Tales of Mystery and Imagination

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1、Tales of Mystery and Imagination1 Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe The Fall of the House of Usher It was a grey autumn day and the sky was full of large black cloudsAll day I had ridden through flat and uninteresting countryside，but at last，as it began to grow dark，I saw the end o

2、f my journey There，in front of me，stood the House of UsherAnd at once -I do not know why-a strange feeling of deep gloom came down on me and covered me like a blanketI looked up at the old house with its high stone walls and narrow windowsI looked around at the thin dry grass and the old dying trees

3、，and an icy hand seemed to take hold of my heartI felt cold and sick，and could not think of one happy thought to chase away my gloom Why，I wondered，did the House of Usher make me feel so sadI could find no answer There was a lake next to the house and I rode my horse up to the edge and stoppedPerhap

4、s from here the house would not seem so sad，so full of gloomI looked down into the mirror of dark，still water，and saw again the empty，eye-like windows of the house and the dying trees all around itThe feeling of gloom was stronger than ever It was in this house that I was going to spend the next few

5、 weeksIts owner，Roderick Usher，had been a good friend of mine when I was a boyI had not seen him for many years， but recently he had sent me a letter-a sad and terrible letterHe wrote that he was ill，ill in body and ill in mind；that he wanted and needed to see meI was his only friend，the only person

6、 who could help him in his illness Although we had been good friends when we were young，I knew very little about himHe had never spoken much about himself，but I knew that he came from a very old family of which he was the last living manI also knew that in the Usher family there had never been many

7、children and so for hundreds of years the family name，together with the family home，had passed straight from father to son As I stood by the lake，my feeling of gloom grew and grewI knew also that underneath my gloom lay fear，and fear does strange things to the mindI began to imagine that the gloom w

8、as not in my mind，but was something realIt was like a 2 mysterious cloud，which seemed to come straight from the dark lake and the dying trees and the old walls of the houseA heavy grey cloud，which carried with it disease and fear This was a dream，I told myself，and I looked more carefully at the buil

9、ding in front of meIt was，indeed，very old and I noticed that every stone had cracks and holes in itBut there was nothing really wrong with the buildingNo stones were missingThe only thing that I noticed was a very small crack which started at the top of the building and continued all the way down in

10、to the dark waters of the lake I went up to the front of the houseA servant took my horse and I stepped into the large hallAnother servant led me silently upstairsOn the walls there were many strange，dark pictures which made me feel nervousI remembered these pictures from my earlier visits to the ho

11、use when I was a childBut the feelings that the pictures gave me on this visit were new to me On the stairs we met the family doctorHe had a strange look on his face，a look that I did not like I hurried on，and finally the servant opened a door and took me into the study The room was large and long，w

12、ith high narrow windows，which let in only a little light Shadows lay in all the corners of the room and around the dark pieces of furnitureThere were-many books and a few guitars，but there was no life，no happiness in the roomDeep gloom filled the air When Usher saw me，he got up and welcomed me warml

13、yI thought he was just being polite，but as I looked into his face，I could see that he was pleased to see meWe sat down，but he did not speak at first，and for a few moments I watched him in surprise and fearHe had changed so much since our last meetingHe had the same pale thin face，the same eyes，large

14、 and clear，and the same thin lips and soft hairBut now his skin was too white，his eyes too large and bright，and he seemed a different manHe frightened meAnd his long wild hair looked like a ghostly cloud around his head I noticed that my friend was very nervous and that his feelings changed very qui

15、cklySometimes he talked a lot，then he suddenly became silent and did not say a word for many hoursAt other times he found it difficult to think，and his voice was 3 heavy and slow，like the voice of a man who had drunk too much He told me why he had wanted to see me，and how he hoped to feel better now

16、 that I was with himHe had，he explained，a strange illness which had been in his family for a long timeIt was a nervous illness which made him feel everything much more strongly than other peopleHe could only eat food that was almost tastelessHe had to choose his clothes very carefully because most o

17、f them hurt his skinHe could not have flowers in his room because their smell was too strong for himLight hurt his eyes，and most sounds hurt his ears except the soft sound of guitars Worst of all，he was a prisoner of his own fearI shall die，he used to say，because of this fear，Im not afraid of danger

