This latter 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 mention the matter at all for nobetter reason than that it happens, just now, to be remembered.
Pluto-this was the cats 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 diffculty 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 Intemperance-had（I blush 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 retained 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 fbre of my frame. I took from my waistcoat-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, Ishudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity.
When reason returned with the morning-when I had slept off the fumes of the nights 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, a 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 frst 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 fnal overthrow. It was this unfathomable longing of the soul to vex itself-to offer violence to its own nature-to do wrong for the wrongs sake only-that urged me to continue and fnally to consummate the injury I had inficted upon the unoffending brute. One morning, in cool blood, I slipped a noose about its neck and hung it to the limb of a tree；-hung it with thetears streaming from my eyes, and with the bitterest remorse at 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 infnite 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 fames. The whole house was blazing. It was with great diffculty that my wife, a servant, and myself, made our escape from the confagration. 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 fre-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 every minute and eager attention. The words“strange！”，“singular！”and other similar expressions, excited my curiosity. I approached and saw, as if graven in bas relief upon the white surface, the fgure of a gigantic cat. The impression was given with an accuracy truly marvellous. There was a rope about the animals neck.
When I frst beheld this apparition-for I could scarcely regard it as less-my wonder and my terror were extreme. But at length refection came to my aid. The cat, I remembered, had been hung in a garden adjacent to the house. Upon the alarm of fre, 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, had then with the fames, and the ammonia from the carcass, accomplished the portraiture as I saw it.
Although I thus readily accounted to my reason, if not altogether to my conscience, for the startling fact just detailed, it did not the less fall 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 stupefed, 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 hogshead 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 hairupon any portion of his body；but this cat had a large, although indefinite splotch 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 the reverse of what I had anticipated；but I know not how or why it was-its 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 fee 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 purestpleasures.
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 diffcult 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 chiefy-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 defne it. I am almost ashamed to own-yes, even in this felons 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 chimaeras 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 indefnite；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！-oh, 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 wo！Alas！Neither by day nor by night knew I the blessing of Rest any more！During the former the creature left me no moment alone；and, in the latter, I started, hourly, from dreams of unutterable fear, to fnd the hot breath of the thing upon my face, and its vast weight-an incarnate Night-Mare 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 sole 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 outbursts of a fury to which I now blindly abandoned myself, my uncomplaining wife, she 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 stayed 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.
This hideous murder accomplished, I set myself forthwith, 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 the neighbors. Many projects entered my mind. At one period I thought of cutting the corpse into minute fragments, and destroying them by fre. 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 merchandize, 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 cellar 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 freplace, that had been flled up, and made to resemble the rest of the cellar. I made no doubt that I could readily displace the at this point, insert the corpse, and wall the whole up as before, so that no eye could detect anything suspicious.
And in this calculation I was not deceived. By means of a crow-bar 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 re-laid the whole structure as it originally stood. Having procured mortar, sand, and hair, with every possible precaution, I prepared a plaster could not every poss be distinguished from the old, and with this I very carefully went over the new brick-work. When I had fnished, I felt satisfed that all was right. The wall did notpresent 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, frmly 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 forebode 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；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 fed 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 bade 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 delight to have allayed your suspicions. I wish you all health, and a little more courtesy. By the way, 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 phrenetic of bravado, I rapped heavily, with a cane which I held in my hand, upon that very portion of the brick-work behind which stood the corpse of the wife of my bosom.
