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- Эдгар Алан По
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I
could
not
help
thinking
of
the
wild
ritual
of
this
work
,
and
of
its
probable
influence
upon
the
hypochondriac
,
when
,
one
evening
,
having
informed
me
abruptly
that
the
lady
Madeline
was
no
more
,
he
stated
his
intention
of
preserving
her
corpse
for
a
fortnight
(
previously
to
its
final
interment
)
,
in
one
of
the
numerous
vaults
within
the
main
walls
of
the
building
.
The
worldly
reason
,
however
,
assigned
for
this
singular
proceeding
,
was
one
which
I
did
not
feel
at
liberty
to
dispute
.
The
brother
had
been
led
to
his
resolution
(
so
he
told
me
)
by
consideration
of
the
unusual
character
of
the
malady
of
the
deceased
,
of
certain
obtrusive
and
eager
inquiries
on
the
part
of
her
medical
men
,
and
of
the
remote
and
exposed
situation
of
the
burial-ground
of
the
family
.
I
will
not
deny
that
when
I
called
to
mind
the
sinister
countenance
of
the
person
whom
I
met
upon
the
staircase
,
on
the
day
of
my
arrival
at
the
house
,
I
had
no
desire
to
oppose
what
I
regarded
as
at
best
but
a
harmless
,
and
by
no
means
an
unnatural
,
precaution
.
At
the
request
of
Usher
,
I
personally
aided
him
in
the
arrangements
for
the
temporary
entombment
.
The
body
having
been
encoffined
,
we
two
alone
bore
it
to
its
rest
.
The
vault
in
which
we
placed
it
(
and
which
had
been
so
long
unopened
that
our
torches
,
half
smothered
in
its
oppressive
atmosphere
,
gave
us
little
opportunity
for
investigation
)
was
small
,
damp
,
and
entirely
without
means
of
admission
for
light
;
lying
,
at
great
depth
,
immediately
beneath
that
portion
of
the
building
in
which
was
my
own
sleeping
apartment
.
It
had
been
used
,
apparently
,
in
remote
feudal
times
,
for
the
worst
purposes
of
a
donjon-keep
,
and
,
in
later
days
,
as
a
place
of
deposit
for
powder
,
or
some
other
highly
combustible
substance
,
as
a
portion
of
its
floor
,
and
the
whole
interior
of
a
long
archway
through
which
we
reached
it
,
were
carefully
sheathed
with
copper
.
The
door
,
of
massive
iron
,
had
been
,
also
,
similarly
protected
.
Its
immense
weight
caused
an
unusually
sharp
,
grating
sound
,
as
it
moved
upon
its
hinges
.
Having
deposited
our
mournful
burden
upon
tressels
within
this
region
of
horror
,
we
partially
turned
aside
the
yet
unscrewed
lid
of
the
coffin
,
and
looked
upon
the
face
of
the
tenant
.
A
striking
similitude
between
the
brother
and
sister
now
first
arrested
my
attention
;
and
Usher
,
divining
,
perhaps
,
my
thoughts
,
murmured
out
some
few
words
from
which
I
learned
that
the
deceased
and
himself
had
been
twins
,
and
that
sympathies
of
a
scarcely
intelligible
nature
had
always
existed
between
them
.
Our
glances
,
however
,
rested
not
long
upon
the
dead
--
for
we
could
not
regard
her
unawed
.
The
disease
which
had
thus
entombed
the
lady
in
the
maturity
of
youth
,
had
left
,
as
usual
in
all
maladies
of
a
strictly
cataleptical
character
,
the
mockery
of
a
faint
blush
upon
the
bosom
and
the
face
,
and
that
suspiciously
lingering
smile
upon
the
lip
which
is
so
terrible
in
death
.
We
replaced
and
screwed
down
the
lid
,
and
,
having
secured
the
door
of
iron
,
made
our
way
,
with
toil
,
into
the
scarcely
less
gloomy
apartments
of
the
upper
portion
of
the
house
.
And
now
,
some
days
of
bitter
grief
having
elapsed
,
an
observable
change
came
over
the
features
of
the
mental
disorder
of
my
friend
.
