TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story.
It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture -- a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever.
Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded -- with what caution -- with what foresight1, with what dissimulation2, I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night about midnight I turned the latch3 of his door and opened it oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern all closed, closed so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! Would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room I undid4 the lantern cautiously -- oh, so cautiously -- cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights, every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed, and so it was impossible to do the work, for it was not the old man who vexed5 me but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber6 and spoke7 courageously8 to him, calling him by name in a hearty9 tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept.
1 foresight [ˈfɔ:saɪt] 第8级 | |
n.先见之明,深谋远虑 | |
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2 dissimulation [dɪˌsɪmjʊ'leɪʃn] 第11级 | |
n.掩饰,虚伪,装糊涂 | |
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3 latch [lætʃ] 第10级 | |
n.门闩,窗闩;弹簧锁 | |
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4 Undid [ʌn'dɪd] 第7级 | |
v. 解开, 复原 | |
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5 vexed [vekst] 第8级 | |
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论 | |
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6 chamber [ˈtʃeɪmbə(r)] 第7级 | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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7 spoke [spəʊk] 第11级 | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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8 courageously [kə'reidʒəsli] 第8级 | |
ad.勇敢地,无畏地 | |
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