A Ghost by Guy de Maupassant
Difficulty: Medium    Uploaded: 8 years, 1 month ago by Gabrielle     Last Activity: 8 years ago
21% Upvoted
7% Translated but not Upvoted
188 Units
28% Translated
21% Upvoted
Wir sprachen von Beschlagnahme und sprachen auf eine kürzliche Klage. Es war am Ende eines angenehmen Abends in einem sehr alten Haus in der Rue de Grenelle, und jeder der Gäste hatte eine Geschichte zu erzählen, welche er uns versicherte, dass sie war wäre.

Damals erhob sich der alte Marquis de la Tour-Samuel, zweiundachtzig Jahre alt, und kam nach vorne um sich auf den Kaminsims zu lehnen. Er erzählte die folgende Geschichte mit seiner nur wenig zitternder Stimme.

"Auch ich war Zeuge eines seltsamen Ereignisses - so seltsam, dass es der Albtraum meines ganzen Lebens gewesen ist. Es geschah vor sechsundfünfzig Jahren, und doch vergeht nicht ein Monat, wenn ich es nicht wieder in meinen Träumen sehe. Und von diesem Tag an habe ich ein Mal getragen, einen Stempel der Furcht, - verstehen Sie?

"Ja, zehn Minuten lang war ich eine Beute des Terrors, in solch einer Weise, dass seit jener Zeit eine ständige Furcht in meinem Herzen verblieben ist. Unerwartete Geräusche lassen meinen Herz erschauern; Dinge, die ich im Schatten des Abends schlecht unterscheiden kann, rufen in mir den Wunsch hervor zu fliehen. In der Nacht fürchte ich mich.

"Nein! Bevor ich so alt geworden bin, hätte ich eine solche Sache nicht eingeräumt. Aber jetzt darf ich Ihnen alles sagen. Man darf imaginäre Gefahren fürchten, wenn man zweiundachtzig Jahre alt ist. Aber vor tatsächlichen Gefahren habe ich niemals kehrtgemacht, meine Damen.

"Diese Angelegenheit hat mich so durcheinander gebracht, erfüllte mich mit einer so tiefen, geheimnisvollen Unruhe, dass ich niemals darüber sprechen konnte. Ich hielt es in diesem innersten Teil, jener Ecke, wo wir unsere traurigen, unsere schändlichen Geheimnisse verbergen, alle Schwächen unseres Lebens, die nicht gestanden werden können.

Ich werde Ihnen von diesem seltsamen Ereignis gerade so wie es stattfand erzählen, ohne zu versuchen es zu erklären. Außer wenn ich für eine kurze Stunde verrückt geworden bin, muss es aber erklärbar sein. Dennoch war ich nicht verrückt, und ich werde es Ihnen beweisen. Glauben Sie, was Sie wollen. Hier sind die schlichten Fakten: "Es war im Jahr 1827, im Juli. Ich war mit meinem Regiment in Rouen einquartiert.

Als ich eines Tages am Kai spazieren ging, traf ich einen Mann, den ich glaubte zu erkennen, obwohl ich ihn nicht sicher einordnen konnte. Ich ging instinktiv langsamer, bereit stehen zu bleiben. Der Fremde sah meine Absicht, schaute mich an und fiel mir in die Arme.

"Es war ein Freund meiner frühen Jahre, den ich sehr gemocht hatte. Es schien, als ob er in den fünf Jahren, seit ich ihn zum letzten Mal gesehen hatte, ein halbes Jahrhundert älter geworden wäre. Sein Haar war weiß, und sein Gang war gebückt, als ob er erschöpft wäre. Er verstand meine Verblüffung und erzählte mir seine Lebensgeschichte.

Ein schrecklisches Ereignis hatte ihn kaputtgehen lassen. Er hatte sich wahnsinnig in ein junges Mädchen verliebt und sie ine einer traumähnlichen Ekstase geheiratet. Nach einem Jahr purer Glückseligkeit und nicht ausgeschöpfter Leidenschaft war sie plötzlich an einer Herzkrankheit gestorben, ohne Zweifel von der Liebe selbst getötet.

