Poe Edgar Allan The Murders in The Rue Morgue and The Purloi

Edgar Allan Poe
The Purloined Letter
1 Buch
1 CD
Langenscheidt
English Language Teaching
E d g a r A l la n Poe
The Murders
neRue M o r g u e
and
Text ad a p ta tio n and activ ities
by Graem e and S ilvia T hom son
Editors: Rebecca Raynes, Elvira Poggi Repetto
Design: Nadia Maestri
Illustrations: Gianni De Conno
© 1999 Black Cat Publishing,

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First edition: January 1999
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Contents
Som e In form ation about Edgar A lla n P o e’s Life
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
chapter one Extraordinary Murders 10

ACTIVITIES 15
chapter tw o The Test.i moni es 20

ACTIVITIES 26
C H A P T E R THREE At the Scene of the Crime 30

ACTIVITIES 36
The Art o f the D etective Story 39
CH APTER FOUR The Mystery Unfolds 42

ACTIVITIES 47
C H A P T E R FIVE “C a u g h t ” 51
ACTIVITIES 56
A p es G oing A pe 58
C H A P T E R SIX A S a i l o r ’s Story 62
ACTIVITIES 70
P aris in the 1 8 0 0 ’s 72
chapter one The Search for the Letter 80

ACTIVITIES 90
chapter tw o Du p i n ’s Techniques 93
> ACTIVITIES 101
O
C H A P T E R TH REE The Solution of the Case 105

ACTIVITIES 110
The M urders in the Rue M orgue is recorded in fu ll.
O eO°
T h ese sy m b o ls in d ic a te th e b e g in n in g a n d e n d of th e e x tra c ts
lin k e d to th e lis te n in g a c tiv itie s .
SP om e P fn fo t m a t w n
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809. Both his parents, David
Poe and Elizabeth Arnold, were itinerant1 actors and died of
consumption when he was very young. Although never officially
adopted, Poe was taken into the home of John Allan, a merchant from
Virginia, and his wife, Frances Keeling Valentine to whom the writer
became particularly attached.
In 1815 the Allans moved to Britain where the family lived for five years
and where Edgar also went to school. On their return to Virginia, Poe
was sent to a private school where he was considered an exceptional
all-round student.
In 1826 Poe enrolled at the University of Virginia but his foster-father
refused to finance his studies. This made their relationship even more
difficult and Edgar was forced to leave the University after only one
1. itinerant [aitinarant] : travelling.
5
year, despite his excellent results. In the same period Poe started to
gamble 1 and drink very heavily. A year later, he moved
to Boston where he began his literary career in
earnest and suffered his first disappointment when
Tamerlane and Other Poems by a Bostonian,
which he published himself, was totally ignored
by critics.
In 1827 Edgar enlisted 2 in the Army under the
name Edgar A. Perry.
His quarrels with John Allan continued. In 1829
after returning to Richmond too late to attend his
foster-mother’s funeral, he decided
John Allan. ^ ,
to apply for a cadetship at West
P oint.3 Before entering West
Point, Edgar submitted a manuscript entitled Al
Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and M inor Poems for
publication. This time the book was published
not anonymously, but under the name Edgar
A. Poe, the middle initial acknowledging the
part the Allans had played in his life.
Expelled from the Academy in 1832, Poe
moved to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Maria
Clemm, and his first cousin Virginia. The following
year he won a literary prize for his story Maria Clemm.
1. gamble : p layed gam es (card gam es etc.) for m oney.

2. enlisted : joined, registered.
3. West Point : a m ilitary academ y.
6
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MS. Found in a Bottle in the Baltimore Saturday Visiter. In 1835 Poe

brought his aunt and cousin to Richmond where he worked with Thomas
Willis White at the Southern Literary Messenger. The next year he
married his cousin Virginia, only thirteen years old. His work at the
Messenger was mainly criticism such as reviews of other magazines,
novels and poetry and helped to b o o st1 the magazine’s sales.
His editorial work, however, was not sufficient to support his family, and
the Poes had trouble making ends m eet.2 In 1840 Poe published Tales o f
the Grotesque and Arabesque which contains several of his greatest
stories, followed a year later by The Murders in the Rue Morgue which
is considered by some critics to be the first ever detective story. However
it was The Gold Bug, published in 1843, which brought Poe widespread
acclaim.
Financial success soon followed with the poem The Raven which first
appeared in The Evening Mirror. The poem is a perfect example of
Poe’s mastery of rhythm and lyrical invention.
Tragedy b efell3 Poe in 1847 when his young wife Virginia died of
tuberculosis. The heartbroken author began to drink more heavily.
Writing of the effect of Virginia’s death, Poe remarked: “I became
insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. During these fits of
absolute unconsciousness, I drank . . . my enemies referred the insanity
to the drink, rather than the drink to the insanity.”
On October 3, 1849 he was found unconscious in front of a polling
1. boost : increase, im prove.

2. making ends meet : m anaging financially.
3. befell : h a p p en e d to.
7
booth 1 in Baltimore and was taken to hospital where he died on
October 7, 1849, at the age of forty. Edgar Allan Poe was buried in
Baltimore beside his wife.
Poe’s life has attracted almost as much attention from critics as his
works, and it has often been said that his sometimes psychotic and
manic personality closely mirrored the morbid obsessions of his
characters, or vice versa; a brilliant example of how life and fiction
inexorably 2 m erge3 in the constantly weaving and unweaving fabric of
art.
] Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? Correct the false ones,
T F
a. Edgar Allan Poe was adopted when he was very □ □
young.
b. Poe had a conflictual relationship with his □ □
foster-father.
c. His first writings were not at all successful. □ □
d. Poe began his literary career as a journalist. □ □
e. Poe wrote a story called The Raven. □ □
f. Poe’s wife was only fourteen when they got married. □ □
g- Poe died of tuberculosis. □ □
h. Critics are as curious about Poe’s life as they □ □
are about his writing.
1. polling booth [bu:d] : place w here p eople go and vote.