18、What frightens me is fear itselfAt the moment I am fighting against fear，but sooner or later I wont be able to fight any more During long conversations with Usher I learnt more about his strange illnessHe was sure that it came from the House of Usher itselfHe had not left the house for many years an

19、d he had become，he thought，as sad as the house itselfThe gloom of its grey walls and its dark silent lake had become his own He also believed that much of his sadness was because his dear sister was seriously illHe had one sister，Madeleine，the only other person in his family who was still living，but

20、 each day she seemed a little nearer to death Her death，Usher said blackly，will leave me alone in the world，the last of all the Ushers While he was speaking，Madeleine passed slowly through the back of the long room and，without noticing me，disappearedAs I looked at her，my eyes felt heavy withsleep，an

21、d I had a strange feeling of fearI looked across at UsherHe had covered his face with his hands，but I could see that he had become even paler，and that he was crying silently Lady Madeleines illness was a mysterious one which no doctor could understandEvery day she became weaker and thinner，and somet

22、imes went into a sleep which was more like death than sleepFor years she had fought bravely against her illness，but on the night of my arrival she went to bed and did not get up from it againYou will probably not see her again alive，Usher said to me，shaking his 4 head sadly During the next few days

23、Usher and I never spoke about his sisterWe spent a lot of time painting and reading together，and sometimes he played on his guitarI tried very hard to help my friend，but I realized that his sadness was too deepIt was a black gloom that covered everything that belonged to his world；sometimes，indeed，h

24、e seemed close to the edge of madness He painted strange pictures，and sang mysterious songs with wild wordsHis ideas，too，were strange，and he had one idea thst seemed more important to him than all the othersHe was quite sure that all things，plants，trees，even stones，were able to feel The House of Ush

25、er itself，he told me，is like a living thingWhen the walls were first built，life went into the stones themselves and year after year it has grown strongerEven the air around the walls and above the lake has its own life，and belongs to the houseDont you see，he cried，how the stones and the air have sha

26、ped the lives of the Usher family These ideas were too fantastic for me，and I could not answer him One evening I was reading quietly when my friend told me，in very few words，that the Lady Madeleine had diedHe had decided，he said，to keep her body for a fortnight in one of the vaults under the house，b

27、efore it went to its last resting-placeThis was because his sisters illness had been a mysterious one，and her doctors wanted to learn more about itHe asked me to help him and I agreed Together we carried the body in its coffin down to the vaults under the houseThe vault that he had chosen was a long

28、 way down，but was under the part of the house where I sleptIt had once been a prison，and was small，dark，and airless，with a heavy metal door We put the coffin down and then gently lifted up the cover to look at the dead woman for the last timeAs I looked down at her face，I realized how much Ushers si

29、ster looked like himMy friend then said a few quiet words and I learnt that he and his sister had been born on the same dayEach had known the others mind without the need for words We could not look at her for longHer strange illness had left her with a soft 5 pink colour on her face，and that unchan

30、ging halfsmile on her lips which is so terrible in deathWe put back the cover of the coffin，fixed it down well，and after locking the heavy door of the vault，went back upstairs into the gloomy house After some days of deep unhappiness，I saw that my friends illness of the mind was growing worseHe did

31、not paint or read any moreHe moved slowly from room to room，never knowing what to doHis face became paler，the light disappeared from his eyes，and his voice often shook with fear when he spokeSometimes I thought he was trying to tell me some terrible secretAt other times I thought he was going madHe

32、used to sit for hours，looking at nothing，listening to nothing-except the sounds in his own mindI myself began to know real fearI felt my friends terror，his deep gloom，slowly taking hold of my own mind About seven or eight days after we had put Lady Madeleines coffin in the vault，I went to bed but co

33、uld not sleepHour after hour I lay there，fighting the fear and gloom that filled my mindOutside，there was a storm which was growing wilder，and my room was full of shadows and the dark shapes of the gloomy furnitureI tried to calm myself，but I only became more frightened Suddenly，my body shook with a

