THE BLACK CAT audiobook A Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe Learn English Through Story

the black cat

by edgar allan

poe the most wild yet most homely

narrative which i am about to pen

i neither expect nor solicit belief

mad indeed would i be to expect it in a

case where my very senses reject their

own evidence

yet mad am i not

and very surely do i not dream

but tomorrow i die

and today i would unburden my soul

my immediate purpose is to place before

the world plainly succinctly and without

comment

a series of mere household events

in their consequences these events have

terrified have tortured have destroyed

me

yet i will not attempt to expound them

to me they have presented little but

horror

to many they will seem less terrible

than baroques

hereafter perhaps some intellect may be

found which will reduce my phantasm to

the commonplace

some intellect more calm more logical

and far less excitable than my own

which will perceive in the circumstances

i detail with all

nothing more than an ordinary succession

of very natural causes and effects

from my infancy i was noted for the

docility and humanity of my disposition

my tenderness of heart was even so

conspicuous as to make me the jest of my

companions

i was especially fond of animals

and was indulged by my parents with a

great variety of pets

with these i spent most of my time

and never was so happy as when feeding

and caressing them

this peculiarity of character grew with

my growth and in my manhood i derived

from it one of my principal sources of

pleasure

to those who have cherished an affection

for a faithful and sagacious dog

i need hardly be at the trouble of

explaining the nature or the intensity

of the gratification thus derivable

there is something in the unselfish and

self-sacrificing love of a brute

which goes directly to the heart of him

who has had frequent occasion to test

the paltry friendship

and gossamer fidelity of mere man

i married early

and was happy to find in my wife

a disposition not uncongenial with my

own

observing my partiality for domestic

pets

she lost no opportunity of procuring

those of the most agreeable kind

we had birds goldfish a fine dog

rabbits a small monkey and a cat

this ladder was a remarkably large and

beautiful animal

entirely black

and sagacious to an astonishing degree

in speaking of his intelligence

my wife who at heart was not a little

tinctured with superstition

made frequent allusion to the ancient

popular notion which regarded all black

cats as witches in disguise

not that she was ever serious upon this

point and i mentioned the matter at all

for no better reason than that it

happens just now to be remembered

pluto

this was the cat’s name

was my favorite pet and playmate

i alone fed him

and he attended me wherever i went about

the house

it was even with difficulty that i could

prevent him from following me through

the streets

our friendship lasted in this manner for

several years

during which my general temperament and

character

through the instrumentality of the fiend

in temperance

had

i blushed to confess it

experienced a radical alteration for the

worse

i grew day by day more moody more

irritable more regardless of the

feelings of others

i suffered myself to use intemperate

language to my wife

at length i even offered her personal

violence

my pets of course were made to feel the

change in my disposition

i not only neglected but ill-used them

for pluto however i still retain

sufficient regard to restrain me from

maltreating him as i made no scruple of

maltreating the rabbits the monkey or

even the dog

when by accident or through affection

they came in my way

but my disease grew upon me

for what disease is like alcohol

and at length even pluto who was now

becoming old and consequently somewhat

peevish

even pluto began to experience the

effects

of my ill temper

one night returning home much

intoxicated

from one of my haunts about town

i fancied that the cat avoided my

presence

i seized him

when in his fright at my violence he

inflicted a slight wound upon my hand

with his teeth

the fury of a demon instantly possessed

me i knew myself no longer my original

soul seemed at once to take its flight

from my body and a more than fiendish

malevolence gin nurtured thrilled every

fiber of my frame

i took from my west pocket a pen knife

opened it grasped the poor beast by the

throat and deliberately cut one of its

eyes from the socket

i blush

i burn i shudder while i pen the

damnable atrocity

when reason returned with the morning

when i had slept off the fumes of the

night’s debauch

i experienced a sentiment half of horror

half of remorse

for the crime of which i had been guilty

but it was at best a feeble and

equivocal feeling

and the soul remained untouched

i again plunged into excess

and soon drowned in wine all memory of

the deed

in the meantime the cat slowly recovered

the socket of the lost eye presented it

is true of frightful appearance

but he no longer appeared to suffer any

pain

he went about the house as usual but as

might be expected fled in extreme terror

at my approach

