×

Utilizziamo i cookies per contribuire a migliorare LingQ. Visitando il sito, acconsenti alla nostra politica dei cookie.


image

The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

For 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 to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen 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 common-place - some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than my own, which will perceive, in the circumstances I detail with awe, 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, gold-fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small monkey, and a cat.

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 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 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 fiber 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, 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 which 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 horror 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 had once loved-but this feeling soon gave place to irritation.

And then came, as if to my final and irrevocable overthrow, the spirit of perverseness. Then I am that perverseness - 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 act, 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 cool 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 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 wore 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 inflames. 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. About this wall a dense crowd were collected, and many persons seemed to be examining a particular portion of it with very 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 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 fleshy-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 altogether 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 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 hair upon any portion of his body; but this cat had a large, although indefinite splotch of white, covering nearly the whole region of his 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 stopping 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 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 clearly throw me down, or, fastening its long and sharp claws in my dress, clamber with a blow, I was yet withheld from so doing, partly by a memory of my former crime, but chiefly - let me confess it 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 to 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 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 had 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 longtime 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 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 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, 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 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 demonical, 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 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 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 the others. 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 these 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 whole up as before, so that no eye could detect any thing 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 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 that 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 forbore 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; aye, 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 freeman. 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 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 and bye, 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 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, 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 dammed 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 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!


The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe Die schwarze Katze von Edgar Allan Poe The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe El gato negro de Edgar Allan Poe Le chat noir par Edgar Allan Poe Il gatto nero di Edgar Allan Poe エドガー・アラン・ポーの『黒猫 에드거 앨런 포의 검은 고양이 O Gato Preto de Edgar Allan Poe Черная кошка" Эдгара Аллана По Edgar Allan Poe'dan Kara Kedi 埃德加-爱伦-坡的《黑猫 埃德加-爱伦-坡的《黑猫

For the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Für die wildeste und zugleich wohnlichste Erzählung, die ich schreiben werde, erwarte ich weder Glauben noch erbitte ich sie. For the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Para la narrativa más salvaje y sin embargo más hogareña que estoy a punto de escribir, no espero ni solicito creencia. Pour le récit le plus sauvage et le plus simple que je vais écrire, je n’attends ni ne sollicite aucune conviction. 最も野性的でありながら私が思うに最も家庭的な物語のために、私は信念を期待したり求めたりしません。 Nie oczekuję ani nie proszę o wiarę w najbardziej dziką, a jednocześnie najbardziej domową narrację, którą zamierzam napisać. Para a narrativa mais selvagem, porém mais caseira, que estou prestes a escrever, não espero nem solicito crença. Для самого дикого, но в то же время самого домашнего повествования, которое я собираюсь написать, я не ожидаю и не требую веры. För den mest vilda, men ändå mest hemtrevliga berättelsen som jag håller på att skriva, förväntar jag mig inte eller ber om tro. Yazmak üzere olduğum en vahşi ama yine de en çirkin anlatı için, ne beklemiyorum ne de inanç istiyorum. 对于我将要写的最狂野,最亲切的叙述,我既不期望也不征求信仰。

Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. Sería de locos esperarlo, en un caso en el que mis propios sentidos rechazan su propia evidencia. Je serais vraiment fou de m'y attendre, dans un cas où mes sens mêmes rejettent leur propre témoignage. Louco seria eu se o esperasse, num caso em que os meus próprios sentidos rejeitam a sua própria evidência. Я действительно был бы безумен, чтобы ожидать этого, в случае, когда мои чувства отвергают их собственные доказательства. Galet skulle jag verkligen förvänta mig det, i ett fall där mina sinnen avvisar sina egna bevis. 在我的感官拒绝他们自己的证据的情况下,我确实会很疯狂。 Yet, mad am I not - and very surely do I not dream. Sin embargo, estoy loco, no lo estoy, y seguramente no sueño. Pourtant, je ne suis pas fou - et je ne rêve certainement pas. No entanto, não sou louco - e muito certamente não sonho. But to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen my soul. But to-morrow I die, and to-day I would unburthen my soul. Pero mañana me muero, y hoy quisiera desahogar mi alma. Mais demain je meurs, et aujourd'hui je soulagerai mon âme. Ale jutro umrę, a dziś chciałbym uwolnić moją duszę. Mas amanhã morro, e hoje quero libertar a minha alma. Men i morgon dör jag och i dag skulle jag lossa min själ. 但是明天我死了,今天我会发掘我的灵魂。 My immediate purpose is to place before the world, plainly, succinctly, and without comment, a series of mere household events. Mi propósito inmediato es presentar ante el mundo, de manera clara, sucinta y sin comentarios, una serie de meros eventos domésticos. Mon but immédiat est de placer devant le monde, simplement, succinctement et sans commentaire, une série de simples événements domestiques. Moim bezpośrednim celem jest przedstawienie światu, jasno, zwięźle i bez komentarza, serii zwykłych wydarzeń domowych. O meu objetivo imediato é apresentar ao mundo, de forma clara, sucinta e sem comentários, uma série de meros acontecimentos domésticos. Моя непосредственная цель состоит в том, чтобы представить миру просто, кратко и без комментариев ряд чисто бытовых событий. 我的直接目的是,将一系列纯粹的家庭事件简单,简洁且毫无保留地摆在世界面前。 In their consequences, these events have terrified - have tortured - have destroyed me. En sus consecuencias, estos acontecimientos me han aterrorizado - me han torturado - me han destruido. Dans leurs conséquences, ces événements m'ont terrifié - m'ont torturé - m'ont détruit. Nas suas consequências, estes acontecimentos aterrorizaram-me - torturaram-me - destruíram-me. 这些事件的后果令人震惊-遭受酷刑-摧毁了我。 Yet I will not attempt to expound them. Sin embargo, no intentaré exponerlas. Pourtant, je n'essaierai pas de les exposer. No entanto, não vou tentar expô-los. И все же я не буду пытаться излагать их. Ändå kommer jag inte att försöka redogöra för dem. To me, they have presented little but Horror- to many they will seem less terrible than baroques. A mí me han parecido poco pero Horror- a muchos les parecerán menos terribles que los barrocos. Pour moi, ils ont présenté peu mais Horreur - à beaucoup ils sembleront moins terribles que les baroques. Dla mnie zaprezentowały niewiele poza horrorem - dla wielu wydadzą się mniej straszne niż baroki. Para mim, eles apresentaram pouco além de Horror - para muitos, eles parecerão menos terríveis do que os barrocos. Мне они мало что представили, кроме Ужаса - многим они покажутся менее ужасными, чем барокко. För mig har de presenterat lite men skräck - för många kommer de att verka mindre hemska än barocker. 对我来说,他们几乎没有表现出恐怖,对许多人来说,他们看上去比巴洛克人可怕。 Hereafter, perhaps, some intellect may be found which will reduce my phantasm to the common-place - some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than my own, which will perceive, in the circumstances I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects. Hereafter, perhaps, some intellect may be found which will reduce my phantasm to the common-place - some intellect more calm, more logical, and far less excitable than my own, which will perceive, in the circumstances I detail with awe, nothing more than an ordinary succession of very natural causes and effects. On trouvera peut-être par la suite quelque intellect qui réduira mon fantasme au lieu commun - un intellect plus calme, plus logique et beaucoup moins excitable que le mien, qui ne percevra, dans les circonstances que je détaille avec admiration, rien de plus. qu'une succession ordinaire de causes et d'effets très naturels. 今後、おそらく、私の幻想をありふれた場所に還元する何らかの知性が見出されるかもしれません - 私自身よりも冷静で、より論理的で、はるかに興奮しにくい知性があります。非常に自然な原因と結果の通常の連続よりも。 Być może w przyszłości znajdzie się jakiś intelekt, który zredukuje moje fantazmaty do zwykłej codzienności - jakiś intelekt bardziej spokojny, bardziej logiczny i znacznie mniej pobudliwy niż mój własny, który dostrzeże w okolicznościach, które opisuję z podziwem, nic więcej niż zwykły ciąg bardzo naturalnych przyczyn i skutków. Talvez, mais tarde, se encontre um intelecto que reduza o meu fantasma ao lugar-comum - um intelecto mais calmo, mais lógico e muito menos excitável do que o meu, que perceba, nas circunstâncias que descrevo com espanto, nada mais do que uma sucessão vulgar de causas e efeitos muito naturais.

