. Luchesi—”</p> + +<p>“I have no engagement;—come.”</p> + +<p>“My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe +cold with which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are +insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre.”</p> + +<p>“Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. +Amontillado! You have been imposed upon. And as for Luchesi, he +cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado.”</p> + +<p>Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my arm. Putting +on a mask of black silk, and drawing a <i>roquelaire</i> closely +about my person, I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo.</p> + +<p>There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make +merry in honor of the time. I had told them that I should not +return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not +to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well +knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as +soon as my back was turned.</p> + +<p>I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to +Fortunato, bowed him through several suites of rooms to the +archway that led into the vaults. I passed down a long and +winding staircase, requesting him to be cautious as he followed. +We came at length to the foot of the descent, and stood together +on the damp ground of the catacombs of the Montresors.</p> + +<p>The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap +jingled as he strode.</p> + +<p>“The pipe?” said he.</p> + +<p>“It is farther on,” said I; “but observe the +white web-work which gleams from these cavern walls.”</p> + +<p>He turned towards me, and looked into my eyes with two filmy +orbs that distilled the rheum of intoxication.</p> + +<p>“Nitre?” he asked, at length.</p> + +<p>“Nitre,” I replied. “How long have you had +that cough?”</p> + +<p>“Ugh! ugh! ugh!—ugh! ugh! ugh!—ugh! ugh! +ugh!—ugh! ugh! ugh!—ugh! ugh! ugh!”</p> + +<p>My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many +minutes.</p> + +<p>“It is nothing,” he said, at last.</p> + +<p>“Come,” I said, with decision, “we will go +back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, +beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be +missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, +and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is +Luchesi—”</p> + +<p>“Enough,” he said; “the cough is a mere +nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a +cough.”</p> + +<p>“True—true,” I replied; “and, indeed, +I had no intention of alarming you unnecessarily; but you should +use all proper caution. A draught of this Medoc will defend us +from the damps.”</p> + +<p>Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a +long row of its fellows that lay upon the mould.</p> + +<p>“Drink,” I said, presenting him the wine.</p> + +<p>He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused and nodded to +me familiarly, while his bells jingled.</p> + +<p>“I drink,” he said, “to the buried that +repose around us.”</p> + +<p>“And I to your long life.”</p> + +<p>He again took my arm, and we proceeded.</p> + +<p>“These vaults,” he said, “are +extensive.”</p> + +<p>“The Montresors,” I replied, “were a great +and numerous family.”</p> + +<p>“I forget your arms.”</p> + +<p>“A huge human foot d’or, in a field azure; the +foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the +heel.”</p> + +<p>“And the motto?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Nemo me impune lacessit.</i>”</p> + +<p>“Good!” he said.</p> + +<p>The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own +fancy grew warm with the Medoc. We had passed through walls of +piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the +inmost recesses of the catacombs. I paused again, and this time I +made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow.</p> + +<p>“The nitre!” I said; “see, it increases. It +hangs like moss upon the vaults. We are below the river’s +bed. The drops of moisture trickle among the bones. Come, we will +go back ere it is too late. Your cough—”</p> + +<p>“It is nothing,” he said; “let us go on. But +first, another draught of the Medoc.”</p> + +<p>I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grâve. He emptied +it at a breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed +and threw the bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not +understand.</p> + +<p>I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movement—a +grotesque one.</p> + +<p>“You do not comprehend?” he said.</p> + +<p>“Not I,” I replied.</p> + +<p>“Then you are not of the brotherhood.”</p> + +<p>“How?”</p> + +<p>“You are not of the masons.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes,” I said; “yes, yes.”</p> + +<p>“You? Impossible! A mason?”</p> + +<p>“A mason,” I replied.</p> + +<p>“A sign,” he said.</p> + +<p>“It is this,” I answered, producing a trowel from +beneath the folds of my <i>roquelaire</i>.</p> + +<p>“You jest,” he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. +“But let us proceed to the Amontillado.”</p> + +<p>“Be it so,” I said, replacing the tool beneath the +cloak, and again offering him my arm. He leaned upon it heavily. +We continued our route in search of the Amontillado. We passed +through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and +descending again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness +of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.</p> + +<p>At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another +less spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled +to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of +Paris. Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented +in this manner. From the fourth the bones had been thrown down, +and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a +mound of some size. Within the wall thus exposed by the +displacing of the bones, we perceived a still interior recess, in +depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or seven. It +seemed to have been constructed for no especial use within +itself, but formed merely the interval between two of the +colossal supports of the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by +one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite.</p> + +<p>It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull torch, +endeavoured to pry into the depth of the recess. Its termination +the feeble light did not enable us to see.</p> + +<p>“Proceed,” I said; “herein is the +Amontillado. As for Luchesi—”</p> + +<p>“He is an ignoramus,” interrupted my friend, as he +stepped unsteadily forward, while I followed immediately at his +heels. In an instant he had reached the extremity of the niche, +and finding his progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly +bewildered. A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite. +In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other +about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short +chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links about his +waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was +too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back +from the recess.</p> + +<p>“Pass your hand,” I said, “over the wall; +you cannot help feeling the nitre. Indeed, it is <i>very</i> +damp. Once more let me <i>implore</i> you to return. No? Then I +must positively leave you. But I must first render you all the +little attentions in my power.”</p> + +<p>“The Amontillado!” ejaculated my friend, not yet +recovered from his astonishment.</p> + +<p>“True,” I replied; “the +Amontillado.”</p> + +<p>As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of bones +of which I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I soon +uncovered a quantity of building stone and mortar. With these +materials and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to +wall up the entrance of the niche.</p> + +<p>I had scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I +discovered that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great +measure worn off. The earliest indication I had of this was a low +moaning cry from the depth of the recess. It was <i>not</i> the +cry of a drunken man. There was then a long and obstinate +silence. I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth; +and then I heard the furious vibrations of the chain. The noise +lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to +it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat down +upon the bones. When at last the clanking subsided, I resumed the +trowel, and finished without interruption the fifth, the sixth, +and the seventh tier. The wall was now nearly upon a level with +my breast. I again paused, and holding the flambeaux over the +mason-work, threw a few feeble rays upon the figure within.</p> + +<p>A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly +from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me +violently back. For a brief moment I hesitated—I trembled. +Unsheathing my rapier, I began to grope with it about the recess; +but the thought of an instant reassured me. I placed my hand upon +the solid fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied. I +reapproached the wall. I replied to the yells of him who +clamored. I re-echoed—I aided—I surpassed them in +volume and in strength. I did this, and the clamorer grew +still.</p> + +<p>It was now midnight, and my task was drawing to a close. I had +completed the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth tier. I had +finished a portion of the last and the eleventh; there remained +but a single stone to be fitted and plastered in. I struggled +with its weight; I placed it partially in its destined position. +But now there came from out the niche a low laugh that erected +the hairs upon my head. It was succeeded by a sad voice, which I +had difficulty in recognizing as that of the noble Fortunato. The +voice said—</p> + +<p>“Ha! ha! ha!—he! he!—a very good joke +indeed—an excellent jest. We shall have many a rich laugh +about it at the palazzo—he! he! he!—over our +wine—he! he! he!”</p> + +<p>“The Amontillado!” I said.</p> + +<p>“He! he! he!—he! he! he!—yes, the +Amontillado. But is it not getting late? Will not they be +awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady Fortunato and the rest? Let +us be gone.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” I said, “let us be gone.”</p> + +<p>“<i>For the love of God, Montresor!</i>”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” I said, “for the love of +God!”</p> + +<p>But to these words I hearkened in vain for a reply. I grew +impatient. I called aloud:</p> + +<p>“Fortunato!”</p> + +<p>No answer. I called again:</p> + +<p>“Fortunato!”</p> + +<p>No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining +aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in reply only a +jingling of the bells. My heart grew sick—on account of the +dampness of the catacombs. I hastened to make an end of my labor. +I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. +Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. +For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. <i>In +pace requiescat!</i><br> +<br> +</p> + +<hr size="3" noshade> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of First Gutenberg Collection of Edgar +Allan Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUTENBERG COLLECTION--E. A. POE *** + +***** This file should be named 1062-h.htm or 1062-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/6/1062/ + +Produced by Levent Kurnaz and Jose Menendez + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/old/1062.txt b/old/1062.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a13641 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1062.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1129 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of First Gutenberg Collection of Edgar Allan +Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: First Gutenberg Collection of Edgar Allan Poe + +Author: Edgar Allan Poe + +Posting Date: June 6, 2010 [EBook #1062] +Release Date: October, 1997 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUTENBERG COLLECTION--E. A. POE *** + + + + +Produced by Levent Kurnaz and Jose Menendez + + + + + + + +This is our second experimental effort at cataloguing multiple items in +a single file. In the first instance we use the same index number for +each item, and just used multiple entries for that file in the index. +In this, the second instance, we have used separate index numbers for +the collection and for all the entries in that collection. Let us know +which you prefer. We have traditionally used the smallest number of +index entries--as somewhat of a protest against others who have copied +Etexts and wanted it to appear as if they had more Etext than Project +Gutenberg or various other etext collections. We want to make our +Etexts as easy as possible to find and work with, but, not to "pad" our +work. However, we prefer to post short works for you in collections, +to eliminate you having to download all 11 kilobytes of our header and +"legal fine print" to get files of sizes less than the headers. Please +email me on this. Thanks! Michael S. Hart, hart@pobox.com + + + + +The Raven + +by Edgar Allan Poe + +October, 1997 [Etext #1064]* + + + +THE RAVEN + + + + Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, + Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-- + While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, + As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. + "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-- + Only this and nothing more." + + Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, + And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. + Eagerly I wished the morrow;--vainly I had sought to borrow + From my books surcease of sorrow--sorrow for the lost Lenore-- + For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-- + Nameless here for evermore. + + And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain + Thrilled me--filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; + So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating + "'Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door-- + Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door; + This it is and nothing more." + + Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, + "Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; + But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, + And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, + That I scarce was sure I heard you"--here I opened wide the door-- + Darkness there and nothing more. + + Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, + Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before; + But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, + And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?" + This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-- + Merely this and nothing more. + + Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, + Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before. + "Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice; + Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery explore-- + Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-- + 'Tis the wind and nothing more. + + Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, + In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore. + Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he, + But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-- + Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-- + Perched, and