2. inexorably : inevitably.
3. merge : join, m eet.
8
The d e r s
in the
io r g u e r
CHAPTER 1
Extraordi nary
Murders
was staying in Paris during the spring and part of the

sum m er of 18 . There I m et a M onsieur C. A uguste
D upin. This young gentlem an cam e from a noble fam ily
b u t he h im self was not very rich. He was not really
in tere ste d in m oney. He lived fru g a lly .1 Books w ere his only
luxury.
We first m et at an obscure library in the Rue M ontm artre. By
som e strange co incidence we w ere both looking for the sam e
book. After that, we m et m any m ore tim es.
He to ld m e about the h istory of his fam ily. I was asto n ish ed 2
1. frugally : w ith o u t spen d in g m uch m oney.

2. astonished : very su rp rised .
10
The the^ ,Rue Morgue,
by th e ex tent of his reading. W hen did he find the tim e to read so

m any books? A nd I was fascinated by his vivid im agination.
It was d ecid ed th at we sh o u ld live together w hile I was in
Paris. We found a big, old, deserted house in the F aubourg St.
G erm ain. As I h ad m ore m oney th an D upin, I offered to pay the
re n t.1
O ur iso latio n w as perfect. We ad m itted no visitors. N obody
knew the address of the house w here we lived.
For som e strange reason, D upin loved the
night and I began to share his enthusiasm . Of
course the night did not last forever, so w hen
the m orning cam e we closed all the sh u tters 2
on the b u ild in g to sim ulate the co n d itio n s of
darkness. T hen we lit two or three candles.
This was to have enough light to read or w rite
or sim ply talk. We sat in the house all day
u n til the clock in d icated th at the true night
was com ing. T hen we w ent out into the streets
co n tin u in g our conversation. We w alked far
and w ide in the great city, looking for things to
stim u late our im agination. There was an
in fin ity of m ental excitem ent in sim ply
observing the w orld.
It was during these w alks th at I discovered
and began to adm ire D u p in ’s in cred ib le
1. rent : m oney p a id for the use of a house.

2. shutters :covers on w indow s to keep out the light.
12
J Extraordinary Murders
analytic ability. He told me th at he could see directly into m e n ’s

hearts and m inds. At first I did not believe him . But then
som ething h ap p e n ed to change m y m ind. One night we w ere
w alking dow n a long dirty street near the Palais Royal. I was
looking at a n ew sp ap er w hen I n o ticed one p artic u la r story:
EXTRAORDINARY MURDERS
T h is m o r n in g at a b o u t th r e e o ’c lo c k a n u m b e r o f te rr ib le
sc re a m s a w o k e the in h a b ita n ts o f the Q u a r tie r St. R och. T he
screams were coming from the fourth floor of a house in the Rue
Morgue. Only two people lived there: Madame L ’Espanaye and her
d a u g h t e r M a d e m o i s e l l e C a m i l l e L ’E s p a n a y e . A f t e r s e v e r a l
attempts, neighbours finally entered the house together with two
policemen. By this time there were no more screams. But as the
group ran up the stairs, they heard two more angry voices coming
from the upper part of the house. However, when they got to the
fourth floor there was again silence. They divided up into small
groups, moving from room to room. They finally arrived at a back
room. The scene they discovered there was almost too horrible to
describe.
The apartment was in great disorder. The furniture was broken
and the bed lay in the middle of the floor. On a chair was a razor
c o v e r e d in b l o o d . B l o o d y l e n g t h s o f
h u m a n h a i r la y in th e
fireplace. On the floor
th e re w ere th r e e la rg e
silver spoons, an ear-ring
and two bags containing four thousand francs in gold. The
13
The in t he Rue Morgue
draw ers of a d esk w hich stood in one co rn e r w ere open and

papers were scattered a b o u t . 1
U nder the bed was an open safe 2 with
the key still in the door. It contained a few
letters and other papers but nothing of any
importance.
T here w as no s ig n of M adam e
L ’Espanaye. But somebody noticed there
was an extraordinary quantity of s o o t 3 in
the fireplace. A nd so they searched the
chimney. There they found the dead body
o f th e d a u g h t e r . T h e b o d y w a s q u i t e
w arm . A d o c to r e x a m in e d it and foun d
many bruises 4 and cuts. On the throat there
were several dark bruises and finger marks.
This suggested only one thing. Strangulation.
They searched the rest of the house but found nothing. Finally
they went into the small garden at the back of the house. There
they found the body of the old lady. Her throat was completely
cut and when two men tried to raise 5 her, the head fell off. The
body itself was completely mutilated. It d idn’t look human.
No one has yet found a clue 6 that could help to solve this
mystery.
1. scattered about : th ro w n aro u n d u n tid ily .

