(POE chews
pen and thinks, begins to write again, speaks as he writes each word.
ACTOR 1 will begin to talk with POE saying the same words together.
Then POE will stop speaking and ACTOR 1 will continue. POE will join
other actors to emphasize parts of the story through vocal sounds and
physical movement)
POE:
True! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been
and am ...
POE &
ACTOR 1: But why will you say that I am mad?
ACTOR 1:
The disease had sharpened my senses — not destroyed — not
dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all
things in heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How
then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily — how calmly
I can tell you the whole story.
(Pause)
ACTOR 1:
It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain. But once
conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none.
Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me.
He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire.
ACTOR 2:
1 think it was his eye!
ACTOR 1:
Yes, it was this!
ACTOR 3:
One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture — a pale blue eye,
with a film over it.
ACTOR 1:
Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; so by degrees-very
gradually — I made up my mind...
ACTOR 3:
I made up my mind...
ACTOR 2:
1 made up my mind...
ACTOR 1:
... to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.
(Pause)
ACTOR 1:
Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you
should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded...
ACTOR 2:
With what caution...
ACTOR 3:
With what foresight...
ACTOR 1:
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...
ACTOR 2:
Oh, so gently!
ACTOR 1:
Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust my head in!
I moved it slowly...
ACTOR 3:
Very, very slowly...
ACTOR 1:
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. Ha! Would a madman be so
wise? I did this for seven long nights. Upon the eighth night I was
more than usually cautious in opening the door. Perhaps he heard me
though, for he moved on the bed...
ACTOR 3: Suddenly!
ACTOR 1:
As if startled. Now you may think that I drew back...
ACTOR 2:
But no!
ACTOR 1:
I had my head in and was about to open the lantern, when presently I
heard a slight groan...
ACTORS 1
& 3: OOOHHHH, ooohhhh.
ACTOR 1:
And I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. I say I knew it well. I
knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at
heart. I knew he had been lying awake, his fears had been growing
upon him. He was thinking that he had heard nothing. He was saying to himself...
ACTOR 3:
"It is nothing but the wind in the chimney – it is only a
mouse crossing the floor."
ACTOR 2:
"It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp."
ACTOR 1:
Yes, he was trying to comfort himself with these suppositions; but he
had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching
him, had stalked his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim.
ACTOR 2:
So I opened the door...
ACTOR 3:
You cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily...
ACTOR 1:
Until, at length, a single dim ray, like a thread of a spider, shot
out from the crevice and full upon the vulture eye! I could see
nothing else of the old man's face, for I had directed the ray as if
by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot.
(Pause)
ACTOR 1:
And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but
over-acuteness of the senses? Now, I say, there came to my ears a
low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in
cotton. I knew that sound well too. It was the beating...
(POE may
beat drum quietly at this point and build to end)
ACTOR 2: Beating!
ACTOR 1:
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.
(Pause)
ACTOR 1:
But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held
the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray
upon the eye. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew...
ACTOR 2:
Quicker! Quicker!
ACTOR 3:
Louder! Louder!
ACTOR 1:
The old man's terror must have been extreme! It grew louder and
louder every minute! Do you mark me well? I have told you 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. Yet for some minutes longer I
refrained and stood still.
ACTOR 3:
But the beating grew louder and louder!
ACTOR 1:
I thought the heart might burst. And now a new anxiety seized me
— the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old man's hour had
come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the
room. He shrieked once — once only. In an instant I dragged him
to the floor and pulled the heavy bed covers over him. I then smiled
gaily, to find the deed so far done.
ACTOR 2:
But, for many minutes the heart beat on with a muffled sound.
ACTOR 1:
This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall.
ACTOR 3:
At length, it ceased.
ACTOR 1:
The old man was dead. I removed the bed covers and examined the
corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. 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.
(Pause)
ACTOR 1:
If still you 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. First of all I
dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.
I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber,
deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so
cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye...
ACTOR 2:
Not even his?
ACTOR 1:
Could have detected anything wrong. There was nothing to wash out
— no stain of any kind — no blood spot whatever. I had been
too wary for that. A tub had caught all — ha! ha! When I had
made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock. As the bell sounded
the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I opened it —
for what had I to fear? There entered three men, who introduced
themselves as...
ACTOR 2:
Officers of the police.
ACTOR 3:
A shriek has been heard in the night.
ACTOR 2:
There is suspicion of foul play.
ACTOR 3:
We have been deputed to search the premises.
ACTOR 1:
I smiled, for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome.
The Tell Tale
Heart continues...
