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220
increased .... It grew louder — louder — 1 o u d e r! And still the
men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not?
Almighty God! — no, no! They heard! — they suspected! — they
k n e w! — they were making a mockery of my horror! I felt
that I must scream or die! and now — again! — hark! louder! louder!
louder! louder! »Villains!» I shrieked, »dissemble me no more! I
admit the deed! — tear up the planks! here, here! — it is the beating
of his hideous heart!»
En mycket intressant parallell synes mig förefinnas
mellan denna novell, som publicerades 1843, och det be-
römda tal, som den ryktbare vältalaren advokaten Daniel
Webster höll 1830 i rättegången rörande mordet på en viss
Joseph White. Detta är också anledningen till att jag så
utförligt återgivit novellens innehåll. I själva verket före-
faller det mig troligt, att Websters tal skänkt Poe en in-
givelse, ja måhända mer än så. Jag återger här några
brottstycken ur talet med kursivering av de passager, om
vilka The Tell-Tale Heart särskilt starkt erinrar:
The deed was executed with a degree of self-
possession and steadiness equal to the wickedness
with w h ic h it was p 1 a n n e d. The circumstances now clearly
in evidence spread out the whole scene before us. Deep sleep had
fallen on the destined victim, and on all beneath his roof. A hcalthful
o 1 d man, to whom sleep was sweet, the first sound slumbers of the
night held him in their soft hut strong embrace. The assassin enters
With noiseless foot he paces the lonely hall and
reached the door of the chamber. Of this, he moves the lock, b y
soft and continued pressure, till it turnés on its hinges
without noise; and he enters, and beholds his victim before him
The face of the innocent sleeper is turned from the murderer,
and the beams of the moon, resting on the grey locks of his aged
temple, show him where to strike. [Jämför hur i Poes no-
vell lyktans ljusstrimma faller över den gamles blinda öga.] The
fatal blow is given! and the victim passes, without a struggle
or a motion [alldeles som i The Tell-Tale Heart där offret blott
ger till ett skrik] from the repose of sleep to the repose of death!
It is the a s s a s s i n’s p u r p o s e to make sure w o r k
To finish the picture, he explores the wrist for the pulse!
He feels for it, and ascertains that it heats no
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