Edgar Allan Poe

UNA.- Renacida? MONOS.-S , mi hermosa y m s amada Una. sta era la palabra, sobre cuyo m stico significado yo hab a meditado tan larga mente, rechazando la explicaci n del sacerdote, hasta que la Muerte ha descifrado el secreto para m . UNA.- La Muerte MONOS.-;Qu extra amente repites mis palabras, dulce Una Y qu gozosa inquietud en tus ojos Est s confusa y sobrecogida por la majestuosa novedad de la Vida Eterna. S , hablaba de la Muerte, y qu singularmente suena aqu esa palabra que en los viejos tiempos acostumbraba llenar de terror todos los corazones, haciendo marchitar todos los deleites Una. "Born again?" Monos. Yes, fairest and best beloved Una, "born again." These were the words upon whose mystical meaning I had so long pondered, rejecting the explanations of the priesthood, until Death himself resolved for me the secret. Una. Death Monos. How strangely, sweet Una, you echo my words I observe, too, a vacillation in your step-a joyous inquietude in your eyes. You are confused and oppressed by the majestic novelty of the Life Eternal. Yes, it was of Death I spoke. And here how singularly sounds that word which of old was wont to bring terror to all hearts-throwing a mildew upon all pleasures

En plenos carnavales de alguna ciudad italiana del siglo XIX, Montresor busca a Fortunato con nimo de vengarse de una pasada humillaci n. Al hallarlo ebrio, le resulta f cil convencerlo de que lo acompa e a su palazzo con el pretexto de darle a probar un nuevo vino. Lo conduce a las catacumbas de la casa, y all consuma su venganza. The story is set in an unnamed Italian city at carnival time in an unspecified year, and is about a man taking fatal revenge on a friend who, he believes, has insulted him. Like several of Poe's stories, and in keeping with the 19th-century fascination with the subject, the narrative revolves around a person being buried alive-in this case, by immurement. As in "The Black Cat" and "The Tell-Tale Heart", Poe conveys the story from the murderer's perspective.

Aunque la teor a del mesmerismo est a n envuelta en dudas, sus sobrecogedoras realidades son ya casi universalmente admitidas. Los que dudan de stas pertenecen a la casta in til y despreciable de los que dudan por pura profesi n. No hay mejor manera de perder el tiempo que proponerse probar en la actualidad que el hombre, por el simple ejercicio de su voluntad, puede impresionar a su semejante al punto de sumirlo en un estado anormal cuyas manifestaciones se parecen estrechamente a las de la muerte, o por lo menos en mayor grado que cualquier otro fen meno conocido en condiciones normales; que, en ese estado, la persona as influida utiliza s lo con esfuerzo y en consecuencia d bilmente los rganos exteriores de los sentidos y, sin embargo, percibe con agudeza y refinamiento, y por v as presuntamente desconocidas, cosas que est n m s all del alcance de los rganos f sicos; que, adem s, sus facultades intelectuales se hallan en un maravilloso estado de exaltaci n y fuerza; que las simpat as con la persona que as influye sobre ella son profundas, y, finalmente, que su susceptibilidad de impresi n va en aumento gradual, al tiempo que en la misma proporci n, se extienden y acent an cada vez m s los peculiares fen menos producidos. Whatever doubt may still envelop the rationale of mesmerism, its startling facts are now almost universally admitted. Of these latter, those who doubt, are your mere doubters by profession-an unprofitable and disreputable tribe. There can be no more absolute waste of time than the attempt to prove, at the present day, that man, by mere exercise of will, can so impress his fellow, as to cast him into an abnormal condition, of which the phenomena resemble very closely those of death, or at least resemble them more nearly than they do the phenomena of any other normal condition within our cognizance; that, while in this state, the person so impressed employs only with effort, and then feebly, the external organs of sense, yet perceives, with keenly refined perception, and through channels supposed unknown, matters beyond the scope of the physical organs; that, moreover, his intellectual faculties are wonderfully exalted and invigorated; that his sympathies with the person so impressing him are profound; and, finally, that his susceptibility to the impression increases with its frequency, while, in the same proportion, the peculiar phenomena elicited are more extended and more pronounced.

La historia se centra en el joven Frederick, el ltimo descendiente de la familia Metzengerstein, que carga con una prolongada rivalidad con la familia Berlifitzing. Sospechoso de haber causado un incendio que mat al patriarca de los Berlifitzing, Frederick se obsesiona con un caballo salvaje que no hab a notado anteriormente. Metzengerstein es castigado por su crueldad cuando su propio hogar se incendia y el caballo lo lleva hasta las llamas. La historia sigue muchas de las convenciones de la ficci n g tica, pero a veces cae en la s tira o en la parodia del g nero. The story, told from an unnamed third-person narrator, takes place in Hungary at an unspecified date. The opening passages describe a centuries-long rivalry between two wealthy families: the Metzengersteins and the Berlifitzings. The bitter enmity between the two families is so old that no one knows how far back it dates. The narrator states that its origin appears to rely on an "ancient" prophecy: "A lofty name shall have a fearful fall when, as the rider over his horse, the mortality of Metzengerstein shall triumph over the immortality of Berlifitzing."