But may God shield and deliver me from the fangs of the Arch-Fiend！No sooner had the reverberation of my blows sunk into silence than 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 tolling at the wall. It fell bodily. 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！
我要講的這個故事荒謬至極，卻又極其平凡，我並不企求人們相信，就連我的心裏都不相信這些親身經曆的事，還指望別人相信？那豈不是瘋了嗎？然而，我並沒有瘋，而且也確實不是在做夢。不過明天我就要死了，所以今天我要趁今天把這些事說出來好讓自己的靈魂得以解脫。我迫切想把這一係列純粹的家常瑣事一五一十、簡單明了、不加任何評論地公之於世。因為這些事情，我備受驚嚇，內心痛苦不堪——它們徹底毀了我的一切。但我並不打算作出詳細的解釋。對我而言，這些事情留下的唯有恐怖，但對大多數人而言，它們也許並沒有奇怪之處。也許，後世一些有識之士會把我的幻覺當做平常小事——而在一些更加冷靜、邏輯思維更強，且不像我這樣遇事容易激動緊張的有識之士看來，這不過是一連串有著因果聯係的普通事件罷了。
我從小就因心地溫順善良而出名。我的軟心腸甚至一度成為同伴的笑柄。我尤其喜歡動物，寵愛我的父母就給我買了各種寵物。我大部分時間都與這些小動物在一起，而喂養和愛撫它們的時候往往也是我最開心的時刻。這種特殊的癖好一直伴隨著我的成長。成年後，這也成了我的主要樂趣之一。對於那些喜歡忠實而敏銳的狗的人來說，我無須多費口舌解釋，他們就能理解其中的無窮樂趣。如果你經常到人類哪種寡情薄義的滋味，那麽動物的無私的、甘於犧牲的愛。一定會觸動你的內心。
我結婚很早，很慶幸我的妻子與我誌趣相投。她看我偏愛飼養寵物，隻要有機會物色到中意的，從來都不放過。我們養了小鳥、金魚、良種狗、小兔子，還有一隻小猴和一隻貓。
我們養的貓非常大，也很漂亮，渾身烏黑，而且非常聰明。我的妻子有些迷信，每當說到這隻貓的聰明靈性，她總會提及些古老的傳說，認為黑貓都是巫婆偽裝而成的。我想，她也許隻是說著好玩的，並沒有當真，而這也隻是我想到了就順便寫了下來。
這隻貓名叫普路托。它是我最愛的寵物和玩伴。我獨自喂養它，在家裏，無論我走到哪兒，它都跟著我，寸步不離，就連我上街它也要跟著，我想盡一切辦法都趕不走它。
我和貓的友情就這樣維持了好幾年。在這其間，說來不好意思，嗜酒成癮，我的脾氣和性情徹底變壞了。我變得越來越喜怒無常，急躁不安，不再顧及他人的感受，甚至對妻子也惡語相向，最後我還對她施加暴力。當然，我養的那些寵物也都察覺出了我性情的變化。我不僅沒有照顧它們，反而虐待它們。那些兔子，那隻小猴，甚至那隻狗，偶爾出於想與主人親熱的目的跑到我麵前，我也會毫無顧忌地虐待它們。然而，對於普路托，我還是心存愛護，沒有怠慢。不過，我的病情越來越重——再也沒有像酗酒這麽嚴重的疾病了——最後，就連普路托也開始成為我壞脾氣的受害者，而此時的它也老了，脾氣也不再像以前那樣溫順了。
