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THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
By Edgar Allan Poe
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*
Twenty-four famous authors were
asked recently to name the beat
short story in the English language
The choice of Gouverneui Morris
was "The Fall of the House of
Usher,” by Edgar Allan Poe, who
won world renown as a short story
writer
P A R T I.
TjpTl U R IN G th e w hole o f a d u ll.
I J
d a rk an d so u n d less day in th e
I F a u tu m n of th e y e a r, w hen th e
- — i clouds liiui); oppressively low
iu th e h eavens. I had been p assin g
alone on horseback, th ro u g h a sin g u la r
ly dreary tr a c t of co u n try , an d a t
length found m yself, as th e sh a d e s of
evening g rew on. w ithin view of th e
m elancholy H o u se of U sher. I know
not how it w as, hut. w ith th e first
glim pse o f th e building, a se n se o f In
su fferab le gloom p e rv a d e d a y eftfrit.
1 looked upon th e scene tiefore m e—
upon th e m ere house an d th e sim ple
lan d scap e f e a tu re s of th e dom ain,
upon th e bleak w alls, upon th e v a c a n t
eyelike w indow s, upon a few ran k
sedges an d upon a few w h ite tr u n k s of
decayed trees, w ith an u tte r depression
of soul w hich 1 can co m p are to no
e a rth ly se n sa tio n m ore p roperly th an
to th e a f te r d ream of th e rev eler upon
opium , th e b itte r lapse Into every day
life, the hideous d ropping of th e veil.
T h e re w as a n iciness, a sinking, a
sickening o f th e heart, a n unredeem ed
d re a rin e ss of th o u g h t whl**h no goud-
ing of th e im ag in atio n could to rtu re
into a u g h t of th e sublim e. I reined
my horse to th e precipitous brink of a
black and lu rid ta rn th a t lay In un
rutiled lu ste r by th e d w ellin g and
gazed dow n, but w ith a sh u d d e r even
m ore th rillin g th a n before, upon the
rem odeled and in v erted Im ages of th e
Kray sedge an d th e g h a stly tre e ste m s
and th e v a c a n t a n d ey elik e w indow s.
N ev erth eless iu th is m auslon of
gloom 1 now proposed to m y self a s o
jo u rn of som e w eeks. Its p roprietor.
R oderick U sher, had been one of my
I hkiii com panions iu boyhood, hut m any
y e a rs had e lap sed since o u r las« m eet
ing.
A letter, how ever, h ad lately
reached m e in a d is ta n t p a rt of th e
c o u n try —a le tte r from h im -w h ic h , iu
its w ildly im p o rtu n a te n a tu re , had ad
m itted of no o th e r th a n a personal re
ply. T h e m a n u sc rip t g ave evidence of
nervous a g ita tio n . T h e w rite r s|»oUe
of ac u te bodily Illness, of a m e n tal d is
o rd e r w hich op p ressed him an d of mi
e a rn e s t d e sire to see me a s his I test
and. indeed, his only p erso n al friend,
w ith a view of a tte m p tin g by the
c h eerfu ln ess of my society som e al
levhition of his m alady.
A lthough a s hoys w e had ln*eii even
in tim ate a sso ciates, y e t I really knew
little of m y frien d . I lls reserv e had
been u lw sy s exceaalv# s u d h ab itu al
1 wan aware, however, that Ms very
an cien t fam ily had been noted, tim e
o u t of m ind, fo r a pectillur sensibility
o f tem p eram en t, d isp la y in g
itself
th ro u g h long ag es in m any w orks of
ex alted a r t an d m an ifested of la te in
rep eated deed s of m unitlcent y e t u n
o b tru siv e c h a rity a s well a s in a p a s
sio n a te devotion to th e in trica cies, p er
d o w s w ere long, n a rro w an d point»* I
an d a t so v a s t a d ista n c e from th e
bladk oaken floor a s to be a lto g e th e r
in accessib le fro m
w ithin.
F eeble
g leam s o f en crim so n ed light m ade
th e ir w ay th ro u g h th e trelllsed p an es
an d serv ed 10 re n d e r sufficiently d is
tin c t th e m ore pro m in en t o b jects
aro u n d . 1 felt th u t 1 b reath ed a n ut-
m o sp h ere of sorrow . An a ir of ste rn ,
j d eep an d Irred eem ab le gloom h a n g o v e r
| a n d p erv ad ed all.
| Upon m y e n tra n c e U sher aro se from
a sofa on w h ich he had been lying a t
fu ll len g th an d g reeted me w ith a
v iv acious w a rm th w hich had m uch iu
it. I a t first th o u g h t, of an overdone
c o rd ia lity —of th e co n strain ed effo rt of
th e en n u y e m an of th e world.