"Er hatte das Land an dem ihrer Beerdigung verlassen und hatte sich daran gewöhnt in seinem Hotel in Rouen zu leben. Er verblieb dort, einsam und verzweifelt, der Kummer zerriss ihn langsam, und er fühlte sich so elend, dass er an Selbstmord dachte.

"Da ich Ihnen somit wieder begegnet bin," sagte er, "werde ich Sie um einen großen Gefallen bitten. Ich möchte, dass sie zu meinem Chateau gehen und einige Papier, die ich dringend benötige, besorgen. Sie sind im Schreibtisch meines Zimmers, "unseren" Zimmers. Ich kann keinen Diener oder Rechtsanwalt schicken, da der Auftrag vertraulich bleiben muss. Ich will absolutes Stillschweigen.

"Ich werde Ihnen den Schlüssel zu dem Zimmer, das ich vor meinem Weggehen selbst sorgfältig verschlossen habe, geben, und den Schlüssel zu dem Schreibtisch. Ich werde Ihnen auch eine Nachricht für dne Gärtner geben, der Sie hereinlassen wird.

"Kommen Sie morgen, um mit mir zu frühstücken, und wir werden über die Sache sprechen."

"Ich versprach, ihm diesen kleinen Dienst zu erweisen. Für mich würde das ein angenehmer Ausflug sein, da sein Haus nicht mehr als fünfundzwanzig Meilen von Rouen war. I could go there in an hour on horseback.

"Am nächsten Tag um zehn Uhr war ich bei ihm. Wir frühstückten alleine zusammen, aber er sprach nicht mehr als zwanzig Worter. Er bat mich ihn zu entschuldigen The thought that I was going to visit the room where his happiness lay shattered, upset him, he said. Indeed, he seemed perturbed, worried, as if some mysterious struggle were taking place in his soul.

"Endlich erklärte er, genau was ich machen soll. Es war sehr einfach. I was to take two packages of letters and some papers, locked in the first drawer at the right of the desk of which I had the key. He added: "'I need not ask you not to glance at them.'

"I was almost hurt by his words, and told him so, rather sharply. Er stotterte: "Vergeben Sie mir. Ich leide so sehr.

"And tears came to his eyes.

"I left about one o'clock to accomplish my errand.

"The day was radiant, and I rushed through the meadows, listening to the song of the larks, and the rhythmical beat of my sword on my riding-boots.

"Then I entered the forest, and I set my horse to walking. Branches of the trees softly caressed my face, and now and then I would catch a leaf between my teeth and bite it with avidity, full of the joy of life, such as fills you without reason, with a tumultuous happiness almost indefinable, a kind of magical strength.

"As I neared the house I took out the letter for the gardener, and noted with surprise that it was sealed. I was so amazed and so annoyed that I almost turned back without fulfilling my mission. Then I thought that I should thus display over-sensitiveness and bad taste. My friend might have sealed it unconsciously, worried as he was.

"The manor looked as though it had been deserted the last twenty years. The gate, wide-open and rotten, held, one wondered how. Grass filled the paths; you could not tell the flower-beds from the lawn.

"At the noise I made kicking a shutter, an old man came out from a side-door and was apparently amazed to see me there. I dismounted from my horse and gave him the letter. He read it once or twice, turned it over, looked at me with suspicion, and asked: "'Well, what do you want?'

"I answered sharply: "'You must know it as you have read your master's orders. I want to get in the house.'

"He appeared overwhelmed. He said: "'So--you are going in--in his room?'

"Ich wurde ungeduldig.

"'_Parbleu!_ Do you intend to question me, by chance?'

"He stammered: "'No--monsieur--only--it has not been opened since--since the death. If you will wait five minutes, I will go in to see whether----' "I interrupted angrily: "'See here, are you joking? You can't go in that room, as I have the key!'

"He no longer knew what to say.

"'Then, monsieur, I will show you the way.'