El narrador, el marido de Ligeia, describe sus cualidades: una mujer hermosa, apasionada e intelectual de pelo negro y ojos oscuros, que conoci en "una vieja y ruinosa ciudad cercana al Rin". Se casan, pero despu s de unos a os Ligeia muere; el marido, desconsolado, se muda a Inglaterra donde compra y reforma una abad a. Pronto, entra en un matrimonio sin amor con "Lady Rowena Trevanion de Tremaine, de rubios cabellos y ojos azules". En el segundo matrimonio, Rowena empieza a sufrir de fiebre y ansiedad. Una noche, cuando est a punto de desmayar, el narrador le llena un vaso de vino. Drogado por opio, ve (o cree ver) gotas de un "l quido brillante color rub " caer en el vaso. Su condici n empeora r pidamente, y unos d as despu s muere y su cuerpo es envuelto para ser enterrado. Mientras el protagonista mantiene vigilia por la noche, escucha un susurro que proviene del lecho de muerte. Al detenerse a escuchar, no detecta ruido, pero m s tarde vuelve a escucharlo, m s fuerte. Se acerca al lecho y ve color en las mejillas, frente y p rpados de Lady Rowena. sta muestra repetidas se ales de recuperaci n, pero vuelve a caer en muerte aparente. Mientras l intenta la resurrecci n, las reanimaciones de Rowena se hacen progresivamente m s fuertes, pero las reca das, m s finales. Cuando amanece, el marido est sentado y emocionalmente exhausto por la lucha de la noche; el cuerpo aparentemente muerto se mueve con tal energ a que no se lo termina de creer y comienza a preguntarse si ese cuerpo es realmente de su esposa Lady Rowena Trevanion de Tremaine. Desesperado, se arroja a los pies de su esposa, estremeci ndose sta ante el contacto, cayendo las vendas y revelando unos cabellos negros 'como ala de cuervo en la noche'. Ella abre los ojos, y el protagonista afirma: ' en esto, al menos, jam s podr equivocarme, pues esos son, los oscuros, los hermosos ojos de Lady... de Lady Ligeia '. The unnamed narrator describes the qualities of Ligeia, a beautiful, passionate and intellectual woman, raven-haired and dark-eyed, that he thinks he remembers meeting "in some large, old decaying city near the Rhine." He is unable to recall anything about the history of Ligeia, including her family's name, but remembers her beautiful appearance. Her beauty, however, is not conventional. He describes her as emaciated, with some "strangeness." He describes her face in detail, from her "faultless" forehead to the "divine orbs" of her eyes. They marry, and Ligeia impresses her husband with her immense knowledge of physical and mathematical science, and her proficiency in classical languages. She begins to show her husband her knowledge of metaphysical and "forbidden" wisdom. After an unspecified length of time Ligeia becomes ill, struggles internally with human mortality, and ultimately dies. The narrator, grief-stricken, buys and refurbishes an abbey in England. He soon enters into a loveless marriage with "the fair-haired and blue-eyed Lady Rowena Trevanion, of Tremaine." In the second month of the marriage, Rowena begins to suffer from worsening fever and anxiety. One night, when she is about to faint, the narrator pours her a goblet of wine. Drugged with opium, he sees (or thinks he sees) drops of "a brilliant and ruby colored fluid" fall into the goblet. Her condition rapidly worsens, and a few days later she dies and her body is wrapped for burial. As the narrator keeps vigil overnight, he notices a brief return of color to Rowena's cheeks. She repeatedly shows signs of reviving, before relapsing into apparent death. As he attempts resuscitation, the revivals become progressively stronger, but the relapses more final. As dawn breaks, and the narrator is sitting emotionally exhausted from the night's struggle, the shrouded body revives once more, stands and walks into the middle of the room. When he touches the figure, its head bandages fall away to reveal masses of raven hair and dark eyes: Rowena has transfor

Seg n los informes que llegan de Rotterdam, esta ciudad parece hallarse en alto grado de excitaci n intelectual. Han ocurrido all fen menos tan inesperados, tan novedosos, tan diferentes de las opiniones ordinarias, que no cabe duda de que a esta altura toda Europa debe estar revolucionada, la f sica conmovida, y la raz n y la astronom a d ndose de pu adas. By late accounts from Rotterdam, that city seems to be in a high state of philosophical excitement. Indeed, phenomena have there occurred of a nature so completely unexpected-so entirely novel-so utterly at variance with preconceived opinions-as to leave no doubt on my mind that long ere this all Europe is in an uproar, all physics in a ferment, all reason and astronomy together by the ears.

