WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:06.200 Fear by Gui de Moupissan. We went up on deck 2 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:10.160 after dinner. Before us, the Mediterranean lay without a ripple 3 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:14.039 and shimmered in the moonlight. The great ship glided on, 4 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:18.440 casting upward to the star studded sky, A long serpent 5 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:23.440 of black smoke behind us. The dazzling white water, stirred 6 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:26.480 by the rapid progress of the heavy bark and beaten 7 00:00:26.519 --> 00:00:30.760 by the propeller, foamed, seemed to Writhe gave off so 8 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:34.280 much brilliancy that one could have called it boiling moonlight. 9 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:37.880 There were six or eight of us, silent with admiration, 10 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:41.719 and gazing toward far away Africa, whither we were going. 11 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:46.359 The commandant, who was smoking a cigar with us, brusquely 12 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:50.640 resumed the conversation begun at dinner. Yes, I was afraid. 13 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:54.079 Then my ship remained for six hours on that rock, 14 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:56.920 beaten by the wind and with a great hole in 15 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.600 the side. Luckily we were picked up toward evening by 16 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:04.799 an English color which sighted us. Then a tall man 17 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:08.239 of sunburned face and grave demeanor, one of those men 18 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:12.200 who have evidently traveled unknown in far away lands, whose 19 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:15.799 calm eyes seems to preserve in its depths something of 20 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:18.760 the foreign scenes. It is observed a man that you 21 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:22.599 are sure is impregnated with courage, spoke for the first time. 22 00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:27.159 You say, Commandant, that you are afraid. I beg to 23 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:30.159 disagree with you. You are in error as to the 24 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:32.680 meaning of the word and the nature of the sensation 25 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:36.599 that you experienced. An energetic man is never afraid in 26 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:40.640 the presence of urgent danger. He is excited, aroused, full 27 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:46.359 of anxiety. But fear is something quite different. The commandant 28 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:50.120 laughed and answered, bah, I assure you that I was afraid. 29 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:54.640 Then the man of the tanned countenance addressed us deliberately 30 00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:59.959 as follows. Permit me to explain fear and the bold 31 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:04.840 as men may feel, fear is something horrible, an atrocious sensation, 32 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:09.400 a sort of decomposition of the soul, a terrible spasm 33 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:12.479 of brain and heart, the very memory of which brings 34 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:15.680 a shudder of anguish. But when one is brave, he 35 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:18.800 feels it neither under fire, nor in the presence of 36 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:22.439 sure death, nor in the face of any well known danger. 37 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:28.560 It springs up under certain abnormal conditions, under certain mysterious influences, 38 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:32.879 in the presence of vague peril. Real fear is a 39 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:36.759 sort of reminiscence of fantastic terror of the past. A 40 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:40.039 man who believes in ghosts and imagines he sees a 41 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:43.520 specter in the darkness must feel terror in all its horror. 42 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:47.639 As for me, I was overwhelmed with fear in broad 43 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:51.560 daylight about ten years ago, and again one December night 44 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:56.680 last winter. Nevertheless, I have gone through many dangers, many 45 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:59.800 adventures which seem to promise death. I have often been 46 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:03.919 battle I have been left for dead by thieves in America. 47 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:07.360 I was condemned as an insurgent to be hanged and 48 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:10.120 off the coast of China. Have been thrown into the 49 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:12.960 sea from the deck of a ship. Each time I 50 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.879 thought I was lost, I at once decided upon my 51 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:20.319 course of action without regret or weakness. That is not fear. 52 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:24.080 I have felt it in Africa, and yet it is 53 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:27.599 a child of the North. The sunlight banishes it like 54 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:32.159 the mist. Consider this fact, gentlemen. Among the Orientals, life 55 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:36.240 has no value. Resignation is natural. The nights are clear 56 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:39.360 and empty of the somber spirit of unrest which haunts 57 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:43.439 the brain in cooler lands. In the Orient, panic is known, 58 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:47.840 but not fear. Well, then here is the incident that 59 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:53.120 befell me in Africa. I was crossing the Great Sands 60 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:55.960 to the south of Onargla. It is one of the 61 00:03:55.960 --> 00:03:59.759 most curious districts in the world. You have seen the solid, 62 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:04.479 con tenuous sand of the endless ocean strands. Well, imagine 63 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:06.840 the ocean itself turned to sand in the midst of 64 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:11.560 a storm. Imagine a silent tempest with motionless billows of 65 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:16.560 yellow dust. They are high as mountains, these uneven varied surges, 66 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:22.000 rising exactly like unchained billows, but still larger and stratified 67 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:26.519 like watered silk. On this wild, silent and motionless sea, 68 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:30.680 the consuming rays of the tropical sun are poured piteously 69 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:34.399 and directly. You have to climb these streaks of red 70 00:04:34.439 --> 00:04:39.839 hot ash, descend again on the other side. Climb again, climb, climb, 71 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:45.000 without halt, without repose, without shade. The horses cough, sink 72 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.639 to their knees, and slide down the sides of these 73 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:51.680 remarkable hills. We were a couple of friends, followed by 74 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:55.560 eight spahis and four camels with their drivers. We were 75 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:59.600 no longer talking, overcome by heat, fatigue, and a thirst 76 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:03.600 such as had produced this burning desert. Suddenly one of 77 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:07.360 our men uttered a cry. We all halted, surprised by 78 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:11.839 the unsolved phenomenon known only to travelers in these trackless wastes. 