一天晚上，我在鎮上一個常去的酒吧喝得酩酊大醉，回到家，我認為這隻貓在刻意地躲著我，便一把抓住它。它被我的粗暴行為嚇壞了，不由地在我的手上輕輕咬了一口，留下了一個牙印。我立刻怒火中燒，失去了控製，原本善良的靈魂一下子飛出了我的軀體。我酒性大發，變得凶神惡煞。我從背心的口袋裏掏出一把小刀，打開刀子，抓住那隻可憐的畜生的喉嚨，凶殘地把它的一隻眼珠剜了出來！寫到自己的這一可惡的罪行時，羞愧不已的我麵紅耳赤，全身戰栗發抖。
第二天，我恢複了理智，從昨晚憤怒的情緒中清醒過來，對自己所犯下的罪行感到既恐懼又懊悔。但這至多不過是一種微弱而模糊的感覺，並未觸及我的靈魂。我又開始沉迷於酗酒，很快就忘記了自己過去的所作所為。
這時，那隻貓也慢慢康複了，失去眼珠的眼窩看起來真是使人心驚肉跳，但它看上去已經不痛了。它像往常一樣在屋裏走來走去，正如我想的那樣，它一見我走近，就會恐慌地拚命逃走。最初，我的內心還殘留著一點兒良心，看到曾經如此熱愛我的動物現在竟然這樣嫌惡我，不免感到傷心。但不久，這種傷心之情就轉化為憤怒之火。再後來，邪念又起，最後終於一發不可收拾。關於這種邪念，哲學上並沒有任何記載，但我深信，邪念是人的一種原始本能——一種無法擺脫的原始本能，或者說是情感，它決定了人類的性格。誰不是明知不應該卻一次又一次沒有任何理由地做蠢事？我們的心中難道沒有一種永久的邪念，我們以它們對抗自身的判斷力，明知犯法卻還要去以身試法？就是這種邪念，徹底斷送了我的一生。正是內心這種難解的渴望，使我自尋煩惱、違背本性，僅僅為作惡而作惡，繼續傷害那隻無辜的動物，最終使其送了命。一天早上，冷血的我殘忍地用套索套住它的脖子，並將其掛在樹枝上，做完這一切後，我眼含淚水，心裏無比地痛苦懊悔。我把它掛在樹上是因為我知道它曾經愛過我，我認為這就給了我傷害它的理由。我知道這是在犯罪，一種讓我的靈魂永遠不得超生的死罪。如果有這種可能，就連慈悲為懷的上帝都無法寬恕我的罪行。
就在我犯下這樁殘忍罪行的那天晚上，我在睡夢中突然被失火的喊叫聲驚醒。我**的簾子都著火了，整間房子都燒著了。我們夫婦和一個仆人好不容易才逃出了那場大火，保住了性命。房子被徹底燒毀，我所有的財產都被大火吞沒。從那以後，我萬念俱灰。
我還不至於那麽迷信，會去尋找這種災難與罪行之間的因果關係。但我要詳細地列出事實，我希望，這中間不要落下任何環節。火災後的第二天，我去看了那片廢墟。所有的牆壁，除了一麵牆之外，其他都倒塌了。唯一沒有倒塌的那麵牆壁並不厚，立在房間的正中間，而我的床頭就緊靠著這麵牆。牆上的石膏在很大程度上阻止了火勢的蔓延，我認為這是由於最近剛粉刷過的緣故。牆根前密密麻麻聚集了一堆人，人們似乎都在專心地看著這麵牆，我不時地聽到人們說“奇怪”、“異常”之類的話，這也引發了我的好奇心。走近一看，隻見那麵白壁上赫然有一隻巨大的貓的浮雕。這隻貓看起來惟妙惟肖，它的脖子上還套著繩子。
一看到這個鬼怪——我一口咬定它就是鬼怪——我便驚恐萬分。但最後一想便放下心來。我記得這隻貓是被掛在房子臨近的花園裏。火警一響，花園便擠滿了人，肯定是哪個人把貓從樹上放下來，從開著的窗子裏扔進了我的臥室。這樣做也許是為了讓我從睡夢中醒來。其他倒下的牆把被我殘害的受害者壓在新刷的灰泥上。石灰、焰火，還有屍體發出的氨氣，在這些東西的共同作用下，我所看到的那幅假浮雕便完成了。
對於這種觸目驚心的事實，盡管從良心的角度來說，我很難自圓其說，但於理而言，倒也說得過去。然而，不管怎樣，這些在我的腦海中留下了極其深刻的印象。幾個月過去了，我依然不能擺脫那隻貓所帶來的幻覺。在這其間，我的心裏又產生了一些感傷，以及似是而非的懊悔之情。我甚至很遺憾失去了這隻貓，在經常出現貓的地方，我四處尋找一隻外貌與之相似的貓來填補它的位置。
