The Cask of Amontillado — Edgar Allan Poe’s Revenge in the Catacombs

WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:08.359
One of my favorite memories of scaring
myself as a child was getting a compilation

2
00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:16.760
book of Edgar Allan Poe stories from
my elementary school library. It brought me

3
00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:25.359
so much fear and so much excitement. I remember running home from school with

4
00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:33.359
that book in my backpack as the
sky was dark and a storm was coming.

5
00:00:34.359 --> 00:00:39.960
I was in my childhood living room, but I wasn't alone. I

6
00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:48.079
had a pizza and the books of
Poe. Every so often I'll bring you

7
00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:55.159
a tale of Poe, and I
hope it gives you that scary fun sense,

8
00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.759
just the same as it does for
me. So listen to these words

9
00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:10.719
from our sponsors, and when the
clock strikes midnight, the story will begin.

10
00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:49.640
The Casque of a Manteado by Edgar
Allan Poe. The thousands of injuries

11
00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:56.640
of Fortunato had borne as I best
could, But when he ventured upon insult,

12
00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:01.920
I vowed revenge. You who so
well know the nature of my soul,

13
00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:07.799
will not suppose, however, that
I gave utterance to a threat at

14
00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:14.960
length I would be avenged. This
was a point definitively settled, but the

15
00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:22.240
very definitiveness with which it was resolved
precluded the idea of risk. I must

16
00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:29.240
not only punish, but punish with
impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution

17
00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:35.400
overtakes its redresser. It is equally
unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself

18
00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:42.879
felt as such to him who has
done the wrong. It must be understood

19
00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:47.680
that neither by word nor deed had
I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good

20
00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:53.240
will. I continued, as was
my wont to smile in his face,

21
00:02:53.879 --> 00:03:00.759
and he did not perceive that my
smile now was at the thought of his

22
00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:07.039
immolation. He had a weak point, this Fortunato. Although in other regards

23
00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:13.000
he was a man to be respected
and even feared, he prided himself on

24
00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:19.639
his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians
have the true virtuoso spirit. For the

25
00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:24.800
most part, their enthusiasm is adopted
to suit the time and opportunity to practice

26
00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:32.639
imposture upon the British and Austrian millionaires
in painting and gemmery. Fortunato, like

27
00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:38.639
his countrymen, was a quack,
but in the matter of old wines he

28
00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:45.360
was sincere. In this respect I
did not differ from him materially. I

29
00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:51.039
was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could.

30
00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:57.280
It was about dusk one evening,
during the supreme madness of the carnival season,

31
00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:03.439
that I encountered my friend. He
accosted me with excessive warmth, for

32
00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:10.400
he had been drinking much. The
man wore motley, he had on tight

33
00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:15.240
fitting party striped dress, and his
head was surmounted by the conical cap and

34
00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:19.600
bells. I was so pleased to
see him that I thought I should never

35
00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:26.360
have done wringing his hand, I
said to him, my dear Fortunato,

36
00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:31.519
you are luckily met, how remarkably
well you are looking today. But I

37
00:04:31.560 --> 00:04:36.160
have received a pipe of what passes
for a mantiado, and I have my

38
00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:44.879
doubts, how said he, A
montiado a pipe possible, and in the

39
00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:48.920
middle of the carnival. I have
my doubts, I replied, And I

40
00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:54.519
was silly enough to pay the full
of mantiado price without consulting you in the

41
00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:58.319
matter. You were not to be
found, and I was fearful of losing

42
00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:04.279
a bargain. Montiado. I have
my doubts, Amontiado, and I must

43
00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:11.600
satisfy them. Amontiado, as you
are engaged I am on my way to

44
00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:15.839
Luchesi. If anyone has a critical
turn, it is he. He will

45
00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:23.800
tell me Luchesi cannot tell Amontiado from
sherry. Yet some fools will have it

46
00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:30.199
that his taste is a match for
yours. Come, let's go whither to

47
00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:34.040
your vaults, my friend. No, I will not impose upon your good

48
00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:40.639
nature. I perceive you have an
engagement. Luchesi, I have no engagement.