"'Show me the stairs and leave me alone. I can find it without your help.'

"'But--still--monsieur----' "Then I lost my temper.

"'Now be quiet! Else you'll be sorry!'

"I roughly pushed him aside and went into the house.

"I first went through the kitchen, then crossed two small rooms occupied by the man and his wife. From there I stepped into a large hall. I went up the stairs, and I recognized the door my friend had described to me.

"I opened it with ease and went in.

"The room was so dark that at first I could not distinguish anything. I paused, arrested by that moldy and stale odor peculiar to deserted and condemned rooms, of dead rooms. Then gradually my eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, and I saw rather clearly a great room in disorder, a bed without sheets having still its mattresses and pillows, one of which bore the deep print of an elbow or a head, as if someone had just been resting on it.

"The chairs seemed all in confusion. I noticed that a door, probably that of a closet, had remained ajar.

"I first went to the window and opened it to get some light, but the hinges of the outside shutters were so rusted that I could not loosen them.

"I even tried to break them with my sword, but did not succeed. As those fruitless attempts irritated me, and as my eyes were by now adjusted to the dim light, I gave up hope of getting more light and went toward the writing-desk.

"I sat down in an arm-chair, folded back the top, and opened the drawer. It was full to the edge. I needed but three packages, which I knew how to distinguish, and I started looking for them.

"I was straining my eyes to decipher the inscriptions, when I thought I heard, or rather felt a rustle behind me. I took no notice, thinking a draft had lifted some curtain. But a minute later, another movement, almost indistinct, sent a disagreeable little shiver over my skin. It was so ridiculous to be moved thus even so slightly, that I would not turn round, being ashamed. I had just discovered the second package I needed, and was on the point of reaching for the third, when a great and sorrowful sigh, close to my shoulder, made me give a mad leap two yards away. In my spring I had turned round, my hand on the hilt of my sword, and surely had I not felt that, I should have fled like a coward.

"A tall woman, dressed in white, was facing me, standing behind the chair in which I had sat a second before.

"Such a shudder ran through me that I almost fell back! Oh, no one who has not felt them can understand those gruesome and ridiculous terrors! The soul melts; your heart seems to stop; your whole body becomes limp as a sponge, and your innermost parts seem collapsing.

"I do not believe in ghosts; and yet I broke down before the hideous fear of the dead; and I suffered, oh, I suffered more in a few minutes, in the irresistible anguish of supernatural dread, than I have suffered in all the rest of my life!

"If she had not spoken, I might have died. But she did speak; she spoke in a soft and plaintive voice which set my nerves vibrating. I could not say that I regained my self-control. No, I was past knowing what I did; but the kind of pride I have in me, as well as a military pride, helped me to maintain, almost in spite of myself, an honorable countenance. I was making a pose, a pose for myself, and for her, for her, whatever she was, woman, or phantom. I realized this later, for at the time of the apparition, I could think of nothing. I was afraid.

"She said: "'Oh, you can be of great help to me, monsieur!'

"I tried to answer, but I was unable to utter one word. A vague sound came from my throat.

"She continued: "'Will you? You can save me, cure me. I suffer terribly. I always suffer. I suffer, oh, I suffer!'

"And she sat down gently in my chair. She looked at me.

"'Will you?'

"I nodded my head, being still paralyzed.

"Then she handed me a woman's comb of tortoise-shell, and murmured: "'Comb my hair! Oh, comb my hair! That will cure me. Look at my head--how I suffer! And my hair--how it hurts!'

"Her loose hair, very long, very black, it seemed to me, hung over the back of the chair, touching the floor.

"Why did I do it? Why did I, shivering, accept that comb, and why did I take between my hands her long hair, which left on my skin a ghastly impression of cold, as if I had handled serpents? I do not know.

"That feeling still clings about my fingers, and I shiver when I recall it.

"I combed her, I handled, I know not how, that hair of ice. I bound and unbound it; I plaited it as one plaits a horse's mane. She sighed, bent her head, seemed happy.