From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. Od dětství jsem byl známý svou poslušností a lidskostí. Desde mi infancia destaqué por la docilidad y humanidad de mi carácter. 幼い頃から、私は従順で人間的な気質で知られていました。 Desde a minha infância que me distinguia pela docilidade e humanidade do meu carácter. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions. Mi ternura de corazón era incluso tan conspicua que me convertía en la burla de mis compañeros. 私の心の優しさは、仲間の冗談を言うほど目立っていました. A minha ternura de coração era mesmo tão evidente que me tornava a piada dos meus companheiros. Моя нежность сердца была настолько заметной, что заставила меня посмеяться над моими товарищами. Min ömhet i hjärtat var till och med så iögonfallande att jag blev en skämt av mina följeslagare. I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets. Měl jsem obzvláště rád zvířata a moji rodiče mi dopřáli širokou škálu domácích mazlíčků. Ich war besonders tierlieb und wurde von meinen Eltern mit einer großen Auswahl an Haustieren verwöhnt. Me gustaban especialmente los animales, y mis padres me mimaron con una gran variedad de mascotas. 私は特に動物が好きで、両親は多種多様なペットを飼っていました。 Gostava especialmente de animais e os meus pais deram-me uma grande variedade de animais de estimação. With these I spent most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them. Con ellos pasaba la mayor parte del tiempo, y nunca fui tan feliz como cuando los alimentaba y acariciaba. 私はほとんどの時間をこれらと一緒に過ごしましたが、それらに餌をやったり愛撫したりするときほど幸せなことはありませんでした. Com eles passava a maior parte do meu tempo e nunca me senti tão feliz como quando os alimentava e acariciava. This peculiarity of character grew with my growth, and in my manhood, I derived from it one of my principal sources of pleasure. Tato povahová zvláštnost rostla s mým růstem a ve svém mužství jsem z ní čerpal jeden ze svých hlavních zdrojů potěšení. Esta peculiaridad de mi carácter creció con mi crecimiento, y en mi madurez, derivé de ella una de mis principales fuentes de placer. この性格の特異性は、私の成長とともに大きくなり、成人期には、それが私の主要な喜びの源の 1 つになりました。 Esta peculiaridade de carácter cresceu com o meu crescimento e, na minha idade adulta, foi uma das minhas principais fontes de prazer. 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. Těm, kteří chovali náklonnost k věrnému a bystrému psovi, se nemusím obtěžovat vysvětlovat povahu nebo intenzitu takto dosažitelného uspokojení. Denjenigen, die eine Zuneigung zu einem treuen und klugen Hund hegen, brauche ich mir kaum die Mühe zu machen, die Natur oder die Intensität der so ableitbaren Befriedigung zu erklären. 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. Para quienes han sentido afecto por un perro fiel y sagaz, no es necesario que me tome la molestia de explicar la naturaleza o la intensidad de la gratificación que se deriva de ello. 忠実で賢明な犬への愛情を大切にしてきた人たちに、このようにして得られる満足の性質や強さを説明するのに苦労する必要はほとんどありません. Osobom, które darzą uczuciem wiernego i mądrego psa, nie muszę tłumaczyć natury ani intensywności płynącej z tego satysfakcji. Para aqueles que já nutriram afeição por um cão fiel e sagaz, não preciso de me dar ao trabalho de explicar a natureza ou a intensidade da gratificação assim derivada. 对于那些对忠实而睿智的狗怀有感情的人,我几乎不需要解释因此可以得出的满足的本质或强度。 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. V nesobecké a obětavé lásce surovce je cosi, co jde přímo do srdce toho, kdo měl často příležitost otestovat ubohé přátelství a bláznivou věrnost pouhého Člověka. Es gibt etwas in der selbstlosen und aufopfernden Liebe eines Rohlings, das direkt ins Herz dessen geht, der häufig Gelegenheit hatte, die dürftige Freundschaft und hauchdünne Treue eines bloßen Menschen auf die Probe zu stellen. Hay algo en el amor desinteresado y abnegado de un bruto que llega directamente al corazón de quien ha tenido frecuentes ocasiones de poner a prueba la mísera amistad y la escurridiza fidelidad de un simple hombre. 野蛮人の無私の自己犠牲的な愛には何かがあり、それは、単なる人間の取るに足らない友情と繊細な忠実さを試す機会を頻繁に持っていた彼の心に直接行きます. Há algo no amor altruísta e abnegado de um bruto, que vai diretamente ao coração daquele que teve frequentes ocasiões de testar a amizade insignificante e a fidelidade frágil do simples Homem. 在一个粗野的无私和自我牺牲的爱中有一些东西直接进入他的心脏,他经常有机会测试人类的微不足道的友谊和游丝的忠诚。

I married early, and was happy to find in my wife a disposition not uncongenial with my own. Me casé pronto, y me alegré de encontrar en mi esposa una disposición que no desentonaba con la mía. 私は早くに結婚し、妻の気質が自分と相容れないものであることがわかってうれしかった. Casei-me cedo e tive a felicidade de encontrar na minha mulher uma disposição que não era incompatível com a minha. 我很早就结婚了,很高兴在我妻子身上找到一种不与我自己不相称的性格。 Observing my partiality for domestic pets, she lost no opportunity of procuring those of the most agreeable kind. Als sie meine Vorliebe für Haustiere bemerkte, ließ sie keine Gelegenheit aus, sich die angenehmsten zu besorgen. Observando mi predilección por los animales domésticos, no perdió ocasión de procurarse los más agradables. 私が飼いならされたペットを好むのを見て、彼女は最も快適な種類のペットを手に入れる機会を失うことはありませんでした. Observando a minha predileção por animais domésticos, não perdeu a oportunidade de arranjar os mais agradáveis. 观察我对家养宠物的偏爱,她没有机会获得最令人愉快的宠物。 We had birds, gold-fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small monkey, and a cat. Teníamos pájaros, peces dorados, un buen perro, conejos, un pequeño mono y un gato.

