THE TELL-TALE HEART

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   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 my sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in heaven and in earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Listen — 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 it took hold, it haunted me day and night. There was no reason for it. There was no passion. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never insulted me. I had no desire for his gold. I think it was his eye — yes, it was this! He had the eye 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 forever.

Now this is the point. You think me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me — you should have seen how wisely I proceeded; with what caution, with what foresight, with what dissimulation 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 latch of his door and opened it — oh so gently! Then, when I had made an opening large enough for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed so that no light shone out; and 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 undid the lantern cautiously — oh, so 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 troubled me, but his Evil Eye.

And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him — calling him by name in a hearty tone, and asking how he had passed the night. So you see he would have been a very wise old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept.

Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers — of my cleverness. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door little by little — and he not even dreaming of my secret deeds or thoughts.

I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back — but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness (for the shutters were tightly fastened through fear of robbers), and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily.

I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying, “Who’s there?”

I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle; and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in bed listening — just as I had done, night after night, listening to the death-watch beetles in the wall.

Soon I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief — oh, no! — it was the low, stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overloaded with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it had risen up from my own chest, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me.

I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. He had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been growing upon him ever since. He had been saying to himself, “It is nothing but the wind in the chimney — it is only a mouse crossing the floor,” or “It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp.”

Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these ideas; but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching him, had stalked with his black shadow before him and surrounded the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unseen shadow that caused him to feel — although he neither saw nor heard — to feel the presence of my head within the room.

When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a very, very little crack in the lantern. So I opened it — you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily — until, at length, a single dim ray, like the thread of a spider, shot from out the crack and fell full upon the vulture eye.

It was open — wide, wide open — and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect clearness: all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man’s face or person, for I had directed the ray as if by instinct precisely upon the damned spot.

And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-sharpness of the senses? Now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when wrapped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man’s heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.

But even yet I held back and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eye. Meantime, the hellish pounding of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man’s terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say — louder every moment! — do you hear me well? I have told you that I am nervous: so I am.

And now, at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet for some minutes longer I held back and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst.

And now a new anxiety seized me — the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old man’s hour had come! With a loud yell I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once — once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor and pulled the heavy bed over him.

I then smiled gaily to find the deed so far done. But for many minutes the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not bother me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes — he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulse. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.

If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for hiding the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.

I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber and placed all the pieces between the floor joists. I then replaced the boards so cleverly — so cunningly — that no human eye — not even his — could have detected anything wrong. There was nothing to wash out — no stain of any kind — no blood-spot whatever. I had been too careful for that. A tub had caught all — ha! ha!

When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o’clock — still dark as midnight. As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart — for what had I now to fear?

There entered three men, who introduced themselves, with perfect politeness, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a neighbor during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been reported at the police office; and they (the officers) had been sent to search the premises.

I smiled — for what had I to fear? I welcomed the gentlemen. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I told them to search — search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure and undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confidence I brought chairs into the room and asked them to rest here from their hard work while I myself, in the wild boldness of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which rested the corpse of the victim.

The officers were satisfied. My manner had convinced them. I was unusually at ease. They sat; and while I answered cheerfully they chatted of familiar things. But, before long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I imagined a ringing in my ears; but still they sat and still chatted.

The ringing became more distinct — it continued and became more distinct. I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling; but it continued and gained sharpness — until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears.

No doubt I now grew very pale; but I talked more fluently and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased — and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound — much such a sound as a watch makes when wrapped in cotton. I gasped for breath — and yet the officers heard it not.

I talked more quickly — more violently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles in a high key and with violent hand movements; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor back and forth with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men — but the noise steadily increased.

Oh God! what could I do? I foamed — I raved — I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and scraped it upon the boards; but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder — louder — louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God — no, no! They heard! — they suspected! — they knew! — they were making a mockery of my horror! — this I thought, and this I think.

But anything was better than this agony! Anything more tolerable than this mockery! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! And now — again! — hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!

“Villains!” I shrieked, “pretend no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! Here, here! — it is the beating of his hideous heart!”