sat, and nothing more. + + Then the ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, + By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, + "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, + Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-- + Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + + Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, + Though its answer little meaning--little relevancy bore; + For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being + Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door-- + Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door, + With such name as "Nevermore." + + But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only + That one word, as if its soul in that one word he did outpour + Nothing farther then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered-- + Till I scarcely more than muttered: "Other friends have flown before-- + On the morrow _he_ will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before." + Then the bird said "Nevermore." + + Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken, + "Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store, + Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster + Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-- + Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore + Of 'Never--nevermore.'" + + But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling, + Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door; + Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking + Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-- + What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore + Meant in croaking "Nevermore." + + This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing + To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core; + This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining + On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er, + But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er + _She_ shall press, ah, nevermore! + + Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer + Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor. + "Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee--by these angels he hath sent thee + Respite--respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! + Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + + "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!-- + Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, + Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-- + On this home by Horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore-- + Is there--_is_ there balm in Gilead?--tell me--tell me, I implore!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + + "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil! + By that Heaven that bends above us--by that God we both adore-- + Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, + It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore-- + Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore." + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + + "Be that our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting-- + "Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore! + Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has spoken! + Leave my loneliness unbroken!--quit the bust above my door! + Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + + And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting + On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; + And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming + And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadows on the floor; + And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor + Shall be lifted--nevermore! + + + + +The Masque of the Red Death + +by Edgar Allan Poe + +October, 1997 [Etext #1064]* + + + + +The Masque of the Red Death + + +The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had +ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its +seal--the redness and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and +sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with +dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the +face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the aid +and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole seizure, +progress and termination of the disease, were the incidents of half an +hour. + +But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his +dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand +hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his +court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his +castellated abbeys. This was an extensive and magnificent structure, +the creation of the prince's own eccentric yet august taste. A strong +and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The +courtiers, having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and +welded the bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress nor +egress to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The +abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might +bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of +itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The +prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were +buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, there +were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and +security were within. Without was the "Red Death". + +It was towards the close of the fifth or sixth month of his seclusion, +and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, that the Prince +Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a masked ball of the most +unusual magnificence. + +It was a voluptuous scene, that masquerade. But first let me tell of +the rooms in which it was held. These were seven--an imperial suite. +In many palaces, however, such suites form a long and straight vista, +while the folding doors slide back nearly to the walls on either hand, +so that the view of the whole extent is scarcely impeded. Here the +case was very different, as might have been expected from the duke's +love of the _bizarre_. The apartments were so irregularly disposed that +the vision embraced but little more than one at a time. There was a +sharp turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel +effect. To the right and left, in the middle of each wall, a tall and +narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which pursued +the windings of the suite. These windows were of stained glass whose +colour varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of the decorations +of the chamber into which it opened. That at the eastern extremity was +hung, for example in blue--and vividly blue were its windows. The +second chamber was purple in its ornaments and tapestries, and here the +panes were purple. The third was green throughout, and so were the +casements. The fourth was furnished and lighted with orange--the fifth +with white--the sixth with violet. The seventh apartment was closely +shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and +down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same +material and hue. But in this chamber only, the colour of the windows +failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes here were +scarlet--a deep blood colour. Now in no one of the seven apartments +was there any lamp or candelabrum, amid the profusion of golden +ornaments that lay scattered to and fro or depended from the roof. +There was no light of any kind emanating from lamp or candle within the +suite of chambers. But in the corridors that followed the suite, there +stood, opposite to each window, a heavy tripod, bearing a brazier of +fire, that projected its rays through the tinted glass and so glaringly +illumined the room. And thus were produced a multitude of gaudy and +fantastic appearances. But in the western or black chamber the effect +of the fire-light that streamed upon the dark hangings through the +blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in the extreme, and produced so wild a +look upon the countenances of those who entered, that there were few of +the company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all. + +It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western +wall, a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to and fro with a +dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the minute-hand made the +circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came from +the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep +and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that, +at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were +constrained to pause, momentarily, in their performance, to harken to +the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and +there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the +chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew +pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows +as if in confused revery or meditation. But when the echoes had fully +ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the assembly; the musicians +looked at each other and smiled as if at their own nervousness and +folly, and made whispering vows, each to the other, that the next +chiming of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion; and +then, after the lapse of sixty minutes, (which embrace three thousand +and six hundred seconds of the Time that flies,) there came yet another +chiming of the clock, and then were the same disconcert and +tremulousness and meditation as before. + +But, in spite of these things, it was a gay and magnificent revel. The +tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye for colours and +effects. He disregarded the _decora_ of mere fashion. His plans were +bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed with barbaric lustre. There +are some who would have thought him mad. His followers felt that he +was not. It was necessary to hear and see and touch him to be _sure_ +that he was not. + +He had directed, in great part, the movable embellishments of the seven +chambers, upon occasion of this great _fete_; and it was his own guiding +taste which had given character to the masqueraders. Be sure they were +grotesque. There were much glare and glitter and piquancy and +phantasm--much of what has been since seen in "Hernani". There were +arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments. There were +delirious fancies such as the madman fashions. There were much of the +beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the _bizarre_, something of the +terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust. +To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of +dreams. And these--the dreams--writhed in and about taking hue from +the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the +echo of their steps. And, anon, there strikes the ebony clock which +stands in the hall of the velvet. And then, for a moment, all is +still, and all is silent save the voice of the clock. The dreams are +stiff-frozen as they stand. But the echoes of the chime die away--they +have endured but an instant--and a light, half-subdued laughter floats +after them as they depart. And now again the music swells, and the +dreams live, and writhe to and fro more merrily than ever, taking hue +from the many tinted windows through which stream the rays from the +tripods. But to the chamber which lies most westwardly of the seven, +there are now none of the maskers who venture; for the night is waning +away; and there flows a ruddier light through the blood-coloured panes; +and the blackness of the sable drapery appals; and to him whose foot +falls upon the sable carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a +muffled peal more solemnly emphatic than any which reaches _their_ ears +who indulged in the more remote gaieties of the other apartments. + +But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them beat +feverishly the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly on, until +at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon the clock. And +then the music ceased, as I have told; and the evolutions of the +waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy cessation of all things +as before. But now there were twelve strokes to be sounded by the bell +of the clock; and thus it happened, perhaps, that more of thought +crept, with more of time, into the meditations of the thoughtful among +those who revelled. And thus too, it happened, perhaps, that before the +last echoes of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were +many individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of +the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention of no +single individual before. And the rumour of this new presence having +spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at length from the whole +company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of disapprobation and +surprise--then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust. + +In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may well be +supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited such sensation. +In truth the masquerade licence of the night was nearly unlimited; but +the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod, and gone beyond the +bounds of even the prince's indefinite decorum. There are chords in the +hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. +Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, +there are matters of which no jest can be made. The whole company, +indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of +the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure was tall +and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the +grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to +resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest +scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. And yet all +this might have been endured, if not approved, by the mad revellers +around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the +Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in _blood_--and his broad brow, with +all the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror. + +When the eyes of the Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral image +(which, with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully to sustain +its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he was seen to be +convulsed, in the first moment with a strong shudder either of terror +or distaste; but, in the next, his brow reddened with rage. + +"Who dares,"--he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near +him--"who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and +unmask him--that we may know whom we have to hang, at sunrise, from the +battlements!" + +It was in the eastern or blue chamber in which stood the Prince +Prospero as he uttered these words. They rang throughout the seven +rooms loudly and clearly, for the prince was a bold and robust man, and +the music had become hushed at the waving of his hand. + +It was in the blue room where stood the prince, with a group of pale +courtiers by his side. At first, as he spoke, there was a slight +rushing movement of this group in the direction of the intruder, who at +the moment was also near at hand, and now, with deliberate and stately +step, made closer approach to the speaker. But from a certain nameless +awe with which the mad assumptions of the mummer had inspired the whole +party, there were found none who put forth hand to seize him; so that, +unimpeded, he passed within a yard of the prince's person; and, while +the vast assembly, as if with one impulse, shrank from the centres of +the rooms to the walls, he made his way uninterruptedly, but with the +same solemn and measured step which had distinguished him from the +first, through the blue chamber to the purple--through the purple to +the green--through the green to the orange--through this again to the +white--and even thence to the violet, ere a decided movement had been +made to arrest him. It was then, however, that the Prince Prospero, +maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, +rushed hurriedly through the six chambers, while none followed him on +account of a deadly terror that had seized upon all. He bore aloft a +drawn dagger, and had approached, in rapid impetuosity, to within three +or four feet of the retreating figure, when the latter, having attained +the extremity of the velvet apartment, turned suddenly and confronted +his pursuer. There was a sharp cry--and the dagger dropped gleaming +upon the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate +in death the Prince Prospero. Then, summoning the wild courage of +despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the +black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect +and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in +unutterable horror at finding the grave cerements and corpse-like mask, +which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by any +tangible form. + +And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come +like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revellers in the +blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing +posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony clock went out with +that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. +And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over +all. + + + + +The Cask of Amontillado + +by Edgar Allan Poe + +October, 1997 [Etext #1065]* + + + +The Cask of Amontillado + + +The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but +when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know +the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance +to a threat. _At length_ I would be avenged; this was a point +definitely settled--but the very definitiveness with which it was +resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but +punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution +overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger +fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong. + +It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given +Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to +smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile _now_ was at +the thought of his immolation. + +He had a weak point--this Fortunato--although in other regards he was a +man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his +connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. +For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and +opportunity--to practise imposture upon the British and Austrian +_millionaires_. In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, +was a quack--but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this +respect I did not differ from him materially: I was skillful in the +Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could. + +It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the +carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with +excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. +He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was +surmounted by the conical cap and bells. I was so pleased to see him, +that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand. + +I said to him--"My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably +well you are looking to-day! But I have received a pipe of what passes +for Amontillado, and I have my doubts." + +"How?" said he. "Amontillado? A pipe? Impossible! And in the middle +of the carnival!" + +"I have my doubts," I replied; "and I was silly enough to pay the full +Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. You were not to +be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain." + +"Amontillado!" + +"I have my doubts." + +"Amontillado!" + +"And I must satisfy them." + +"Amontillado!" + +"As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If any one has a +critical turn, it is he. He will tell me--" + +"Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry." + +"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your +own." + +"Come, let us go." + +"Whither?" + +"To your vaults." + +"My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive +you have an engagement. Luchesi--" + +"I have no engagement;--come." + +"My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with +which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. +They are encrusted with nitre." + +"Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado! You +have been imposed upon. And as for Luchesi, he cannot distinguish +Sherry from Amontillado." + +Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my arm. Putting on a mask +of black silk, and drawing a _roquelaire_ closely about my person, I +suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo. + +There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in +honour of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the +morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. +These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate +disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned. + +I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to Fortunato, +bowed him through several suites of rooms to the archway that led into +the vaults. I passed down a long and winding staircase, requesting him +to be cautious as he followed. We came at length to the foot of the +descent, and stood together on the damp ground of the catacombs of the +Montresors. + +The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap jingled +as he strode. + +"The pipe," said he. + +"It is farther on," said I; "but observe the white web-work which +gleams from these cavern walls." + +He turned towards me, and looked into my eyes with two filmy orbs that +distilled the rheum of intoxication. + +"Nitre?" he asked, at length. + +"Nitre," I replied. "How long have you had that cough?" + +"Ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! +ugh! ugh!" + +My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes. + +"It is nothing," he said, at last. + +"Come," I said, with decision, "we will go back; your health is +precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as +once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We +will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, +there is Luchesi--" + +"Enough," he said; "the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I +shall not die of a cough." + +"True--true," I replied; "and, indeed, I had no intention of alarming +you unnecessarily--but you should use all proper caution. A draught of +this Medoc will defend us from the damps." + +Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a long row of +its fellows that lay upon the mould. + +"Drink," I said, presenting him the wine. + +He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused and nodded to me +familiarly, while his bells jingled. + +"I drink," he said, "to the buried that repose around us." + +"And I to your long life." + +He again took my arm, and we proceeded. + +"These vaults," he said, "are extensive." + +"The Montresors," I replied, "were a great and numerous family." + +"I forget your arms." + +"A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent +rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel." + +"And the motto?" + +"_Nemo me impune lacessit_." + +"Good!" he said. + +The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own fancy grew +warm with the Medoc. We had passed through walls of piled bones, with +casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of +catacombs. I paused again, and this time I made bold to seize +Fortunato by an arm above the elbow. + +"The nitre!" I said; "see, it increases. It hangs like moss upon the +vaults. We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle +among the bones. Come, we will go back ere it is too late. Your +cough--" + +"It is nothing," he said; "let us go on. But first, another draught of +the Medoc." + +I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave. He emptied it at a +breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed and threw +the bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand. + +I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movement--a grotesque one. + +"You do not comprehend?" he said. + +"Not I," I replied. + +"Then you are not of the brotherhood." + +"How?" + +"You are not of the masons." + +"Yes, yes," I said; "yes, yes." + +"You? Impossible! A mason?" + +"A mason," I replied. + +"A sign," he said, "a sign." + +"It is this," I answered, producing a trowel from beneath the folds of +my _roquelaire_. + +"You jest," he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. "But let us proceed +to the Amontillado." + +"Be it so," I said, replacing the tool beneath the cloak and again +offering him my arm. He leaned upon it heavily. We continued our +route in search of the Amontillado. We passed through a range of low +arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived at a deep +crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to +glow than flame. + +At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another less +spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the +vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of Paris. Three +sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this manner. From +the fourth side the bones had been thrown down, and lay promiscuously +upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size. Within the +wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones, we perceived a still +interior recess, in depth about four feet in width three, in height six +or seven. It seemed to have been constructed for no especial use +within itself, but formed merely the interval between two of the +colossal supports of the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one +of their circumscribing walls of solid granite. + +It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull torch, endeavoured to +pry into the depth of the recess. Its termination the feeble light did +not enable us to see. + +"Proceed," I said; "herein is the Amontillado. As for Luchesi--" + +"He is an ignoramus," interrupted my friend, as he stepped unsteadily +forward, while I followed immediately at his heels. In an instant he +had reached the extremity of the niche, and finding his progress +arrested by the rock, stood stupidly bewildered. A moment more and I +had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, +distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of +these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the +links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure +it. He was too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I +stepped back from the recess. + +"Pass your hand," I said, "over the wall; you cannot help feeling the +nitre. Indeed, it is _very_ damp. Once more let me _implore_ you to +return. No? Then I must positively leave you. But I must first render +you all the little attentions in my power." + +"The Amontillado!" ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from his +astonishment. + +"True," I replied; "the Amontillado." + +As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of bones of which +I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I soon uncovered a quantity +of building stone and mortar. With these materials and with the aid of +my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche. + +I had scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I discovered +that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great measure worn off. The +earliest indication I had of this was a low moaning cry from the depth +of the recess. It was _not_ the cry of a drunken man. There was then a +long and obstinate silence. I laid the second tier, and the third, and +the fourth; and then I heard the furious vibrations of the chain. The +noise lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to +it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labours and sat down upon +the bones. When at last the clanking subsided, I resumed the trowel, +and finished without interruption the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh +tier. The wall was now nearly upon a level with my breast. I again +paused, and holding the flambeaux over the mason-work, threw a few +feeble rays upon the figure within. + +A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the +throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back. For a +brief moment I hesitated--I trembled. Unsheathing my rapier, I began +to grope with it about the recess; but the thought of an instant +reassured me. I placed my hand upon the solid fabric of the catacombs, +and felt satisfied. I reapproached the wall; I replied to the yells of +him who clamoured. I re-echoed--I aided--I surpassed them in volume +and in strength. I did this, and the clamourer grew still. + +It was now midnight, and my task was drawing to a close. I had +completed the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth tier. I had finished a +portion of the last and the eleventh; there remained but a single stone +to be fitted and plastered in. I struggled with its weight; I placed +it partially in its destined position. But now there came from out the +niche a low laugh that erected the hairs upon my head. It was +succeeded by a sad voice, which I had difficulty in recognizing as that +of the noble Fortunato. The voice said-- + +"Ha! ha! ha!--he! he! he!--a very good joke indeed--an excellent jest. +We shall have many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo--he! he! +he!--over our wine--he! he! he!" + +"The Amontillado!" I said. + +"He! he! he!--he! he! he!--yes, the Amontillado. But is it not getting +late? Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady Fortunato +and the rest? Let us be gone." + +"Yes," I said, "let us be gone." + +"_For the love of God, Montresor!_" + +"Yes," I said, "for the love of God!" + +But to these words I hearkened in vain for a reply. I grew impatient. +I called aloud-- + +"Fortunato!" + +No answer. I called again-- + +"Fortunato--" + +No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and +let it fall within. There came forth in reply only a jingling of the +bells. My heart grew sick on account of the dampness of the catacombs. +I hastened to make an end of my labour. I forced the last stone into +its position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected +the old rampart of bones. For the half of a century no mortal has +disturbed them. _In pace requiescat!_ + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of First Gutenberg Collection of Edgar +Allan Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GUTENBERG COLLECTION--E. A. POE *** + +***** This file should be named 1062.txt or 1062.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/6/1062/ + +Produced by Levent Kurnaz and Jose Menendez + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/1062.zip b/old/1062.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a3efcd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1062.zip diff --git a/old/old/1epoe10.txt b/old/old/1epoe10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f4a9f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/1epoe10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1031 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of several works by Edgar Allan Poe +The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death, The Cask of Amontillado + +#2,3,4 & 5 in our series by Edgar Allan Poe +#1 is The Fall of the House of Usher, June, 1997, Etext #932. +Filenames that are usher*.* + +This is our second experimental effort at cataloguing multiple +items in a single file. In the first instance we use the same +index number for each item, and just used multiple entries for +that file in the index. In this, the second instance, we have +used separate index numbers for the collection and for all the +entries in that collection. Let us know which you prefer. We +have traditionally used the smallest number of index entries-- +as somewhat of a protest against others who have copied Etexts +and wanted it to appear as if they had more Etext than Project +Gutenberg or various other etext collections. We want to make +our Etexts as easy as possible to find and work with, but, not +to "pad" our work. However, we prefer to post short works for +you in collections, to eliminate you having to download all 11 +kilobytes of our header and "legal fine print" to get files of +sizes less than the headers. Please email me on this. Thanks! +Michael S. Hart, hart@pobox.com + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death, The Cask of Amontillado + +by Edgar Allan Poe + +October, 1997 [Etexts #1062, #1063, #1064 and #1065] + + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of several works by Edgar Allan Poe +The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death, The Cask of Amontillado +******This file should be named 1epoe10.txt or 1epoe10.zip***** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, 1epoe11.txt. +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 1epoe10a.txt. + + +Scanned and proofread by Levent Kurnaz + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we do NOT keep these books +in compliance with any particular paper edition, usually otherwise. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, for time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +fifty hours is one conservative estimate for how long it we take +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-two text +files per month, or 384 more Etexts in 1997 for a total of 1000+ +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach over 100 billion Etexts given away. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by the December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000=Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only 10% of the present number of computer users. 2001 +should have at least twice as many computer users as that, so it +will require us reaching less than 5% of the users in 2001. + + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (CMU = Carnegie- +Mellon University). + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +We would prefer to send you this information by email +(Internet, Bitnet, Compuserve, ATTMAIL or MCImail). + +****** +If you have an FTP program (or emulator), please +FTP directly to the Project Gutenberg archives: +[Mac users, do NOT point and click. . .type] + +ftp uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd etext/etext90 through /etext96 +or cd etext/articles [get suggest gut for more information] +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET INDEX?00.GUT +for a list of books +and +GET NEW GUT for general information +and +MGET GUT* for newsletters. + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned and proofread by Levent Kurnaz + + + + + +The Raven + +by Edgar Allan Poe + +October, 1997 [Etext #1063]* + + + +THE RAVEN + + + +Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, +Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-- +While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, +As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. +"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-- + Only this and nothing more." + +Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, +And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. +Eagerly I wished the morrow;--vainly I had sought to borrow +From my books surcease of sorrow--sorrow for the lost Lenore-- +For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-- + Nameless here for evermore. + +And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain +Thrilled me--filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; +So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating +"'Tis some visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door-- +Some late visiter entreating entrance at my chamber door; + This it is and nothing more." + +Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, +"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore; +But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, +And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, +That I scarce was sure I heard you"--here I opened wide the door-- + Darkness there and nothing more. + +Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, +Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before; +But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, +And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?" +This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"-- + Merely this and nothing more. + +Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, +Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before. +"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice; +Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery explore-- +Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-- + 'Tis the wind and nothing more. + +Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, +In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore. +Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he, +But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-- +Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-- + Perched, and sat, and nothing more. + +Then the ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, +By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, +"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, +Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-- +Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + +Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, +Though its answer little meaning--little relevancy bore; +For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being +Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door-- +Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door, + With such name as "Nevermore." + +But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only +That one word, as if its soul in that one word he did outpour +Nothing farther then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered-- +Till I scarcely more than muttered: "Other friends have flown before-- +On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before." + Then the bird said "Nevermore." + +Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken, +"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store, +Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster +Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore-- +Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore + Of 'Never--nevermore.'" + +But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling, +Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door; +Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking +Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-- +What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore + Meant in croaking "Nevermore." + +This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing +To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core; +This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining +On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er, +But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er + She shall press, ah, nevermore! + +Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer +Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor. +"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee--by these angels he hath sent thee +Respite--respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore! +Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + +"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil!-- +Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore, +Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted-- +On this home by Horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore-- +Is there--is there balm in Gilead?--tell me--tell me, I implore!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + +"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!--prophet still, if bird or devil! +By that Heaven that bends above us--by that God we both adore-- +Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, +It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore-- +Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore." + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + +"Be that our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting-- +"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore! +Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has spoken! +Leave my loneliness unbroken!--quit the bust above my door! +Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!" + Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." + +And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting +On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; +And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming +And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadows on the floor; +And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor + Shall be lifted--nevermore! + + + + +The Masque of the Red Death + +by Edgar Allan Poe + +October, 1997 [Etext #1064]* + + + + +The Masque of the Red Death + + +The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No +pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its +Avatar and its seal--the redness and the horror of blood. There were +sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the +pores, with dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and +especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which +shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. +And the whole seizure, progress and termination of the disease, +were the incidents of half an hour. + +But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. +When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his +presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the +knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep +seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an extensive +and magnificent structure, the creation of the prince's own +eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. +This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, having entered, +brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the bolts. They +resolved to leave means neither of ingress nor egress to the sudden +impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The abbey was amply +provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers might bid +defiance to contagion. The external world could take care of +itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to think. The +prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were +buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet-dancers, +there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these +and security were within. Without was the "Red Death". + +It was towards the close of the fifth or sixth month of his +seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously +abroad, that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends +at a masked ball of the most unusual magnificence. + +It was a voluptuous scene, that masquerade. But first let me +tell of the rooms in which it was held. These were seven--an +imperial suite. In many palaces, however, such suites form a long +and straight vista, while the folding doors slide back nearly to +the walls on either hand, so that the view of the whole extent is +scarcely impeded. Here the case was very different, as might have +been expected from the duke's love of the bizarre. The +apartments were so irregularly disposed that the vision embraced +but little more than one at a time. There was a sharp turn at +every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel effect. To +the right and left, in the middle of each wall, a tall and narrow +Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which pursued the +windings of the suite. These windows were of stained glass whose +colour varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of the +decorations of the chamber into which it opened. That at the +eastern extremity was hung, for example in blue--and vividly blue +were its windows. The second chamber was purple in its ornaments +and tapestries, and here the panes were purple. The third was +green throughout, and so were the casements. The fourth was +furnished and lighted with orange--the fifth with white--the sixth +with violet. The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black +velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the +walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material +and hue. But in this chamber only, the colour of the windows +failed to correspond with the decorations. The panes here were +scarlet--a deep blood colour. Now in no one of the seven +apartments was there any lamp or candelabrum, amid the profusion of +golden ornaments that lay scattered to and fro or depended from the +roof. There was no light of any kind emanating from lamp or candle +within the suite of chambers. But in the corridors that followed +the suite, there stood, opposite to each window, a heavy tripod, +bearing a brazier of fire, that projected its rays through the +tinted glass and so glaringly illumined the room. And thus were +produced a multitude of gaudy and fantastic appearances. But in +the western or black chamber the effect of the fire-light that +streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood-tinted panes, +was ghastly in the extreme, and produced so wild a look upon the +countenances of those who entered, that there were few of the +company bold enough to set foot within its precincts at all. + +It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the +western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to and +fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the minute-hand +made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, +there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was +clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar +a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour, the musicians +of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily, in their +performance, to harken to the sound; and thus the waltzers perforce +ceased their evolutions; and there was a brief disconcert of the +whole gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it +was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and +sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused +revery or meditation. But when the echoes had fully ceased, a +light laughter at once pervaded the assembly; the musicians looked +at each other and smiled as if at their own nervousness and folly, +and made whispering vows, each to the other, that the next chiming +of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion; and then, +after the lapse of sixty minutes, (which embrace three thousand and +six hundred seconds of the Time that flies,) there came yet another +chiming of the clock, and then were the same disconcert and +tremulousness and meditation as before. + +But, in spite of these things, it was a gay and magnificent +revel. The tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye +for colours and effects. He disregarded the decora of mere +fashion. His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions glowed +with barbaric lustre. There are some who would have thought him +mad. His followers felt that he was not. It was necessary to hear +and see and touch him to be sure that he was not. + +He had directed, in great part, the movable embellishments of +the seven chambers, upon occasion of this great fete; and it +was his own guiding taste which had given character to the +masqueraders. Be sure they were grotesque. There were much glare +and glitter and piquancy and phantasm--much of what has been since + seen in "Hernani". There were arabesque figures with +unsuited limbs and appointments. There were delirious fancies such +as the madman fashions. There were much of the beautiful, much of +the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and +not a little of that which might have excited disgust. To and fro +in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of +dreams. And these--the dreams--writhed in and about taking hue +from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem +as the echo of their steps. And, anon, there strikes the ebony +clock which stands in the hall of the velvet. And then, for a +moment, all is still, and all is silent save the voice of the +clock. The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. But the echoes +of the chime die away--they have endured but an instant--and a +light, half-subdued laughter floats after them as they depart. And +now again the music swells, and the dreams live, and writhe to and +fro more merrily than ever, taking hue from the many tinted windows +through which stream the rays from the tripods. But to the chamber +which lies most westwardly of the seven, there are now none of the +maskers who venture; for the night is waning away; and there flows +a ruddier light through the blood-coloured panes; and the blackness +of the sable drapery appals; and to him whose foot falls upon the +sable carpet, there comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled +peal more solemnly emphatic than any which reaches their ears +who indulged in the more remote gaieties of the other apartments. + +But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them +beat feverishly the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly +on, until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon +the clock. And then the music ceased, as I have told; and the +evolutions of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy +cessation of all things as before. But now there were twelve +strokes to be sounded by the bell of the clock; and thus it +happened, perhaps, that more of thought crept, with more of time, +into the meditations of the thoughtful among those who revelled. +And thus too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes of +the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were many +individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of +the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the +attention of no single individual before. And the rumour of this +new presence having spread itself whisperingly around, there arose +at length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of +disapprobation and surprise--then, finally, of terror, of horror, +and of disgust. + +In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may +well be supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited +such sensation. In truth the masquerade licence of the night was +nearly unlimited; but the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod, +and gone beyond the bounds of even the prince's indefinite decorum. +There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be +touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life +and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can +be made. The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that +in the costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor +propriety existed. The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded +from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which +concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance +of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had +difficulty in detecting the cheat. And yet all this might have +been endured, if not approved, by the mad revellers around. But +the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death. +His vesture was dabbled in blood--and his broad brow, with all +the features of the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror. + +When the eyes of the Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral +image (which, with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully to +sustain its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he was +seen to be convulsed, in the first moment with a strong shudder +either of terror or distaste; but, in the next, his brow reddened +with rage. + +"Who dares,"--he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood +near him--"who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? +Seize him and unmask him--that we may know whom we have to hang, at +sunrise, from the battlements!" + +It was in the eastern or blue chamber in which stood the +Prince Prospero as he uttered these words. They rang throughout +the seven rooms loudly and clearly, for the prince was a bold and +robust man, and the music had become hushed at the waving of his +hand. + +It was in the blue room where stood the prince, with a group +of pale courtiers by his side. At first, as he spoke, +there was a slight rushing movement of this group in the direction +of the intruder, who at the moment was also near at hand, and now, +with deliberate and stately step, made closer approach to the +speaker. But from a certain nameless awe with which the mad +assumptions of the mummer had inspired the whole party, there were +found none who put forth hand to seize him; so that, unimpeded, he +passed within a yard of the prince's person; and, while the vast +assembly, as if with one impulse, shrank from the centres of the +rooms to the walls, he made his way uninterruptedly, but with the +same solemn and measured step which had distinguished him from the +first, through the blue chamber to the purple--through the purple +to the green--through the green to the orange--through this again +to the white--and even thence to the violet, ere a decided movement +had been made to arrest him. It was then, however, that the Prince +Prospero, maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary +cowardice, rushed hurriedly through the six chambers, while none +followed him on account of a deadly terror that had seized upon +all. He bore aloft a drawn dagger, and had approached, in rapid +impetuosity, to within three or four feet of the retreating figure, +when the latter, having attained the extremity of the velvet +apartment, turned suddenly and confronted his pursuer. There was +a sharp cry--and the dagger dropped gleaming upon the sable carpet, +upon which, instantly afterwards, fell prostrate in death the +Prince Prospero. Then, summoning the wild courage of despair, a +throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into the black +apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure stood erect +and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, gasped in +unutterable horror at finding the grave cerements and corpse-like +mask, which they handled with so violent a rudeness, untenanted by +any tangible form. + +And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He +had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the +revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each +in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the ebony +clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of +the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held +illimitable dominion over all. + + + +The Cask of Amontillado + +by Edgar Allan Poe + +October, 1997 [Etext #1065]* + + + +The Cask of Amontillado + + +The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best +could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who +so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that +I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; +this was a point definitely settled--but the very definitiveness +with which it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not +only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when +retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed +when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has +done the wrong. + +It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I +given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was +my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my +smile now was at the thought of his immolation. + +He had a weak point--this Fortunato--although in other regards +he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on +his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso +spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the +time and opportunity-- to practise imposture upon the British and +Austrian millionaires. In painting and gemmary, Fortunato, +like his countrymen, was a quack-- but in the matter of old wines he +was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him +materially: I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and +bought largely whenever I could. + +It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of +the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me +with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore +motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his +head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells. I was so pleased +to see him, that I thought I should never have done wringing his +hand. + +I said to him--"My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How +remarkably well you are looking to-day! But I have received a pipe +of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts." + +"How?" said he. "Amontillado? A pipe? Impossible! And in +the middle of the carnival!" + +"I have my doubts," I replied; "and I was silly enough to pay +the full Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. +You were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain." + +"Amontillado!" + +"I have my doubts." + +"Amontillado!" + +"And I must satisfy them." + +"Amontillado!" + +"As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If any one +has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell me--" + +"Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry." + +"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for +your own." + +"Come, let us go." + +"Whither?" + +"To your vaults." + +"My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. I +perceive you have an engagement. Luchesi--" + +"I have no engagement;--come." + +"My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold +with which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are +insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre." + +"Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. +Amontillado! You have been imposed upon. And as for Luchesi, he +cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado." + +Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my arm. +Putting on a mask of black silk, and drawing a roquelaire +closely about my person, I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo. + +There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make +merry in honour of the time. I had told them that I should not +return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not to +stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to +insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my +back was turned. + +I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to +Fortunato, bowed him through several suites of rooms to the archway +that led into the vaults. I passed down a long and winding +staircase, requesting him to be cautious as he followed. We +came at length to the foot of the descent, and stood together on +the damp ground of the catacombs of the Montresors. + +The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap +jingled as he strode. + +"The pipe," said he. + +"It is farther on," said I; "but observe the white web-work +which gleams from these cavern walls." + +He turned towards me, and looked into my eyes with two filmy +orbs that distilled the rheum of intoxication. + +"Nitre?" he asked, at length. + +"Nitre," I replied. "How long have you had that cough?" + +"Ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!--ugh! ugh! +ugh!