"Suddenly she said, 'Thank you!' tore the comb from my hands, and fled through the door which I had noticed was half opened.

"Left alone, I had for a few seconds the hazy feeling one feels in waking up from a nightmare. Then I recovered myself. I ran to the window and broke the shutters by my furious assault.

"A stream of light poured in. I rushed to the door through which that being had gone. I found it locked and immovable.

"Then a fever of flight seized on me, a panic, the true panic of battle. I quickly grasped the three packages of letters from the open desk; I crossed the room running, I took the steps of the stairway four at a time. I found myself outside, I don't know how, and seeing my horse close by, I mounted in one leap and left at a full gallop.

"I didn't stop till I reached Rouen and drew up in front of my house. Having thrown the reins to my orderly, I flew to my room and locked myself in to think.

"Then for an hour I asked myself whether I had not been the victim of an hallucination. Certainly I must have had one of those nervous shocks, one of those brain disorders such as give rise to miracles, to which the supernatural owes its strength.

"And I had almost concluded that it was a vision, an illusion of my senses, when I came near to the window. My eyes by chance looked down. My tunic was covered with hairs, long woman's hairs which had entangled themselves around the buttons!

"I took them off one by one and threw them out of the window with trembling fingers.

"I then called my orderly. I felt too perturbed, too moved, to go and see my friend on that day. Besides, I needed to think over what I should tell him.

"I had his letters delivered to him. He gave a receipt to the soldier. He inquired after me and was told that I was not well. I had had a sunstroke, or something. He seemed distressed.

"I went to see him the next day, early in the morning, bent on telling him the truth. He had gone out the evening before and had not come back.

"I returned the same day, but he had not been seen. I waited a week. He did not come back. I notified the police. They searched for him everywhere, but no one could find any trace of his passing or of his retreat.

"A careful search was made in the deserted manor. No suspicious clue was discovered.

"There was no sign that a woman had been concealed there.

"The inquest gave no result, and so the search went no further.