34、 new terrorI sat up in bed and listened hardYes，I could hear some low sounds，coming not from the storm outside，but from somewhere inside the houseQuickly，I put on my clothes and started walking up and down the room，trying to shake off my terrible fear Then I heard a knock on my door and Usher came i

35、nHis face was as white as it had always been，and there was a kind of madness in his eyesThe look on his face frightened me terribly，but at the same time I was pleased not to be alone any more For some moments he looked around without saying a wordThen，suddenly，Have you not seen it NoThen waitYou mus

36、t see itHe hurried to the window and opened it The wind from the violent storm outside crashed into the room，nearly knocking us to the floorIt was，indeed，a wild，but strangely beautiful nightThe wind seemed to be going in circles around the house，and huge，heavy black clouds chased each other，first th

37、is way，then that wayWe could see no moon and no stars，but a pale ghostly light lay around the house 6 You mustnt，no，you must not watch this，I cried to UsherI pushed him gently away from the window and to a seatIts only a storm，and the cold night air will be dangerous to your healthLets close the win

38、dow and read togetherLook，heres one of your favourite booksI will read to you，and you can listen，and so we will pass this terrible night together The book which I had picked up was The Sad，Mad Life of Sir Launcelot CanningIt was not really one of US hers favourite books，but it was the only one that

39、I had near me，so I started to read itIt was a wild，fantastic story，but I hoped that my reading would make Usher calmer and less afraidHe listened to me，indeed，but with a kind of mad seriousness that I found frightening I read for a while and reached the place in the book where Ethelred broke down th

40、e door of the old mans house Now Ethelred decided he could wait outside in the storm no longerHe lifted his heavy stick and beat against the wood-en door until he had made a holeThen with his hands he pulled the door to piecesThe noise of the dry wood cracking and breaking could be heard all through

41、 the forest As I finished reading this sentence，I jumped in my seat and then sat very stillI thought that I had heard，from somewhere far away in the house，the same noise of cracking and breaking woodBut I could not hear it clearly，and the noise of the storm was much louderI continued reading： Ethelr

42、ed entered the house but could not see the old manThen the house disappeared and he saw a dragon，with fire coming out of its mouthEthelred lifted his heavy stick and brought it crashing down on the dragons headAs the dragon fell dying to the ground，it gave a terrible cry-a long，hard，unnatural scream

43、 Here again I stopped suddenlyI was sure that I could hear a cryIt was low and far away，but it was a long screaming sound-just like the one described in the book Although I was feeling so nervous，I tried hard to hide my terrorI was not sure if Usher had heard the sounds that I had heardIn the last f

44、ew minutes he had moved and was now sitting with his face towards the doorBut I could see that his lips were shaking and his body was moving gently from side to sideI continued reading the story： 7 And now Ethelred，after he had killed the dragon，turned and saw in front of him a palace of gold with t

45、all gates of shining silver in the wallsBravely，Ethelred ran towards the palace，but the shining silver gates did not wait for his coming and fell to the ground at his feet with a great and terrible ringing sound As I read these words，I heard clearly the loud，heavy sound of metal fallingI jumped to m

46、y feet，but Usher sat in his seat and did not moveI ran towards himHe was looking straight in front of him and his face was like stoneAs I placed my hand on his arm，his body began to shakeA sickly smile came over his lips，and he spoke in a low hurried voiceHe did not seem to realize that I was thereI

47、 put my head close to his to catch his words Dont I hear it-yes，I hear it，and I have heard itFor many minutes，many hours，many days I have heard it-but I was too frightened，too frightened to speakWe have put her alive into her coffinDid I not tell you that I could hear even the softest soundI tell yo

48、u now that I heard her move in the coffinI heard the sounds many days ago，but my terror was too great-I could not speakAnd now tonight-when you read about Ethelred breaking the old mans door，about the cry of the dragon，and the falling of the gates-it was，in fact，the breaking of her coffin，the scream

49、 of metal as she broke open the vault，and the ringing crash as the metal door fell to the floorOh，where can I escape toIs she hurrying towards me at this very minuteIs that her angry footstep that I can hear on the stairsCan I hear the heavy and terrible beating of her heartMADMAN He jumped up and s