49
00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:45.399
Come, my friend, No,
it is not the engagement but the

50
00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:49.600
severe cold with which I perceive you
are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp,

51
00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.680
they are encrusted with niter. Let
us go. Nevertheless, the cold

52
00:05:55.800 --> 00:06:01.160
is merely nothing. Amontiado you have
been imposed upon. And as for Luchesi,

53
00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:09.959
he cannot distinguish sherry from Amontiado.
Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of

54
00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:15.000
my arm, putting on a mask
of black silk, drawing a rocculareosle upon

55
00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:20.800
my person. I suffered him to
hurry me to my palazzo. There were

56
00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:26.600
no attendants at home. They had
absconded to make merry in honor of the

57
00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:30.439
time. I had told them that
I should not return until the morning,

58
00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:34.600
and had given them explicit orders not
to stir from the house. These orders

59
00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:41.439
were sufficient, I well knew to
ensure their immediate disappearance one and all.

60
00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:46.600
As soon as my back was turned, I took from their sconces two flambeaux,

61
00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:53.040
and, giving one to Fortunado,
bowed him through several suites of rooms

62
00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:58.519
to the archway that led into the
vaults. I passed down a long and

63
00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:03.639
winding staircase, requesting him to be
cautious as he followed. We came at

64
00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:08.839
length to the foot of the descent, and stood together on the damp ground

65
00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:14.879
of the catacombs montressors. The gait
of my friend was unsteady, and the

66
00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:20.519
bells upon his cap jingled as he
strode the pipe, said he. It

67
00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:26.639
is farther on, said I,
but observe the white web work which gleams

68
00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:31.199
from these cavern walls. He turned
towards me and looked into my eyes with

69
00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:39.279
two filmy orbs that distilled the room
of intoxication. Niter, he asked at

70
00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:44.319
length, Niter, I replied,
how long have you had that cough?

71
00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:55.079
H u h? My poor friend
found it impossible to reply for many minutes.

72
00:07:56.519 --> 00:08:00.680
It is nothing he said. At
last, come, I said,

73
00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:03.680
with decision, we will go back. Your health is precious. You are

74
00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:09.160
rich, respected, admired, beloved. You are happy as once I was.

75
00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:11.920
You are a man to be missed
for me. It is no matter

76
00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.120
we will go back. You will
be ill, and I cannot be responsible.

77
00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:22.000
Besides, there is LUCHESI enough,
he said. The cough is a

78
00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:26.480
mere nothing. It will not kill
me. I shall not die of a

79
00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:31.600
cough. True, true, I
replied, And indeed I had no intention

80
00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:37.360
of alarming you unnecessarily, but you
should use all proper caution. A draft

81
00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:43.240
of this medic will defend us from
the damps. Ere. I knocked off

82
00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:46.480
the neck of a bottle, which
I drew from a long row of its

83
00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:50.799
fellows that lay upon the mold.
Drink, I said, presenting him the

84
00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:56.960
wine. He raised it to his
lips with a leer. He paused and

85
00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:03.399
nodded to me familiarly, while his
bell jingled. I drink, He said,

86
00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:09.159
the buried that repose around us,
and I to your long life.

87
00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:16.159
He again took my arm and we
proceeded. These vaults, he said,

88
00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:22.759
are extensive. The Montressors, I
replied, were a great and numerous family

89
00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:30.759
I forget your arms, a huge
human foot door field azure, the foot

90
00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:35.799
crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are
embedded in the heel, and the motto

91
00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:43.519
Imo me impune la sette good.
He said. The wine sparkled in his

92
00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:48.919
eyes, and the bells jingled.
My own fancy grew warm. With the

93
00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:54.840
medoc We had passed through the walls
of piled bones, with casks and puncheons

94
00:09:54.879 --> 00:10:00.919
intermingling, to the inmost recesses of
the catacombs. I paused again, and

95
00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:05.759
this time I made bold to seize
Fortunado by an arm above the elbow the

96
00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:11.639
nier, I said, see it
increases. It hangs like moss upon the

97
00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:18.679
vaults. We are below the river's
bed. The drops of moisture trickle among

98
00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:22.399
the bones. Come. We will
go back ere. It is too late,

99
00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.960
your cough, it is nothing,
he said. Let us go on.

