【外国文学】神秘及幻想故事集.docx

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1、【外国文学】神秘及幻想故事集Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe 简介想像一下，你正置身于湖畔的一座古旧宅邸之中。时间是夜里，外面暴雨肆虐，狂风绕着灰色的石墙嘶吼。房子下面的一间阴森的地窖里放着一口棺材，里面躺着玛德琳小姐的尸体。同你一起待在房间里的是她的哥哥，正在用疯狂的目光望着你。想像一下吧你这是在鄂榭府上。翻到另一页，可以见到一只黑猫被人勒住脖子吊在树上。再翻一页，你就会听到一次美妙绝伦的假面舞会上响起的音乐声，看见一千个人在唱歌、跳舞。你现在是在普洛斯佩罗亲王的城堡中。城堡里面灯火通明、生气勃勃，人人纵情狂欢；但是在城墙

2、外面，逡巡着那可怕的戴面具的红死魔这些故事将会带你进入一个阴暗的幻想世界，一个充满了恐怖、梦幻与疯狂的世界。不要一个人读它们！埃德加爱伦坡（18091849）出生于美国波士顿。在短暂而郁郁不得志的一生中，他曾供职于几家报社，并发表了很多短篇小说和诗歌。也许最令他声名远播的是他的短篇小说创作。 The Fall of the House of UsherIt was a grey autumn day and the sky was full of large black cloudsAll day I had ridden through flat and uninteresting coun

3、tryside，but at last，as it began to grow dark，I saw the end of my journeyThere，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

4、looked around at the thin dry grass and the old dying trees，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 gloomWhy，I wondered，did the House of Usher make me feel so sad？I could find no answerThere was a lake next to the

5、house and I rode my horse up to the edge and stoppedPerhaps 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 everIt

6、 was in this house that I was going to spend the next few 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

7、and needed to see meI was his only friend，the only person who could help him in his illnessAlthough 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

8、knew that in the Usher family there had never been many children and so for hundreds of years the family name，together with the family home，had passed straight from father to sonAs I stood by the lake，my feeling of gloom grew and grewI knew also that underneath my gloom lay fear，and fear does strang

9、e things to the mindI began to imagine that the gloom was not in my mind，but was something realIt was like a 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 fearThis was a dream，I

10、 told myself，and I looked more carefully at the building 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 t

11、op of the building and continued all the way down into the dark waters of the lakeI 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 remembe

12、red these pictures from my earlier visits to the house when I was a childBut the feelings that the pictures gave me on this visit were new to meOn 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 to

13、ok me into the studyThe room was large and long，with 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 airW

14、hen Usher saw me，he got up and welcomed me warmlyI 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 meeting！H

15、e had the same pale thin face，the same eyes，large 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 headI noticed that my friend was ver

16、y nervous and that his feelings changed very quicklySometimes 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 heavy and slow，like the voice of a man who had drunk too muchHe told me why he had wanted

17、to see me，and how he hoped to feel better now 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 cho

18、ose his clothes very carefully because most of 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 guitarsWorst of all，he was a prisoner of his own fearI shall die，he used to say，

19、because of this fear，Im not afraid of dangerWhat frightens me is fear itselfAt the moment I am fighting against fear，but sooner or later I wont be able to fight any moreDuring long conversations with Usher I learnt more about his strange illnessHe was sure that it came from the House of Usher itself

20、He had not left the house for many years and he had become，he thought，as sad as the house itselfThe gloom of its grey walls and its dark silent lake had become his ownHe also believed that much of his sadness was because his dear sister was seriously illHe had one sister，Madeleine，the only other per

21、son in his family who was still living，but each day she seemed a little nearer to deathHer death，Usher said blackly，will leave me alone in the world，the last of all the UshersWhile he was speaking，Madeleine passed slowly through the back of the long room and，without noticing me，disappearedAs I looke

22、d at her，my eyes felt heavy withsleep，and 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 silentlyLady Madeleines illness was a mysterious one which no doctor could understandEvery day

23、she became weaker and thinner，and sometimes 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

24、 head sadlyDuring the next few days 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 belo

25、nged to his world；sometimes，indeed，he seemed close to the edge of madnessHe 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

26、，were able to feelThe House of Usher 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，h

27、ow the stones and the air have shaped the lives of the Usher family？These ideas were too fantastic for me，and I could not answer himOne 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 on

28、e of the vaults under the house，before 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 agreedTogether we carried the body in its coffin down to the vaults under the houseThe vau

29、lt that he had chosen was a long 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 doorWe 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 fac

30、e，I realized how much Ushers sister 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 wordsWe could not look at her for longHer strange illness had left her with a soft pink colour

31、 on her face，and that unchanging 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 houseAfter some days of deep unhappiness，I saw that my friends illness of the mi

32、nd was growing worseHe did 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

33、thought he was going madHe 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 mindAbout seven or eight days after we had put Lady Madeleines coffin in the

34、vault，I went to bed but could 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 frightenedSudd

35、enly，my body shook with a 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 fearThen I heard a knock on

36、my door and Usher came inHis 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 moreFor some moments he looked around without saying a wordThen，suddenly，Have you not see

37、n it？ No？Then waitYou must see itHe hurried to the window and opened itThe 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 ch

38、ased each other，first this way，then that wayWe could see no moon and no stars，but a pale ghostly light lay around the houseYou 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 hea

39、lthLets close the window 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 togetherThe 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 wa

40、s the only one that 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 frighteningI read for a while and reached the place in the book where Eth

41、elred broke down the door of the old mans houseNow 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

42、 heard all through the forestAs 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 continue

43、d reading：Ethelred 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，

44、unnatural screamHere 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 bookAlthough I was feeling so nervous，I tried hard to hide my terrorI was not sure if Usher had heard the sounds that I had hear

45、dIn the last few 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：And now Ethelred，after he had killed the dragon，turned and saw in front of him a palace of

46、gold with tall 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 soundAs I read these words，I heard clearly the loud，heavy sound of metal fallingI j

47、umped to my 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

48、was thereI put my head close to his to catch his wordsDont 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 coffin！Did I not tell you that I could hear even the softest sound？I tell you now that I heard her move in the coffinI heard the sounds many days ago，but my terror was too great-I could not speak！And now tonight-when you re