A
glance, how ever, a t his co u n ten an ce
convinced m e of his p erfect sin cerity .
W e s a t dow n , an d fo r som e m om ents,
w h ile he sp o k e not. 1 gazed upon him
w ith a feelin g h a lf of pity, h alf of
aw e. S urely m an had n ev er before
so te rrib ly a lte re d in so b rief a period
a s had R oderick U sher. It w as w ith
difficulty th a t I could b rin g m y self to
a d m it th e id e n tity of th e one being
b efo re me w ith th e com panion of my
e arly boyhood. Yet th e c h a ra c te r of
i his face had been a t all tim es iv m ark a
j hie. A c a d a v e ro u sn e ss of com plexion:
I a n eye large, liquid and lum inous be-
! yond co m p ariso n : lips so m e w h at th*u
an d very pallid, b u t of a su rp assin g ly
b e a u tifu l c u rv e ; a nose o f a d elicate
H eb rew m odel, b u t w ith a b re a d th of
nostril u n u su a l in sim ila r fo rm atio n s:
a finely m o ld ed ’ chin, sp e ak in g in its
w a n t of prom inence, of a w an t of
m oral en e rg y : h a ir of a m ore th a n
w eb lik e so ftn e s s and te n u ity —th ese
fe a tu re s, w ith an in o rd in a te e x p a n
sio n ab o v e th e regions of th e tem ple,
m ad e up a lto g e th e r a co u n ten an ce not
easily to be fo rg o tten . T h e uow g h a s t
ly p allo r o f th e sk in an d th e now
m iracu lo u s lu ste r of th e eye. ab o v e all
th in g s, sta rtle d and even a well me.
; T h e silk en h a ir, too. iiad been suffered
to grow all unh eed ed , an d as. in its
w ild g o ssam er te x tu re . It floated ra th e r
th a n fell a t »out th e face 1 could not.
j ev en w ith effo rt, connect its A rab esq u e
\ ex p ressio n w ith an y Idea o f sim p le hu-
| m uqity.
j In th e m a n n e r of my frien d I w as
a t once s tru c k w ith a n Incoherence -
an in co n sisten cy , an d I soon found tills
to a rise fro m a se ries of feeb le and
fu tile stru g g le s to overcom e a n h a b it
ual tr e p ld a n c y -r tii ex cessiv e n erv o u s
ag itatio n .
H is actio n w a s a lte rn a te ly vivacious
au d sullen. Elis voice v aried rap id ly
j fro m a tre m u lo u s indecision (w hen th e
I an im al s p ir its seem ed u tte rly In alley -
I an cel to th a t sp ecies o f en erg etic con
cision—th a t a b ru p t, w eig h ty , u n h u rried
an d hollow so u n d in g en u n ciatio n : th a t
leaden, se lf b alan ced and p erfectly
m o d u lated g u ttu ra l u tte ra n c e , w hich
m ay be o b serv ed iu th e lost d ru n k a rd
o r th e irre c la im a b le e a te r of opium ,
d u rin g th e p erio d s of his m ost Intense
ex citem en t.
It w as th u s th a t he spoke of th e o b
ject of my visit, of his e a rn e s t d esire
to see m e a n d o f th e solace lie ex p ect
ed m e to afford him. H e e n te re d a t
som e len g th in to w h at lie conceived to
be th e n a tu r e o f his m alad y . It d is
played itse lf iu a host of u n n a tu ra l
se n satio n s. H e su ffered m uch from a
m orbid ac u te n e ss of th e se n se s: th e
m ost insipid food w as alone e n d u ra b le ;
he could w e a r only g a rm e n ts o f c e r
tain te x tu re : th e odors of all flow ers
w ere o p p ressiv e: his ey es w ere t o r tu r
ed by ev en a fa in t light, an d th e re
w ere Im t p ecu liar sounds a n d th ese
from strin g e d In stru m e n ts w hich did
n o t In sp ire him w ith horror.