一天晚上，我茫然地坐在一間下等酒吧裏。突然，一個黑色的物體吸引了我的全部注意力，那東西就在一個盛著金酒或朗姆酒的大桶上，這隻大桶也是這個房間裏最重要的家當。我兩眼直勾勾地盯著大木桶的頂端，看了好幾分鍾。令我吃驚的是，那上麵的東西好像不見了。我靠近並用手摸了摸，這是一隻黑貓，個頭非常大——和普路托一樣，長得也非常相似，除了一處：普路托全身沒有一根白毛，而這隻貓有一大片模糊的白斑，幾乎覆蓋了整個胸部。
我一摸它，它就立刻跳起來，大聲地叫著，蹭著我的手，似乎為我終於注意到了它而感到高興。這貓正是我夢寐以求的。我立刻向老板提出要買下來，但是老板並不了解這隻貓的來曆，他之前從未見過這隻貓，因此無法開價。
我繼續愛撫著這隻貓。當我準備回家時，它流露出要跟著我走的意思。我便讓它跟著我，還不時地彎腰拍拍它。到家後，它表現得很溫馴，一下子就成了我妻子的最愛。
可是，對我而言，我很快就不喜歡它了。這大大出乎我的意料，我不知道怎麽會這樣，也不知道原因——而它顯然很喜歡我，這不禁讓我覺得非常厭煩、惱火。漸漸地，這種厭煩和惱怒的情緒升級為深惡痛絕。我躲避這隻貓，某種羞愧之情以及對之前殘忍罪行的記憶使我並沒有虐待它。幾周以來，我既沒有打它，也沒有粗暴地虐待它，但是久而久之，我對它的厭惡之情日益加深，一見到它我就悄悄溜開，就像躲瘟疫那樣。
就在我發現它並帶它回家的第二天早晨，它竟然像普路托一樣，失去了一顆眼珠。這愈發加深了我對這隻貓的憎惡之情，但是，這使我的妻子愈發喜歡它了。正如我所說的，我的妻子非常富有同情心，而這也曾經是我最突出的優點，也是我單純快樂的源泉。
盡管我極其厭惡這隻貓，但它對我的喜愛與日俱增。它堅持與我寸步不離，這實在讓人難以理解。無論我坐到哪裏，它都會在我的椅子邊蜷著，或跳到我的膝蓋上，在我的身上撒嬌，令人厭惡。我一站起來，它又會鑽到我的兩腳之間，並因此而差點兒把我絆倒；要不就用它那又長又尖的爪子抓住我的衣服，爬上我的胸口。每當這時，雖然我恨不得一拳揍死它，但還是克製住了自己，一方麵是因為我對之前犯下罪行的記憶，而主要的原因還在於——說實話——這隻貓讓我感到非常恐懼。
這種恐懼並非對其身體邪惡的懼怕，但我也很難說明白這是一種什麽心理。我自己幾乎羞於承認——是的，即使在牢籠裏，我也羞於承認——這隻貓令我感到恐懼和害怕，而這種純粹的幻覺又進一步加深了我的恐懼感。我的妻子不止一次地讓我注意那片白毛的痕跡。我說過，這是它與被我殺害的那隻貓唯一的明顯區別。你們應該記得這個標記，雖然白毛麵積大，但是，起先它看起來是模糊的，可不知不覺中，它竟然有了清晰的輪廓。很長一段時間，我的理智竭力將其當做幻覺，而這時，那斑跡顯示出一種東西，一種我害怕說出的東西。正因為這點，我憎恨、害怕這個怪物。如果我有足夠的勇氣，早就擺脫它了——它竟然成了可怕的影子，一種恐怖的東西——絞刑台！唉，多麽可悲恐怖的刑具！讓人痛苦送命的刑具！
此時的我成為一個無比悲慘的可憐蟲。我行若無視地殺害了它的同類，而這隻沒有理性的動物竟然這樣對我——作為按照上帝形象創造出來的人，給我帶來如此不堪忍受的災禍！無論白天還是黑夜，我知道自己再也不得安寧了。白天，這個畜生片刻不離我；晚上，我開始不斷地從噩夢中驚醒，然後發現這個東西正在我的臉上吐著熱氣，並壓在我的身上。我無法擺脫這一具體而真實的噩夢，隻能任由它壓在我的心頭！
