1
00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:09,919
The apparition by guill de montperson.
The subject of sequestration of the person came

2
00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:14,759
up in speaking of a recent lawsuit, and each of us had a story

3
00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,920
to tell, a true story.
He said. We have been spending the

4
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:24,640
evening together at an old family mansion
in the Rue du Grenelle, just a

5
00:00:24,719 --> 00:00:30,519
party of intimate friends. The old
Marquis de la Tour Samuel, who was

6
00:00:30,559 --> 00:00:36,640
eighty two, rose and, leaning
his elbow on the mantel piece, said,

7
00:00:36,799 --> 00:00:43,000
in his somewhat shaky voice, I
also know of something strange, so

8
00:00:43,079 --> 00:00:48,479
strange that it has haunted me all
my life. It is now fifty six

9
00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:55,479
years since the incident occurred, and
yet not a month passes that I do

10
00:00:55,560 --> 00:01:00,439
not see it again in a dream. So great is the impression of fear

11
00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:06,879
it has left on my mind.
For ten minutes, I experienced such horrible

12
00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:12,519
fright that ever since then, a
sort of constant terror has remained with me.

13
00:01:14,599 --> 00:01:23,000
Sudden noises startle me violently, and
objects imperfectly distinguished at night inspire me

14
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:27,719
with a mad desire to flee from
them. In short, I am afraid

15
00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:33,959
of the dark. But I would
not have acknowledged that before I reached my

16
00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:41,319
present age. Now I can say
anything I have never receded before real danger,

17
00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:47,120
ladies. It is therefore permissible,
at eighty two years of age not

18
00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:53,159
to be brave in presence of imaginary
danger. That affair so completely upset me

19
00:01:53,799 --> 00:02:00,000
caused me such deep and mysterious and
terrible distress that I I never spoke of

20
00:02:00,079 --> 00:02:06,519
it to anyone. I will now
tell it to you exactly as it happened,

21
00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:13,919
without any attempt at explanation. In
July eighteen twenty seven, I was

22
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:19,680
stationed at one one day, as
I was walking along the quay, I

23
00:02:19,759 --> 00:02:24,280
met a man whom I thought I
recognized, without being able to recall exactly

24
00:02:24,479 --> 00:02:32,080
who he was. Instinctively I made
a movement to stop. The stranger perceived

25
00:02:32,159 --> 00:02:38,560
it, and at once extended his
hand. He was a friend to whom

26
00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:44,120
I had been deeply attached as a
yuse for five years. I had not

27
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:50,000
seen him. He seemed to have
aged half a century. His hair was

28
00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:55,360
quite white, and he walked bent
over, as though completely exhausted. He

29
00:02:55,400 --> 00:03:01,400
apparently understood my surprise, and he
told me of the misfortune which had shattered

30
00:03:01,439 --> 00:03:07,800
his life. Having fallen madly in
love with a young girl, he had

31
00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:13,400
married her, but after a year
of more than earthly happiness, she died

32
00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,840
suddenly of an affection of the heart. He left his country home on the

33
00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:23,240
very day of her burial and came
to his town house in Rooin, where

34
00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:30,840
he lived alone and unhappy, so
sad and wretched that he thought constantly of

35
00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:36,919
suicide. Since I've found you again
in this manner, he said, I

36
00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:42,280
will ask you to render me an
important service. It is to go and

37
00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:47,560
get me out of the desk in
my bedroom, our bedroom, some papers

38
00:03:47,639 --> 00:03:53,520
of which I have urgent need.
I cannot send a servant or a business

39
00:03:53,520 --> 00:04:01,599
clerk, as discretion and absolute silence
unnecessary. As for myself, nothing on

40
00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:06,439
earth would induce me to re enter
that house. I will give you the

41
00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:12,439
key of the room, which I
myself locked on leaving, and the key

42
00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,120
of my desk. Also a few
words for my gardener, telling him to

43
00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:21,240
open the chateau for you. But
come on breakfast with me tomorrow and we

44
00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:27,959
will arrange all that I promised to
do him. The slight favor he asked,

45
00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:32,279
it was for that matter only a
ride which I could make in an

46
00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:38,680
hour on horseback, his property being
but a few miles distant from vois.