This latter was a remarkably large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to an astonishing degree. Letzteres war ein bemerkenswert großes und schönes Tier, ganz schwarz und in einem erstaunlichen Maße scharfsinnig. Este último era un animal extraordinariamente grande y hermoso, completamente negro y sagaz hasta un grado asombroso. この後者は、非常に大きくて美しい動物で、全身が黒く、驚くほど聡明でした。 Este último era um animal extraordinariamente grande e belo, inteiramente negro, e sagaz num grau surpreendente. 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. Als sie von seiner Intelligenz sprach, spielte meine Frau, die im Herzen nicht wenig abergläubisch war, häufig auf die alte Volksmeinung an, die alle schwarzen Katzen als verkleidete Hexen betrachtete. Al hablar de su inteligencia, mi esposa, que en el fondo no estaba poco teñida de superstición, aludía con frecuencia a la antigua noción popular, que consideraba a todos los gatos negros como brujas disfrazadas. 彼の知性について話すとき、私の妻は心の中で少なからず迷信の色を帯びていましたが、黒猫はすべて変装した魔女と見なす古代の一般的な概念に頻繁に言及しました。 Ao falar da sua inteligência, a minha mulher, que no fundo era um pouco supersticiosa, fazia frequentemente alusão à antiga noção popular, que considerava todos os gatos pretos como bruxas disfarçadas. Not that she was ever serious upon this point - and I mention the matter at all for no better reason than that it happens, just now, to be remembered. No es que hablara en serio sobre este punto, y menciono el asunto sin más razón que la de recordarlo ahora. 彼女がこの時点で真剣だったというわけではありません - そして私がこの件について言及したのは、たった今、覚えておくべきことが起こったからです。 Nie, żeby kiedykolwiek była w tej kwestii poważna - a wspominam o tej sprawie nie z innego powodu, jak tylko dlatego, że akurat teraz o tym pamiętam. 并不是说她在这一点上是认真的 - 而且我完全没有提到这个问题,而是因为它刚才被记住了。

Pluto - this was the cat’s name - was my favorite pet and playmate. Pluto – so hieß die Katze – war mein Lieblingshaustier und Spielgefährte. プルート - これは猫の名前でした - は私のお気に入りのペットであり、遊び相手でした。 I alone fed him, and he attended me wherever I went about the house. Sólo yo le daba de comer, y me acompañaba a todas partes de la casa. 私は一人で彼に食事を与えました、そして彼は私が家のどこに行っても私に付き添いました。 Só eu o alimentava e ele acompanhava-me em todas as minhas deslocações pela casa. It was even with difficulty that I could prevent him from following me through the streets. Incluso con dificultad pude evitar que me siguiera por las calles. 彼が通りで私を追いかけるのを防ぐのは困難でさえありました. 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. Nuestra amistad duró, de esta manera, durante varios años, durante los cuales mi temperamento general y mi carácter, a través de la instrumentalización de la Intemperancia del Demonio, habían experimentado (me ruborizo al confesarlo) una alteración radical para peor. このようにして私たちの友情は数年間続き、その間に私の一般的な気質と性格は、悪霊の不節制の働きによって、(正直に言うと赤面して)悪化する根本的な変化を経験しました. A nossa amizade durou, desta forma, vários anos, durante os quais o meu temperamento geral e o meu carácter - através da instrumentalidade do demónio da intemperança - sofreram (tenho vergonha de o confessar) uma alteração radical para pior. I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others. Crecí, día a día, más malhumorado, más irritable, más indiferente a los sentimientos de los demás. 私は日に日に不機嫌になり、イライラしやすくなり、他人の気持ちに関係なく成長しました。 I suffered myself to use intemperate language to my wife. Yo mismo sufrí usar un lenguaje destemplado con mi esposa. 私は妻に節度のない言葉を使うことに耐えました。 At length, I even offered her personal violence. Al final, incluso le ofrecí violencia personal. とうとう、私は彼女に個人的な暴力を振るうことさえしました。 My pets, of course, were made to feel the change in my disposition. Mis mascotas, por supuesto, sintieron el cambio en mi disposición. もちろん、私のペットは私の気質の変化を感じさせられました。 I not only neglected, but ill-used them. Ich habe sie nicht nur vernachlässigt, sondern auch missbraucht. No sólo los descuidé, sino que los maltraté. 私はそれらを無視しただけでなく、悪用しました。

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. Por Plutón, sin embargo, aún conservaba suficiente consideración para no maltratarlo, como no tenía escrúpulos en maltratar a los conejos, al mono o incluso al perro, cuando por accidente o por afecto se cruzaban en mi camino. しかし、プルートに対しては、うさぎ、猿、あるいは犬でさえも、偶発的または愛情によって私の邪魔をするときに虐待することを躊躇しなかったので、私は彼を虐待しないようにするのに十分な注意を払っていました。 No entanto, ainda tinha suficiente consideração por Plutão para me impedir de o maltratar, tal como não tinha qualquer escrúpulo em maltratar os coelhos, o macaco ou mesmo o cão, quando, por acidente ou por afeto, se atravessavam no meu caminho. But my disease grew upon me - for what disease is like Alcohol! Pero mi enfermedad creció sobre mí - ¡porque qué enfermedad es como el Alcohol! しかし、私の病気は私にかかってきました - アルコールのような病気のために! Mas a minha doença cresceu sobre mim - pois que doença é como o álcool! - 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. -そしてついに、今や年を取り、その結果、やや不機嫌になったプルートでさえ、私の不機嫌の影響を経験し始めました.

One night, returning home, much intoxicated, from one of my haunts about town, I fancied that the cat avoided my presence. Una noche, volviendo a casa muy borracho de uno de mis rincones de la ciudad, me pareció que el gato evitaba mi presencia. ある夜、街中のたまり場の 1 つから酔っ払って家に帰ったとき、猫が私の存在を避けているように思いました。 Uma noite, quando regressava a casa, muito embriagado, de um dos meus passeios pela cidade, achei que o gato evitava a minha presença. I seized him; when, in his fright at my violence, he inflicted a slight wound upon my hand with his teeth. Le agarré; cuando, asustado por mi violencia, me infligió una leve herida en la mano con los dientes. 私は彼を捕まえました。彼は私の暴力に怯え、歯で私の手に軽傷を負わせた。 Agarrei-o e, assustado com a minha violência, fez-me um pequeno ferimento na mão com os dentes. The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. 悪魔の怒りが即座に私を取り憑きました。 I knew myself no longer. Ya no me conocía. 私はもはや自分自身を知りませんでした。 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. Mi alma original pareció, al instante, emprender la huida de mi cuerpo y una malevolencia más que diabólica, alimentada por la ginebra, estremeció cada fibra de mi armazón. 私の元の魂はすぐに私の体から飛び去り、ジンで育まれた悪魔以上の悪意が私のフレームのすべての繊維を興奮させた. A minha alma original parecia, de um momento para o outro, ter fugido do meu corpo e uma malevolência mais do que diabólica, alimentada a gin, agitava cada fibra do meu corpo. 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! Saqué del bolsillo de mi chaleco una navaja, la abrí, agarré a la pobre bestia por el cuello y le saqué deliberadamente un ojo de la cuenca. 私はチョッキのポケットからペンナイフを取り出し、それを開き、哀れな獣の喉をつかみ、故意にソケットから片方の目を切り落としました! Tirei do bolso do colete um canivete, abri-o, agarrei o pobre animal pela garganta e, deliberadamente, cortei-lhe um dos olhos da órbita! I blush, I burn, I shudder, while I pen the damnable atrocity. Me sonrojo, me quemo, me estremezco, mientras escribo la maldita atrocidad. 私は顔を赤らめ、燃え、身震いしながら、いまいましい残虐行為を書いています。 Coro, ardo, estremeço, enquanto escrevo a maldita atrocidade.

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 which remained untouched. Cuando recobré la razón por la mañana -cuando ya había dormido los vapores del desenfreno nocturno- experimenté un sentimiento mitad de horror, mitad de remordimiento, por el crimen del que había sido culpable; pero era, en el mejor de los casos, un sentimiento débil y equívoco, y el alma que permanecía intacta. 朝になって理性が戻ってきたとき――夜の放蕩の煙を眠りにつけたとき――私は半分は恐怖、半分は自責の念、自分が犯した罪に対する感情を経験した。しかし、それはせいぜい、弱くて曖昧な感情であり、手つかずのままの魂でした。 Quando a razão voltou pela manhã - depois de ter dormido os vapores do deboche da noite - experimentei um sentimento meio de horror, meio de remorso, pelo crime de que tinha sido culpado; mas era, na melhor das hipóteses, um sentimento débil e equívoco, e a alma que permanecia intocada. I again plunged into excess, and soon drowned in wine all memory of the deed. Volví a sumirme en el exceso y pronto ahogué en vino todo recuerdo de la hazaña. 私は再び過剰に飛び込み、すぐにその行為のすべての記憶をワインに溺れさせました。 Mergulhei novamente em excessos e depressa afoguei no vinho toda a memória do ato.