在這種壓力的折磨下，我內心殘餘的那點兒微弱的良心消失了。邪念成了我唯一的內心活動，翻來翻去都是極為卑鄙的邪惡念頭。我本來就喜怒無常，而今愈演愈烈，我竟然憎惡世間的一切事物和所有人。我盲目地放縱自我，常常抑製不住突然發火，而我那逆來順受的妻子則經常成為我虐待的對象。
因為貧窮，我們不得不住在老房子裏。有一天，為了一些家務事，她陪著我到老房子的地窖中去，這隻貓也跟著我走下那陡峭的台階，它又讓我差點兒摔了跟頭，我的怒火由此而變得一發不可收拾。我憤怒地舉起斧頭，對著這隻貓砍了下去。不過，我內心對它還存有一些恐懼。當然，如果我要真想砍死它，這隻貓肯定就當場斃命。但是，我的妻子伸手攔住了我。當時，我正在火頭上，被這一攔，立刻怒不可遏，從她的手中抽出胳膊，朝她的腦袋砍了一斧頭。她一聲沒吭地倒下了，當場就死了。
完成了這可怕的謀殺之後，我立刻著手細細盤算藏匿屍體的事。我知道無論是白天還是黑夜，我都無法將屍體運出房子，因為可能會被鄰居看見。我想了很多計劃。一會兒我想把屍體切成小塊燒掉，一會兒又決定在地窖裏挖一個墓穴。我又想到院子裏的井，還打算把屍體放進箱子，當成裝貨那樣，照往常的習慣，讓搬運工把它搬出屋子。最後，我突然想到一個萬全之策。我決定將屍體砌進地窖——據記載，中世紀的僧侶就是這樣把殉道者砌進牆裏的。
這個地窖用來藏屍再好不過了。它的牆壁結構很鬆，最近還剛用粗灰泥全部刷新過，因為空氣很潮濕，灰泥還沒有幹。而且，有一堵牆因為有個假煙囪或者說是壁爐而凸出一塊，裏麵被填滿了，和地窖的其他部分相似。我可以很容易地將這個地方挖開，把屍體塞進去，再像之前那樣把牆完全砌上，這樣肉眼就無法看出任何破綻了。
這個想法的確不錯。我用一根撬杠，沒費什麽力氣就把磚撬掉了，然後仔細把屍體緊貼著內牆放好，我撐著屍體讓它不掉下來，然後我又順利地把牆按照原來的樣子砌好。我拿來了石灰、黃沙和亂發，做好一切防範。我準備好了一種與舊灰泥幾乎無異的新灰泥，非常仔細地把它塗在新砌的磚牆上。一切完畢。我看到一切順利，感到非常滿意。這麵牆看不出一絲動過的痕跡，地上的垃圾我也非常仔細地收拾幹淨。我得意地四下看看，自語道：“總算沒有白忙活。”
下一步就是要找到那隻招惹這起悲慘災難的畜生，我終於下定決心要置它於死地。我再看見它的時候，毫無疑問，那就是它的死期。但它很狡猾，乘我剛才暴怒之時，就警覺地逃走了。而我現在正怒火中燒，它自然不敢現身。這隻討厭的畜生終於消失了，我的心頭一陣輕鬆，這種高興勁兒實在難以形容和想象。到了晚上，那隻貓還沒有出現。自從它來到這屋子裏之後，我還從來沒像今晚這樣睡得如此踏實而安寧，哪怕此時，我的內心還背負著殺人的重重！
第二天、第三天過去了，那隻折磨我的貓還沒現身。我又可以像自由人那樣呼吸了。那個惡魔害怕了、逃走了，永遠地離開了我。我再也看不見它了！我高興極了！我甚至沒有為自己的罪行感到不安，心裏隻洋溢著喜悅。警察來問過幾次妻子的行蹤，不過，我早已想好了答案，因此也就順利地度過了危機。他們甚至還搜查過一次，當然，什麽也沒有發現。我覺得未來高枕無憂。
謀殺後的第四天，一群警察不期而至，再次嚴密地搜查了房子。不過，我認為自己藏匿的地方不可能被猜到，很安全，所以一點兒都不慌張。那些警察命令我陪他們搜查。他們沒有放過任何隱蔽的地方和任何一個角落。最後搜到第三、第四遍，他們開始轉向地窖。我一點兒也不緊張，泰然自若地跟著他們，就像清白者那樣平靜。我從地窖的一端走向另一端。我將雙臂抱於胸前，若無其事地來回走動。警察什麽也沒發現，正準備離開，而我也高興得心花怒放，感覺有一肚子話要說，慶祝自己的勝利，同時也讓他們更加確信我是無罪的。