47
00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:45,600
At ten o'clock the following day,
I breakfasted tete a tit with my friend,

48
00:04:46,199 --> 00:04:50,519
but he scarcely spoke. He begged
me to pardon him. The thought

49
00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:56,240
of the visit I was about to
make to that room the scene of his

50
00:04:56,399 --> 00:05:03,680
dead happiness overcame him, he said. He indeed seemed singularly agitated and preoccupied,

51
00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:11,319
as though undergoing some mysterious mental struggle. At length, he explained to

52
00:05:11,439 --> 00:05:15,519
me exactly what I had to do. It was very simple. I must

53
00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:21,240
take two packages of letters and a
roll of papers from the first right hand

54
00:05:21,319 --> 00:05:26,639
drawer of the desk, of which
I have a key. He added,

55
00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:31,199
I need not beg you to refrain
from glancing at them. I was wounded

56
00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:40,120
at that remark and told him so
somewhat sharply. He stammered, forgive me,

57
00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:46,240
I suffer so, and tears came
to his eyes. At about one

58
00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:51,920
o'clock I took leave of him to
accomplish my mission. The weather was glorious,

59
00:05:53,439 --> 00:05:58,040
and I trotted across the fields,
listening to the song of the larks

60
00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,759
and the rhythmical clang of my sword
against my boot. Then I entered the

61
00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:10,079
forest and walked my horse branches of
trees caressed my face as I passed,

62
00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:15,680
And now and then I caught a
leaf with my teeth and chewed it from

63
00:06:15,759 --> 00:06:20,519
sheer gladness of heart at being alive
and vigorous on such a radiant day.

64
00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:27,480
As I approached the chateau, I
took from my pocket the letter I had

65
00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:32,199
for the gardener, and was astonished
at finding it sealed. I was so

66
00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:39,199
irritated that I was about to turn
back without having fulfilled my promise, but

67
00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:46,199
reflected that I shall thereby display undue
susceptibility. My friend, in his troubled

68
00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,920
condition, might easily have fastened the
envelope without noticing that he did so.

69
00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:58,439
The manner looked as if it had
been abandoned for twenty years. The open

70
00:06:58,519 --> 00:07:03,439
gate was falling from it hinges,
the walks were overgrown with grass, and

71
00:07:03,519 --> 00:07:10,160
the flower beds were no longer distinguishable. The noise I made by kicking it

72
00:07:10,279 --> 00:07:15,160
a shutter brought out an old man
from a side door. He seemed stunned

73
00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:20,759
with astonishment at seeing me. On
receiving my letter, he read it,

74
00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:27,079
re read it, turned it over, and over looked me up and down,

75
00:07:27,639 --> 00:07:31,040
put the paper in his pocket,
and finally said, well, what

76
00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:36,399
is it you wish? I replied
shortly, you ought to know, since

77
00:07:36,439 --> 00:07:42,879
you've just read your master's orders,
I wished to enter the chateau. He

78
00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:48,199
seemed overcome. Then you're going in
into her room. I began to lose

79
00:07:48,319 --> 00:07:54,600
patience. Damn it, are you
presuming to question me? He stammered in

80
00:07:54,680 --> 00:08:01,639
confusion. No, sir, but
but it's not been opened since the death.

81
00:08:03,279 --> 00:08:05,800
If you will be kind enough to
wait five minutes, I will go

82
00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:11,279
and see if, I interrupted him
angrily, see here, what do you

83
00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:16,360
mean by your tricks? You know
very well you cannot enter the room,

84
00:08:16,839 --> 00:08:20,680
since here is the key. He
no longer objected. Then, sir,

85
00:08:22,279 --> 00:08:26,160
I will show you the way,
show me the staircase, and leave me.

86
00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,919
I'll find my way without you.
But sir, indeed, this time

87
00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,799
I lost patience, and, pushing
him aside, went into the house.

88
00:08:37,639 --> 00:08:41,399
I first went through the kitchen,
then two rooms occupied by this man and

89
00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:46,639
his wife. I then crossed a
large hall, mounted a staircase, and

90
00:08:46,759 --> 00:08:52,759
recognized the door described by my friend. I easily opened it and entered the

91
00:08:52,799 --> 00:09:00,759
apartment. It was so dark that
at first I could distinguish nothing. I

92
00:09:00,799 --> 00:09:09,039
stopped short disagreeably affected by that disagreeable, musty odor of closed unoccupied rooms.