79 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:17.199 Somewhere near us, in an indeterminable direction, a drum was rolling, 80 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:21.839 the mysterious drum of the sands. It was beating distinctly, 81 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:26.639 now with greater residence, and again feebler, ceasing, then resuming 82 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:31.360 its uncanny roll. The Arabs, terrified, stared at one another, 83 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:34.839 and one said, in his language, death is upon us. 84 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:39.920 As he spoke, my companion, my friend, almost my brother, 85 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:43.680 dropped from his horse, falling face downward on the sand, 86 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:48.279 overcome by a sunstroke. And for two hours, while I 87 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:51.560 tried in vain to save him, this weird drum filled 88 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:57.160 my ears with its monotonous, intermittent and incomprehensible tone, and 89 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.800 I felt lay hold of my bones fear, real fear, 90 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:05.279 hideous fear, in the presence of this beloved corpse, in 91 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:09.079 this hole, scorched by the sun, surrounded by four mountains 92 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:12.199 of sand, and two hundred leagues from any French settlement, 93 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:16.439 while echo assailed our ears with this furious drum beat. 94 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:20.519 On that day I realized what fear was. But since 95 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:24.000 then I have had another and still more vivid experience, 96 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:28.800 the commandant interrupted the speaker. I beg your pardon, but 97 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:33.439 what was the drum? The traveler replied, I cannot say. 98 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:37.639 No one knows. Our officers are often surprised by this 99 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:41.399 singular noise and attribute it generally to the echo produced 100 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:43.839 by a hail of grains of sand blown by the 101 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:47.399 winds against the dry and brittle leaves of weeds. For 102 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:50.480 it has always been noticed that the phenomenon occurs in 103 00:06:50.519 --> 00:06:54.839 proximity to little plants burned by the sun and hardest parchment. 104 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:59.759 This sound seems to have been magnified, multiplied, and swelled 105 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:03.079 beyond measure in its progress through the valleys of sand, 106 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:06.519 and the drum therefore might be considered a sort of 107 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:10.439 sound mirage, nothing more. But I did not know that 108 00:07:10.519 --> 00:07:15.040 until later. I shall proceed to my second instance. It 109 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:18.079 was last winter in a forest of the northeast of France. 110 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:22.120 The sky was so overcast that night came two hours 111 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:25.639 earlier than usual. My guide was a peasant who walked 112 00:07:25.639 --> 00:07:28.319 beside me along the narrow road under the vault of 113 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:31.480 fir trees, through which the wind and its fury howled 114 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:35.800 between the tree tops. I saw the fleeting clouds, which 115 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:41.079 seemed to hasten, as if to escape some object of terror. Sometimes, 116 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.199 in a fierce gust of wind, the whole forest bowed 117 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:47.160 in the same direction with a groan of pain, and 118 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:49.959 a chill laid hold of me despite my rapid pace 119 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:53.879 and heavy clothing. We were to sup and sleep at 120 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:57.120 an old gamekeeper's house not much farther on I had 121 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:01.240 come out for hunting. My guides sometimes raised his eyes 122 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:04.800 and murmured ugly weather. Then he told me about the 123 00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:07.839 people among whom we were to spend the night. The 124 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:11.240 father had killed a poacher two years before, and since 125 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:13.959 then had been gloomy and behaved as though haunted by 126 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:17.120 a memory. His two sons were married and lived with him. 127 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:21.319 The darkness was profound. I could see nothing before me 128 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:25.079 nor around me, and the mass of overhanging, interlaced trees 129 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:29.879 rubbed together, filling the night with an incessant whispering. Finally 130 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:32.840 I saw a light, and soon my companion was knocking 131 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:36.840 upon a door. Sharp woman's voices answered us. Then a 132 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:41.600 man's voice, a choking voice, asked, who goes there? My 133 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:45.679 guide gave his name. We entered and beheld a memorable picture. 134 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:50.039 An old man with white hair, wild eyes, and a 135 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:52.840 loaded gun in his hands, stood waiting for us in 136 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:56.720 the middle of the kitchen, while two stalwart youths armed 137 00:08:56.759 --> 00:09:00.480 with axes guarded the door. In the somber corners, I 138 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:05.080 distinguished two women kneeling with faces to the wall. Matters 139 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:07.919 were explained, and the old man stood his gun against 140 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:10.399 the wall at the same time, ordering that a room 141 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.759 be prepared for me. Then, as the women did not stir, 142 00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:18.039 look you, monsieur, said he two years ago this night 143 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:20.799 I killed a man, and last year he came back 144 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:24.960 to haunt me. I expect him again to night. Then 145 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:28.120 he added, in a tone that made me smile. And 146 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:32.720 so we are somewhat excited. I reassured him as best 147 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:36.080 I could. Happy to have arrived on that particular evening 148 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:40.799 and