2. safe : strong m etal box w ith special locks in w h ich you keep m oney.
3. soot [sot] : black pow der w h ich rises in the sm oke from a fire.
4. bruises [bruizaz] : p u rp le m arks on the body.
5. to raise : lift.
6. clue : inform ation, evidence.
14
A C T I V I I i c o
Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin
Q C o m p lete th e f o llo w in g s e n te n c e s to d e s c r ib e D u p in and h is

peculiar habits. (Try to use your own words!)
a. Although Dupin came from a noble family, ......... .......................

b. Books w e r e ...................................................................................................
c. Because of D upin’s financial difficulties, the n a rra to r.....................
d. Darkness was ............................................ ..................................................
e. During the d a y .............................................................................................
f. At n ig h t.........................................................................................................
g. Thanks to his amazing analytical a b ility ..............................................
What happened in Chapter One?
Answer the follow ing questions.
a. What were the narrator and Dupin doing when they met?
b. How did they learn about the terrible events that had occurred in
Q uartier St. Roch?
c. Who were the first people to know of the murders? How?
d. What did the police find in Madame L’Espanaye’s apartm ent?
e. Where did they find the dead body of Madame L’Espanaye’s
daughter?
f. How did she die?
g. Where was the corpse of the old lady?
h. How was she killed?
i. What was the police’s theory regarding these two horrible
murders?
15
A C T I V I T I E S
The art of analysis
] The analytical mind, according to Poe, derives pleasure from even the
most trivial occupations and is curious about anything that may bring
its talent into play. It is fond o f enigm as, p u zzles, h ieroglyp h ics,
everything concerned with the faculty of intuition.
a. According to you, what are the skills that a good detective needs?
b. Are there any detectives, either in fiction or in films, that you

admire in particular?
c. What is their m ethod for solving a crime?
d. Do you consider yourself to have an analytical mind?
e. Would you make a good investigator? Why/Why not?
f. Imagine you are in charge of the m urder investigation and you are
in Madame L’Espanaye’s apartm ent. From the clues you have, try
to solve the following mysteries:
• The apartm ent is in great disorder. Why?
• In the fireplace you see “bloody lengths of hum an h air”.
Who does it belong to?
• How could the corpse of the girl be stuck into the chimney?
• What might the m urderer’s motive be?
Keep on reading! You w ill find more evidence later on in the story.
16
A C T I V I T I E S
Tense revision - Edgar Allan Poe’s parents
Q Read this text on Edgar A llan Poe’s parents and fill in the gaps with
the verbs in brackets in the right tense.
Edgar Allan P o e (be born) on 19 January 1809.

His parents, David and Elizabeth Arnold Poe, were professional
actors. Elizabeth P o e .......................... (acclaim) by the public in Boston
where s h e .......................... (find), in her own words, “her best and
most sym pathetic friends”. David P o e .........................(abandon) the
study of law to become an actor but h e .......................... (not prove) to
be very talented; on the other hand, Poe’s m other was not only a
skilled actress but a very precocious one. By the time she was
fourteen s h e .......................... (already, act) as Ophelia and at the time
of her death at the age of twenty-four her re p e rto ire .........................
(include) over two hundred roles.
However, the P o e s .......................... (not have) financial success as
actors and they a lw a y s .......................... (lead) a very precarious life.
This explains why, even when Elizabeth was pregnant with Edgar
a n d .........................(struggle) w ith all kinds of difficulties, she almost
never s to p p e d .......................... (act).
All records of David P o e .......................... (end) in July 1810. Their first
son, W illiam Henry P o e .......................... (take) into the home of his
grandparents but E d g a r (stay) with his m other who
was pregnant w ith a third child and already very ill with
tuberculosis.
In December 1811 Elizabeth Poe, w h o .........................(once, be) a
great a c tre s s ,.........................(die) in extreme poverty in a Richmond
boarding house. William H e n ry .......................... (still, live) w ith his
grandparents at the time, while E d g a r.........................(adopt), though
never officially, by the m erchant John Allan and his wife. Edgar’s
little sister, the infant R o salie,.......................... (shelter) by another
Richmond family, the William Mackenzies.
17
A C T I V I T I E S
Passive
] Turn the follow ing sentences into the passive form.
a. Since Dupin was not particularly well off, the narrator was
paying the rent.
b. If the neighbours h ad n ’t heard the voices, nobody w ould have

found out about the murders.
c. As the group ran up the stairs, they heard two angry voices
coming from the upper part of the house.
d. The police discovered a horrible scene in Madame L’Espanaye’s

flat.
e. They had found the girl’s body in the chimney.
f. No one has yet found a clue that could help to solve the mystery.
18
A C T I V I T I E S
Before you read
a n Listen to the beginning of Chapter 2 and the inform ation about the
first two w itnesses, Pauline Dubourg and Pierre Moreau, and fill in
the gaps w ith the m issing words.
Pauline Dubourg, Madame L’Espanaye’s .......................... says that she

has known both t h e ........................... for three years. The old lady and
h e r ..........................seemed to have a good relationship. They were
v e r y ........................... to each other. T h e y ............................. her very well.
She did n ’t know what Madame L’Espanaye’s was. She
never met anyone in the house when she came for t h e ..........................
They d id n ’t have a ..............................There was no furniture in the
building apart from that in t h e ..........................floor apartm ent where
they lived.
Pierre M o re au ,.......................... says that he has sold tobacco to
Madame L’Espanaye for almost four years. He w a s ........................... in
the area and has always lived there. The v ic tim s ........................... to
the house six years ago. The two of them lived a v e r y ..........................
life. H e ........................... they had money. The only people who
the house were the old lady and her daughter, a
........................... once or twice and a ........................... eight or ten times.
Now read the text and check your answers.
19
CHAPTER 2
The Testimonies
The next d ay ’s pap er h ad the follow ing a d d itio n al details:

