From The Vault: The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

[00:00:13][music] >> Edgar Allan Poe The Tell-Tale Heart True, nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am.

[00:00:38]But why will you say that I am mad?

[00:00:41]The disease has sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them.

[00:00:46]Above all was the sense of hearing acute.

[00:00:49]I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in the hell.

[00:00:56]How then am I mad?

[00:00:58]Hark in and observe how healthfully, how calmly I could tell you the whole story.

[00:01:05]It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.

[00:01:14]Object there was none. Passion there was none.

[00:01:19]I loved the old man. He had never wronged me.

[00:01:22]He had never given me insult.

[00:01:24]For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye. Yes, it was this.

[00:01:31]He had the eye of a vulture, a pale blue eye with a film over it.

[00:01:37]Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man and thus rid myself of the eye forever.

[00:01:51]Now, this is the point.

[00:01:54]You fancy me mad.

[00:01:56]Madmen know nothing.

[00:01:59]But, you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded with what caution, with what foresight, with what dissimulation I went to work. I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it oh so gently.

[00:02:20]And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed that no light shone out. And then, I thrust in my head. Ah, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in. I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep.

[00:02:43]It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed.

[00:02:49]Ha, would a madman have been so wise as this?

[00:02:53]And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously.

[00:02:59]Oh, so cautiously, cautiously, for the hinges creaked.

[00:03:03]I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye.

[00:03:09]And this I did for seven long nights, every night, just at midnight.

[00:03:16]But, I found the eye always closed. And so, it was impossible to do the work.

[00:03:22]For, it was not the old man who vexed me, but his evil eye.

[00:03:26]And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by his name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night. So, you see, he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at 12, I looked in upon him while he slept.

[00:03:50]Upon the eighth night, I was more than usually cautious in opening the door.

[00:03:56]A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine.

[00:03:59]Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers, of my sagacity.

[00:04:05]I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was opening the door little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea, and perhaps he heard me, for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now, you may think that I drew back, but no.

[00:04:29]His room was as black as pitch with a thick darkness, for the shutters were close fastened through fear of robbers.

[00:04:36]And so, I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily.

[00:04:44]I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out, "Who's there?"

[00:04:54]I kept quite still, and said nothing.

[00:04:58]For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime, I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed, listening just as I have done night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.

[00:05:14]Presently, I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror.

[00:05:18]It was not the groan of pain, or of grief, oh no. It was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe.

[00:05:30]I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening with its dreadful echo the terrors that distracted me.

[00:05:45]I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt and pitied him.

[00:05:50]Although I chuckled in my heart.

[00:05:53]I knew that he'd been lying awake ever since the first slight noise when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him.

[00:06:02]He had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not.

[00:06:07]He had been saying to himself, "It is nothing but the wind in the chimney. It is only a mouse crossing the floor, or it is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp."

[00:06:18]Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions, but he had found all in vain, all in vain because death in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim.

[00:06:35]And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel, although he neither saw nor heard, to feel the presence of my head within the room.

[00:06:48]When I had waited a long time, very patiently without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little, a very little, a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So, I opened it. You cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily until at length a simple dim ray, like the thread of a spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye.

[00:07:14]It was open.

[00:07:16]Wide, wide open, and I grew furious as I gazed upon it.

[00:07:21]I saw it with perfect distinctness. Ah, a dull blue with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow of my bones, but I could not see anything else of the old man's face or person, for I had directed the rays if by instinct precisely upon the damned spot.

[00:07:37]And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but an over-acuteness of the sense. Now, I say there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.

[00:07:51]I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.

[00:08:02]But even yet, I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed.

[00:08:07]I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eye.

[00:08:14]Meantime, the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker and louder and louder every instant.

[00:08:22]The old man's terror must have been extreme. It grew louder, I say, louder every moment. Do you mark me well? I have told you that I am nervous. So I am. And now, at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror.

[00:08:45]Yet, for some minutes longer, I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder. I thought the heart must burst.

[00:08:55]And now, a new anxiety seized me. A sound.

[00:08:59]The sound would be heard by a neighbor.

[00:09:02]The old man's hour had come.

[00:09:04]With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern leaped into the room. He shrieked once, once only.

[00:09:10]In an instant, I dragged him to the floor and pulled the heavy bed over him.

[00:09:15]I then smiled gaily to find the deed so far done. But for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound.

[00:09:22]This, however, did not vex me. It would not be heard through the wall. At length, it ceased. The old man was dead.

[00:09:30]I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead.

[00:09:35]I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.

[00:09:46]If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned and I worked hastily but in silence.

[00:09:58]First of all, I dismembered the corpse.

[00:10:01]I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.

[00:10:04]I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly that no human eye, not even his, could have detected anything wrong.

[00:10:19]There was nothing to wash out, no stain of any kind, no blood spot whatever. I'd been too wary for that. A tub had caught all.

[00:10:28]>> [laughter] >> When I had made an end of those labors, it was 4:00, still dark as midnight.

[00:10:34]As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door.

[00:10:40]I went down to open it with a light heart, for what had I now to fear?

[00:10:44]There entered three men who introduced themselves with perfect suavity as officers of the police.

[00:10:52]A shriek had been heard by a neighbor during the night. Suspicion of foul play had been aroused. Information had been lodged at the police office and they, the officers, had been deputed to search the premises.

[00:11:07]I smiled, for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream.

