1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,440
Speaker 1: The tell tell heart true nervous, very very dreadfully nervous.

2
00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:07,000
I had been and am, But why will you say

3
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,880
that I am mad? The disease has sharpened my senses,

4
00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,400
not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense

5
00:00:13,439 --> 00:00:16,160
of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven

6
00:00:16,199 --> 00:00:18,640
and in the earth. I heard many things in hell.

7
00:00:19,039 --> 00:00:23,120
How then am I mad? Hearken observe how healthily, how

8
00:00:23,199 --> 00:00:26,199
calmly I can tell you the whole story. It is

9
00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:29,160
impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain.

10
00:00:29,399 --> 00:00:32,719
But once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object

11
00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,880
there was none passion, there was none. I loved the

12
00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:38,399
old man. He had never wronged me, he had never

13
00:00:38,439 --> 00:00:41,520
given me insult for his gold. I had no desire.

14
00:00:42,039 --> 00:00:43,960
I think it was his eye. Yes, it was this.

15
00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,079
He had the eye of a vulture, a pale blue

16
00:00:47,119 --> 00:00:50,159
eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me,

17
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,479
my blood ran cold, and so, by degrees, very gradually

18
00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:55,520
I made up my mind to take the life of

19
00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,479
the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.

20
00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,560
Now this is the point you fancy me mad. Mad

21
00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,079
men know nothing, But you should have seen me. You

22
00:01:04,159 --> 00:01:07,480
should have seen how wisely I proceeded, with what caution,

23
00:01:07,719 --> 00:01:11,840
with what foresight, with what dissimulation I went to work.

24
00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,519
I was never kinder to the old man than during

25
00:01:14,519 --> 00:01:17,079
the whole week before I killed him. And every night,

26
00:01:17,159 --> 00:01:19,319
about midnight I turned the latch of his door and

27
00:01:19,439 --> 00:01:22,359
opened it oh so gently. And then when I had

28
00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:24,640
made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in

29
00:01:24,719 --> 00:01:27,920
a dark lantern, all closed, closed so that no light

30
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,799
shone out. And then I thrust my head in. Oh,

31
00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,439
you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust

32
00:01:33,439 --> 00:01:36,920
it in. I moved it slowly, very slowly, so that

33
00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,799
I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took

34
00:01:39,799 --> 00:01:42,200
me an hour to place my whole head within the opening,

35
00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,000
so far that I could see him as he lay

36
00:01:44,079 --> 00:01:47,000
upon his bed. Ha would a madman have been so

37
00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,239
wise as this? And then when my head was well

38
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:55,599
in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously, Oh so cautiously, cautiously,

39
00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,640
for the hinges creaked. I undid it just so much

40
00:01:58,719 --> 00:02:01,959
that a single thin red fell upon the vulture eye.

41
00:02:02,519 --> 00:02:05,280
And this I did for seven long nights, every night,

42
00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,560
just at midnight. But I found the eye always closed

43
00:02:08,599 --> 00:02:11,080
and so it was impossible to do the work. For

44
00:02:11,159 --> 00:02:13,159
it was not the old man who vexed me, but

45
00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,479
his evil eye. And every morning, when the day broke,

46
00:02:16,599 --> 00:02:19,800
I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him,

47
00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,639
calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring

48
00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,280
how he has passed the night. So you see, he

49
00:02:25,319 --> 00:02:27,919
would have been a very profound old man. Indeed, to

50
00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,479
suspect that every night, just at twelve I looked upon

51
00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,919
him while he slept. Upon the eighth night, I was

52
00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,759
more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's

53
00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:41,439
minute hand moves more quickly than I did mine. Never

54
00:02:41,479 --> 00:02:43,639
before that night I had felt the extent of my

55
00:02:43,759 --> 00:02:47,919
own powers, my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings

56
00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,439
of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door,

57
00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,479
little by little, and he not even to dream of

58
00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,000
my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea,

59
00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:00,639
And perhaps he heard me from He moved on the

60
00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,680
bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that

61
00:03:03,719 --> 00:03:06,840
I drew back, but no, his room was black as pitch,

62
00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:09,639
with the thick darkness, for the shutters were close fastened

63
00:03:10,039 --> 00:03:12,280
through the fear of robbers, and so I knew that

64
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,759
he could not see the opening of the door. I

65
00:03:14,879 --> 00:03:19,039
kept pushing it on, steadily, steadily. I had my head

66
00:03:19,039 --> 00:03:21,400
in and was about to open the lantern when my

67
00:03:21,439 --> 00:03:23,919
thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man

68
00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,599
sprang up in bed, crying out, Who's there. I kept

69
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,919
quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour, I

70
00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,479
did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I

71
00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,080
did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting

72
00:03:36,159 --> 00:03:38,719
up in the bed, listening, just as I have done

73
00:03:38,879 --> 00:03:41,800
night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.