The T ragedy o f the Rue Morgue.
Police have questioned m any individuals about this horrible
incident. The truth behind the m urders, however, still rem ains a
mystery.
Below we have printed the testim onies of the neighbours and
w itn esses:1
P auline D ubourg, M adam e L’E sp an ay e’s la u n d re s s ,2 says th at

she has know n both the victim s for three years. The old lady and
h er d au g h ter seem ed to have a good rela tio n sh ip . They w ere very
affectionate to each other. They p aid her very w ell. She d id n ’t
1. w itnesses : p eople w ho see an accident or crim e. In th is case they d id n ’t see

anything, b u t they heard som ething.
2. laundress : w om an w ho w ashes (launders) clothes professionally.
20
The Testimonies
know w hat M adame L’E spanaye’s job was. She never m et anyone in
the house w hen she came for the washing. They d id n ’t have a
servant. There was no furniture in the building apart from that in
the fourth floor apartm ent w here they lived.
Pierre Moreau, tobacconist, says that he has sold tobacco to

Madame L’Espanaye for alm ost four years. He was born in the area
and has always lived there. The victim s m oved to the house six
years ago. The two of them lived a very quiet life. He believed they
had m oney. The only people who entered the house w ere the old
lady and her daughter, a p o rte r1 once or tw ice and a doctor eight or
ten times.
O ther neighbours said sim ilar things. There were never any
visitors to the house. Nobody knew if M adame L’Espanaye had any
relatives. The shutters of the front w indow s were usually closed and
those on the w indow s at the back of the house were always closed
w ith one exception: the large room at the back on the fourth floor. It
was a good house and w a sn ’t very old.
Isidore M uset, policem an, says that som eone called him and told
him to go to the house. There he found about tw enty or thirty
people at the gates. They were trying to get in. He opened the gates
easily w ith a piece of m etal. The scream s continued until the gates
were open. T hen they stopped. They seem ed to be scream s of a
person (or people) in great agony. They w ere lo u d and long. The
1. porter : perso n w hose job is to carry things.
21
TheliBHiEljy n t he^ Rue Morgue,
party 1 w ent upstairs. From the first floor they could hear two
voices. They seem ed to be arguing. One was quite low, the other
m uch higher - a very strange voice. The first voice was that of a
Frenchm an. Not a wom an. The other voice was that of a fo reig n er2
but he could not tell if it was a m an or a w om an. He thought the
language was S panish but Mr M uset does not speak Spanish
him self.
Henri Duval, a neighbour, says that he was one of the party who
first entered the house. In general he agrees w ith the testim ony of
M uset. But he thinks that the high voice was that of an Italian
although he does not speak Italian. He is certain it was not French.
He could not be sure that it was a m an ’s voice. Possibly a wom an.
He knew M adam e L’Espanaye and her daughter. He was sure that
the high voice did not belong to either of them .
M onsieur O denheim er, restaurant ow ner, com es from

A m sterdam and does not speak French. He was passing the house
w hen he heard the scream s. They lasted for about ten m inutes. He
was one of those who entered the building. But he was sure that the
high voice was that of a m an - a Frenchm an. He d id n ’t know w hat
it was saying. The w ords w ere loud and quick, spoken in fear and
some anger. The voice was h a r s h .3 The low voice said several
tim es “H eaven h elp u s!” and once “My G od”.
1. party : (here) group of people.

2. foreigner : som eone from an o th er country.
3. harsh : u n p lea sa n t, strid en t, rough.
22
p p The Testimonies QyJ
Jules M ignaud, banker, says that M adam e L’Espanaye had some

p ro p e rty .1 She had an account w ith his bank. She m ade frequent
deposits in sm all sum s. Three days before her death she took out
the sum of 4,000 francs. The bank paid her the sum in gold and
sent a clerk to her house w ith the m oney.
A d o lp h e Le Bon, clerk to M ignaud and Son, says that at 12 noon

he accom panied M adam e L’Espanaye to her house
w ith the 4,000 francs in two bags. He did
not see anyone in the street at that time.
William Bird, ta ilo r,2 is an

Englishm an. He has lived in Paris
for two years. He was one of the
first to go up the stairs. He heard
the voices and also a sound, like the
sound of people fighting. The s h r ill3 voice was very loud. He
believes it was Germ an although he does not speak the language.
Perhaps the voice of a wom an.
Four of the above-nam ed w itnesses also said that the door of the
room w here they found the body of M adem oiselle L’Espanaye was
locked from the inside. Everything was perfectly silent. W hen they
opened the door th ere was nobody there. The w ind ow s of both
1. property : b u ild in g s or land.

2. tailor : person w hose job is to m ake m e n ’s clothes.
3. shrill : high and u n p lea sa n t.
23
The r c i f f f i H f f i th e^ .Rue Morgue,
the back and front room w ere closed and locked from inside. A
door betw een the two room s was closed but not locked. The door
from the front room into the corridor was locked w ith the key on
the inside. A sm all room in the front of the house at the end of the
corridor was open. This room was full of old beds and boxes. The
police searched the w hole house.
Some of the w itnesses say that only three m inutes passed
betw een the tim e they heard the angry voices and the m om ent they
forced the door of the room. O thers th in k the interval was as long
as five m inutes.
A lfo n so Garcia, u n d e rta k e r,1 says that he lives in the Rue