--ugh! ugh! ugh!" + +My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes. + +"It is nothing," he said, at last. + +"Come," I said, with decision, "we will go back; your health +is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are +happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no +matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be +responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi--" + +"Enough," he said; "the cough is a mere nothing; it will not +kill me. I shall not die of a cough." + +"True--true," I replied; "and, indeed, I had no intention of +alarming you unnecessarily--but you should use all proper caution. +A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps." + +Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a +long row of its fellows that lay upon the mould. + +"Drink," I said, presenting him the wine. + +He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused and nodded to +me familiarly, while his bells jingled. + +"I drink," he said, "to the buried that repose around us." + +"And I to your long life." + +He again took my arm, and we proceeded. + +"These vaults," he said, "are extensive." + +"The Montresors," I replied, "were a great and numerous +family." + +"I forget your arms." + +"A huge human foot d'or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a +serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel." + +"And the motto?" + +" Nemo me impune lacessit." + +"Good!" he said. + +The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own +fancy grew warm with the Medoc. We had passed through walls +of piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into +the inmost recesses of catacombs. I paused again, and this time I +made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow. + +"The nitre!" I said; "see, it increases. It hangs like moss +upon the vaults. We are below the river's bed. The drops of +moisture trickle among the bones. Come, we will go back ere it is +too late. Your cough--" + +"It is nothing," he said; "let us go on. But first, another +draught of the Medoc." + +I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave. He emptied it +at a breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed and +threw the bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand. + +I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movement--a +grotesque one. + +"You do not comprehend?" he said. + +"Not I," I replied. + +"Then you are not of the brotherhood." + +"How?" + +"You are not of the masons." + +"Yes, yes," I said; "yes, yes." + +"You? Impossible! A mason?" + +"A mason," I replied. + +"A sign," he said, "a sign." + +"It is this," I answered, producing a trowel from beneath the folds of +my roquelaire. + +"You jest," he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. "But let us +proceed to the Amontillado." + +"Be it so," I said, replacing the tool beneath the cloak and +again offering him my arm. He leaned upon it heavily. We continued +our route in search of the Amontillado. We passed through a range +of low arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived +at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused +our flambeaux rather to glow than flame. + +At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another +less spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled +to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of +Paris. Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in +this manner. From the fourth side the bones had been thrown down, +and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound +of some size. Within the wall thus exposed by the displacing of +the bones, we perceived a still interior recess, in depth +about four feet in width three, in height six or seven. It seemed +to have been constructed for no especial use within itself, but +formed merely the interval between two of the colossal supports of +the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one of their +circumscribing walls of solid granite. + +It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull torch, +endeavoured to pry into the depth of the recess. Its termination +the feeble light did not enable us to see. + +"Proceed," I said; "herein is the Amontillado. As for +Luchesi--" + +"He is an ignoramus," interrupted my friend, as he stepped +unsteadily forward, while I followed immediately at his heels. In +an instant he had reached the extremity of the niche, and finding +his progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly bewildered. A +moment more and I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface +were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, +horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the +other a padlock. Throwing the links about his waist, it was but +the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was too much astounded +to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back from the recess. + +"Pass your hand," I said, "over the wall; you cannot help +feeling the nitre. Indeed, it is very damp. Once more let me + implore you to return. No? Then I must positively leave you. +But I must first render you all the little attentions in my power." + +"The Amontillado!" ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered +from his astonishment. + +"True," I replied; "the Amontillado." + +As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of bones +of which I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I soon un- +covered a quantity of building stone and mortar. With these +materials and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to wall +up the entrance of the niche. + +I had scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I discovered +that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great measure worn off. +The earliest indication I had of this was a low moaning cry from +the depth of the recess. It was not the cry of a drunken man. +There was then a long and obstinate silence. I laid the second +tier, and the third, and the fourth; and then I heard the furious +vibrations of the chain. The noise lasted for several minutes, +during which, that I might hearken to it with the more +satisfaction, I ceased my labours and sat down upon the bones. +When at last the clanking subsided, I resumed the trowel, and +finished without interruption the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh +tier. The wall was now nearly upon a level with my breast. I +again paused, and holding the flambeaux over the mason-work, threw +a few feeble rays upon the figure within. + +A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly +from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently +back. For a brief moment I hesitated-- I trembled. Unsheathing my +rapier, I began to grope with it about the recess; but the thought +of an instant reassured me. I placed my hand upon the solid fabric +of the catacombs, and felt satisfied. I reapproached the wall; I +replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I re-echoed-- I aided-- +I surpassed them in volume and in strength. I did this, and the +clamourer grew still. + +It was now midnight, and my task was drawing to a close. I +had completed the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth tier. I had +finished a portion of the last and the eleventh; there remained but +a single stone to be fitted and plastered in. I struggled with its +weight; I placed it partially in its destined position. But now +there came from out the niche a low laugh that erected the hairs +upon my head. It was succeeded by a sad voice, which I had +difficulty in recognizing as that of the noble Fortunato. The +voice said-- + +"Ha! ha! ha!--he! he! he!--a very good joke indeed--an +excellent jest. We shall have many a rich laugh about it at the +palazzo--he! he! he!--over our wine--he! he! he!" + +"The Amontillado!" I said. + +"He! he! he!--he! he! he!--yes, the Amontillado. But is it +not getting late? Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo, the +Lady Fortunato and the rest? Let us be gone." + +"Yes," I said, "let us be gone." + +" For the love of God, Montresor!" + +"Yes," I said, "for the love of God!" + +But to these words I hearkened in vain for a reply. I grew impatient. +I called aloud-- + +"Fortunato!" + +No answer. I called again-- + +"Fortunato--" + +No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture +and let it fall within. There came forth in reply only a jingling +of the bells. My heart grew sick on account of the dampness of +the catacombs. I hastened to make an end of my labour. I forced +the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. Against the +new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For the half +of a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat! + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of +The Raven, +The Masque of the Red Death, +and The Cask of Amontillado, +by Edgar Allan Poe + diff --git a/old/old/1epoe10.zip b/old/old/1epoe10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7177661 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/1epoe10.zip diff --git a/old/old/1epoe10h.htm b/old/old/1epoe10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bc7023c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/1epoe10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1340 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>The First Project Gutenberg Collection Of Edgar Allan +Poe</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- +DIV.book { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; } +TABLE.bold { font-weight: bold; } +P { text-indent: 2em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; } +P.noindent { text-indent: 0em; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: right; } +--> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of First Project Gutenberg Collection Of Edgar +Allan Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe +#2 in our series by Edgar Allan Poe +[Contents: The Raven; The Masque of the Red Death; The Cask of Amontillado] + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: First Project Gutenberg Collection Of Edgar Allan Poe + [The Raven; The Masque of the Red Death; The Cask of Amontillado] + +Author: Edgar Allan Poe + +Release Date: October, 1997 [EBook #1062] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This htm version was first posted on February 28, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PG COLLECTION OF POE *** + + + + +This eBook was converted to HTM, with some additional editing, +by Jose Menendez from the text edition produced by Levent Kurnaz + + + + + + +</pre> + +<center> +<hr size="3" width="90%" noshade> +<br> +<h1>THE FIRST<br> +PROJECT GUTENBERG<br> +COLLECTION<br> +OF EDGAR ALLAN POE</h1> + +<hr size="3" width="90%" noshade> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<br> +<table class="bold" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary= +"Contents"> +<tr> +<td><a href="#1">THE RAVEN</a></td> +<td> [Etext #1063]</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#2">THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH</a></td> +<td> [Etext #1064]</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#3">THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO</a></td> +<td> [Etext #1065]</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> + +<br> +<hr width="90%"> +<br> +<center> +<h2><a name="1">THE RAVEN</a></h2> + +<br> +<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="6" summary= +"The Raven"> +<tr> +<td><font size="+1">O</font>NCE upon a midnight dreary, while I +pondered, weak and weary,<br> +Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten +lore—<br> +While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a +tapping,<br> +As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.<br> +“ ’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, +“tapping at my chamber door—<br> +<p class="noindent">Only this and nothing more.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,<br> +And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the +floor.<br> +Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to +borrow<br> +From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost +Lenore—<br> +For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name +Lenore—<br> +<p class="noindent">Nameless here for evermore.</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple +curtain<br> +Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt +before;<br> +So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood +repeating<br> +“ ’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber +door—<br> +Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;<br> +<p class="noindent">This it is and nothing more.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no +longer,<br> +“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your +forgiveness I implore;<br> +But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came +rapping,<br> +And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,<br> +That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened +wide the door;—<br> +<p class="noindent">Darkness there and nothing more.</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there +wondering, fearing,<br> +Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream +before;<br> +But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no +token,<br> +And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, +“Lenore!”<br> +This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, +“Lenore!”—<br> +<p class="noindent">Merely this and nothing more.</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me +burning,<br> +Soon again I heard a tapping something louder than before.<br> +“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at +my window lattice;<br> +Let me see, then, what thereat is and this mystery +explore—<br> +Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery +explore;—<br> +<p class="noindent">’Tis the wind and nothing +more.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and +flutter,<br> +In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.<br> +Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed +he,<br> +But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber +door—<br> +Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber +door—<br> +<p class="noindent">Perched, and sat, and nothing more.</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,<br> +By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,<br> +“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, +“art sure no craven,<br> +Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly +shore—<br> +Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian +shore!”<br> +<p class="noindent">Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so +plainly,<br> +Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;<br> +For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being<br> +Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber +door—<br> +Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber +door,<br> +<p class="noindent">With such name as +“Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke +only<br> +That one word, as if its soul in that one word he did +outpour.<br> +Nothing further then he uttered; not a feather then he +fluttered—<br> +Till I scarcely more than muttered: “Other friends have +flown before—<br> +On the morrow <i>he</i> will leave me, as my Hopes have flown +before.”<br> +<p class="noindent">Then the bird said, +“Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly +spoken,<br> +“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its +only stock and store,<br> +Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster<br> +Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden +bore—<br> +Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore<br> +<p class="noindent">Of +‘Never—nevermore.’ ”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into +smiling,<br> +Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and +door;<br> +Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking<br> +Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of +yore—<br> +What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of +yore<br> +<p class="noindent">Meant in croaking +“Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable +expressing<br> +To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s +core;<br> +This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining<br> +On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated +o’er,<br> +But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating +o’er<br> +<p class="noindent"><i>She</i> shall press, ah, nevermore!</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen +censer<br> +Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted +floor.<br> +“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent +thee—by these angels he hath sent thee<br> +Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of +Lenore!<br> +Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost +Lenore!”