74
00:03:42,759 --> 00:03:45,400
Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it

75
00:03:45,479 --> 00:03:48,120
was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a

76
00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,919
groan of pain or of grief, Oh No, it was

77
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,879
the low, stifled sound that arises from the bottom of

78
00:03:53,919 --> 00:03:56,879
the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound

79
00:03:56,879 --> 00:03:59,400
well many a night, just at midnight, when all the

80
00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,000
world slept. It has welled up from my own bosom,

81
00:04:02,199 --> 00:04:05,439
deepening with its dreadful echo the terrors that distracted me.

82
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,479
I say, I knew it well. I knew what the

83
00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,479
old man felt, and pitied him although I chuckled at heart,

84
00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,120
I knew that he had been lying awake ever since

85
00:04:14,159 --> 00:04:16,639
the first slight noise, and when he had turned in

86
00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,879
the bed, his fears had been ever since growing upon him.

87
00:04:20,319 --> 00:04:22,800
He had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not.

88
00:04:23,399 --> 00:04:25,360
He had been saying to himself, it is nothing but

89
00:04:25,399 --> 00:04:27,360
the wind in the chimney. It is only a mouse

90
00:04:27,399 --> 00:04:30,279
crossing the floor, or it is merely a cricket which

91
00:04:30,319 --> 00:04:32,519
has made a single chirp. Yes, he had been trying

92
00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,759
to comfort himself with those superstitions, but he had found

93
00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:40,040
all in vain, all in vain, because death, in approaching him,

94
00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,000
had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped

95
00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,319
the victim. And it was the mournful influence of unperceived

96
00:04:46,319 --> 00:04:49,040
shadow that caused him to feel although he neither saw

97
00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:52,319
nor heard to feel the presence of my head within

98
00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:56,480
the room. When I had waited a long time, very patiently,

99
00:04:56,879 --> 00:05:00,000
without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little,

100
00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,040
a very very little crevice in the lantern. So I

101
00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:09,600
opened it. You cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily, until at

102
00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,800
length a simple dim ray, like the thread of a

103
00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,839
spider shot out from the crevice and fell full upon

104
00:05:15,879 --> 00:05:19,439
the vulture eye. It was open, wide, wide open, and

105
00:05:19,519 --> 00:05:22,920
I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw

106
00:05:22,959 --> 00:05:26,319
it with perfect distinctness, all in dull blue, with a

107
00:05:26,399 --> 00:05:30,560
hideous veil over that chilled the very marrow in my bones.

108
00:05:30,959 --> 00:05:32,920
But I could see nothing else of the old man's

109
00:05:32,959 --> 00:05:35,639
face or person, for I had directed the ray, as

110
00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:40,279
if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot. And how

111
00:05:40,319 --> 00:05:42,959
I not told you that what you mistake for madness

112
00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,120
is but an over acuteness of the sense. Now I say,

113
00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,199
there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound,

114
00:05:49,519 --> 00:05:52,319
such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I

115
00:05:52,399 --> 00:05:54,720
knew the sound well too. It was the beating of

116
00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,680
the old man's heart. It increased my fury as the

117
00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:01,399
beating of a drum stimulates a soldier into courage. But

118
00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:06,160
even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed.

119
00:06:06,639 --> 00:06:10,279
I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I

120
00:06:10,319 --> 00:06:13,439
could to maintain the ray upon the eve. Meantime, the

121
00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,160
hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker,

122
00:06:17,199 --> 00:06:20,639
and louder and louder every instant. The old man's terror

123
00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,959
must have been extreme. It grew louder, I say, louder

124
00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,439
every moment. Do you mark me well? I have told

125
00:06:26,439 --> 00:06:29,240
you that I am nervous, So I am. And now,

126
00:06:29,519 --> 00:06:31,959
at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful

127
00:06:31,959 --> 00:06:34,839
silence of that old house, so strange a noise as

128
00:06:34,879 --> 00:06:38,519
this excited me to uncontrollable terror. And yet for some

129
00:06:38,639 --> 00:06:41,680
minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating

130
00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,120
grew louder and louder. I thought the heart must burst.

131
00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,560
And now a new anxiety seized me. The sound would

132
00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,240
be heard by a neighbor. The old man's hour had come.

133
00:06:50,639 --> 00:06:52,480
With a loud yell, I threw up in the lantern

134
00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,480
and leaped into the room. He shrieked once once only,

135
00:06:55,759 --> 00:06:57,680
and in an instant I dragged him to the floor

136
00:06:57,680 --> 00:06:59,959
and pulled the heavy bed over him, and then smile,

137
00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,720
imiled gaily to find the deed so far done. But

138
00:07:02,759 --> 00:07:06,160
for many minutes the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however,

139
00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,040
did not vex me. It would not be heard through

140
00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,639
the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead.

141
00:07:12,199 --> 00:07:15,240
I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he

142
00:07:15,399 --> 00:07:19,040
was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the

143
00:07:19,079 --> 00:07:22,000
heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation.