"And in fifty-six years I have learned nothing more. I never found out the truth."
unit 1
We were speaking of sequestration, alluding to a recent lawsuit.
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unit 4
He told the following story in his slightly quavering voice.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years ago
unit 7
From that day I have borne a mark, a stamp of fear,--do you understand?
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years ago
unit 10
I am afraid at night.
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"No!
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I would not have owned such a thing before reaching my present age.
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unit 13
But now I may tell everything.
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unit 14
One may fear imaginary dangers at eighty-two years old.
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But before actual danger I have never turned back, _mesdames_.
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unit 19
Unless I went mad for one short hour it must be explainable, though.
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Yet I was not mad, and I will prove it to you.
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unit 21
Imagine what you will.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years ago
unit 22
Here are the simple facts: "It was in 1827, in July.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years ago
unit 23
I was quartered with my regiment in Rouen.
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unit 25
I instinctively went more slowly, ready to pause.
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The stranger saw my impulse, looked at me, and fell into my arms.
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unit 27
"It was a friend of my younger days, of whom I had been very fond.
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His hair was white, and he stooped in his walk, as if he were exhausted.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years ago
unit 30
He understood my amazement and told me the story of his life.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years ago
unit 31
"A terrible event had broken him down.
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unit 36
"'As I thus came across you again,' he said, 'I shall ask a great favor of you.
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unit 37
I want you to go to my chteau and get some papers I urgently need.
1 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years ago
unit 38
They are in the writing-desk of my room, of _our_ room.
1 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years ago
unit 39
I cannot send a servant or a lawyer, as the errand must be kept private.
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I want absolute silence.
1 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years ago
unit 42
I shall also give you a note for the gardener, who will let you in.
3 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years ago
unit 43
"'Come to breakfast with me to-morrow, and we'll talk the matter over.'
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"I promised to render him that slight service.
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unit 46
I could go there in an hour on horseback.
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"At ten o'clock the next day I was with him.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years, 1 month ago
unit 48
We breakfasted alone together, yet he did not utter more than twenty words.
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unit 49
He asked me to excuse him.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years, 1 month ago
unit 52
"At last he explained exactly what I was to do.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years, 1 month ago
unit 53
It was very simple.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years, 1 month ago
unit 55
He added: "'I need not ask you not to glance at them.'
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unit 56
"I was almost hurt by his words, and told him so, rather sharply.
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unit 57
He stammered: "'Forgive me.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years, 1 month ago
unit 58
I suffer so much!'
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years, 1 month ago
unit 59
"And tears came to his eyes.
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unit 60
"I left about one o'clock to accomplish my errand.
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unit 62
"Then I entered the forest, and I set my horse to walking.
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unit 66
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My friend might have sealed it unconsciously, worried as he was.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 68
"The manor looked as though it had been deserted the last twenty years.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
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The gate, wide-open and rotten, held, one wondered how.
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unit 70
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I dismounted from my horse and gave him the letter.
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unit 75
I want to get in the house.'
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unit 76
"He appeared overwhelmed.
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unit 77
He said: "'So--you are going in--in his room?'
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 78
"I was getting impatient.
1 Translations, 1 Upvotes, Last Activity 8 years, 1 month ago
unit 79
"'_Parbleu!_ Do you intend to question me, by chance?'
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 82
You can't go in that room, as I have the key!'
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 83
"He no longer knew what to say.
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unit 84
"'Then, monsieur, I will show you the way.'
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unit 85
"'Show me the stairs and leave me alone.
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unit 86
I can find it without your help.'
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 87
"'But--still--monsieur----' "Then I lost my temper.
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unit 88
"'Now be quiet!
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unit 89
Else you'll be sorry!'
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unit 90
"I roughly pushed him aside and went into the house.
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unit 92
From there I stepped into a large hall.
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unit 94
"I opened it with ease and went in.
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unit 95
"The room was so dark that at first I could not distinguish anything.
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unit 98
"The chairs seemed all in confusion.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 99
I noticed that a door, probably that of a closet, had remained ajar.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 101
"I even tried to break them with my sword, but did not succeed.
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unit 103
"I sat down in an arm-chair, folded back the top, and opened the drawer.
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unit 104
It was full to the edge.
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unit 107
I took no notice, thinking a draft had lifted some curtain.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 113
"Such a shudder ran through me that I almost fell back!
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 117
"If she had not spoken, I might have died.
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unit 119
I could not say that I regained my self-control.
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unit 123
I was afraid.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 124
"She said: "'Oh, you can be of great help to me, monsieur!'
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 125
"I tried to answer, but I was unable to utter one word.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 126
A vague sound came from my throat.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 127
"She continued: "'Will you?
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 128
You can save me, cure me.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 129
I suffer terribly.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 130
I always suffer.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 131
I suffer, oh, I suffer!'
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 132
"And she sat down gently in my chair.
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unit 133
She looked at me.
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unit 134
"'Will you?'
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unit 135
"I nodded my head, being still paralyzed.
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unit 137
Oh, comb my hair!
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unit 138
That will cure me.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 139
Look at my head--how I suffer!
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unit 140
And my hair--how it hurts!'
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unit 142
"Why did I do it?
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I do not know.
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unit 146
"I combed her, I handled, I know not how, that hair of ice.
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unit 147
I bound and unbound it; I plaited it as one plaits a horse's mane.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 148
She sighed, bent her head, seemed happy.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 149
"Suddenly she said, 'Thank you!'
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 152
Then I recovered myself.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 153
I ran to the window and broke the shutters by my furious assault.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 154
"A stream of light poured in.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 155
I rushed to the door through which that being had gone.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 156
I found it locked and immovable.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 157
"Then a fever of flight seized on me, a panic, the true panic of battle.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 160
"I didn't stop till I reached Rouen and drew up in front of my house.
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unit 165
My eyes by chance looked down.
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unit 168
"I then called my orderly.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 169
I felt too perturbed, too moved, to go and see my friend on that day.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 170
Besides, I needed to think over what I should tell him.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 171
"I had his letters delivered to him.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 172
He gave a receipt to the soldier.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 173
He inquired after me and was told that I was not well.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 174
I had had a sunstroke, or something.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 175
He seemed distressed.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 177
He had gone out the evening before and had not come back.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 178
"I returned the same day, but he had not been seen.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 179
I waited a week.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 180
He did not come back.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 181
I notified the police.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 183
"A careful search was made in the deserted manor.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 184
No suspicious clue was discovered.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 185
"There was no sign that a woman had been concealed there.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 186
"The inquest gave no result, and so the search went no further.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 187
"And in fifty-six years I have learned nothing more.
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None
unit 188
I never found out the truth."
0 Translations, 0 Upvotes, Last Activity None