<br> +<p class="noindent">Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>“Prophet!” said I, “thing of +evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—<br> +Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here +ashore,<br> +Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land +enchanted—<br> +On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I +implore—<br> +Is there—<i>is</i> there balm in Gilead?—tell +me—tell me, I implore!”<br> +<p class="noindent">Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>“Prophet!” said I, “thing of +evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!<br> +By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both +adore—<br> +Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant +Aidenn,<br> +It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name +Lenore—<br> +Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name +Lenore.”<br> +<p class="noindent">Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I +shrieked, upstarting—<br> +“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s +Plutonian shore!<br> +Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has +spoken!<br> +Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my +door!<br> +Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my +door!”<br> +<p class="noindent">Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is +sitting<br> +On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;<br> +And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is +dreaming<br> +And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on +the floor;<br> +And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the +floor<br> +<p class="noindent">Shall be lifted—nevermore!</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> + +<div class="book"><br> +<hr> +<br> +<center> +<h2><a name="2">THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH</a></h2> +</center> + +<p><br> +<font size="+1">T</font>HE “Red Death” had long +devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or +so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal—the redness +and the horror of blood. There were sharp pains, and sudden +dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with +dissolution. The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon +the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from +the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-men. And the whole +seizure, progress, and termination of the disease, were the +incidents of half an hour.</p> + +<p>But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. +When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his +presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the +knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the +deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys. This was an +extensive and magnificent structure, the creation of the +prince’s own eccentric yet august taste. A strong and lofty +wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The courtiers, +having entered, brought furnaces and massy hammers and welded the +bolts. They resolved to leave means neither of ingress nor egress +to the sudden impulses of despair or of frenzy from within. The +abbey was amply provisioned. With such precautions the courtiers +might bid defiance to contagion. The external world could take +care of itself. In the meantime it was folly to grieve, or to +think. The prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. +There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were +ballet-dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was +wine. All these and security were within. Without was the +“Red Death.”</p> + +<p>It was towards the close of the fifth or sixth month of his +seclusion, and while the pestilence raged most furiously abroad, +that the Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends at a +masked ball of the most unusual magnificence.</p> + +<p>It was a voluptuous scene, that masquerade. But first let me +tell of the rooms in which it was held. These were seven—an +imperial suite. In many palaces, however, such suites form a long +and straight vista, while the folding doors slide back nearly to +the walls on either hand, so that the view of the whole extent is +scarcely impeded. Here the case was very different, as might have +been expected from the duke’s love of the <i>bizarre</i>. +The apartments were so irregularly disposed that the vision +embraced but little more than one at a time. There was a sharp +turn at every twenty or thirty yards, and at each turn a novel +effect. To the right and left, in the middle of each wall, a tall +and narrow Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which +pursued the windings of the suite. These windows were of stained +glass whose color varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of +the decorations of the chamber into which it opened. That at the +eastern extremity was hung, for example, in blue—and +vividly blue were its windows. The second chamber was purple in +its ornaments and tapestries, and here the panes were purple. The +third was green throughout, and so were the casements. The fourth +was furnished and lighted with orange—the fifth with +white—the sixth with violet. The seventh apartment was +closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over +the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a +carpet of the same material and hue. But in this chamber only, +the color of the windows failed to correspond with the +decorations. The panes here were scarlet—a deep blood +color. Now in no one of the seven apartments was there any lamp +or candelabrum, amid the profusion of golden ornaments that lay +scattered to and fro or depended from the roof. There was no +light of any kind emanating from lamp or candle within the suite +of chambers. But in the corridors that followed the suite, there +stood, opposite to each window, a heavy tripod, bearing a brazier +of fire, that projected its rays through the tinted glass and so +glaringly illumined the room. And thus were produced a multitude +of gaudy and fantastic appearances. But in the western or black +chamber the effect of the fire-light that streamed upon the dark +hangings through the blood-tinted panes, was ghastly in the +extreme, and produced so wild a look upon the countenances of +those who entered, that there were few of the company bold enough +to set foot within its precincts at all.</p> + +<p>It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the +western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to +and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the +minute-hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be +stricken, there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound +which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of +so peculiar a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour, +the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, +momentarily, in their performance, to hearken to the sound; and +thus the waltzers perforce ceased their evolutions; and there was +a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the +chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest +grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over +their brows as if in confused revery or meditation. But when the +echoes had fully ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the +assembly; the musicians looked at each other and smiled as if at +their own nervousness and folly, and made whispering vows, each +to the other, that the next chiming of the clock should produce +in them no similar emotion; and then, after the lapse of sixty +minutes (which embrace three thousand and six hundred seconds of +the Time that flies), there came yet another chiming of the +clock, and then were the same disconcert and tremulousness and +meditation as before.</p> + +<p>But, in spite of these things, it was a gay and magnificent +revel. The tastes of the duke were peculiar. He had a fine eye +for colors and effects. He disregarded the <i>decora</i> of mere +fashion. His plans were bold and fiery, and his conceptions +glowed with barbaric lustre. There are some who would have +thought him mad. His followers felt that he was not. It was +necessary to hear and see and touch him to be <i>sure</i> that he +was not.</p> + +<p>He had directed, in great part, the movable embellishments of +the seven chambers, upon occasion of this great +<i>fête</i>; and it was his own guiding taste which had +given character to the masqueraders. Be sure they were grotesque. +There were much glare and glitter and piquancy and +phantasm—much of what has been since seen in +“Hernani.” There were arabesque figures with unsuited +limbs and appointments. There were delirious fancies such as the +madman fashions. There were much of the beautiful, much of the +wanton, much of the <i>bizarre</i>, something of the terrible, +and not a little of that which might have excited disgust. To and +fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of +dreams. And these—the dreams—writhed in and about, +taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the +orchestra to seem as the echo of their steps. And, anon, there +strikes the ebony clock which stands in the hall of the velvet. +And then, for a moment, all is still, and all is silent save the +voice of the clock. The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. +But the echoes of the chime die away—they have endured but +an instant—and a light, half-subdued laughter floats after +them as they depart. And now again the music swells, and the +dreams live, and writhe to and fro more merrily than ever, taking +hue from the many-tinted windows through which stream the rays +from the tripods. But to the chamber which lies most westwardly +of the seven, there are now none of the maskers who venture; for +the night is waning away; and there flows a ruddier light through +the blood-colored panes; and the blackness of the sable drapery +appals; and to him whose foot falls upon the sable carpet, there +comes from the near clock of ebony a muffled peal more solemnly +emphatic than any which reaches <i>their</i> ears who indulge in +the more remote gaieties of the other apartments.</p> + +<p>But these other apartments were densely crowded, and in them +beat feverishly the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly +on, until at length there commenced the sounding of midnight upon +the clock. And then the music ceased, as I have told; and the +evolutions of the waltzers were quieted; and there was an uneasy +cessation of all things as before. But now there were twelve +strokes to be sounded by the bell of the clock; and thus it +happened, perhaps, that more of thought crept, with more of time, +into the meditations of the thoughtful among those who revelled. +And thus too, it happened, perhaps, that before the last echoes +of the last chime had utterly sunk into silence, there were many +individuals in the crowd who had found leisure to become aware of +the presence of a masked figure which had arrested the attention +of no single individual before. And the rumor of this new +presence having spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at +length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of +disapprobation and surprise—then, finally, of terror, of +horror, and of disgust.</p> + +<p>In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may +well be supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited +such sensation. In truth the masquerade license of the night was +nearly unlimited; but the figure in question had out-Heroded +Herod, and gone beyond the bounds of even the prince’s +indefinite decorum. There are chords in the hearts of the most +reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the +utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are +matters of which no jest can be made. The whole company, indeed, +seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the +stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure was tall +and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of +the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly +to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the +closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat. +And yet all this might have been endured, if not approved, by the +mad revellers around. But the mummer had gone so far as to assume +the type of the Red Death. His vesture was dabbled in +<i>blood</i>—and his broad brow, with all the features of +the face, was besprinkled with the scarlet horror.</p> + +<p>When the eyes of the Prince Prospero fell upon this spectral +image (which, with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully +to sustain its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he +was seen to be convulsed, in the first moment with a strong +shudder either of terror or distaste; but, in the next, his brow +reddened with rage.</p> + +<p>“Who dares”—he demanded hoarsely of the +courtiers who stood near him—“who dares insult us +with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask +him—that we may know whom we have to hang, at sunrise, from +the battlements!”</p> + +<p>It was in the eastern or blue chamber in which stood the +Prince Prospero as he uttered these words. They rang throughout +the seven rooms loudly and clearly, for the prince was a bold and +robust man, and the music had become hushed at the waving of his +hand.</p> + +<p>It was in the blue room where stood the prince, with a group +of pale courtiers by his side. At first, as he spoke, there was a +slight rushing movement of this group in the direction of the +intruder, who, at the moment was also near at hand, and now, with +deliberate and stately step, made closer approach to the speaker. +But from a certain nameless awe with which the mad assumptions of +the mummer had inspired the whole party, there were found none +who put forth hand to seize him; so that, unimpeded, he passed +within a yard of the prince’s person; and, while the vast +assembly, as if with one impulse, shrank from the centres of the +rooms to the walls, he made his way uninterruptedly, but with the +same solemn and measured step which had distinguished him from +the first, through the blue chamber to the purple—through +the purple to the green—through the green to the +orange—through this again to the white—and even +thence to the violet, ere a decided movement had been made to +arrest him. It was then, however, that the Prince Prospero, +maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, +rushed hurriedly through the six chambers, while none followed +him on account of a deadly terror that had seized upon all. He +bore aloft a drawn dagger, and had approached, in rapid +impetuosity, to within three or four feet of the retreating +figure, when the latter, having attained the extremity of the +velvet apartment, turned suddenly and confronted his pursuer. +There was a sharp cry—and the dagger dropped gleaming upon +the sable carpet, upon which, instantly afterward, fell prostrate +in death the Prince Prospero. Then, summoning the wild courage of +despair, a throng of the revellers at once threw themselves into +the black apartment, and, seizing the mummer, whose tall figure +stood erect and motionless within the shadow of the ebony clock, +gasped in unutterable horror at finding the grave cerements and +corpse-like mask, which they handled with so violent a rudeness, +untenanted by any tangible form.