144
00:07:22,519 --> 00:07:25,519
He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.

145
00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,240
If you still think me mad, you will think so

146
00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,399
no longer. When I described the wise precautions I took

147
00:07:31,439 --> 00:07:34,319
for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and

148
00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,519
I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all, I

149
00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:39,480
dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head, and the

150
00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,720
arms and the legs. Then I took up three planks

151
00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,600
from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between

152
00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:50,639
the scantlings. I then placed the board so cleverly, so cunningly,

153
00:07:51,079 --> 00:07:54,319
that no human eye, not even his, could have detected

154
00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,360
anything wrong. There was nothing to wash out, no stain

155
00:07:57,439 --> 00:08:00,240
of any kind, no blood spot whatever. I had been

156
00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,160
too wary for that. The tub had caught it all.

157
00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:05,639
When I made the end of the labors, it was

158
00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,160
four o'clock, still dark as midnight. As the bell sounded

159
00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,319
the hour, there came a knocking at the street door.

160
00:08:11,639 --> 00:08:13,480
I went down to open it with a light heart,

161
00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,920
For what had I now to fear? There entered three men,

162
00:08:16,959 --> 00:08:20,720
who introduced themselves with perfect suavity as officers of the police.

163
00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,680
A shriek had been heard by a neighbor during the night,

164
00:08:23,959 --> 00:08:27,519
suspicion of foul play had aroused, information had been launched

165
00:08:27,519 --> 00:08:29,920
at the police office, and they the officers, had been

166
00:08:29,959 --> 00:08:33,360
deputed to search the premises. I smiled, for what had

167
00:08:33,399 --> 00:08:36,720
I to fear. I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek,

168
00:08:36,759 --> 00:08:39,240
I said, was my own in a dream. The old

169
00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,279
man I mentioned was absent in the country. I took

170
00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,799
my visitors all over the house. I bade them search,

171
00:08:44,879 --> 00:08:47,519
search well. I led them at length to his chamber.

172
00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,440
I showed them his treasures, secure and undisturbed. In the

173
00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,440
enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room

174
00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,759
and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while

175
00:08:56,799 --> 00:09:00,000
I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect try,

176
00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,000
placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which

177
00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,919
reposed the corpse of the victim. The officers were satisfied

178
00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,559
my manner had convinced them. I was singularly at ease.

179
00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:13,960
They sat, and while I answered cheerily, they chatted of

180
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,240
familiar things. But ere long I felt myself getting pale

181
00:09:18,279 --> 00:09:21,399
and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied

182
00:09:21,399 --> 00:09:24,320
a ringing in my ears, but they still sat and chatted.

183
00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:29,440
The ringing became more distinct. It continued and became more distinct.

184
00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,080
I talked more freely to get rid of the feelings,

185
00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,840
but it continued and gained definiteness, until at length I

186
00:09:35,919 --> 00:09:39,600
found the noise was not within my ears, no doubt.

187
00:09:39,639 --> 00:09:43,600
Now I grew very pale, but I talked more fluently

188
00:09:43,639 --> 00:09:46,480
and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased, And

189
00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,519
what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound,

190
00:09:50,879 --> 00:09:53,279
much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped

191
00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,279
in cotton. I gasped for breath, and yet the officers

192
00:09:56,279 --> 00:09:59,039
heard it not. I talked more quickly, more vehemently, but

193
00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,960
the noise increased. I rose and argued about trifles in

194
00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,919
a high key, with violent gesticulations. But the noise of

195
00:10:06,039 --> 00:10:10,960
steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced

196
00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,480
the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if

197
00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:16,480
excited to fury by the observation of the men's But

198
00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:20,039
the noise increased steadily. Oh God, what could I do?

199
00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,480
I foamed, I raved, I swore, I swung the chair

200
00:10:23,519 --> 00:10:26,080
upon which I had been sitting, and grated upon the boards.

201
00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,799
But the noise arose over all, and continuously increased. It

202
00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:33,879
grew louder, louder louder. And still the men chatted pleasantly

203
00:10:33,919 --> 00:10:38,440
and smiled. Was it possible they heard, not, Almighty God, No, no,

204
00:10:38,519 --> 00:10:41,639
they heard. They suspected, they knew. They were making a

205
00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,639
mockery of my horror. This I thought, and this I think.

206
00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,480
But anything was better than this agony, anything was more

207
00:10:49,519 --> 00:10:53,120
tolerable than this derision. I could bear those hypocritical smiles.

208
00:10:53,159 --> 00:10:55,799
No longer. I felt that I must scream or die.

209
00:10:55,960 --> 00:11:01,120
And now again hark louder, louder, louder, louder, villains, I shrieked,

210
00:11:01,279 --> 00:11:03,960
dissemble no more, I admit the deed, tear up the planks.

211
00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,399
Here here it is the beating of his hideous heart

212
00:11:07,759 --> 00:11:10,679
and of the tell tale heart. By Edgar Allan Poe