100
00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:31.399
But first another draft of the medic
I broke and reached him a fleisson

101
00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:37.399
of de grave. He emptied it
at a breath. His eyes flashed with

102
00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:41.679
a fierce light. He laughed and
threw the bottle upwards with a gesticulation.

103
00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:48.320
I did not understand. I looked
at him in surprise, he repeated the

104
00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:54.919
movement a grotesque one. You do
not comprehend, he said, not,

105
00:10:56.120 --> 00:11:03.159
I, I replied, Then you
are not of the brotherhood. How you

106
00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:05.919
are not of the Masons. Yes, yes, I said, yes,

107
00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:13.960
yes, you impossible a Mason.
A Mason, I replied, A sign,

108
00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:18.720
he said, it is this,
I answered, producing a trowel from

109
00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:24.399
beneath the folds of my lair.
You jest, he exclaimed, recoiling a

110
00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:30.679
few paces. Let us proceed to
the Amantiado. Be it, so,

111
00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:35.440
I said, replacing the tool beneath
the cloak, and again offering him my

112
00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:41.799
arm. He leaned upon it heavily. We continued our route in search of

113
00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:46.159
the Amantiado. We passed through a
range of low arches, descended, passed

114
00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:50.600
on, and descending again. Arrived
at a deep crypt, in which the

115
00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:56.559
foulness of the air caused our flambeaux
rather to glow than flame. At the

116
00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:01.919
most remote end of the crypt there
appeared another, less spacious. Its walls

117
00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:07.600
had been lined with human remains piled
to the vault overhead, in the fashion

118
00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:13.480
of the Great Catacombs of Paris.
Three sides of this interior crypt were still

119
00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:18.440
ornamented in this manner. From the
fourth. The bones had been thrown down

120
00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:24.000
and lay promiscuously upon the earth,
forming at one point a mound of some

121
00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:28.720
size. Within the wall. Thus
exposed by the displacing of the bones,

122
00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:37.600
we perceived a still interior recess in
depth about four feet with three in height

123
00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:43.440
six or seven seemed to have been
constructed for no especial use within itself,

124
00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:48.879
but formed merely the interval between two
of the colossal supports of the roof of

125
00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:54.440
the catacombs, and was backed by
one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite.

126
00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:00.879
It was in vain that Fortunado uplifting
his dull torch in ever to pry

127
00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:07.080
into the depths of the recess its
termination. The feeble light did not enable

128
00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:13.399
us to see proceed. I said, herein is the Amantiado, as for

129
00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:18.360
LUCHESI he is an Ignoramus, interrupted
my friend, as he stepped unsteadily forward,

130
00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:24.039
while I followed immediately at his heels. In an instant he had reached

131
00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:28.720
the extremity of the niche, and, finding his progress arrested by the rock,

132
00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:33.639
stood stupidly bewildered. A moment more, and I had fettered him to

133
00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:39.720
the granite. In its surface were
two iron staples, and from each other

134
00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:45.200
about two feet horizontally. From one
of these depended a short chain, from

135
00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:50.559
the other a padlock. Throwing the
lynx about his waist, It was but

136
00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:54.559
the work of a few seconds to
secure it. He was too much astounded

137
00:13:54.600 --> 00:14:01.399
to resist withdrawing the key. I
stepped back from the recess. Pass your

138
00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:05.919
hand, I said over the wall. You cannot help feeling the nighter.