50、houted，screaming out his words like a man dying in terrorMADMANI TELL YOU THAT AT THIS MINUTE SHE Is STANDING OUTSIDE THIS DOOR AS he screamed these words，the heavy door was thrown open by the strong windThere，outside the door，dressed in the white clothes of the dead，stood the tall figure of the Lad

51、y Madeleine of UsherThere was blood on her hands，her arms，her torn white clothesEvery part of her body showed the marks of her long fight to escape from the coffinFor a moment she stood there shaking，moving slowly from side to sideThen with a low cry she fell heavily onto her brotherAnd in the momen

52、t of her now final death，he fell with her to the floor-a dead man，killed by his own 8 terror From that room，and from that house，I ran in horrorOutside，the storm was still violent and as I ran past the lake，a sudden wild light shone around meI turned to see where this strange light was coming fromIt

53、was the moon，a full，blood-red moon，shining through a narrow crack in the walls of the houseIt was the crack which started at the roof of the building and went right down to the groundAs I watched，the crack grew larger，the wind grew wilder-now I could see the full circle of the bloodred moon，and the

54、great walls of the house breaking and fallingThere was a long shouting sound，like the voice of a thousand waters，and the deep dark lake closed over the broken pieces of the House of Usher The Black Cat I know you will not believe this storyOnly a madman could hope that you would believe it-and I am

55、not madBut as I am going to die tomorrow，I would like to tell my story to the world todayPerhaps some day，somebody more calm and less excitale than me，will be able to explain it I have always loved animalsI loved them deeply，from the very first days of my lifeWhen I was young，we always had many anim

56、als in our house，and so I used to spend most of my days playing with them and taking care of themAs the years passed，I grew into a quiet，gentle man，and my love for animals grew tooI found that they were more friendly，more honest than most men Animals were always my best friends I got married when I

57、was quite youngLuckily，my wife loved animals too，and she used to buy me many animals as presentsIn fact，our house was always full of animals-we had birds，fish，a dog，chickens，and a cat This cat，whom we called Pluto，was a large black catHe was a beautiful animal，and he was also very cleverI loved Plut

58、o more than I loved all my other animalsI wanted to do everything for him myself，so I never let my wife take care of himI used to play with him and give him his food，and he followed me everywhere I went For several years Pluto and I were the best of friends，but during this time my 9 life slowly chan

59、gedI became a heavy drinker，and my need for alcohol soon grew into a terrible diseaseI was often angry and violentI began to shout at my wife，and I even started to hit herMy animals，too，felt the change in meI stopped taking care of them and sometimes I was even cruel to themBut I was never cruel to

60、PlutoAs time passed，my disease grew worse，and soon even Pluto was not safe from my violence One night I arrived home lateI was very，very drunkWhen Pluto saw me，he tried to run away from me，and this made me angryI caught him by his neck and shook himHe，in his fright，bit me on the handAt once，a wild，t

61、errible anger filled me，and I could feel nothing except burning hateSlowly I took a knife from my pocket，opened it，and then carefully cut out one of Plutos eyes from its socketI shake today as I write these words downEvery time I remember that day，I still feel sadness and pain When I woke up the nex

62、t morning，I felt ashamed of what I had doneBut this feeling was not strong enough to make me change my lifeI continued to drink because it was too difficult for me to stopSoon，I had forgotten what I had done As the months passed，Pluto got betterHis empty eye socket still looked terrible，but at least

63、 he wasnt in pain any moreNot surprisingly，he used to run away from me when he saw me，frightened that I would hurt him againAt first I was sad to see him run away-an animal which had once so loved meThen I began to feel a little angryThere is something strange about the human heartWe humans seem to

64、like hurting ourselvesHavent we all，a hundred times，done something stupid or evil just because we know that we should not do itIt was because of this，this need to hurt myself，that I did this next evil thing One morning I woke，found a rope and calmly tied it round Plutos neckThen I hung the poor animal from a tree and left it there to dieI cried as I did this terrible thingMy face was wet with tears and my heart was black and heavyBut I killed itI killed it because I knew it had loved me，because it hadnt hurt me，even because