In the meantime the cat slowly recovered. Mientras tanto, el gato se fue recuperando poco a poco. その間、猫はゆっくりと回復しました。 Entretanto, o gato recuperou lentamente. The socket of the lost eye presented, it is true, a frightful appearance, but he no longer appeared to suffer any pain. La cuenca del ojo perdido presentaba, es cierto, un aspecto espantoso, pero ya no parecía sufrir dolor alguno. 失われた眼窩は確かに恐ろしい外見を示していたが、彼はもはや痛みを感じていないようだった。 A órbita do olho perdido apresentava, é verdade, um aspeto assustador, mas ele já não parecia sofrer qualquer dor. He went about the house as usual, but, as might be expected, fled in extreme horror at my approach. Recorrió la casa como de costumbre, pero, como era de esperar, huyó despavorido cuando me acerqué. 彼はいつものように家の中を歩き回りましたが、予想通り、私が近づくと極度の恐怖で逃げました。 Andou pela casa como de costume, mas, como era de esperar, fugiu horrorizado quando me aproximei. 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 had once loved-but this feeling soon gave place to irritation. Me quedaba tanto de mi viejo corazón, que al principio me apené por esta evidente antipatía de parte de una criatura que una vez había amado... pero este sentimiento pronto dio lugar a la irritación. 私はかつて愛していた生き物のこの明らかな嫌悪感に最初は悲しむほど、昔の心をたくさん残していましたが、この感情はすぐに苛立ちに変わりました。 Ainda me restava tanto do meu antigo coração que, a princípio, fiquei triste com esta evidente aversão por parte de uma criatura que outrora tinha amado - mas este sentimento depressa deu lugar à irritação.

And then came, as if to my final and irrevocable overthrow, the spirit of perverseness. Y entonces llegó, como para mi derrocamiento final e irrevocable, el espíritu de perversidad. そして、あたかも私の最終的で取り返しのつかない転覆のように、ひねくれた精神がやって来ました。 E depois veio, como que para meu derrube final e irrevogável, o espírito de perversidade. Then I am that perverseness - 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. Entonces yo soy esa perversidad - uno de los impulsos primitivos del corazón humano - una de las indivisibles facultades primarias, o sentimientos, que dan dirección al carácter del Hombre. そして私は、人間の心の原始的な衝動の 1 つであり、人間の性格に方向性を与える不可分の主要な能力、または感情の 1 つである、そのひねくれです。 Então eu sou essa perversidade - um dos impulsos primitivos do coração humano - uma das faculdades primárias indivisíveis, ou sentimentos, que dão direção ao carácter do Homem. Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a silly act, for no other reason than because he knows he should not? ¿Quién no se ha encontrado, cien veces, cometiendo una vileza o una tontería, sin más razón que la de saber que no debe hacerlo? してはならないことを知っているという理由だけで、卑劣な行為やばかげた行為を行っていることに100回も気付いていない人はいますか? 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? ¿No tenemos una inclinación perpetua, en contra de nuestro mejor juicio, a violar lo que es Ley, simplemente porque entendemos que lo es? 私たちは、最善の判断を下しても、法律が法律であると理解しているという理由だけで、法律に違反するという絶え間ない傾向を持っているのではないでしょうか? This spirit of perverseness, I say, came to my final overthrow. Este espíritu de perversidad, digo, vino a mi derrocamiento final. 私が言うには、このひねくれた精神が私の最後の転覆に至りました。 Este espírito de perversidade, digo eu, veio a destruir-me definitivamente. 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. Fue este insondable anhelo del alma de vejarse a sí misma, de ofrecer violencia a su propia naturaleza, de hacer el mal sólo por el mal mismo, lo que me impulsó a continuar y finalmente a consumar la injuria que había infligido al bruto inofensivo. 自分自身を悩ませたいという魂のこの計り知れない願望 - それ自身の本性に暴力を与えること - 悪のためだけに悪を行うこと - が、私を続行させ、最終的に私が無害な野獣に負わせた怪我を完遂するように促した.

One morning, in cool 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 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 wore possible - even beyond the reach of the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful and Most Terrible God. Una mañana, con la sangre fría, le eché la soga al cuello y lo colgué a la rama de un árbol; - lo colgué con las lágrimas brotando de mis ojos, y con el más amargo remordimiento en mi corazón; - lo colgué porque sabía que me había amado, y porque sentía que no me había dado motivo de ofensa; - la colgué porque sabía que al hacerlo estaba cometiendo un pecado, un pecado mortal que pondría en peligro mi alma inmortal hasta el punto de colocarla, si tal cosa fuera posible, más allá del alcance de la infinita misericordia del Dios Más Misericordioso y Más Terrible. ある朝、私は冷静にその首に縄を巻きつけ、木の枝に吊るしました。 -私の目から流れる涙と、私の心に最も苦い反省を込めて、それを吊るしました。 - それが私を愛していることを知っていたので、そしてそれが私を怒らせる理由を与えなかったと感じたので、それを吊るしました。 - そうすることで私が罪を犯していることを知っていたので、それを吊るしました - 私の不滅の魂を危険にさらす致命的な罪 - もしそのようなことが可能であれば - 最も慈悲深い神の無限の慈悲の手の届かないところにさえそして最も恐ろしい神。 Uma manhã, com o sangue frio, pus-lhe um laço ao pescoço e pendurei-o no tronco de uma árvore; - pendurei-o com as lágrimas a escorrerem-me dos olhos e com o mais amargo remorso no coração; - pendurei-o porque sabia que ele me amava e porque sentia que não me tinha dado qualquer motivo de ofensa; - Pendurei-o porque sabia que, ao fazê-lo, estava a cometer um pecado - um pecado mortal que poria em perigo a minha alma imortal a ponto de a colocar - se tal coisa fosse possível - mesmo fora do alcance da misericórdia infinita do Deus Misericordioso e Terrível.

On the night of the day on which this cruel deed was done, I was aroused from sleep by the cry of fire. La noche del día en que se cometió este cruel acto, me despertó el grito de fuego. この残忍な行為が行われた日の夜、私は火の叫び声で眠りから覚めました。 Na noite do dia em que este ato cruel foi cometido, fui despertado do sono pelo grito de fogo. The curtains of my bed were inflames. 私のベッドのカーテンは炎症を起こしていました。 The whole house was blazing. 家全体が燃えていた。 It was with great difficulty that my wife, a servant, and myself, made our escape from the conflagration. Con gran dificultad, mi esposa, un criado y yo escapamos de la conflagración. 使用人である妻と私が大火から逃れるのは非常に困難でした。 The destruction was complete. 破壊は完了しました。 My entire worldly wealth was swallowed up, and I resigned myself thenceforward to despair. Toda mi riqueza mundana fue devorada, y desde entonces me resigné a la desesperación. 私の世俗的な富はすべて飲み込まれ、私はそれ以来、絶望することを辞任しました. Toda a minha riqueza mundana foi engolida e, a partir daí, resignei-me ao desespero.