We were speaking of sequestration, alluding to a recent lawsuit. It was at the close of a friendly evening in a very old mansion in the Rue de Grenelle, and each of the guests had a story to tell, which he assured us was true.

Then the old Marquis de la Tour-Samuel, eighty-two years of age, rose and came forward to lean on the mantelpiece. He told the following story in his slightly quavering voice.

"I, also, have witnessed a strange thing--so strange that it has been the nightmare of my life. It happened fifty-six years ago, and yet there is not a month when I do not see it again in my dreams. From that day I have borne a mark, a stamp of fear,--do you understand?

"Yes, for ten minutes I was a prey to terror, in such a way that ever since a constant dread has remained in my soul. Unexpected sounds chill me to the heart; objects which I can ill distinguish in the evening shadows make me long to flee. I am afraid at night.

"No! I would not have owned such a thing before reaching my present age. But now I may tell everything. One may fear imaginary dangers at eighty-two years old. But before actual danger I have never turned back, _mesdames_.

"That affair so upset my mind, filled me with such a deep, mysterious unrest that I never could tell it. I kept it in that inmost part, that corner where we conceal our sad, our shameful secrets, all the weaknesses of our life which cannot be confessed.

"I will tell you that strange happening just as it took place, with no attempt to explain it. Unless I went mad for one short hour it must be explainable, though. Yet I was not mad, and I will prove it to you. Imagine what you will. Here are the simple facts:

"It was in 1827, in July. I was quartered with my regiment in Rouen.

"One day, as I was strolling on the quay, I came across a man I believed I recognized, though I could not place him with certainty. I instinctively went more slowly, ready to pause. The stranger saw my impulse, looked at me, and fell into my arms.

"It was a friend of my younger days, of whom I had been very fond. He seemed to have become half a century older in the five years since I had seen him. His hair was white, and he stooped in his walk, as if he were exhausted. He understood my amazement and told me the story of his life.

"A terrible event had broken him down. He had fallen madly in love with a young girl and married her in a kind of dreamlike ecstasy. After a year of unalloyed bliss and unexhausted passion, she had died suddenly of heart disease, no doubt killed by love itself.

"He had left the country on the very day of her funeral, and had come to live in his hotel at Rouen. He remained there, solitary and desperate, grief slowly mining him, so wretched that he constantly thought of suicide.

"'As I thus came across you again,' he said, 'I shall ask a great favor of you. I want you to go to my chteau and get some papers I urgently need. They are in the writing-desk of my room, of _our_ room. I cannot send a servant or a lawyer, as the errand must be kept private. I want absolute silence.

"'I shall give you the key of the room, which I locked carefully myself before leaving, and the key to the writing-desk. I shall also give you a note for the gardener, who will let you in.

"'Come to breakfast with me to-morrow, and we'll talk the matter over.'

"I promised to render him that slight service. It would mean but a pleasant excursion for me, his home not being more than twenty-five miles from Rouen. I could go there in an hour on horseback.

"At ten o'clock the next day I was with him. We breakfasted alone together, yet he did not utter more than twenty words. He asked me to excuse him. The thought that I was going to visit the room where his happiness lay shattered, upset him, he said. Indeed, he seemed perturbed, worried, as if some mysterious struggle were taking place in his soul.