Durante el oto o del a o 1827, cuando yo resid a cerca de Charlottesville, Virginia, casualmente conoc al se or Augusto Bedloe. Este joven caballero era notable en todos los aspectos y despert en m profundo inter s y curiosidad. Hall imposible comprender sus relaciones, tanto morales como f sicas. Nunca averig e de d nde ven a. Hasta en su edad, aunque le llamo joven gentleman, hab a algo que me asombraba en no peque a medida. Ciertamente parec a joven, y no dejaba de hablar de su juventud, pero hab a momentos en los cuales yo no habr a tenido el menor reparo en imaginarlo de cien a os de edad, pues nada hab a tan peculiar como su aspecto exterior. During the fall of the year 1827, while residing near Charlottesville, Virginia, I casually made the acquaintance of Mr. Augustus Bedloe. This young gentleman was remarkable in every respect, and excited in me a profound interest and curiosity. I found it impossible to comprehend him either in his moral or his physical relations. Of his family I could obtain no satisfactory account. Whence he came, I never ascertained. Even about his age-although I call him a young gentleman-there was something which perplexed me in no little degree. He certainly seemed young-and he made a point of speaking about his youth-yet there were moments when I should have had little trouble in imagining him a hundred years of age. But in no regard was he more peculiar than in his personal appearance.

"Larga y sin piedad es la tortura aqu por la sed de sangre inocente, sin saciar, sin alimentar, ahora que la patria est protegida y rota est la gruta f nebre, la muerte estuvo donde ahora hay vida saludable." El narrador/protagonista comienza el relato, ya agotado, en una oscura celda en donde la inquisici n espa ola encierra a las personas que condena, y donde la tortura que esta aplica consiste en la soledad, el abandono, la oscuridad, el fr o y el hambre. El torturado protagonista se encuentra atado en casi su totalidad y experimenta la angustia de conocer su pr xima muerte pues un p ndulo desciende hacia l. Luego de medir el tama o de su celda, este descubre un profundo pozo con agua ubicado en el centro del sitio. Seguro de que ser muerto por la navaja del extremo de tal p ndulo, se entretiene con la trayectoria del objeto, pero luego se le ocurre una idea, recordando que tiene a su disposici n un poco de carne, comida que compart a con las ratas. Con dificultad logra rociar su cuerpo con un poco del alimento, y los roedores le saltan encima, comiendo y royendo la cuerda que le tiene atado. Ya liberado, de inmediato el p ndulo se detiene y razona el hombre en cuesti n que est siendo vigilado, y que ya se prepara para l una muerte quiz peor. La habitaci n calienta su ambiente al rojo vivo y cambia de forma reduciendo su tama o, haciendo que las paredes se cierren en torno de el protagonista, y empuj ndolo al borde del ominoso pozo. El narrador se ve en la disyuntiva de morir triturado o de lanzarse al pozo que originalmente iba a ser su "sepultura". Cuando se encuentra sin m s espacio para huir, totalmente desesperanzado y a punto de tirarse al pozo, una mano lo sujeta y lo salva. La mano es la de un l der militar franc s que hab a entrado en Toledo durante las Guerras Napole nicas y descubierto las torturas a las que eran sometidas las v ctimas de la inquisici n. The story depicts the Spanish Inquisition. An unnamed narrator is brought to trial before sinister judges. Poe provides no explanation of why he is there or what he has been arrested for. Before him are seven tall white candles on a table, and, as they melt, his hopes of survival also diminish. He is condemned to death and finds himself in a pitch black compartment. At first the prisoner thinks that he is locked in a tomb, but then he discovers that he is in a cell. He decides to explore the cell by placing a hem from his robe against a wall so that he can count the paces around the room, but he faints before he can measure the whole perimeter. When he reawakens he discovers food and water nearby. He tries to measure the cell again, and finds that the perimeter measures one hundred steps. While crossing the room he slips on the hem of his robe and discovers that if he had not tripped, he would have walked into a deep pit in the center of the cell, with water at the bottom. After losing consciousness again the narrator discovers that the prison is slightly illuminated and that he is bound to a wooden board by ropes. He looks up to see a painted picture of Father Time on the ceiling. Hanging from the figure is a gigantic pendulum with a crescent razor measuring "one feet from horn to horn," and swinging slowly back and forth. The pendulum is inexorably sliding downwards and will eventually kill him. However, the condemned man is able to attract rats to his bonds with the meat left for him to eat and they start chewing through the ropes. As the pendulum reaches a point inches above his heart, the prisoner breaks free of the ropes and watches as the pendulum is drawn back to the ceiling.