I am above the weakness of seeking to establish a sequence of cause and effect, between the disaster and the atrocity. Estoy por encima de la debilidad de intentar establecer una secuencia de causa y efecto, entre la catástrofe y la atrocidad. 私は、災害と残虐行為の間の一連の因果関係を確立しようとする弱さを超えています。 But I am detailing a chain of facts - and wish not to leave even a possible link imperfect. Pero estoy detallando una cadena de hechos - y no deseo dejar imperfecto ni siquiera un posible eslabón. しかし、私は一連の事実を詳しく説明しています - そして、可能性のあるリンクでさえも不完全なままにしたくありません. Mas estou a descrever uma cadeia de factos - e não quero deixar imperfeito um único elo. On the day succeeding the fire, I visited the ruins. El día siguiente al incendio, visité las ruinas. 火事の翌日、私は廃墟を訪れた。 No dia seguinte ao incêndio, visitei as ruínas. The walls, with one exception, had fallen in. Las paredes, con una excepción, se habían derrumbado. 壁は、1 つの例外を除いて、陥没していました。 This exception was found in a compartment wall, not very thick, which stood about the middle of the house. Esta excepción se encontró en un muro compartimentado, no muy grueso, que se alzaba más o menos en medio de la casa. この例外は、家の真ん中あたりにある区画の壁で、それほど厚くはありませんでした。 Esta exceção foi encontrada numa parede de compartimento, não muito espessa, que se situava mais ou menos a meio da casa. About this wall a dense crowd were collected, and many persons seemed to be examining a particular portion of it with very minute and eager attention. Alrededor de este muro se congregó una densa multitud, y muchas personas parecían estar examinando una parte concreta del mismo con una atención muy minuciosa y ávida. この壁の周りには密集した群衆が集まっており、多くの人がその特定の部分を非常に細心の注意を払って調べているようでした。 Em redor deste muro, uma densa multidão estava reunida, e muitas pessoas pareciam estar a examinar uma determinada parte dele com uma atenção muito minuciosa e ávida.

The words "strange!" "singular!" "特異な!" and other similar expressions, excited my curiosity. y otras expresiones similares, excitaron mi curiosidad. と他の同様の表現は、私の好奇心を刺激しました。 I approached and saw, as if graven in bas relief upon the white surface, the figure of a gigantic cat. Me acerqué y vi, como grabada en bajorrelieve sobre la superficie blanca, la figura de un gato gigantesco. 近づいてみると、白い表面に浅浮き彫りで彫られているかのように、巨大な猫の姿が見えました。 Aproximei-me e vi, como se estivesse gravada em baixo-relevo na superfície branca, a figura de um gato gigantesco. The impression was given with an accuracy truly marvelous. 印象は本当に素晴らしい精度で与えられました。 A impressão foi dada com uma precisão verdadeiramente maravilhosa. There was a rope about the animal’s neck. 動物の首にはロープがかけられていました。 Havia uma corda à volta do pescoço do animal.

When I first beheld this apparition - for I could scarcely regard it as less - my wonder and my terror were extreme. 私がこの幻影を最初に見たとき――それはそれよりも少ないとしか思えなかったからである――私の驚きと恐怖は極度のものだった。 Quando vi pela primeira vez esta aparição - pois dificilmente poderia considerá-la menor - o meu espanto e o meu terror foram extremos. But at length reflection came to my aid. しかし、ついに反省が私の助けになりました。 Mas, por fim, a reflexão veio em meu auxílio. The cat, I remembered, had been hung in a garden adjacent to the house. O gato, lembrei-me, tinha sido pendurado num jardim adjacente à casa. 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. 火事の警報が鳴ると、この庭はすぐに群衆でいっぱいになりました - そのうちの誰かによって動物が木から切り取られ、開いた窓から私の部屋に投げ込まれたに違いありません. Quando soou o alarme de incêndio, este jardim foi imediatamente ocupado pela multidão - por alguém que deve ter cortado o animal da árvore e o atirado, através de uma janela aberta, para o meu quarto. This had probably been done with the view of arousing me from sleep. これはおそらく、私を眠りから覚ますという目的で行われたのでしょう。 The falling of other walls had compressed the victim of my cruelty into the substance of the fleshy-spread plaster; the lime of which, with the flames, and the ammonia from the carcass, had then accomplished the portraiture as I saw it. 他の壁が崩壊したことで、私の残虐行為の犠牲者は肉厚のしっくいの物質に押し込まれました。その石灰は、炎と死体からのアンモニアとともに、私が見たような肖像画を完成させました。 A queda de outras paredes comprimiu a vítima da minha crueldade na substância do reboco carnudo; a cal, com as chamas e o amoníaco da carcaça, tinha então realizado o retrato tal como eu o via.

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 fail to make a deep impression upon my fancy. このように、私は自分の理性を、完全に良心とは言わないまでも、詳述したばかりの驚くべき事実について容易に説明しましたが、それでもなお、私の空想に深い印象を与えることには失敗しませんでした。 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. 何ヶ月もの間、私は猫の幻想を取り除くことができませんでした。そして、この期間中、後悔のように見えたがそうではなかった半分の感情が私の精神に戻ってきました。 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. 私はその動物を失ったことを悔やみ、今では頻繁に訪れている下劣なたまり場の中で、自分の周りを探して、その場所を提供する同じ種の、やや似た外観の別のペットを探しました。 Cheguei ao ponto de lamentar a perda do animal e de procurar, entre os lugares vis que frequentava habitualmente, outro animal da mesma espécie e de aspeto semelhante para o substituir.

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. ある夜、悪名高い以上の巣穴に半分呆然として座っていたとき、私の注意は突然、ジンまたはラムの巨大なホグスヘッドの頭の上にある何か黒い物体に引き寄せられました。アパート。 Uma noite, enquanto eu estava sentado, meio estupefacto, num antro de mais do que infâmia, a minha atenção foi subitamente atraída para um objeto negro, pousado na cabeça de um dos imensos barris de Gin, ou de Rum, que constituíam a mobília principal do apartamento. 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. 私は数分間このホグスヘッドの頂部をじっと見つめていましたが、今驚いたことは、その上にある物体をすぐに認識しなかったという事実でした。 I approached it, and touched it with my hand. 私はそれに近づき、手で触れました。 It was a black cat - a very large one - fully as large as Pluto, and closely resembling him in every respect but one. それは黒い猫だった - 非常に大きな猫 - 完全に冥王星と同じくらいの大きさで、1つを除いてあらゆる点で彼によく似ていた. Pluto had not a white hair upon any portion of his body; but this cat had a large, although indefinite splotch of white, covering nearly the whole region of his breast. プルートは体のどの部分にも白髪がありませんでした。しかし、この猫には、胸のほぼ全体を覆う大きな、しかし不明確な白い斑点がありました。

Upon my touching him, he immediately arose, purred loudly, rubbed against my hand, and appeared delighted with my notice. 私が彼に触れると、彼はすぐに立ち上がり、大声でのどを鳴らし、私の手をこすり、私の通知に喜んでいるように見えました。 Quando lhe toquei, ele levantou-se imediatamente, ronronou alto, esfregou-se na minha mão e pareceu encantado com a minha observação. This, then, was the very creature of which I was in search. つまり、これはまさに私が探し求めていた生き物でした。 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. 私はすぐに家主からそれを購入することを申し出ました。しかし、この人はそれを主張していませんでした-それについて何も知りませんでした-前にそれを見たことがありませんでした. Ofereci-me de imediato para a comprar ao senhorio, mas este não a reclamava, não a conhecia, nunca a tinha visto.