Morgue. He was one of the party w ho entered the house but he did
not go upstairs. He was too afraid. He heard the voices arguing but
he could not hear w hat they said. The low voice was that of a
Frenchm an. The high voice was an Englishm an. He is sure of this
although he does not un d erstan d English.
Alberto M ontani, baker, says he was one of the first to go

upstairs. He heard the voices clearly. The low voice was that of a
Frenchm an. He thinks that the shrill voice was speaking Russian.
He has never spoken to anyone from Russia.
Several w itnesses said that the chim neys of all the room s on the
fourth floor were too sm all for a hum an being to enter them . The
ap artm en t had no back door for a k iller to m ake his escape w hile
1. undertaker : person w hose job is to deal w ith the bodies of p eople w ho

have died and to arrange funerals.
24
The Testimonies
the party were com ing up the stairs. The body of M adem oiselle
L’Espanaye was so firm ly p u shed up the chim ney that it took four
or five of the party to rem ove it.
Paul Dumas, doctor, says that he saw the bodies in the

early m orning. They w ere both lying in the room w here
the daughter was found. The young la d y ’s body was
covered in cuts and bruises. The throat was greatly
m arked. The face was discoloured and the tongue was
partially b itten through. A ccording to M. Dumas, the
girl’s death was the result of strangulation. The body
of the m other was horribly m utilated. All the bones
of the right arm w ere broken. The w hole body
was badly bru ised and discoloured. It was not
possible to say w hat the cause of these injuries
was. Possibly a heavy w ooden club 1 or an iron
bar or a chair. Any large, heavy object could
produce these results in the hands of a pow erful
man. But it w ould be im possible for a wom an. The
head of the old lady was separate from the body.
Her throat was cut, probably w ith a razor.
This is the strangest m urder case that Paris has ever seen. As
usual, the p o lice know nothing. But there is not one single clue to
help them .
A C T I V I T I E S
The witnesses
Q In Chapter 2 you can find the testim onies of 11 people. Identify the
characters and write down their nam es and professions.
a. Pauline Dubourg laundress

b............................... ..........................
c.
d.
e.
f.
8-
h.
i.
j-
k.
What did the witnesses say?
Q Are these statem ents true (T) or false (F)? Correct the false ones.
T F
a. Pauline Dubourg said that although she had known
the victims for three years she still d id n ’t know what
Madame L’Espanaye’s job was and she had never
seen anybody in the house apart from the lady herself
and her daughter.
b. Pierre Moreau said that he had known Madame
L’Espanaye for seven years. He added that the victims
had led a very extravagant life despite their lack of
means and had often had friends staying over at
weekends.
26
A C T I V I T I E S
c. Isidore Muset said that when he had gone to the

house the gate had been locked and he had a hard
time trying to force it. He explained that he had heard
loud screams and two voices speaking in a foreign
language, possibly Arabic.
d. Henri Duval said that he him self had heard two
voices but he didn’t agree with Isidore Muset as to
the language they were speaking. In fact he thought
that the high voice was that of an Italian and the other
voice was that of a Frenchman. He was sure that
neither voice belonged to the owners of the apartment.
e. Monsieur Odenheimer said that the screams had j
lasted for about five minutes. He said that he had heard
the two voices too but couldn’t work out what they
were saying since his French was not good enough to
understand their rapid speech.
f. Jules Mignaud stated that Madame L’Espanaye was not
very well off. In fact, three days before her death she
had borrowed the sum of 4,000 francs.
g. Adolphe Le Bon declared that at twelve noon he had
accompanied Madame L’Espanaye to the bank to collect
the money. The street had been absolutely deserted
at the time.
Four more witnesses
Q Sum m arise in your own w ords the rem aining testim onies.
h. William Bird said t h a t ............................................................

i. Alfonso Garcia stated t h a t .....................................................
j. Alberto M ontani declared t h a t ............................................
k. Paul Dumas explained t h a t ...................................................
27
A C T I V I T I E S
Reported speech
| So far you have read the te stim o n ie s o f the o ffic ia l w itn e sse s.
H ow ever, a sm a ll n ew sp a p er p u b lish ed the statem en ts o f other
neighbours who d id n ’t want to be interview ed at first.
Turn the follow ing statem ents into reported speech.
a. (Monsieur Brelle) “Madame L’Espanaye never said hello to m e!”

M onsieur Brelle said that...
b. (Madame La Fayette) “I’ve been living in this area for fifteen
years but I have never met the lady you are referring to .”
c. (Paul Leroux) “If I knew something I would tell you but, believe
me, I d id n ’t hear a single noise.”
d. (Bettie Bellini) “I don’t know what you are on about. If you don’t
leave me alone, I’ll call the cops.”
e. (Claude Puselle) “I was sleeping when the horrible m urders
happened... I was having a nightmare actually.”
f. (Madame Sorelle) “This is the most appalling thing w hich has
ever happened in this area. It used to be a respectable Quartier,
you know !”
Writing a letter
| Y ou h a p p e n e d to be th e r e w h e n th e w h o le th in g h a p p e n e d .
O bviously you d id n ’t see the assassin but you also heard the two
voices and w itnessed the horrible scene in Madame L’E spanaye’s
apartment.
Write a letter to a friend recounting this terrible experience.
28
Before you read
g Listen to the first part o f the d ialogue betw een the narrator and
Dupin in Chapter 3. You have here a short report. Fill in the gaps
with a suitable word.
The police h a v e ......................... Adolphe Le Bon, t h e .......................

from the bank, but Dupin doesn’t trust them very much. In fact,
according to him, there is n o ....................... in the way they work,
other than the m ethod of t h e ............................Sometimes they get
....................... results but most of the time these are sim ply thanks to
....................... a n d ......................... work. However, there are times when
th e s e ......................... are not enough and their strateg ie s..........................
Vidocq for instance, is a professional policem an but he always makes
the s a m e ......................... concentrating too closely on an object and
therefore missing the object as a ..........................
In D upin’s opinion t h e ......................... is not always at the bottom of
th e In fact, he believes the truth is often at the
....................... of things. Will his intuition lead him to the solution of
the mystery?