i had so much of my old heart left as to

be at first grieved by this evident

dislike on the part of a creature which

had once so loved me

but this feeling soon gave place to

irritation

and then came as if to my final and

irrevocable overthrow

the spirit of perverseness

of this spirit philosophy takes no

account

yet i am not more sure that my soul

lives than i am that perverseness is one

of the primitive impulses of the human

heart

one of the indivisible primary faculties

or sentiments

which give direction to the character of

man

who has not a hundred times found

himself committing a vile or a silly

action for no other reason than because

he knows he should not

have we not a perpetual inclination

in the teeth of our best judgment to

violate that which is law merely because

we understand it to be such

this spirit of perverseness i say

came to my final overthrow

it was this

unfathomable longing of the soul

to vex itself

to offer violence to its own nature

to do wrong for the wrong’s sake only

that urged me to continue

and finally to consummate the injury i

had inflicted upon the unoffending brute

one morning in cold blood i slipped a

noose about its neck and hung it to the

limb of a tree

hung it with the tears streaming from my

eyes and with a bitterest remorse in my

heart hung it because i knew that it had

loved me

and because i felt it had given me no

reason of offence

hung it because i knew that in so doing

i was committing a sin

a deadly sin that would so jeopardize my

immortal soul as to place it if such a

thing were possible even beyond the

reach of the infinite mercy of the most

merciful and most terrible god

on the night of the day on which this

cruel deed was done

i was aroused from sleep by the cry of

fire

the curtains of my bed were in flames

the whole house was blazing

it was with great difficulty that my

wife a servant and myself made our

escape from the conflagration

the destruction was complete my entire

worldly wealth was swallowed up and i

resigned myself thenceforward to despair

i am above the weakness of seeking to

establish a sequence of cause and effect

between the disaster and the atrocity

but i am detailing a chain of facts

and wish not to leave even a possible

link imperfect

on the day succeeding the fire

i visited the ruins

the walls with one exception had fallen

in

this exception was found in a

compartment wall

not very thick which stood about the

middle of the house

and against which had rested the head of

my bed

the plastering had here in great measure

resisted the action of the fire a fact

which i attributed to its having been

recently spread

about this wall a dense crowd were

collected

and many persons seemed to be examining

a particular portion of it with very

minut and eager attention

the words strange

singular

and other similar expressions

excited my curiosity

i approached and saw as if graven in bar

relief upon the white surface the figure

of a gigantic cat

the impression was given with an

accuracy truly marvelous

there was a rope about the animal’s neck

when i first beheld this apparition

for i could scarcely regard it as less

my wonder and my terror were extreme

but at length reflection came to my aid

the cat i remembered had been hung in a

garden adjacent to the house

upon the alarm of fire this garden had

been immediately filled by the crowd

by some one of whom the animal must have

been cut from the tree and thrown

through an open window into my chamber

this had probably been done with the

view of arousing me from sleep

the falling of other walls had

compressed the victim of my cruelty

into the substance of the freshly spread

plaster

the lime of which with the flames and

the ammonia from the carcass

had then accomplished the portraiture as

i saw it

although i thus readily accounted to my

reason

if not all together to my conscience

for the startling fact just detailed

it did not the less fail to make a deep

impression upon my fancy

for months i could not rid myself of the

phantasm of the cat

and during this period there came back

into my spirit a half-sentiment that

seemed but was not

remorse

i went so far as to regret the loss of

the animal

and to look about me among the vile

haunts which i now habitually frequented

for another pet of the same species

and of somewhat similar appearance

with which to supply its place

one night as i sat half stupefied in a

den of more than infamy

my attention was suddenly drawn to some

black object

reposing upon the head of one of the

immense hogsheads of gin or of rum

which constituted the chief furniture of

the apartment

i had been looking steadily at the top

of this hog’s head for some minutes

and what now caused me surprise

was the fact that i had not sooner

perceived the object

thereupon i approached it

and touched it with my hand

it was a black cat

a very large one

fully as large as pluto and closely

resembling him in every respect but one

pluto had not a white hair

upon any portion of his body

but this cat had a large

although indefinite splash of white

covering nearly the whole region of the

breast

upon my touching him he immediately

arose

purred loudly