I continued my caresses, and, when I prepared to go home, the animal evinced a disposition to accompany me. Continué mis caricias y, cuando me preparaba para ir a casa, el animal mostró disposición a acompañarme. 私は愛撫を続け、家に帰る準備をしたとき、動物は私に同行する傾向を示しました。 I permitted it to do so; occasionally stopping and patting it as I proceeded. 私はそれを許可しました。私が進むにつれて、時々それを止めて軽くたたきました。 When it reached the house it domesticated itself at once, and became immediately a great favorite with my wife. 家に着くとすぐに飼い慣らし、すぐに妻のお気に入りになりました。

For my own part, I soon found a dislike to it arising within me. 私自身は、すぐにそれに対する嫌悪感が自分の中で生じていることに気づきました。 Pela minha parte, depressa me apercebi que não gostava dele. 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. これは私が予想していたものの逆でした。しかし、それがどのように、またはなぜだったのかはわかりませんが、自分自身への明らかな愛情は、むしろうんざりしてイライラしていました。 Era exatamente o contrário do que eu tinha previsto; mas - não sei como nem porquê - a sua evidente afeição por mim enojava-me e irritava-me. By slow degrees, these feelings of disgust and annoyance rose into the bitterness of hatred. ゆっくりと、これらの嫌悪感と苛立ちの感情は、憎しみの苦味へと変化していきました。 Lentamente, estes sentimentos de aversão e aborrecimento transformaram-se na amargura do ódio. I avoided the creature; a certain sense of shame, and the remembrance of my former deed of cruelty, preventing me from physically abusing it. 私はその生き物を避けました。ある種の恥の感覚と、以前の残酷な行為の記憶が、私がそれを身体的に虐待するのを妨げていました。 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. 数週間、私はそれをストライキしたり、暴力的に悪用したりしませんでした。しかし、徐々に、非常に徐々に、言葉にできないほどの嫌悪感を持ってそれを見るようになり、疫病の息からのように、その忌まわしい存在から静かに逃げるようになりました。 Durante algumas semanas, não lhe bati, nem usei violentamente mal; mas gradualmente - muito gradualmente - comecei a olhar para ele com uma aversão indizível e a fugir silenciosamente da sua presença odiosa, como do sopro de uma peste.

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. 獣に対する私の憎しみをさらに増したのは、家に持ち帰った翌朝、冥王星のように片目を奪われていたことを発見したことです。 O que aumentou, sem dúvida, o meu ódio pelo animal foi a descoberta, na manhã seguinte a tê-lo trazido para casa, de que, tal como Plutão, também ele tinha sido privado de um dos seus olhos. 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. しかし、この状況は、すでに述べたように、かつて私の際立った特徴であり、私の最も単純で最も純粋な喜びの多くの源であった感情の人間性を高度に持っていた妻にのみ愛されました. With my aversion to this cat, however, its partiality for myself seemed to increase. しかし、この猫への嫌悪感とともに、私への偏愛が増しているように見えました。 It followed my footsteps with a pertinacity which it would be difficult to make the reader comprehend. それは、読者に理解させるのが難しいほどの粘り強さで私の足跡をたどりました。

Whenever I sat, it would crouch beneath my chair, or spring upon my knees, covering me with its loathsome caresses. 私が座っているときはいつでも、それは私の椅子の下にしゃがんだり、私の膝の上に飛び乗ったりして、その忌まわしい愛撫で私を覆いました. Sempre que me sentava, agachava-se debaixo da minha cadeira, ou saltava para os meus joelhos, cobrindo-me com as suas carícias repugnantes. If I arose to walk it would get between my feet and thus clearly throw me down, or, fastening its long and sharp claws in my dress, clamber with a blow, I was yet withheld from so doing, partly by a memory of my former crime, but chiefly - let me confess it once - by absolute dread of the beast. もし私が立ち上がって歩こうとすると、それは私の足の間に入り込んで、明らかに私を倒したり、その長く鋭い爪を私のドレスに留めて、一撃でよじ登ったりした.犯罪ですが、主に - 一度告白させてください - 獣の絶対的な恐怖による. Se eu me levantasse para andar, ela metia-se entre os meus pés e atirava-me claramente ao chão, ou, prendendo as suas garras longas e afiadas no meu vestido, trepava com um golpe, mas eu ainda me impedia de o fazer, em parte devido à memória do meu crime anterior, mas principalmente - permitam-me que o confesse uma vez - devido ao pavor absoluto da besta.

This dread was not exactly a dread of physical evil - and yet I should be at a loss to otherwise to define it. この恐怖は、正確には物理的な悪の恐怖ではありませんでしたが、それ以外の方法でそれを定義することはできません. 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 chimaeras it would be possible to conceive. 私はほとんど恥ずべきことです - そうです、この重罪犯の独房でさえ、私はほとんど恥ずかしく思っています - 動物が私に与えた恐怖と恐怖が、それが想像することができるほんのわずかなキメラの1つによって高められた. Quase me envergonho de admitir - sim, mesmo nesta cela de delinquente, quase me envergonho de admitir - que o terror e o horror que o animal me inspirava tinham sido aumentados por uma das mais puras quimeras que seria possível conceber. My wife had called my attention, more than once, to the character of the mark of white hair, of which I had spoken, and which constituted the sole visible difference between the strange beast and the one I had destroyed. 妻は、私が話した白い毛の跡の特徴に私の注意を喚起した. A minha mulher tinha-me chamado a atenção, mais de uma vez, para o carácter da marca de cabelo branco, de que eu tinha falado, e que constituía a única diferença visível entre a besta estranha e a que eu tinha destruído. 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 longtime my reason struggled to reject as fanciful - it had, at length, assumed a rigorous distinctness of outline. 読者は、このマークは大きいものの、元々非常に不明確であったことを思い出すでしょう。しかし、ゆっくりと――ほとんど知覚できない程度であり、長い間、私の理性はそれを空想的であると拒絶するのに苦労していた――ついには、厳密な輪郭の明瞭性を帯びるようになった。 O leitor lembrar-se-á de que esta marca, embora grande, tinha sido originalmente muito indefinida; mas, por graus lentos - graus quase imperceptíveis, e que durante muito tempo a minha razão se esforçou por rejeitar como fantasiosos - tinha, finalmente, assumido uma rigorosa distinção de contorno. 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 ! それは今、私が名前を付けるのにぞっとするオブジェクトの表現でした.絞首台のぞっとするような恐ろしいもの! Era agora a representação de um objeto que me arrepio de nomear - e por isso, acima de tudo, eu detestava, e temia, e ter-me-ia livrado do monstro se tivesse ousado - era agora, digo eu, a imagem de uma coisa hedionda - de uma coisa medonha - das GALINHAS! - oh, mournful and terrible engine of horror and of crime - of agony and of death ! -ああ、恐怖と犯罪の悲惨で恐ろしいエンジン-苦痛と死のエンジン!

And now was I indeed wretched beyond the wretchedness of mere Humanity. そして今、私は単なる人間性の悲惨さを超えて本当に惨めでした。 E agora eu era de facto miserável para além da miséria da mera Humanidade. 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! Y una bestia bruta, cuyo compañero yo había destruido con desdén, una bestia bruta creada para mí, para mí un hombre, formado a imagen del Dios Altísimo, ¡tanto de insoportable aflicción! そして、野蛮な獣 - 私が軽蔑的に破壊した仲間 - 私のために働く野蛮な獣 - 私にとって、高き神のイメージで作られた男 - あまりにも多くの耐え難いwo! E uma besta bruta - cujo companheiro eu tinha destruído com desprezo - uma besta bruta para trabalhar para mim - para mim um homem, formado à imagem do Deus Supremo - tanta coisa insuportável! Alas! Ai de mim! neither by day nor by night knew I the blessing of rest anymore! 昼も夜も、私が安らぎの祝福を知っていることはもうありませんでした! nem de dia nem de noite conheci a bênção do descanso! 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 ! 前者の間、生き物は私を一人にしませんでした。そして後者では、毎時間、言いようのない恐怖の夢から出発し、そのものの熱い息が私の顔にかかり、その巨大な重さ-私には振り払う力のない化身の悪夢-永遠に私の体にかかっているのを見つけました。心臓 ! Durante o primeiro, a criatura não me deixava em paz; e, no segundo, eu saía, de hora a hora, de sonhos de medo indescritível, para encontrar o hálito quente da coisa no meu rosto, e o seu enorme peso - um pesadelo encarnado que eu não tinha poder para afastar - incumbido eternamente no meu coração!