"At last he explained exactly what I was to do. It was very simple. I was to take two packages of letters and some papers, locked in the first drawer at the right of the desk of which I had the key. He added:

"'I need not ask you not to glance at them.'

"I was almost hurt by his words, and told him so, rather sharply. He stammered:

"'Forgive me. I suffer so much!'

"And tears came to his eyes.

"I left about one o'clock to accomplish my errand.

"The day was radiant, and I rushed through the meadows, listening to the song of the larks, and the rhythmical beat of my sword on my riding-boots.

"Then I entered the forest, and I set my horse to walking. Branches of the trees softly caressed my face, and now and then I would catch a leaf between my teeth and bite it with avidity, full of the joy of life, such as fills you without reason, with a tumultuous happiness almost indefinable, a kind of magical strength.

"As I neared the house I took out the letter for the gardener, and noted with surprise that it was sealed. I was so amazed and so annoyed that I almost turned back without fulfilling my mission. Then I thought that I should thus display over-sensitiveness and bad taste. My friend might have sealed it unconsciously, worried as he was.

"The manor looked as though it had been deserted the last twenty years. The gate, wide-open and rotten, held, one wondered how. Grass filled the paths; you could not tell the flower-beds from the lawn.

"At the noise I made kicking a shutter, an old man came out from a side-door and was apparently amazed to see me there. I dismounted from my horse and gave him the letter. He read it once or twice, turned it over, looked at me with suspicion, and asked:

"'Well, what do you want?'

"I answered sharply:

"'You must know it as you have read your master's orders. I want to get in the house.'

"He appeared overwhelmed. He said:

"'So--you are going in--in his room?'

"I was getting impatient.

"'_Parbleu!_ Do you intend to question me, by chance?'

"He stammered:

"'No--monsieur--only--it has not been opened since--since the death. If you will wait five minutes, I will go in to see whether----'

"I interrupted angrily:

"'See here, are you joking? You can't go in that room, as I have the key!'

"He no longer knew what to say.

"'Then, monsieur, I will show you the way.'

"'Show me the stairs and leave me alone. I can find it without your help.'

"'But--still--monsieur----'

"Then I lost my temper.

"'Now be quiet! Else you'll be sorry!'

"I roughly pushed him aside and went into the house.

"I first went through the kitchen, then crossed two small rooms occupied by the man and his wife. From there I stepped into a large hall. I went up the stairs, and I recognized the door my friend had described to me.

"I opened it with ease and went in.

"The room was so dark that at first I could not distinguish anything. I paused, arrested by that moldy and stale odor peculiar to deserted and condemned rooms, of dead rooms. Then gradually my eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, and I saw rather clearly a great room in disorder, a bed without sheets having still its mattresses and pillows, one of which bore the deep print of an elbow or a head, as if someone had just been resting on it.

"The chairs seemed all in confusion. I noticed that a door, probably that of a closet, had remained ajar.

"I first went to the window and opened it to get some light, but the hinges of the outside shutters were so rusted that I could not loosen them.

"I even tried to break them with my sword, but did not succeed. As those fruitless attempts irritated me, and as my eyes were by now adjusted to the dim light, I gave up hope of getting more light and went toward the writing-desk.

"I sat down in an arm-chair, folded back the top, and opened the drawer. It was full to the edge. I needed but three packages, which I knew how to distinguish, and I started looking for them.

"I was straining my eyes to decipher the inscriptions, when I thought I heard, or rather felt a rustle behind me. I took no notice, thinking a draft had lifted some curtain. But a minute later, another movement, almost indistinct, sent a disagreeable little shiver over my skin. It was so ridiculous to be moved thus even so slightly, that I would not turn round, being ashamed. I had just discovered the second package I needed, and was on the point of reaching for the third, when a great and sorrowful sigh, close to my shoulder, made me give a mad leap two yards away. In my spring I had turned round, my hand on the hilt of my sword, and surely had I not felt that, I should have fled like a coward.

"A tall woman, dressed in white, was facing me, standing behind the chair in which I had sat a second before.

