1
00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:06,200
Speaker 1: 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.