rubbed against my hand and appeared

delighted with my notice

this then was the very creature

of which i was in search

i at once offered to purchase it of the

landlord

but this person made no claim to it knew

nothing of it had never seen it before

i continued my caresses

and when i prepared to go home the

animal evinced a disposition to

accompany me

i permitted it to do so

occasionally stooping and patting it as

i proceeded

when it reached the house it

domesticated itself at once

and became immediately a great favorite

with my wife

for my own part

i soon found a dislike to it arising

within me

this was just a reverse of what i had

anticipated

but

i know not how or why it was

it’s evident fondness for myself

rather disgusted and annoyed

by slow degrees

these feelings of disgust and annoyance

rose into the bitterness of hatred

i avoided the creature

a certain sense of shame and the

remembrance of my former deed of cruelty

preventing me from physically abusing it

i did not for some weeks

strike or otherwise violently ill use it

but gradually

very gradually

i came to look upon it with unutterable

loathing

and to flee silently from its odious

presence

as from the breath of a pestilence

what added no doubt to my hatred of the

beast

was the discovery on the morning after i

brought it home that like pluto

it also had been deprived of one of its

eyes

this circumstance however

only endeared it to my wife who as i

have already said possessed in a high

degree that humanity of feeling which

had once been my distinguishing trait

and the source of many of my simplest

and purest pleasures

with my aversion to this cat however its

partiality for myself seemed to increase

it followed my footsteps with a

pertinacity which it would be difficult

to make the reader comprehend

whenever i sat it would crouch beneath

my chair

or spring upon my knees covering me with

its loathsome caresses

if i arose to walk it would get between

my feet and thus nearly throw me down

or fastening its long and sharp claws in

my dress clamber in this manner to my

breast

at such times although i longed to

destroy it with a blow

i was yet withheld from so doing partly

by a memory of my former crime but

chiefly let me confess it at once

by absolute dread of the beast

this dread was not exactly a dread of

physical evil

and yet i should be at a loss how

otherwise to define it

i am almost ashamed to own

yes even in this felon’s cell i am

almost ashamed to own

that the terror and horror with which

the animal inspired me

had been heightened by one of the merest

shimmers it would be possible to

conceive

my wife had called my attention more

than once to the character of the mark

of white hair of which i have spoken

and which constituted the sole visible

difference between the strange beast and

the one i had destroyed

the reader will remember that this mark

although large

had been originally very indefinite

but by slow degrees

degrees nearly imperceptible

and which for a long time my reason

struggled to reject as fanciful

it had at length assumed a rigorous

distinctness of outline

it was now the representation of an

object that i shudder to name

and for this above all i loathed and

dreaded and would have rid myself of the

monster had i dared

it was now i say the image of a hideous

of a ghastly thing

of the gallows

o mournful and terrible engine of horror

and of crime

of agony and of death

and now was i indeed wretched beyond the

wretchedness of mere humanity

and a brute beast

whose fellow i had contemptuously

destroyed

a brute beast to work out for me

for me a man fashioned in the image of

the high god

so much of insufferable

woe

alas

neither by day nor by night knew i the

blessing of rest anymore

during the former the creature left me

no moment alone and in the latter i

started hourly from dreams of

unutterable fear

to find the hot breath of the thing

upon my face

and its vast weight an incarnate

nightmare that i had no power to shake

off incumbent eternally upon my heart

beneath the pressure of torments such as

these

the feeble remnant of the good within me

succumbed

evil thoughts became my soul intimates

the darkest

and most evil of thoughts

the moodiness of my usual temper

increased to hatred of all things and of

all mankind

while from the sudden frequent and

ungovernable outburst of a fury to which

i now blindly abandoned myself my

uncomplaining wife alas

was the most usual and the most patient

of sufferers

one day she accompanied me upon some

household errand into the cellar of the

old building which our poverty compelled

us to inhabit

the cat followed me down the steep

stairs

and nearly throwing me headlong

exasperated me to madness

uplifting an axe and forgetting in my

wrath the childish dread which had

hitherto staid my hand i aimed a blow at

the animal which of course would have

proved instantly fatal had it descended

as i wished

but this blow was arrested by the hand

of my wife

goaded by the interference into a rage

more than demoniacal

i withdrew my arm from her grasp and

buried the axe in her brain

she fell dead upon the spot without a

groan

[Music]