CHAPTER 3
At the Scene of
the Crime
he story of the m urders in the Rue Morgue

continued in the evening edition of the new spaper.
“It says here that the police have arrested and
im p riso n ed A dolphe Le Bon, the clerk from the
b a n k ,” I said.
“The P arisian police are clever, but no m ore th an th a t,” D upin
rep lied . “There is no m ethod in the w ay they w ork, other th an the
m eth o d of the m om ent. The resu lts they get are su rp risin g but
m ost of the tim e they are obtained sim ply thanks to diligence and
h ard work. But w hen these qu alities are not enough th eir
strategies fail. Vidocq, for exam ple, was a good policem an. But he
alw ays m ade the sam e m istake. His investigations w ere alw ays
too in ten se. He c o u ld n ’t see clearly because he h eld the object too
30
At the Scene of the Crime
close. P erhaps he saw one or two details clearly b u t in doing this

he c o u ld n ’t see the object as a w hole. It is possible for an
investigation to be too profound. The tru th is not alw ays at the
bottom of a w e ll .1 In fact, I believe th at the tru th is often at the
surface o f things.
“As for th ese m u rd e rs,” D upin co n tin u ed , “we w ill go and see
the house w ith our ow n eyes. I know the Police C om m issioner. It
w ill not be difficu lt to obtain p e rm issio n .”
D upin o b tained p erm issio n and we w ent im m ediately to the
Rue M orgue. It w as late in the afternoon w hen we arrived at the
house. It was an o rd in ary P arisian house. Before we w ent in sid e
we w alked aro u n d the building. D upin exam ined the w hole area
w ith great atten tio n . T hen we en tered the house.
We w ent u p stairs, to the room w here they had found the body
of M adem oiselle L’E spanaye. To m y surprise, the bodies of the
two w om en w ere still there. D upin exam ined everything
inclu d in g the dead bodies. We th en w ent into the other room s,
accom panied by a policem an. We stayed in the house u n til it
began to get dark. T hen we began the journey hom e. On the way
hom e D upin sto p p ed for a m om ent to v isit the offices of one of
the daily n ew sp ap ers.
My co m p an io n d id not speak about the m urders again u n til
about noon the next day.
“Did you n o tice anything p ecu lia r at the scene of the
m u rd ers?” he asked me.
1. w ell : hole in the ground from w h ich you can obtain w ater.
31
T he T B B I g a ^ f n the^.Rue Morgue,
“No, n o th in g p ec u lia r,” I said. “O nly the things I read about in

the n e w sp a p e r.”
“The n ew sp apers know n o th in g !” he declared. “It seem s to me
th at they co n sid er th is case in so lu b le for the very reason th at
ren d ers it easy to solve. I m ean the bizarre character of the
m urders. The police cannot u n d e rsta n d the fact th at there is no
obvious m otive for the atrocity of the m urders. They are also
confused by the angry voices because there was no one u p stairs
ap art from the body of M adem oiselle L’Espanaye. A nd there was
no w ay to leave the b u ild in g apart from the stairs - the stairs th at
the investigating party of neighbours w ere going up. The d iso rd er
of the room ; the in cred ib le violence of the m urders; the
m u tilatio n of the old la d y ’s body. These things are
in co m p reh en sib le to the police. But the police have m ade a
m istake. They th in k the case is difficult w hen in fact it is only
very strange. In this case we m ust not ask ‘W hat has h a p p e n e d ? ’
We m u st ask ‘W hat has h ap p e n ed that has never h a p p e n e d
before?’ ”
I looked at D upin in silen t a s to n is h m e n t.1
“I am w aiting for a person to come here. I d o n ’t th in k he is
responsible for these terrible m urders but he is involved in them in
some way. I look for the m an here - in this room - every m om ent.
Perhaps he w ill not arrive but the probability is that he w ill.”
D upin co n tin u ed , looking at the w all as he spoke.
“We know th at the w itnesses heard two voices arguing and
th at these voices w ere not the voices of the victim s. A nd if they
1. astonishm ent : great surprise, confusion.
32
are not the voices of the victim s they m ust be - or one of them
m ust be - the voice of the killer. Let us now co n sid er the
testim ony. Did you notice anything
p ecu lia r about it? ”
“W ell, all the w itnesses said the
low voice was th at of a F renchm an.
But they all had different opinions
about the o ther v o ice.”
“Yes, th at was the testim ony they
gave. But it was not the p ec u lia rity
of the testim ony. The w itnesses,
as you say, agree about the
id en tity of the low voice. But
regarding the high voice, the
strange th in g is not the fact that
they disagreed. The strange
thing is th at each of them , an
E nglishm an, a S paniard, an
Italian, a H ollan der 1 and a
F ren ch m an th o u ght it was the
voice o f a foreigner. They w ere
all sure th at it was not the voice
of one of th eir countrym en. But
each of th ese w itnesses also says
th at the voice was speaking a
language th a t th ey do n o t know .
1. H ollander : a native of H olland (usually D utchm an).
34
At the Scene fjSf of the Crime
The F renchm an says it was the voice of a S paniard, but he does

not sp ea k S p anish. The H ollander does n o t sp ea k French bu t says
that the high voice was th at of a F renchm an. The E nglishm an
thinks th at it was the voice of a G erm an and does n o t un d ersta n d
German. The S p an iard is sure th at it was the voice of an
E nglishm an bu t he does n o t k n o w English. The Italian believes
that it was the voice of a R ussian but he has never spoken to
anyone fro m R ussia
D upin co n tin u ed . “From these conflicting testim onies we can
conclude th at the voice was very strange. In ad d itio n , one w itness
says the voice is h arsh rath er th an sh rill. A nd tw o others say it is
quick and un eq u al. No w itness could d istin g u ish any w ords it
said.
“I do not k n o w ,” c o n tin u ed D upin, “if th is is easy for you to
un d erstan d , b u t I tell you now th at the part of the testim ony
regarding the tw o voices is enough to enable us to fin d the
solution to this m y ste ry .”
35
A C T I V I T I E S
Dupin’s visit to the scene of the murders
] The narrator and D upin d ecid ed to go and see the scen e o f the
m urders w ith their ow n eyes and m anaged to obtain perm ission.
Sum m arise their visit to Madame L’Espanaye’s apartment and their
journey back in seven steps.
a. They arrived at the house late in the afternoon.