T o a n an o m alo u s species o f te r ro r 1
found him a bounden slave. ” 1 sh all
perish.*' said he. "I m u st p erish in
th is d ep lo rab le folly. T h u s. th u s, and
not o th e rw ise , shall I be lost I dread
th e ev en ts o f th e fu tu re , n o t In th em
selves, b u t in th e ir resu lts. I sh u d d e r
a t th e th o u g h t of an y . even th e m ost
triv ia l Incident, w hich m ay o p erate
upon th is in to le ra b le ag ita tio n df soul.
1 h av e Indeed no ab h o rre n ce of d a n g e r
ex cep t in its ab so lu te effect—in terro r.
In th is u n n erv ed , in tills p itiab le coudi-
J
GOUVERNEUR
MORRIS
h ap s even m ore th a n to th e orth o d o x
an d easily recognizable beau ties, of
m usical science. 1 had learn ed , to«»,
th e very re m a rk a b le f a c t th a t th e
stem o f the U sher race, all tim e hon
ored a s It was. h ad p ut fo rth a t no pe
riod a n y e n d u rin g b ru n c h —in o th e r
w ords, th a t th e e n tire fam ily lay In
j
tin* d ire c t line of d escen t an d h ad a l
w ay s. w ith very triflin g an d very tem
p o rary v ariatio n , so lain. It w as th is
deficiency, perhaps, of co llateral issue
a n d th e co n seq u en t n n d e v ia tin g tr a n s
m ission from sire to son of tin* p a tr i
m ony w ith th e nam e w hich had a t
len g th so identified th e tw o a s to
m erg e th e original title of th e e s ta te
in th e ip iaiu t an d equivocal a p p e lla
tion o f th e "H o u se of U sher” - a n a p
pellation w hich seem ed to in clu d e in
th e m inds of th e p e a s a n try who used
it both th e fam ily and th e m ansion.
W hen I a g a in u p lifte d m y ey es to
th e house itself from its Im age In th e
pool th e re g rew In m y m ind a stra n g e
fancy. I had so w orked upon m y im
i ag in atio n a s really to believe th a t
a b o u t tiie w hole m ansion an d d o m ain
th e re h u n g a n a tm o sp h e re p ecu liar to
th em se lv e s and th e ir Im m ediate vicini
t y - a n atm o sp h e re w hich had no affin
ity w ith th e a ir of heaven, b u t w hich
bad reeked up from th e decayed tre e s
an d tin* gray w all an d th e sile n t tu r n —
a p e stile n t an d m y stic vapor, dull,
sluggish, fa in tly d isc ern ib le and leaden
| titled.
S h a k in g off from my sp irit w h a t
m u st h a v e been a d ream . I sc an n ed
m ore n arro w ly th e real asp ect o f th e
b u ild in g Its principal fe a tu re seem ed
to he th a t of a n ex cessiv e an tiq u ity .
T h e disco lo ratio n of ag es had been
g re a t.
M inute fungi o v ersp read th e
w hole ex terio r, h a n g in g In a fine t a n
gled w ebw ork from th e eaves. Yet all
th is w as a p a rt from an y e x tra o rd in a ry
d ilap id atio n . P erh ap s tile eye of a sc ru
tin izin g o b se rv er m ight h ave d isc o v er
ed «*i barely percep tib le fissure w hich,
e x te n d in g from th e roof o f th e b u ild
ing in fro n t, m ade its w ay dow n th e
w all in a zigzag d irectio n until it be
cam e lost iu th e su b e n w a te rs of th e
ta rn .
N oticing th ese th in g s, I rode o v er a
sh o rt cau sew ay to th e house. A se rv
a n t in w a itin g took my horse, an d I
e n te re d th e G othic a rc h w a y o f th e
hall. A valet of s te a lth y ste p th en ce
co n d u cted m e in silen c e th ro u g h m any
d ark an d in tric a te p assag es In my
p ro g ress to th e stu d io of his m aster.
O b a s ta irc a s e I m et th e p h y si
cia n o f th e fam ily. H is co u n ten an ce.
I th o u g h t, w ore a m ingled ex p ressio n
o f low' cu n n in g an d perp lex ity , l i e a c
costed m e w ith tre p id a tio n an d p assed
on. T h e v alet now th re w open a door
an d u sh ered m e in to th e p resen c e of
his m aster.
T h e room in w hich I found m y self
w as very large an d loftv. T h e w in
/