Beneath the pressure of torments such as these, the feeble remnant of the good within me succumbed. このような苦痛の圧力の下で、私の中の善の弱い残骸が屈服しました. Evil thoughts became my sole intimates - the darkest and most evil of thoughts. 邪悪な考えが私の唯一の親密なものになりました-最も暗くて最も邪悪な考えです。 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, alas! 私のいつもの気分の不機嫌は、すべてのものとすべての人類への憎しみへと高まりました。一方、突然の、頻繁な、抑えがたい怒りの爆発から、私は今ややみくもに自分自身を放棄しました。 O mau humor do meu temperamento habitual aumentou para o ódio a todas as coisas e a todos os homens; enquanto, devido às explosões súbitas, frequentes e ingovernáveis de uma fúria a que agora me abandonava cegamente, a minha esposa, que não se queixava, infelizmente! was the most usual and the most patient of sufferers. 患者の中で最も一般的で、最も患者でした。

One day she accompanied me, upon some household errand, into the cellar of the old building which our poverty compelled us to inhabit. ある日、彼女は家事で私と一緒に古い建物の地下室に行きました。 Um dia, acompanhou-me, numa tarefa doméstica, à cave do velho edifício que a nossa pobreza nos obrigava a habitar. The cat followed me down the steep stairs, and, nearly throwing me headlong, exasperated me to madness. 猫は私を追いかけて急な階段を下り、私を真っ逆さまに突き飛ばしそうになり、私を狂気にさせました。 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. 斧を持ち上げて、これまで私の手にとどまっていた幼稚な恐怖を怒りのあまり忘れて、私はその動物に一撃を加えました。 Levantando um machado, e esquecendo, na minha ira, o medo infantil que até então me tinha travado a mão, apontei um golpe ao animal que, evidentemente, se teria revelado instantaneamente fatal se tivesse descido como eu desejava. But this blow was arrested by the hand of my wife. しかし、この打撃は妻の手によって止められました。 Goaded, by the interference, into a rage more than demonical, I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain. 干渉によって悪魔以上の激怒に駆り立てられた私は、彼女の手から腕を引き離し、斧を彼女の脳に埋めました。 She fell dead upon the spot, without a groan. 彼女はうめき声もなく、その場で死んでしまいました。 Caiu morta no local, sem um gemido.

This hideous murder accomplished, I set myself forthwith, and with entire deliberation, to the task of concealing the body. この忌まわしい殺人が成し遂げられたので、私はすぐに、そして十分に検討して、死体を隠す仕事に取り掛かりました。 Consumado este hediondo assassínio, lancei-me de imediato, e com toda a deliberação, na tarefa de ocultar o corpo. 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. 昼夜を問わず、近所の人に見られる危険を冒さずに家からそれを取り除くことはできないことを私は知っていました。 Many projects entered my mind. At one period I thought of cutting the corpse into minute fragments, and destroying them by fire. ある時、私は死体を細かく砕いて火で焼こうと考えました。 A certa altura, pensei em cortar o cadáver em fragmentos minúsculos e destruí-los pelo fogo. At another, I resolved to dig a grave for it in the floor of the cellar. 別のときは、地下室の床に墓を掘ろうと決心しました。 Noutra, resolvi cavar-lhe uma sepultura no chão da cave.

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. 繰り返しになりますが、私はそれを庭の井戸に投げ込むことを検討しました-商品のように、通常の配置で箱に詰めて、ポーターに家から持ってもらうことについて。 Mais uma vez, pensei em atirá-lo para o poço no quintal - em embalá-lo numa caixa, como se fosse mercadoria, com os arranjos habituais, e assim arranjar um carregador para o levar de casa. Finally I hit upon what I considered a far better expedient than the others. 最後に、私は他の方法よりもはるかに優れていると私が考えた方法を見つけました。 Por fim, cheguei a uma solução que considerei muito melhor do que as outras. I determined to wall it up in the cellar - as the monks of the middle ages are recorded to have walled up their victims. 中世の修道士が犠牲者を壁で囲ったことが記録されているので、私はそれを地下室で壁で覆うことにしました。 Decidi emparedá-la na cave - como se diz que os monges da Idade Média emparedavam as suas vítimas.

For a purpose such as this the cellar was well adapted. このような目的のために、地下室はうまく適応されました。 Para este efeito, a cave estava bem adaptada. 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. その壁は緩く構築されており、大気の湿り気が硬化するのを防いでいた粗い石膏で最近全体に漆喰が塗られていました。 As suas paredes eram de construção frouxa e tinham sido recentemente rebocadas com um reboco grosseiro, que a humidade da atmosfera tinha impedido de endurecer. Moreover, in one of these 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. さらに、これらの壁の1つには、埋められた偽の煙突、または暖炉によって引き起こされた突起があり、地下室の赤に似せていました。 Além disso, numa dessas paredes havia uma saliência, causada por uma falsa chaminé ou lareira, que tinha sido enchida e feita para se assemelhar ao vermelho da cave. I made no doubt that I could readily displace the bricks at this point, insert the corpse, and wall the whole up as before, so that no eye could detect any thing suspicious. Não tive dúvidas de que poderia facilmente deslocar os tijolos neste ponto, inserir o cadáver e emparedar tudo como antes, de modo a que nenhum olho pudesse detetar qualquer coisa suspeita. And in this calculation I was not deceived. そして、この計算では、私はだまされていませんでした。

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. バールを使って簡単にレンガを外し、慎重に内壁に体を置いて、その位置に支えながら、ほとんど苦労せずに、構造全体を元の状態に戻しました。 Com um pé de cabra, desalojei facilmente os tijolos e, depois de ter colocado cuidadosamente o corpo contra a parede interior, apoiei-o nessa posição, enquanto, com pouco esforço, voltava a colocar toda a estrutura tal como estava originalmente. 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. Depois de ter adquirido argamassa, areia e pêlos, com todas as precauções possíveis, preparei um reboco que não se distinguia do antigo e, com ele, retoquei cuidadosamente a nova alvenaria. When I had finished, I felt satisfied that all was right. The wall did not present the slightest appearance of having been disturbed. 壁は少しも乱されたようには見えませんでした。 O muro não apresentava a mínima aparência de ter sido perturbado. The rubbish on the floor was picked up with the minutest care. 床のゴミは細心の注意を払って拾いました。 O lixo no chão foi recolhido com o maior cuidado. I looked around triumphantly, and said to myself - "Here at least, then, my labor has not been in vain. " 私は意気揚々と周りを見回し、「少なくともここでは、私の努力は無駄ではなかった」と自分に言い聞かせました。 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. 私の次のステップは、惨めさの原因となった獣を探すことでした。というのは、とうとう私はそれを殺す決心をしたからです。 Had I been able to meet with it, at that 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 forbore to present itself in my present mood. もし私がその瞬間に会えたなら、その運命は疑いの余地がなかったでしょう。しかし、狡猾な動物は私の以前の怒りの激しさに警戒しているようで、私の現在の気分に姿を現すことをためらっていた. Se eu tivesse podido encontrá-lo, naquele momento, não haveria dúvida quanto ao seu destino; mas parece que o astuto animal se tinha alarmado com a violência da minha raiva anterior e se tinha abstido de se apresentar no meu estado de espírito atual. 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. 忌まわしき生き物がいなくなったことで、私の胸にもたらされた至福の安堵感。 a feliz sensação de alívio que a ausência da detestada criatura provocava no meu peito. 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; aye, slept even with the burden of murder upon my soul! それは一晩中姿を現さなかったので、家に持ち込まれてから少なくとも一晩、私はぐっすりと静かに眠りました。そう、私の魂に殺人の重荷を負ってさえ眠っていたのです!