“先生們，”當這群人上樓梯的時候，我終於開口說道，“我非常高興澄清了嫌疑。我祝福你們都健康，給你們請安。順便說一下，這間屋子結構非常牢固。”（我隻想開口說話，卻根本不知道自己都說了什麽）“可以說這屋子的結構非常棒。這些牆壁——你們要走了嗎？先生們——這些牆非常牢固地砌在一起。”說到這裏，我腦子一熱，裝作很有信心的樣子，舉起手中的棍子，猛地敲打藏著我妻子屍體的那堵牆。
上帝保佑，把我從虎口中拯救出來吧！我敲牆的餘音未完，就聽見從牆裏傳出一陣如同從墳墓裏發出來的聲音。那哭聲，一開始壓抑得斷斷續續，就像小孩子的抽噎，很快就成了持續不斷的厲聲尖叫，聲音異常，慘絕人寰，一聲號叫，一聲痛哭，半是恐怖，半是得意，就好像地獄裏的冤鬼痛苦的叫聲和魔鬼詛咒的狂喜呼聲混在一起。
說到我當時的想法，實在是太荒唐了。我昏頭昏腦，踉踉蹌蹌地走到對麵那麵牆。那時，台階上的警察都害怕起來，呆若木雞。不一會兒，就有十多條粗壯的手臂在拆那堵牆。那牆完全倒塌。屍體已經腐爛，凝結著血塊，直立在大家的麵前。在屍體頭上，坐著那可怕的畜生，張著血盆大口，獨眼裏冒著火。它搗了鬼，誘使我殺了妻子。如今它又發出的聲音，將我推向了絞刑架：原來我把這隻怪物也砌到牆裏去了！
知識點
恐怖小說是通俗小說的一種類型，屬於大眾文學。小說內容以恐怖為主，意圖在於帶給讀者恐怖感。評論家將恐怖小說大致分為“哥特小說”及“現代恐怖小說”兩種。
W詞匯筆記
solicit[s?lisit]v.懇懇求；征求；招攬
例 He solicited aid from the minister.
他請求部長給他支持。
sufficient[s?f??nt]adj.足夠的；充分的
例 I believe he has sufficient money to buy this house！
我想他有足夠的錢買下這所房子！
consummate[k?ns?，meit]v.完成；作成；使達到極點
例 This award consummates my lifes work.
這個獎是我一生努力的圓滿結果。
apparition[，?p?ri??n]n.幽靈；幻影；鬼怪（特異景象等的）出現
例 He is shaking like a leaf as though he has seen an apparition.
他嚇得直哆嗦，就好像看見了鬼一樣。
S小試身手
我從小就因心地溫順善良而出名。
譯________________________________________
在這種壓力的折磨下，我內心殘餘的那點兒微弱的良心消失了。
譯________________________________________
我覺得未來高枕無憂。
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P短語家族
At length, I even offered her personal violence.
at length：最後；終於；詳盡地
造________________________________________
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……
long to：渴望
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