[00:11:15]The old man I mentioned was absent in the country.

[00:11:18]I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search, search well. I led them at length to his chamber. I showed them his treasures secure, undisturbed.

[00:11:29]In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim.

[00:11:49]The officers were satisfied.

[00:11:52]My manner had convinced them I was singularly at ease. They sat, and while I answered cheerily, they chatted familiar things, but ere long, I felt myself getting pale, and wished them gone.

[00:12:06]My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears, but still they sat and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct. It continued and became more distinct. I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling, but it continued and gained definiteness until at length I found that the noise was not within my ears. No doubt I now grew very pale, but I talked more fluently and with a heightened voice. Yet, the sound increased. And what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound, much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.

[00:12:42]I gasped for breath, and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly, more vehemently, but the noise steadily increased. I rose and argued about trifles in a high key and with violent gesticulations, but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone?

[00:13:04]I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men, but the noise steadily increased.

[00:13:14]Oh God, what could I do? I foamed, I raved, I swore. I swung the chair upon which I'd been sitting and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder, louder, louder. And still the men chatted pleasantly and smiled.

[00:13:35]Was it possible they heard not?

[00:13:38]Oh, mighty God, no.

[00:13:41]No.

[00:13:42]They heard. [groaning] They suspected.

[00:13:47]They knew.

[00:13:49]They were making a mockery of my horror.

[00:13:54]This, I thought, and this I think.

[00:13:59]But anything was better than this agony.

[00:14:01]Anything was more tolerable than this derision.

[00:14:05]I could bear these hypocritical smiles no longer. I felt that I must scream or die. And now, again, hark! Louder, louder, louder! "Villains!" I shrieked.

[00:14:19]"Dissemble no more. I admit the deed.

[00:14:22]Tear up the planks. Here! Here! It is the beating of his hideous heart!"

[00:14:39]>> Edgar Allan Poe, you know, when they say uh so-and-so doesn't need any introduction from me. Well, here we are.

[00:14:46]Edgar Allan Poe needs no introduction from me. But just in case you don't know about him, he was an American writer born in 1809 and died in 1849.

[00:14:56]He is most famous for his tales of mystery and the macabre.

[00:15:01]He's uh thought of as a central figure for romanticism in the United States.

[00:15:05]Comes from Boston.

[00:15:07]I when I read him, and I must admit I haven't read a ton of Poe, and I suppose that is a failing, but he reminds me of his contemporaries or near contemporaries, maybe slightly before him, such as Baudelaire in France and Housman and another French writer of the decadent. And of course Gustav Meyrink, I've read quite a lot of, I think I've read everything of Gustav Meyrink, who was an Austrian. Poe I think died insane of syphilis. That might not be true, let me just check that.

[00:15:40]Brain congestion. His cause of unknown is actually unknown, but it was pretty common for people to die of syphilis in those days. They called it general paralysis of the insane, and it was the third stage of syphilis. Anyway, this particular story, Telltale Heart, people say it's a the story of a perfect crime, and I think that's absolutely not true.

[00:16:02]This guy's never going to get away with this crime. Um he's completely insane for one thing. And I really enjoyed doing the over-the-top stuff. You can think I'm crazy. You call me mad. And I didn't even have a sore throat at the end of it, so there. But he is in fact totally cracked.

[00:16:23]And there's no way he's ever going to get away with this crime, apart from the fact that he murdered a person. I don't know, what is he doing in the house living with the old guy anyway? Well, we never find that out. And um I if I was the old man, I'd been pretty wary of him looking in my bedroom window every night at midnight.

[00:16:38]I can't believe the old bloke fell asleep through it all. Just because of the old poor old man's blue vulture eye.

[00:16:44]I mean there we are though. So, you know, you if you dismember somebody and put them under the planks of your floorboards you're never going to get away with that. The cops also seem to be pretty amiable. They come in, they sit down, they chat about this and that.

[00:17:00]Nah, it doesn't ring true. But it's a it's a cracking over-the-top story, and you know, all that rubbish about less is more, well, I'm with Poe, more is more.

[00:17:10]Just pile it on. And he certainly does that. So, as as I was saying, I had a bit of a disaster this week. I recorded I thought I'd recorded Robert Aickman's story called Ringing the Changes about the bells ringing in a seaside town to summon the dead from the grave.

[00:17:27]And um it's considered one of Aickman's best.

[00:17:30]He's hasn't been dead that long. He writes very weird stories rather than horror stories. They're they're unsettling.

[00:17:37]Very English, you know, and I was reading it thinking this is English of a particular era. It's a very 1950s sort of feel to it. That post-war austerity, the fading gentility of English culture which has gone pretty much, I think, now. Um I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just saying it's happened.

[00:18:00]As I was reading it I thought uh yeah, it's maybe too English. It's maybe too dated. But then it didn't record anyway, only the first 15 minutes. I've no idea what happened. So then I'm sitting there late at night and I'm kind of oh my god, I've got the guilt on because I haven't recorded a story. We can talk about that as a separate topic another time. And then I think, right, I need a short story. I need Poe. And it was just the antidote to that very restrained, understated, English, provincial stuff. This completely insane over the top murderer.

[00:18:37]And I I got to tell you something.

[00:18:40]I like the Poe better. That's sacrilege.

[00:18:42]And people will say I'm a philistine and an idiot. But Poe I enjoyed much more.

[00:18:47]There we are.

[00:18:48]Catch you later.

[00:19:15]>> Hey.