to witness this superstitious terror. I told stories and 149 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:45.240 almost succeeded in calming the whole household. Near the fireplace 150 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:49.000 slept an old dog, mustached and almost blind, with his 151 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:52.240 head between his paws, such a dog as reminds you 152 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:56.720 of people you have known. Outside, the raging storm was 153 00:09:56.759 --> 00:10:00.120 beating against the little house, and suddenly through a a 154 00:10:00.279 --> 00:10:03.360 pane of glass, a sort of peep window placed near 155 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:06.399 the door, I saw, in a brilliant flash of lightning 156 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:10.519 a whole mass of trees thrashed by the wind. In 157 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:13.639 spite of my efforts, I realized that terror was laying 158 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.440 hold of these people, and each time that I ceased 159 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:21.600 to speak, all ears listened for distant sounds. Annoyted these 160 00:10:21.639 --> 00:10:24.759 foolish fears, I was about to retire to my bed 161 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:28.679 when the old gamekeeper suddenly leaped from his chair, seized 162 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:32.600 his gun, and stammered wildly, there he is, there he is, 163 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:36.200 I hear him. The two women again sank upon their 164 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:39.000 knees in the corner and hid their faces, while the 165 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:42.360 suns took up the axes. I was going to try 166 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:46.399 to pacify them once more, when the sleeping dog awakened suddenly, 167 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.840 and raising his head and stretching his neck, looked the 168 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.679 fire with his dim eyes, and uttered one of those 169 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:56.080 mournful howls which make travelers shudder in the darkness and 170 00:10:56.120 --> 00:11:00.320 solitude of the country. All eyes were focused upon him 171 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.279 now as he rose upon his front feet, as though 172 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:08.120 haunted by a vision, and began to howl at something invisible, unknown, 173 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:12.879 and doubtless horrible, for he was bristling all over. The gamekeeper, 174 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:16.759 with livid face, cried, he sends him, he sends him. 175 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:20.759 He was there when I killed him. The two women, terrified, 176 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.440 began to wail in concert with a dog. In spite 177 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:29.240 of myself, cold chills ran down my spine. This vision 178 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:31.840 of the animal at such a time and place, in 179 00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:35.919 the midst of these startled people, was something frightful to witness. 180 00:11:36.600 --> 00:11:39.919 Then for an hour the dog howled without stirring. He 181 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.159 howled as though in the anguish of a nightmare, and fear, 182 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:48.120 horrible fear came over me. Fear of what How can 183 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:51.159 I say? It was fear, and that is all I know. 184 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:56.440 We remained motionless and pale, expecting something awful to happen. 185 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:00.240 Our ears were strained, and our hearts beat loudly, while 186 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:03.960 the slightest noise startled us. Then the beast began to 187 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.000 walk around the room, sniffing at the walls and growling constantly. 188 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:12.840 His maneuvers were driving us mad. Then the countryman who 189 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:15.799 brought me thither, in a paroxysm of rage, seized the 190 00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:18.960 dog and carrying him to a door which opened into 191 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:23.679 a small court thrust him forth. The noise was suppressed, 192 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:27.360 and we were left plunged in a silence still more terrible. 193 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:32.159 Then suddenly we all started. Some one was gliding along 194 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:35.600 the outside wall toward the forest. Then he seemed to 195 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:38.639 be feeling of the door with a trembling hand. Then 196 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:42.000 for two minutes nothing was heard, and we almost lost 197 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:46.080 our minds. Then he returned, still feeling along the wall, 198 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:49.519 and scratched lightly upon the door, as a child might 199 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:53.679 do with his finger nails. Suddenly a face appeared behind 200 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:57.000 the glass of the peep window, a white face with 201 00:12:57.159 --> 00:13:00.440 eyes shining like those of the cat tribe. A sound 202 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:04.840 was heard, and indistinct plaintive murmur. Then there was a 203 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:08.440 formidable burst of noise in the kitchen. The old gamekeeper 204 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:11.399 had fired, and the two suns at once rushed forward 205 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:15.120 and barricaded the window with a great table, reinforcing it 206 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:18.320 with the buffet. I swear to you that at the 207 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:21.639 shock of the gun's discharge, which I did not expect, 208 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:25.240 such an anguish laid hold of my heart, my soul, 209 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.600 and my very body that I felt myself about to fall, 210 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:32.840 about to die from fear. We remained there until dawn 211 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:37.159 unable to move in short, seized by an indescribable numbness 212 00:13:37.159 --> 00:13:40.480 of the brain. No one dared to remove the barricade 213 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:43.399 until a thin ray of sunlight appeared through a crack 214 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:46.720 in the back room. At the base of the wall 215 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:50.120 and under the window, we found the old dog lying dead, 216 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:54.360 his skull shattered by a ball. He had escaped from 217 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:56.960 the little court by digging a hole under a fence. 218 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:02.000 The dark visaged man became silent. Then he added, and 219 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:05.039 yet on that night I incur no danger. But I 220 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:08.159 should rather again pass through all the hours in which 221 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:11.159 I have confronted the most terrible perils than the one 222 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:14.399 minute when that gun was discharged at the bearded head 223 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:15.000 in the window.