"Such a shudder ran through me that I almost fell back! Oh, no one who has not felt them can understand those gruesome and ridiculous terrors! The soul melts; your heart seems to stop; your whole body becomes limp as a sponge, and your innermost parts seem collapsing.

"I do not believe in ghosts; and yet I broke down before the hideous fear of the dead; and I suffered, oh, I suffered more in a few minutes, in the irresistible anguish of supernatural dread, than I have suffered in all the rest of my life!

"If she had not spoken, I might have died. But she did speak; she spoke in a soft and plaintive voice which set my nerves vibrating. I could not say that I regained my self-control. No, I was past knowing what I did; but the kind of pride I have in me, as well as a military pride, helped me to maintain, almost in spite of myself, an honorable countenance. I was making a pose, a pose for myself, and for her, for her, whatever she was, woman, or phantom. I realized this later, for at the time of the apparition, I could think of nothing. I was afraid.

"She said:

"'Oh, you can be of great help to me, monsieur!'

"I tried to answer, but I was unable to utter one word. A vague sound came from my throat.

"She continued:

"'Will you? You can save me, cure me. I suffer terribly. I always suffer. I suffer, oh, I suffer!'

"And she sat down gently in my chair. She looked at me.

"'Will you?'

"I nodded my head, being still paralyzed.

"Then she handed me a woman's comb of tortoise-shell, and murmured:

"'Comb my hair! Oh, comb my hair! That will cure me. Look at my head--how I suffer! And my hair--how it hurts!'

"Her loose hair, very long, very black, it seemed to me, hung over the back of the chair, touching the floor.

"Why did I do it? Why did I, shivering, accept that comb, and why did I take between my hands her long hair, which left on my skin a ghastly impression of cold, as if I had handled serpents? I do not know.

"That feeling still clings about my fingers, and I shiver when I recall it.

"I combed her, I handled, I know not how, that hair of ice. I bound and unbound it; I plaited it as one plaits a horse's mane. She sighed, bent her head, seemed happy.

"Suddenly she said, 'Thank you!' tore the comb from my hands, and fled through the door which I had noticed was half opened.

"Left alone, I had for a few seconds the hazy feeling one feels in waking up from a nightmare. Then I recovered myself. I ran to the window and broke the shutters by my furious assault.

"A stream of light poured in. I rushed to the door through which that being had gone. I found it locked and immovable.

"Then a fever of flight seized on me, a panic, the true panic of battle. I quickly grasped the three packages of letters from the open desk; I crossed the room running, I took the steps of the stairway four at a time. I found myself outside, I don't know how, and seeing my horse close by, I mounted in one leap and left at a full gallop.

"I didn't stop till I reached Rouen and drew up in front of my house. Having thrown the reins to my orderly, I flew to my room and locked myself in to think.

"Then for an hour I asked myself whether I had not been the victim of an hallucination. Certainly I must have had one of those nervous shocks, one of those brain disorders such as give rise to miracles, to which the supernatural owes its strength.

"And I had almost concluded that it was a vision, an illusion of my senses, when I came near to the window. My eyes by chance looked down. My tunic was covered with hairs, long woman's hairs which had entangled themselves around the buttons!

"I took them off one by one and threw them out of the window with trembling fingers.

"I then called my orderly. I felt too perturbed, too moved, to go and see my friend on that day. Besides, I needed to think over what I should tell him.

"I had his letters delivered to him. He gave a receipt to the soldier. He inquired after me and was told that I was not well. I had had a sunstroke, or something. He seemed distressed.

"I went to see him the next day, early in the morning, bent on telling him the truth. He had gone out the evening before and had not come back.

"I returned the same day, but he had not been seen. I waited a week. He did not come back. I notified the police. They searched for him everywhere, but no one could find any trace of his passing or of his retreat.

"A careful search was made in the deserted manor. No suspicious clue was discovered.

"There was no sign that a woman had been concealed there.

"The inquest gave no result, and so the search went no further.

"And in fifty-six years I have learned nothing more. I never found out the truth."