139
00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:09.840
Indeed, it is very damp.
Once more, let me implore you to

140
00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:16.960
return. No, then I will
positively leave. You must first render you

141
00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:24.200
all little attentions in my power.
The Amantiado ejaculated, my friend, not

142
00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:31.120
yet recovered from his astonishment. True, I replied the Amantiado. As I

143
00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:35.840
said these words, I busied myself
among the pile of bones of which I

144
00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:41.480
have before spoken, throwing them aside. I soon uncovered a quantity of building

145
00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:48.240
stone and mortar. With these materials, and with the aid of my trowel,

146
00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:52.960
I began vigorously to wall up the
entrance of the niche. I had

147
00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:58.240
scarcely laid the first tear of my
masonry when I discovered that the intoxication of

148
00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:05.919
Fortunado had in great measure worn off. The earliest indication I had of this

149
00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:11.559
was a low, moaning cry from
the depth of the recess. It was

150
00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:16.879
not the cry of a drunken man. There was then a long and obstinate

151
00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:22.519
silence. I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth,

152
00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:28.919
and then I heard the furious vibrations
of the chain. The noise lasted

153
00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:33.600
for several minutes, during which that
I might hearken to it with the more

154
00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:39.519
satisfaction, I ceased my labors and
sat down upon the bones. When at

155
00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:45.519
last the clanking subsided, I resumed
the trowel and finished without interruption the fifth,

156
00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:50.879
the sixth, and the seventh tier. The wall was now nearly upon

157
00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:54.559
a level with my breast. I
again paused in holding the flambeaux over the

158
00:15:54.600 --> 00:16:00.600
mason work, threw a few feeble
rays upon the figure. Within a succession

159
00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:04.440
of loud and shrill screams, bursting
suddenly from the throat of the chain,

160
00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:11.039
form seemed to thrust me violently back. For a brief moment, I hesitated,

161
00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:15.960
I trembled. Sheathing my rapier,
I began to grope with it about

162
00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:21.159
the recess. The thought of an
instant reassured me. I placed my hand

163
00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:26.279
upon the solid fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied. I reapproached the

164
00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:30.759
wall. I replied to the yells
of him who clamored. I re echoed,

165
00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:36.000
I aided. I surpassed them in
volume and in strength. I did

166
00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:41.840
this, and the clamorer grew still. It was now midnight, and my

167
00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:47.000
task was drawing to a close.
I had completed the eighth, the ninth,

168
00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:51.240
and the tenth tier. I had
finished a portion of the last and

169
00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:56.799
the eleventh. There remained but a
single stone to be fitted and plastered in.

170
00:16:56.440 --> 00:17:00.960
I struggled with its weight. I
placed it partially in its destined position.

171
00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:07.279
But now there came from out of
the niche a low laugh that erected

172
00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:14.160
the hairs upon my head. It
was succeeded by a sad voice, which

173
00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:18.720
I had difficulty in recognizing as that
of the noble Fortunado. The voice said,

174
00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:25.400
ha ha ha he he he,
a very good joke, indeed an

175
00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:30.440
excellent jest. We will have many
a rich laugh about it at the palazzo.

176
00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:36.680
He he he, over our wine, he he he the Amantiado.

177
00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:42.799
I said, yes, the Amantiado. But is it not getting late?

178
00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:48.039
Will they not be awaiting us at
the Palazzo eighty Fortunato and the rest.

179
00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:56.599
Let us be gone, Yes,
I said, let us be gone for

180
00:17:56.680 --> 00:18:03.599
the love of God montresor. Yes, I said, for the love of

181
00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:08.160
God. But to these words I
hearkened in vain for a reply. I

182
00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:17.880
grew impatient. I called aloud Fortunato. No answer. I called again,

183
00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:26.480
Fortunato. No answer. Still I
thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and

184
00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:32.640
let it fall within. There came
forth in return only a jingling of the

185
00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:37.960
bells. My heart grew sick.
On account of the dampness of the catacombs.

186
00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:41.799
I hastened to make an end of
my labor. I forced the last

187
00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:48.720
stone into its position. I plastered
it up against the new masonry. I

188
00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:53.799
re erected the old rampart of bones. Half of a century, no mortal

189
00:18:53.880 --> 00:19:07.440
has disturbed them. In patch requiescat