b...................................................................................................................................
c ...................................................................................................................................
d ...................................................................................................................................
e ...................................................................................................................................
f.
g...................................................................................................................................
Unfinished sentences - Dupin’s analytical mind
U Dupin thinks that the police are going about things the wrong way.
Complete his opinions about their attitude towards the crimes.
a. The police think t h a t .................................................................................

b. They cannot .................................................................................................
c. They are puzzled ........................................................................................
d. They do n ’t see h o w ....................................................................................
e. They find ......................................................................................................
f. They are wrong in th in k in g .....................................................................
g. They sho uldn’t be a sk in g ..........................................................................
36
A C T I V I T I E S
prediction
Q The enigm a seem s very d ifficult to solve yet Dupin appears to be

quite confident. Try to predict the follow ing m ysteries.
• Who was the man Dupin was waiting for?

• From the conflicting testim onies, we can understand one of the
two voices spoke a language nobody seemed to be sure about. A
strange language, harsh and shrill... What language was it?
Remember that Dupin said:
‘The Part o f the testim ony regarding the two voices is enough to
fin d the solution to this m ystery!’
Past perfect
] Late in the afternoon the narrator and Dupin arrived at Madame

L’Espanaye’s flat. What had happened at the apartment some hours
before? Look back at Chapter 1 and use the verbs in brackets to
recount the murders.
a. (break in) .....................................................................................................
b. (break)
c. (open, scatter about)
d. (bruise)
e. (strangle)
f. (mutilate)
37
A C T I V I T I E S
Singular or plural?
] Form sen ten ces w ith the fo llo w in g w ords ch oosin g b etw een the
singular and plural form.
a. D upin’s thesis is / a r e .............................................................................

b. The police has / h a v e ..............................................................................
c. D upin’s family was / w e r e .....................................................................
d. The evidence of the m urders is / a r e ..................................................
e. The furniture in Madame L’Espanaye’s apartment was / w e re ...........
f. The goods in the house w asn’t / w eren’t ...........................................
g. The people living in the area was / w e r e ...........................................
h. The hair found in the apartm ent was / w e r e ....................................
j Can you find six hidden w ords connected w ith the idea of Murder?
K H K I L L E R N M
I 0 S Q Z 0 P T K X
L M A s s A C R E N
L I S L A A X B H J
I C F A U S V W M B
N I P U I M s J H D
G D M G L J L U S I
R E Z H S C G H T N
Q T H T A E D C R E
w T R E Q C H A Z P
D L L R F Y 0 U S Q
38
The Art of the
Detective Storv *
Poe has been unanim ously acclaim ed as a m aster of the short story,
a genius of analytical im agination, a virtuoso of both logic and
hallucination. Although they may seem contradictory, it is the fusion
of these elem ents that give P oe’s work its unique flavour. The
English w riter D.H. Law rence once com pared Poe to a scientist,
saying “he is reducing his own self as a scientist reduces a salt (...)
It is an alm ost chem ical analysis of the soul and consciousness.’ 1
It is this synthesis o f art and science, narrative and m athem atics that
forms the basic recipe for all P oe’s short stories. Nevertheless, these
works belong to two quite separate narrative traditions, that of the
grotesque and that of ratiocination.
Together with other short stories like The M ystery o f M arie R oget,
The Gold Bug and The Purloined L etter, The M urders in the Rue
Morgue belongs to the tales of Ratiocination, as Poe him self defined
them. From a m odern perspective we could say that they are the
forerunners of the detective story, m easuring the detective’s
deductive skills against often bizarre m ysteries and enigm as. The
Gold B ug, for example, is based around the deciphering of a
cryptogram - a piece of secret w riting hidden in another text, while
The P urloined L etter's logic is in a way very sim ilar to that which is
1- D.H. L aw rence, Edgar A lla n Poe in S e lected Literary Criticism , L ondon:

H einem ann, 1978.
39
to be found in The M urders in the Rue Morgue. Both feature the
same protagonist, the French detective C. A uguste Dupin, who
reveals his m ethod of
investigation, that is to say his art
of analysis, in a few words
“Perhaps it is the very sim plicity
of the thing which puts you at
fault”, and thus by looking at the
surface of things is able to solve a
puzzle that was elem entary yet
beyond the police’s hurried
perception of crim e as always
being com plicated. We can hear
the echo of Dupin in Conan
Arthur Conan Doyle. D oyle’s Sherlock Holm es, for
whom the business of deduction
is best sum m ed up in his famous catchphrase, “Elem entary, my dear
W atson.”
The tradition of detective as logician which
Poe inaugurated still has its followers, even
am ong contem porary detective story
writers. But the som ewhat artificial formal
puzzles which w riters such as Poe, Conan
Doyle and Jacques Futrelle gave their
heroes to solve - the so-called “locked
room ” m ysteries - have more or less
disappeared. Partly responsible for this
40
was the development of the hardboiled 1 detective, the big city private
investigator whose archetype was Raymond C handler’s Philip
Marlowe. The type of mystery the hardboiled detective is called to
investigate is alm ost the inversion of the tradition of Poe. Here, what
begins as a relatively simple m atter of, say, finding a missing person
soon becomes a terrifyingly complex and illogical web which the
detective can barely understand. In his essay “The Art of Murder,”
Chandler acknowledged Dashiell Hammett as the true inventor of the
hardboiled detective. Tired of the artificiality of the “locked-room ”
puzzles Hammett “gave m urder back to people who com mitted it for a
reason.” But in doing so, paradoxically, Hamm ett introduced the
“irrational” into the art of the Detective story.
Q Now answer the follow ing questions.
a. What are some of the elements w hich can be found in Poe’s

