cask.txt

The Cask of Amontillado
by Edgar Allan Poe

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could but when he
ventured upon insult I vowed revenge You who so well know the nature of my soul
will not suppose however that I gave utterance to a threat At length I would be
avenged this was a point definitely settled but the very definitiveness with
which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk I must not only punish but
punish with impunity A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its
redresser It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt
as such to him who has done the wrong It must be understood that neither by
word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will I continued as
was my wont to smile in his face and he did not perceive that my smile now was
at the thought of his immolation He had a weak point this Fortunato although in
other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared He prided himself on
his connoisseurship in wine Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit For the
most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity to
practise imposture upon the British and Austrian millionaires In painting and
gemmary Fortunato like his countrymen was a quack but in the matter of old
wines he was sincere In this respect I did not differ from him materially I was
skillful in the Italian vintages myself and bought largely whenever I could It
was about dusk one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season
that I encountered my friend He accosted me with excessive warmth for he had
been drinking much The man wore motley He had on a tight fitting parti striped
dress and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and bells I was so pleased
to see him that I thought I should never have done wringing his hand I said to
him My dear Fortunato you are luckily met How remarkably well you are looking
to day But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado and I have my
doubts How said he Amontillado A pipe Impossible And in the middle of the
carnival I have my doubts I replied and I was silly enough to pay the full
Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter You were not to be found
and I was fearful of losing a bargain Amontillado I have my doubts Amontillado
And I must satisfy them Amontillado As you are engaged I am on my way to
Luchesi If any one has a critical turn it is he He will tell me Luchesi cannot
tell Amontillado from Sherry And yet some fools will have it that his taste is
a match for your own Come let us go Whither To your vaults My friend no I will
not impose upon your good nature I perceive you have an engagement Luchesi I
have no engagement come My friend no It is not the engagement but the severe
cold with which I perceive you are afflicted The vaults are insufferably damp
They are encrusted with nitre Let us go nevertheless The cold is merely nothing
Amontillado You have been imposed upon And as for Luchesi he cannot distinguish
Sherry from Amontillado Thus speaking Fortunato possessed himself of my arm
Putting on a mask of black silk and drawing a roquelaire closely about my
person I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo There were no attendants at
home they had absconded to make merry in honour of the time I had told them
that I should not return until the morning and had given them explicit orders
not to stir from the house These orders were sufficient I well knew to insure
their immediate disappearance one and all as soon as my back was turned I took
from their sconces two flambeaux and giving one to Fortunato bowed him through
several suites of rooms to the archway that led into the vaults I passed down a
long and winding staircase requesting him to be cautious as he followed We came
at length to the foot of the descent and stood together on the damp ground of
the catacombs of the Montresors The gait of my friend was unsteady and the
bells upon his cap jingled as he strode The pipe said he It is farther on said
I but observe the white web work which gleams from these cavern walls He turned
towards me and looked into my eyes with two filmy orbs that distilled the rheum
of intoxication Nitre he asked at length Nitre I replied How long have you had
that cough Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh My poor
friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes It is nothing he said at
last Come I said with decision we will go back your health is precious You are
rich respected admired beloved you are happy as once I was You are a man to be
missed For me it is no matter We will go back you will be ill and I cannot be
responsible Besides there is Luchesi Enough he said the cough is a mere nothing
it will not kill me I shall not die of a cough True true I replied and indeed I
had no intention of alarming you unnecessarily but you should use all proper
caution A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps Here I knocked
off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a long row of its fellows that lay
upon the mould Drink I said presenting him the wine He raised it to his lips
with a leer He paused and nodded to me familiarly while his bells jingled I
drink he said to the buried that repose around us And I to your long life He
again took my arm and we proceeded These vaults he said are extensive The
Montresors I replied were a great and numerous family I forget your arms A huge
human foot d or in a field azure the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs
are imbedded in the heel And the motto Nemo me impune lacessit Good he said The
wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled My own fancy grew warm with the
Medoc We had passed through walls of piled bones with casks and puncheons
intermingling into the inmost recesses of catacombs I paused again and this
time I made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow The nitre I said
see it increases It hangs like moss upon the vaults We are below the river s
bed The drops of moisture trickle among the bones Come we will go back ere it
is too late Your cough It is nothing he said let us go on But first another