93
00:09:09,879 --> 00:09:15,720
As my eyes slowly became accustomed to
the darkness, I saw plainly enough a

94
00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:22,720
large and disordered bedroom, the bed
without sheets, but still retaining its mattresses

95
00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:28,120
and pillows, on one of which
was a deep impression, as though an

96
00:09:28,159 --> 00:09:33,240
elbow or a head had recently rested
there. The chairs all seemed out of

97
00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:39,159
place. I noticed that a door, doubtless that of a closet, had

98
00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:45,840
remained half open. I first went
to the window, which I opened to

99
00:09:45,919 --> 00:09:50,559
let in the light, but the
fastenings of the shutters had grown so rusty

100
00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:54,440
that I could not move them.
I even tried to break them with my

101
00:09:54,639 --> 00:10:01,080
sword, but without success. As
I was growing ill irritated over my useless

102
00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:07,840
efforts, and could now see fairly
well in the semi darkness, I gave

103
00:10:07,919 --> 00:10:11,320
up the hope of getting more light
and went over to the writing desk.

104
00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:18,759
I seated myself in an armchair,
and letting down the lid of the desk,

105
00:10:18,399 --> 00:10:24,600
I opened the drawer designated it was
full to the top. I needed

106
00:10:24,799 --> 00:10:31,279
but three packages, which I knew
how to recognize, and began searching for

107
00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:35,559
them. I was straining my eyes
in the effort to read the superscriptions.

108
00:10:37,039 --> 00:10:43,000
When I seemed to hear, or
rather feel, something rustle back of me,

109
00:10:43,039 --> 00:10:50,039
I paid no attention, believing that
a draft from the window was moving

110
00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:56,279
some drapery. But in a minute
or so another movement, almost imperceptible,

111
00:10:56,919 --> 00:11:03,240
sent a strangely disagreeable little shiver over
my skin. It was so stupid to

112
00:11:03,279 --> 00:11:11,000
be affected even slightly that self respect
prevented my turning around. I had just

113
00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:16,360
found the second package I needed and
was about to lay my hand on the

114
00:11:16,399 --> 00:11:22,600
third, when a long and painful
sigh uttered just at my shoulder, made

115
00:11:22,639 --> 00:11:26,480
me bound like a madman from my
seat and land several feet off. As

116
00:11:26,519 --> 00:11:31,240
I jumped, I had turned round
my hand on the hilt of my sword,

117
00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,279
and truly, if I had not
felt it at my side, I

118
00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,679
should have taken to my heels like
a coward. A tall woman dressed in

119
00:11:39,759 --> 00:11:45,440
white stood gazing at me from the
back of the chair where I had been

120
00:11:45,519 --> 00:11:52,120
sitting. An instant before, such
a shudder ran through all my limbs that

121
00:11:52,279 --> 00:11:58,519
I nearly fell backward. No one
who has not experienced it can understand that

122
00:11:58,639 --> 00:12:07,120
fright, unreasoning terror the mind becomes
vague, the heart ceases to beat,

123
00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:13,039
the entire body grows as limp as
a sponge. I do not believe in

124
00:12:13,159 --> 00:12:18,639
ghosts. Nevertheless, I collapsed from
a hideous dread of the dead. And

125
00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:24,799
I suffered. Oh I suffered in
a few moments, more than in all

126
00:12:24,919 --> 00:12:31,039
the rest of my life, from
the irresistible terror of the supernatural. If

127
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:35,759
she had not spoken, I should
have died, perhaps, But she spoke.

128
00:12:37,399 --> 00:12:41,240
She spoke in a sweet, sad
voice that set my nerves vibrating.

129
00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:48,279
I dare not say that I became
master of myself and recovered my reason.

130
00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:54,000
No. I was terrified and scarcely
knew what I was doing. But as

131
00:12:54,000 --> 00:13:00,039
certain innate pride, a remnant of
soldierly instinct, made me, almost in

132
00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:05,720
spite of myself, maintain a bald
front. She said, Oh, sir,

133
00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:11,279
you can render me a great service. I wanted to reply, but

134
00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:16,159
it was impossible for me to pronounce
a word. Only a vague sound came

135
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:22,759
from my throat. She continued,
will you you can save me, cure

136
00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:30,679
me? I suffer, frightfully,
I suffer, Oh how I suffer?

137
00:13:31,919 --> 00:13:37,519
And she slowly seated herself in my
armchair, still looking at me, will

138
00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:43,320
you, she said. I nodded
in assent, my voice still being paralyzed.