this hideous murder accomplished i set

myself forth with and with entire

deliberation to the task of concealing

the body

i knew that i could not remove it from

the house either by day or by night

without the risk of being observed by

their neighbors

many projects entered my mind

at one period i thought of cutting the

corpse into my newt fragments and

destroying them by fire

at another i resolved to dig a grave for

it in the floor of the cellar

again i deliberated about casting it in

the well in the yard

about packing it in a box as if

merchandise

with the usual arrangements and so

getting a porter to take it from the

house

finally i hit upon what i considered a

far better expedient than either of

these

i determined to wall it up in the cellar

as the monks of the middle ages are

recorded to have walled up their victims

for a purpose such as this the seller

was well adapted

its walls were loosely constructed and

had lately been plastered throughout

with a rough plaster which the dampness

of the atmosphere had prevented from

hardening moreover in one of the walls

was a projection

caused by a false chimney or fireplace

that had been filled up and made to

resemble the red of the cellar

i made no doubt that i could readily

displace the bricks at this point

insert the corpse and wall the hole up

as before so that no eye could detect

anything suspicious

and in this calculation i was not

deceived

by means of a crowbar i easily dislodged

the bricks and having carefully

deposited the body against the inner

wall

i propped it in that position while with

little trouble i relayed the whole

structure as it originally stood

having procured mortar sand and hair

with every possible precaution

i prepared a plaster which could not be

distinguished from the old

and with this i very carefully went over

the new brickwork

when i had finished i felt satisfied

that all was right

the wall did not present the slightest

appearance of having been disturbed

the rubbish on the floor was picked up

with the minutest care

i looked around triumphantly and said to

myself

here at least then my labor has not been

in vain

my next step was to look for the beast

which had been the cause of so much

wretchedness

for i had at length firmly resolved to

put it to death

had i been able to meet with it at the

moment there could have been no doubt of

its fate

but it appeared that the crafty animal

had been alarmed at the violence of my

previous anger

and for bore to present itself in my

present mood

it is impossible to describe or to

imagine the deep the blissful sense of

relief which the absence of the detested

creature occasioned in my bosom

it did not make its appearance during

the night

and thus for one night at least since

its introduction into the house

i soundly and tranquilly slept

i

slept even with the burden of murder

upon my soul

the second and the third day passed

and still my tormentor came not

once again i breathed as a free man

the monster in terror had fled the

premises forever

i should behold it no more my happiness

was supreme the guilt of my dark deed

disturbed me but little

some few inquiries had been made but

these had been readily answered

even a search had been instituted

but of course nothing was to be

discovered

i looked upon my future felicity as

secured

upon the fourth day of the assassination

a party of the police came very

unexpectedly into the house

and proceeded again to make rigorous

investigation of the premises

secure however in the inscrutability of

my place of concealment

i felt no embarrassment whatever

the officers made me accompany them in

their search

they left no nook or corner unexplored

at length for the third or fourth time

they descended into the cellar

i quivered not in a muscle

my heart beat calmly as that of one who

slumbers in innocence

i walked the cellar from end to end i

folded my arms upon my bosom and roamed

easily to and fro

the police were thoroughly satisfied and

prepared to depart

the glee at my heart was too strong to

be restrained i burned to say if but one

word by way of triumph

and to render doubly sure their

assurance of my guiltlessness

gentlemen

i said at last as the party ascended the

steps

i’d delight to have allayed your

suspicions

i wish you all health and a little more

courtesy

by the by gentlemen this

this is a very well-constructed house

in the rabid desire to say something

easily i scarcely knew what i uttered at

all

i may say an excellently well

constructed house

these walls

are you going gentlemen

these walls are solidly put together

and here through the mere frenzy of

bravado i wrapped heavily with a cane

which i held in my hand upon that very

portion of the brickwork behind which

stood the corpse of the wife of my bosom

but my god shield and deliver me from

the fangs of the arch fiend

no sooner had the reverberation of my

blows sunk into silence

then i was answered by a voice from

within the tomb

by a cry at first muffled and broken

like the sobbing of a child

and then quickly swelling into one long

loud and continuous scream

utterly anomalous and inhuman

a howl

a wailing shriek

half of horror and half of triumph

such as might have arisen only out of

hell

conjointly from the throats of the

damned in their agony

and of the demons that exult in the

damnation

of my own thoughts it is folly to speak

swooning i staggered to the opposite

wall for one instant the party upon the

stairs remained motionless

through extremity of terror and of awe

in the next a dozen stout arms were

toiling at the wall

it fell badly

the corpse

already greatly decayed and clotted with

gore

stood erect before the eyes of the

spectators

upon its head with red extended mouth

and solitary eye of fire

sat the hideous beast whose craft had

seduced me into murder and whose

informing voice had consigned me to the

hangman

i had walled the monster up within the

tomb

end of the black cat

by edgar allan poe