The second and the third day passed, and still my tormentor came not. 2 日目と 3 日目が過ぎましたが、それでも私の拷問者は来ませんでした。 Once again I breathed as a freeman. もう一度自由人として息を吹き返しました。 Mais uma vez respirei como um homem livre. The monster, in terror, had fled the premises forever! 怪物は恐怖で敷地から永久に逃げ出しました! O monstro, aterrorizado, tinha fugido para sempre do local! I should behold it no more! 私はもうそれを見るべきではありません! Não o devo ver mais! My happiness was supreme! The guilt of my dark deed disturbed me but little. 私の暗い行為の罪悪感は、私をほとんど悩ませませんでした。 Some few inquiries had been made, but these had been readily answered. いくつかの問い合わせがありましたが、これらはすぐに回答されました。 Even a search had been instituted - but of course nothing was to be discovered. 捜索も開始されましたが、もちろん何も発見されませんでした。 I looked upon my future felicity as secured. Miré mi futura felicidad como asegurada. 私は自分の将来の幸福が保証されていると考えていました。 Considerei que a minha felicidade futura estava garantida.

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. 暗殺の4日目に、非常に予想外に警察の一団が家にやって来て、再び敷地内の厳密な調査を開始しました。 Secure, however, in the inscrutability of my place of concealment, I felt no embarrassment whatever. しかし、自分の秘密の場所の不可解さの中で安心して、私は何の恥ずかしさも感じなかった. No entanto, seguro da inescrutabilidade do meu esconderijo, não senti qualquer embaraço. The officers bade me accompany them in their search. Os oficiais pediram-me que os acompanhasse na sua busca. They left no nook or corner unexplored. 彼らは未踏の隅やコーナーを残しませんでした。 Não deixaram nenhum canto ou recanto por explorar. At length, for the third or fourth time, they descended into the cellar. とうとう三度目か四度目に、彼らは地下室に降りた。 Por fim, pela terceira ou quarta vez, desceram à cave. I quivered not in a muscle. No temblé en un músculo. 私は筋肉ではなく震えました。 Não tremi nem um músculo. My heart beat calmly as that of one who slumbers in innocence. 心は無垢に眠る者のように静かに鼓動する。 I walked the cellar from end to end. I folded my arms upon my bosom, and roamed easily to and fro. 私は胸に腕を組み、楽に歩き回った。 Cruzei os braços sobre o peito e deambulei facilmente de um lado para o outro. The police were thoroughly satisfied and prepared to depart. The glee at my heart was too strong to be restrained. A alegria no meu coração era demasiado forte para ser contida. I burned to say if but one word, by way of triumph, and to render doubly sure their assurance of my guiltlessness. 私は勝利の意味で一言だけ言い、私の無罪の保証を二重に確認したいと思いました。 Ardia em dizer apenas uma palavra, como triunfo, e para tornar duplamente segura a sua certeza da minha inocência.

"Gentlemen," I said at last, as the party ascended the steps, "I delight to have allayed your suspicions. 「諸君」一行が階段を上りながら、私はついに言った、「あなたの疑念を和らげてよかった。 "Cavalheiros", disse eu por fim, quando o grupo subia os degraus, "fico contente por ter dissipado as vossas suspeitas. I wish you all health, and a little more courtesy. 皆様のご健康と、もう少しのご厚情をお祈り申し上げます。 By and bye, gentlemen, this - this is a very well constructed house." さようなら、諸君、これは――これはとてもよくできた家だ」 A propósito, meus senhores, esta - esta é uma casa muito bem construída". [In the rabid desire to say something easily, I scarcely knew what I uttered at all.] [何かを簡単に言いたいという猛烈な欲求の中で、私は自分が何を発したのかほとんどわかりませんでした。] [No desejo raivoso de dizer algo facilmente, quase não sabia o que estava a dizer.] - "I may say an excellently well constructed house. - 「非常によくできた家と言えます。 - "Posso dizer que é uma casa muito bem construída. These walls are you going, gentlemen? これらの壁は行くつもりですか、紳士? Vão para estas paredes, meus senhores? - these walls are solidly put together;" and here, through the mere frenzy 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. - これらの壁はしっかりと組み立てられています.私の胸の。 - estas paredes estão solidamente montadas"; e aqui, por mero frenesim de bravata, bati com força, com a bengala que tinha na mão, na parte da alvenaria atrás da qual se encontrava o cadáver da mulher do meu peito. But may God shield and deliver me from the fangs of the Arch-Fiend! しかし、神が大魔王の牙から私を守り、救い出してくださいますように! Mas que Deus me proteja e me livre das presas do Arqui-Fiend! No sooner had the reverberation of my blows sunk into silence, than I was answered by a voice from within the tomb! 打撃の反響が静まり返るやいなや、墓の中から声がした! Assim que o eco dos meus golpes se tornou silencioso, fui respondido por uma voz vinda do interior do túmulo! - by a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly swelling into one long, loud, 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 dammed in their agony and of the demons that exult in the damnation. - 泣き声によって、最初はくぐもって砕け散った、子供のすすり泣きのように、そしてすぐに 1 つの長くて大声で絶え間ない絶え間ない叫び声へと膨れ上がり、まったく異常で非人道的である地獄からのみ発生した可能性があるようなものであり、苦悩の中で堰き止められた者の喉と、天罰に歓喜する悪魔の喉から同時に発生した可能性があります。 - por um grito, a princípio abafado e quebrado, como o soluço de uma criança, e depois rapidamente se transformando num grito longo, alto e contínuo, totalmente anómalo e desumano - um uivo - um grito lamentoso, metade de horror e metade de triunfo, tal como só poderia ter surgido no inferno, conjuntamente das gargantas dos condenados na sua agonia e dos demónios que exultam com a condenação.

Of my own thoughts it is folly to speak. 私自身の考えについて話すのは愚かなことです。 É uma loucura falar dos meus pensamentos. Swooning, I staggered to the opposite wall. 気絶し、私は反対側の壁によろめきました。 Desmaiado, cambaleei até à parede oposta. For one instant the party upon the stairs remained motionless, through extremity of terror and of awe. 極度の恐怖と畏怖の念から、一瞬、一行は階段の上で動かなかった。 Durante um instante, o grupo que se encontrava na escada permaneceu imóvel, num extremo de terror e de pavor. In the next, a dozen stout arms were toiling at the wall. 次の瞬間、十数本のたくましい腕が壁に向かって働いていた。 No outro, uma dúzia de braços robustos trabalhavam na parede. It fell bodily. 体当たりでした。 Caiu de corpo inteiro. The corpse, already greatly decayed and clotted with gore, stood erect before the eyes of the spectators. El cadáver, ya muy descompuesto y cubierto de sangre, se erguía ante los ojos de los espectadores. 死体はすでに大きく腐敗し、流血で凝固しており、観客の目の前で直立していた。 O cadáver, já muito deteriorado e coberto de sangue, estava ereto perante os olhos dos espectadores. 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. Sobre su cabeza, con la boca roja y extendida y el solitario ojo de fuego, estaba sentada la espantosa bestia cuya astucia me había seducido al asesinato, y cuya voz informadora me había enviado al verdugo. その頭の上には、赤い口と火の孤独な目があり、恐ろしい獣が座っていました. Sobre a sua cabeça, com a boca vermelha e estendida e um único olho de fogo, sentava-se a besta hedionda cuja astúcia me tinha seduzido para o assassínio e cuja voz informadora me tinha entregue ao carrasco. I had walled the monster up within the tomb! モンスターを墓の中に閉じ込めてしまったのだ! Eu tinha emparedado o monstro dentro do túmulo!