139
00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:50,639
Then she held out to me a
tortoise shell comb and murmured, comb

140
00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:56,000
my hair, Oh, comb my
hair. That will cure me. It

141
00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:01,080
must be combed. Look at my
head, how I suffer and my hair

142
00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:09,240
pulls so her hair unbound, very
long and very black. It seemed to

143
00:14:09,279 --> 00:14:13,320
me hung over the back of the
arm chair and touched the floor. Why

144
00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:18,559
did I promise? Why did I
take that comb with a shudder? And

145
00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:24,960
why did I hold in my hands
her long black hair that gave my skin

146
00:14:26,159 --> 00:14:33,080
a frightful cold sensation as though I
were handling snakes. I cannot tell that

147
00:14:33,279 --> 00:14:39,600
sensation has remained in my fingers,
and I still tremble in recalling it.

148
00:14:41,559 --> 00:14:46,799
I combed her hair, I handled. I know not how those icy locks

149
00:14:48,519 --> 00:14:54,799
I twisted, knotted and unknotted and
braided them. She sighed, bowed her

150
00:14:54,840 --> 00:15:01,120
head, seemed happy. Suddenly she
said, thank you, snatched the comb

151
00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,159
from my hands, and fled by
the door that I had noticed Ajar left

152
00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:13,240
alone. I experienced for several seconds
the horrible agitation of one who awakens from

153
00:15:13,279 --> 00:15:18,759
a nightmare. At length, I
regained my senses. I ran to the

154
00:15:18,799 --> 00:15:22,840
window, and with a mighty effort, burst open the shutters, letting a

155
00:15:22,919 --> 00:15:28,120
flood of light into the room.
Immediately I sprang to the door by which

156
00:15:28,159 --> 00:15:35,840
that being had departed. I found
it closed and immovable. Then the mad

157
00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:41,480
desire to flee overcame me like a
panic, the panic which soldiers know in

158
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:46,000
battle. I seized the three packets
of letters on the open desk, ran

159
00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:50,639
from the room, dashed down the
stairs four steps at a time, found

160
00:15:50,639 --> 00:15:56,039
myself outside, I know not how, and, perceiving my horse a few

161
00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:03,240
steps off, leaped into the saddle
and gallup away. I stopped only when

162
00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:07,600
I reached to wap and alighted at
my lodgings, throwing the reins to my

163
00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:14,480
orderly. I fled to my room
and shut myself in to reflect for an

164
00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:19,600
hour. I anxiously asked myself if
I were not the victim of a hallucination.

165
00:16:21,799 --> 00:16:27,440
Undoubtedly I had had one of those
incomprehensible nervous attacks, those exaltations of

166
00:16:27,559 --> 00:16:34,120
mind that give rise to visions and
are the stronghold of the supernatural. And

167
00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:40,039
I was about to believe I had
seen a vision, had a hallucination,

168
00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:47,120
when As I approached the window,
my eyes fell by chance upon my breast.

169
00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:55,480
My military cape was covered with long
black hairs, one by one with

170
00:16:55,639 --> 00:17:00,639
trembling fingers, I plucked them off
and threw them away. I then called

171
00:17:00,679 --> 00:17:06,759
my orderly. I was too disturbed, too upset, to go and see

172
00:17:06,799 --> 00:17:11,519
my friend that day, and I
also wished to reflect more fully upon what

173
00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:15,200
I ought to tell him. I
sent him his letters, for which he

174
00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:22,000
gave the soldier a receipt. He
asked after me most particularly, and,

175
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:27,880
on being told I was ill had
had a sunstroke, appeared exceedingly anxious.

176
00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:33,519
Next morning, I went to him, determined to tell him the truth.

177
00:17:33,519 --> 00:17:40,400
He had gone out the evening before
and had not yet returned. I called

178
00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:47,039
again during the day my friend was
still absent. After waiting a week longer

179
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:52,359
without news of him, I notified
the authorities, and the judicial search was

180
00:17:52,400 --> 00:18:00,240
instituted. Not the slightest trace of
his whereabouts or manner of disappearance was discovered.

181
00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:07,440
A minute inspection of the abandoned chateau
revealed nothing of a suspicious character.

182
00:18:08,279 --> 00:18:15,680
There was no indication that a woman
had been concealed. There After, fruitless

183
00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:22,519
researches all further efforts were abandoned,
and for fifty six years I have heard

184
00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:30,319
nothing. I know no more than
before and of the apparition