His
ordinary
manner
had
vanished
.
His
ordinary
occupations
were
neglected
or
forgotten
.
He
roamed
from
chamber
to
chamber
with
hurried
,
unequal
,
and
objectless
step
.
The
pallor
of
his
countenance
had
assumed
,
if
possible
,
a
more
ghastly
hue
--
but
the
luminousness
of
his
eye
had
utterly
gone
out
.
The
once
occasional
huskiness
of
his
tone
was
heard
no
more
;
and
a
tremulous
quaver
,
as
if
of
extreme
terror
,
habitually
characterized
his
utterance
.
There
were
times
,
indeed
,
when
I
thought
his
unceasingly
agitated
mind
was
laboring
with
some
oppressive
secret
,
to
divulge
which
he
struggled
for
the
necessary
courage
.
At
times
,
again
,
I
was
obliged
to
resolve
all
into
the
mere
inexplicable
vagaries
of
madness
,
for
I
beheld
him
gazing
upon
vacancy
for
long
hours
,
in
an
attitude
of
the
profoundest
attention
,
as
if
listening
to
some
imaginary
sound
.
It
was
no
wonder
that
his
condition
terrified
--
that
it
infected
me
.
I
felt
creeping
upon
me
,
by
slow
yet
certain
degrees
,
the
wild
influences
of
his
own
fantastic
yet
impressive
superstitions
.
It
was
,
especially
,
upon
retiring
to
bed
late
in
the
night
of
the
seventh
or
eighth
day
after
the
placing
of
the
lady
Madeline
within
the
donjon
,
that
I
experienced
the
full
power
of
such
feelings
.
Sleep
came
not
near
my
couch
--
while
the
hours
waned
and
waned
away
.
I
struggled
to
reason
off
the
nervousness
which
had
dominion
over
me
.
I
endeavored
to
believe
that
much
,
if
not
all
of
what
I
felt
,
was
due
to
the
bewildering
influence
of
the
gloomy
furniture
of
the
room
--
of
the
dark
and
tattered
draperies
,
which
,
tortured
into
motion
by
the
breath
of
a
rising
tempest
,
swayed
fitfully
to
and
fro
upon
the
walls
,
and
rustled
uneasily
about
the
decorations
of
the
bed
.
But
my
efforts
were
fruitless
.
An
irrepressible
tremor
gradually
pervaded
my
frame
;
and
,
at
length
,
there
sat
upon
my
very
heart
an
incubus
of
utterly
causeless
alarm
.
Shaking
this
off
with
a
gasp
and
a
struggle
,
I
uplifted
myself
upon
the
pillows
,
and
,
peering
earnestly
within
the
intense
darkness
of
the
chamber
,
hearkened
--
I
know
not
why
,
except
that
an
instinctive
spirit
prompted
me
--
to
certain
low
and
indefinite
sounds
which
came
,
through
the
pauses
of
the
storm
,
at
long
intervals
,
I
knew
not
whence
.
Overpowered
by
an
intense
sentiment
of
horror
,
unaccountable
yet
unendurable
,
I
threw
on
my
clothes
with
haste
(
for
I
felt
that
I
should
sleep
no
more
during
the
night
)
,
and
endeavored
to
arouse
myself
from
the
pitiable
condition
into
which
I
had
fallen
,
by
pacing
rapidly
to
and
fro
through
the
apartment
.
I
had
taken
but
few
turns
in
this
manner
,
when
a
light
step
on
an
adjoining
staircase
arrested
my
attention
.
I
presently
recognized
it
as
that
of
Usher
.
In
an
instant
afterward
he
rapped
,
with
a
gentle
touch
,
at
my
door
,
and
entered
,
bearing
a
lamp
.
His
countenance
was
,
as
usual
,
cadaverously
wan
--
but
,
moreover
,
there
was
a
species
of
mad
hilarity
in
his
eyes
--
an
evidently
restrained
hysteria
in
his
whole
demeanor
.
His
air
appalled
me
--
but
anything
was
preferable
to
the
solitude
which
I
had
so
long
endured
,
and
I
even
welcomed
his
presence
as
a
relief
.