draught of the Medoc I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave He emptied it
at a breath His eyes flashed with a fierce light He laughed and threw the
bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand I looked at him in
surprise He repeated the movement a grotesque one You do not comprehend he said
Not I I replied Then you are not of the brotherhood How You are not of the
masons Yes yes I said yes yes You Impossible A mason A mason I replied A sign
he said a sign It is this I answered producing a trowel from beneath the folds
of my roquelaire You jest he exclaimed recoiling a few paces But let us proceed
to the Amontillado Be it so I said replacing the tool beneath the cloak and
again offering him my arm He leaned upon it heavily We continued our route in
search of the Amontillado We passed through a range of low arches descended
passed on and descending again arrived at a deep crypt in which the foulness of
the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame At the most remote end
of the crypt there appeared another less spacious Its walls had been lined with
human remains piled to the vault overhead in the fashion of the great catacombs
of Paris Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this
manner From the fourth side the bones had been thrown down and lay
promiscuously upon the earth forming at one point a mound of some size Within
the wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones we perceived a still
interior recess in depth about four feet in width three in height six or seven
It seemed to have been constructed for no especial use within itself but formed
merely the interval between two of the colossal supports of the roof of the
catacombs and was backed by one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite
It was in vain that Fortunato uplifting his dull torch endeavoured to pry into
the depth of the recess Its termination the feeble light did not enable us to
see Proceed I said herein is the Amontillado As for Luchesi He is an ignoramus
interrupted my friend as he stepped unsteadily forward while I followed
immediately at his heels In an instant he had reached the extremity of the
niche and finding his progress arrested by the rock stood stupidly bewildered A
moment more and I had fettered him to the granite In its surface were two iron
staples distant from each other about two feet horizontally From one of these
depended a short chain from the other a padlock Throwing the links about his
waist it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it He was too much
astounded to resist Withdrawing the key I stepped back from the recess Pass
your hand I said over the wall you cannot help feeling the nitre Indeed it is
very damp Once more let me implore you to return No Then I must positively
leave you But I must first render you all the little attentions in my power The
Amontillado ejaculated my friend not yet recovered from his astonishment True I
replied the Amontillado As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of
bones of which I have before spoken Throwing them aside I soon uncovered a
quantity of building stone and mortar With these materials and with the aid of
my trowel I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche I had
scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I discovered that the
intoxication of Fortunato had in a great measure worn off The earliest
indication I had of this was a low moaning cry from the depth of the recess It
was not the cry of a drunken man There was then a long and obstinate silence I
laid the second tier and the third and the fourth and then I heard the furious
vibrations of the chain The noise lasted for several minutes during which that
I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction I ceased my labours and sat
down upon the bones When at last the clanking subsided I resumed the trowel and
finished without interruption the fifth the sixth and the seventh tier The wall
was now nearly upon a level with my breast I again paused and holding the
flambeaux over the mason work threw a few feeble rays upon the figure within A
succession of loud and shrill screams bursting suddenly from the throat of the
chained form seemed to thrust me violently back For a brief moment I hesitated
I trembled Unsheathing my rapier I began to grope with it about the recess but
the thought of an instant reassured me I placed my hand upon the solid fabric
of the catacombs and felt satisfied I reapproached the wall I replied to the
yells of him who clamoured I re echoed I aided I surpassed them in volume and
in strength I did this and the clamourer grew still It was now midnight and my
task was drawing to a close I had completed the eighth the ninth and the tenth
tier I had finished a portion of the last and the eleventh there remained but a
single stone to be fitted and plastered in I struggled with its weight I placed
it partially in its destined position But now there came from out the niche a
low laugh that erected the hairs upon my head It was succeeded by a sad voice
which I had difficulty in recognizing as that of the noble Fortunato The voice
said Ha ha ha he he he a very good joke indeed an excellent jest We shall have
many a rich laugh about it at the palazzo he he he over our wine he he he The
Amontillado I said He he he he he he yes the Amontillado But is it not getting
late Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo the Lady Fortunato and the
rest Let us be gone Yes I said let us be gone For the love of God Montresor Yes
I said for the love of God But to these words I hearkened in vain for a reply I
grew impatient I called aloud Fortunato No answer I called again Fortunato No
answer still I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and let it fall
within There came forth in reply only a jingling of the bells My heart grew
sick on account of the dampness of the catacombs I hastened to make an end of
my labour I forced the last stone into its position I plastered it up Against
the new masonry I re erected the old rampart of bones For the half of a century
no mortal has disturbed them In pace requiescat