1850
METZENGERSTEIN
by Edgar Allan Poe
METZENGERSTEIN
Pestis eram vivus - moriens tua mors ero. Martin Luther
HORROR and fatality have been stalking abroad in all ages. Why
then give a date to this story I have to tell? Let it suffice to
say, that at the period of which I speak, there existed, in the
interior of Hungary, a settled although hidden belief in the doctrines
of the Metempsychosis. Of the doctrines themselves- that is, of their
falsity, or of their probability- I say nothing. I assert, however,
that much of our incredulity- as La Bruyere says of all our
unhappiness- "vient de ne pouvoir etre seuls."
But there are some points in the Hungarian superstition which were
fast verging to absurdity. They- the Hungarians- differed very
essentially from their Eastern authorities. For example, "The soul,"
said the former- I give the words of an acute and intelligent
Parisian- "ne demeure qu'un seul fois dans un corps sensible: au
reste- un cheval, un chien, un homme meme, n'est que la ressemblance
peu tangible de ces animaux."
The families of Berlifitzing and Metzengerstein had been at variance
for centuries.
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