</p> + +<p>And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had +come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the +revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died +each in the despairing posture of his fall. And the life of the +ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the +flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red +Death held illimitable dominion over all.<br> +<br> +</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<center> +<h2><a name="3">THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO</a></h2> +</center> + +<p><br> +<font size="+1">T</font>HE thousand injuries of Fortunato I had +borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed +revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not +suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. <i>At +length</i> I would be avenged; this was a point definitely +settled—but the very definitiveness with which it was +resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but +punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution +overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the +avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done +the wrong.</p> + +<p>It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I +given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was +my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my +smile <i>now</i> was at the thought of his immolation.</p> + +<p>He had a weak point—this Fortunato—although in +other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He +prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have +the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is +adopted to suit the time and opportunity—to practise +imposture upon the British and Austrian <i>millionaires</i>. In +painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a +quack—but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In +this respect I did not differ from him materially: I was skilful +in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I +could.</p> + +<p>It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of +the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me +with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man +wore motley. He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and +his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells. I was so +pleased to see him, that I thought I should never have done +wringing his hand.</p> + +<p>I said to him: “My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. +How remarkably well you are looking to-day! But I have received a +pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my +doubts.”</p> + +<p>“How?” said he. “Amontillado? A pipe? +Impossible! And in the middle of the carnival!”</p> + +<p>“I have my doubts,” I replied; “and I was +silly enough to pay the full Amontillado price without consulting +you in the matter. You were not to be found, and I was fearful of +losing a bargain.”</p> + +<p>“Amontillado!”</p> + +<p>“I have my doubts.”</p> + +<p>“Amontillado!”</p> + +<p>“And I must satisfy them.”</p> + +<p>“Amontillado!”</p> + +<p>“As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchesi. If any +one has a critical turn, it is he. He will tell +me—”</p> + +<p>“Luchesi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry.”</p> + +<p>“And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a +match for your own.”</p> + +<p>“Come, let us go.”</p> + +<p>“Whither?”</p> + +<p>“To your vaults.”</p> + +<p>“My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. +I perceive you have an engagement. Luchesi—”</p> + +<p>“I have no engagement;—come.”</p> + +<p>“My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe +cold with which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are +insufferably damp. They are encrusted with nitre.”</p> + +<p>“Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. +Amontillado! You have been imposed upon. And as for Luchesi, he +cannot distinguish Sherry from Amontillado.”</p> + +<p>Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my arm. Putting +on a mask of black silk, and drawing a <i>roquelaire</i> closely +about my person, I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo.</p> + +<p>There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make +merry in honor of the time. I had told them that I should not +return until the morning, and had given them explicit orders not +to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well +knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as +soon as my back was turned.</p> + +<p>I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to +Fortunato, bowed him through several suites of rooms to the +archway that led into the vaults. I passed down a long and +winding staircase, requesting him to be cautious as he followed. +We came at length to the foot of the descent, and stood together +on the damp ground of the catacombs of the Montresors.</p> + +<p>The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap +jingled as he strode.</p> + +<p>“The pipe?” said he.</p> + +<p>“It is farther on,” said I; “but observe the +white web-work which gleams from these cavern walls.”</p> + +<p>He turned towards me, and looked into my eyes with two filmy +orbs that distilled the rheum of intoxication.</p> + +<p>“Nitre?” he asked, at length.</p> + +<p>“Nitre,” I replied. “How long have you had +that cough?”</p> + +<p>“Ugh! ugh! ugh!—ugh! ugh! ugh!—ugh! ugh! +ugh!—ugh! ugh! ugh!—ugh! ugh! ugh!”</p> + +<p>My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many +minutes.</p> + +<p>“It is nothing,” he said, at last.</p> + +<p>“Come,” I said, with decision, “we will go +back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, +beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be +missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, +and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is +Luchesi—”</p> + +<p>“Enough,” he said; “the cough is a mere +nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a +cough.”</p> + +<p>“True—true,” I replied; “and, indeed, +I had no intention of alarming you unnecessarily; but you should +use all proper caution. A draught of this Medoc will defend us +from the damps.”</p> + +<p>Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a +long row of its fellows that lay upon the mould.</p> + +<p>“Drink,” I said, presenting him the wine.</p> + +<p>He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused and nodded to +me familiarly, while his bells jingled.</p> + +<p>“I drink,” he said, “to the buried that +repose around us.”</p> + +<p>“And I to your long life.”</p> + +<p>He again took my arm, and we proceeded.</p> + +<p>“These vaults,” he said, “are +extensive.”</p> + +<p>“The Montresors,” I replied, “were a great +and numerous family.”</p> + +<p>“I forget your arms.”</p> + +<p>“A huge human foot d’or, in a field azure; the +foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the +heel.”</p> + +<p>“And the motto?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Nemo me impune lacessit.</i>”</p> + +<p>“Good!” he said.</p> + +<p>The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own +fancy grew warm with the Medoc. We had passed through walls of +piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the +inmost recesses of the catacombs. I paused again, and this time I +made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow.</p> + +<p>“The nitre!” I said; “see, it increases. It +hangs like moss upon the vaults. We are below the river’s +bed. The drops of moisture trickle among the bones. Come, we will +go back ere it is too late. Your cough—”</p> + +<p>“It is nothing,” he said; “let us go on. But +first, another draught of the Medoc.”</p> + +<p>I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grâve. He emptied +it at a breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed +and threw the bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not +understand.</p> + +<p>I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movement—a +grotesque one.</p> + +<p>“You do not comprehend?” he said.</p> + +<p>“Not I,” I replied.</p> + +<p>“Then you are not of the brotherhood.”</p> + +<p>“How?”</p> + +<p>“You are not of the masons.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes,” I said; “yes, yes.”</p> + +<p>“You? Impossible! A mason?”</p> + +<p>“A mason,” I replied.</p> + +<p>“A sign,” he said.</p> + +<p>“It is this,” I answered, producing a trowel from +beneath the folds of my <i>roquelaire</i>.</p> + +<p>“You jest,” he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. +“But let us proceed to the Amontillado.”</p> + +<p>“Be it so,” I said, replacing the tool beneath the +cloak, and again offering him my arm. He leaned upon it heavily. +We continued our route in search of the Amontillado. We passed +through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and +descending again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness +of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.</p> + +<p>At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another +less spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled +to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great catacombs of +Paris. Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented +in this manner. From the fourth the bones had been thrown down, +and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a +mound of some size. Within the wall thus exposed by the +displacing of the bones, we perceived a still interior recess, in +depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or seven. It +seemed to have been constructed for no especial use within +itself, but formed merely the interval between two of the +colossal supports of the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by +one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite.</p> + +<p>It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull torch, +endeavoured to pry into the depth of the recess. Its termination +the feeble light did not enable us to see.</p> + +<p>“Proceed,” I said; “herein is the +Amontillado. As for Luchesi—”</p> + +<p>“He is an ignoramus,” interrupted my friend, as he +stepped unsteadily forward, while I followed immediately at his +heels. In an instant he had reached the extremity of the niche, +and finding his progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly +bewildered. A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite. +In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other +about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short +chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the links about his +waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was +too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back +from the recess.</p> + +<p>“Pass your hand,” I said, “over the wall; +you cannot help feeling the nitre. Indeed, it is <i>very</i> +damp. Once more let me <i>implore</i> you to return. No? Then I +must positively leave you. But I must first render you all the +little attentions in my power.”</p> + +<p>“The Amontillado!” ejaculated my friend, not yet +recovered from his astonishment.</p> + +<p>“True,” I replied; “the +Amontillado.”</p> + +<p>As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of bones +of which I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I soon +uncovered a quantity of building stone and mortar. With these +materials and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to +wall up the entrance of the niche.</p> + +<p>I had scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I +discovered that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great +measure worn off. The earliest indication I had of this was a low +moaning cry from the depth of the recess. It was <i>not</i> the +cry of a drunken man. There was then a long and obstinate +silence. I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth; +and then I heard the furious vibrations of the chain. The noise +lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to +it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labors and sat down +upon the bones. When at last the clanking subsided, I resumed the +trowel, and finished without interruption the fifth, the sixth, +and the seventh tier. The wall was now nearly upon a level with +my breast. I again paused, and holding the flambeaux over the +mason-work, threw a few feeble rays upon the figure within.</p> + +<p>A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly +from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me +violently back. For a brief moment I hesitated—I trembled. +Unsheathing my rapier, I began to grope with it about the recess; +but the thought of an instant reassured me. I placed my hand upon +the solid fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied. I +reapproached the wall. I replied to the yells of him who +clamored. I re-echoed—I aided—I surpassed them in +volume and in strength. I did this, and the clamorer grew +still.</p> + +<p>It was now midnight, and my task was drawing to a close. I had +completed the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth tier. I had +finished a portion of the last and the eleventh; there remained +but a single stone to be fitted and plastered in. I struggled +with its weight; I placed it partially in its destined position. +But now there came from out the niche a low laugh that erected +the hairs upon my head. It was succeeded by a sad voice, which I +had difficulty in recognizing as that of the noble Fortunato. The +voice said—</p> + +<p>“Ha! ha! ha!—he! he!—a very good joke +indeed—an excellent jest. We shall have many a rich laugh +about it at the palazzo—he! he! he!—over our +wine—he! he! he!”</p> + +<p>“The Amontillado!” I said.</p> + +<p>“He! he! he!—he! he! he!—yes, the +Amontillado. But is it not getting late? Will not they be +awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady Fortunato and the rest? Let +us be gone.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” I said, “let us be gone.”</p> + +<p>“<i>For the love of God, Montresor!</i>”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” I said, “for the love of +God!”</p> + +<p>But to these words I hearkened in vain for a reply. I grew +impatient. I called aloud:</p> + +<p>“Fortunato!”</p> + +<p>No answer. I called again:</p> + +<p>“Fortunato!”</p> + +<p>No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining +aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in reply only a +jingling of the bells. My heart grew sick—on account of the +dampness of the catacombs. I hastened to make an end of my labor. +I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. +Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. +For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them. <i>In +pace requiescat!</i><br> +<br> +</p> + +<hr size="3" noshade> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of First Project Gutenberg Collection Of +Edgar Allan Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PG COLLECTION OF POE *** + +This file should be named 1epoe10h.htm or 1epoe10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 1epoe11h.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 1epoe10ha.txt + +This eBook was converted to HTML, with some additional editing, +by Jose Menendez from the text edition produced by Levent Kurnaz + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart [hart@pobox.com] + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/old/old/1epoe10h.zip b/old/old/1epoe10h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c0c5a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/1epoe10h.zip |