short stories?
b. What are the two categories we can group his texts into?
c. How was D upin’s approach to crime different from that of the
police?
d. How did hardboiled detective fiction differ from the classical
detective story?
e. In what way is hardboiled fiction an “inversion” of the Poe
tradition?
f. Hammett “gave m urder back to people who com m itted it for a
reason.” What do you think he meant by this?
1. hardboiled : som eone w ho is tough and d o e sn ’t show m uch em otion.
41
CHAPTER 4
The Mystery
Unfolds
u p in co n tin u ed , “Let us now im agine th at we

are in the room in the Rue M orgue. W hat is the
first thing we sh o u ld look for? The w ay the
m urderers escaped. M adam e L’Espanaye and
her d au g h ter w ere not killed by ghosts. So how did the m urderers
escape? Let us now exam ine the possible m eans of exit. One thing
is clear. W hen the party cam e up the stairs, the assassins w ere
eith er in th e room w here they found M adem oiselle L’E spanaye or
the room next to it. So we have only two room s to look for exits.
The p o lice have m ade a com plete search of the apartm ent. But
w hen we w ere there, I decid ed to m ake my ow n search.
“Both doors going from the room s into the corridor w ere
locked w ith the keys inside. T hen there are the chim neys. As we
42
have already seen, these are too sm all to p erm it a person to clim b
up them . In fact th ey are too sm all to p erm it a cat to clim b up
them . So the only p ossible exit th at rem ains are the w indow s. The
m urderers c o u ld n ’t escape thro u g h the w indow s
at the front of the house because
som ebody in the street w o u ld see
them . T herefore they passed
through the w in d o w s in the back
room.
“There are tw o w indow s in this
room. One of th em is com pletely visible. I exam ined this w indow
and found th at it was n ailed shut. 1 It was im possible to raise it.
Then I exam ined the other w indow . It too was n ailed shut. The
police co n clu d ed from this th at the m u rd erers did not use the
w indow s to escape. Even if they did m anage to raise the w indow s
they co uld not rep lace the n ail again from the outside. So the
p olice d id not even try to rem ove the n ail from the second
w indow . But I knew th at the w indow s w ere the only m eans of
exit.
“I w ent to the first w indow and w ith d ifficulty I took the nail
out. Once the n ail was out it was easy to raise the w indow . But
the police w ere right. It was im possible to replace this n ail from
the outside. T hen I tu rn e d to the other w indow . It looked exactly
the sam e as the first. Once again I p u lle d the nail. But w hen I took
it out, I saw th at w hat I had in my h an d was only a part of the
nail. I raised the w in d o w and saw th at the bottom part of the nail
1. nailed shut : closed securely w ith nails and so im possible to open.
43
Thercmanaqy th e 1
rem ain ed in the w indow sill. 1 The n ail was broken and I saw th at
the fracture was very old. Now I u n d ersto o d everything. This
w in d o w only appeared to be locked. A nd w hen the assassins
closed it from the outside, the nail once again ap p eared secure.
The police d id n ’t see this because they d id n ’t try the second
w indow . They assum ed from its appearance th at it too was
securely locked.
“The next qu estion is how the m urderers got dow n from the
fo u rth floor to the ground. Before we w ent up to M adam e
L’E sp an ay e’s apartm ent, I had a w alk around the building. Less
th an tw o m etres from the w in d o w I have just spoken about, there
1. w indow sill : a ledge or sh e lf along the bottom of a w indow .
44
The Mystery Unfolds
is a lig htn in g rod 1 w h ich runs to the ground. From this rod it is
im possible to reach the w indow itself. But th en there are the
sh u tters on the w indow s. These sh u tters are very interesting.
They are in the form of a single door, bu t the top part is com posed
of h o rizo n tal w ooden bars w h ich provide excellent h an d -h o ld s. 2
Each sh u tter is about a m etre w ide, w h ich m eans th at if it is
exten d ed fully back to the w all, the sh u tter of our w in d o w is less
th an a m etre from the lightning rod. It is possible th at som eone
w ith great stren g th an d agility could jum p from the lightning rod
to the shu tter. T hen he could use his feet to p u sh h im self from the
w all and close the sh utter. A nd if the w in d o w was open he could
even en ter the room .
“But after all I have said, I w ant you to co n sid er the
extraordinary a gility necessary to do this. It is possible bu t - and
here is the im p o rtan t p o in t - you w ould need to have an alm ost
a n im a l-like agility to do it.
“Now we m ust p u t together the tw o p ec u lia r facts we have.
The first is th is act of anim al-like agility th at I have just spoken
about. The second is the extrem ely p ec u lia r voice th at the
w itnesses spoke about, the voice th at was both sh rill and harsh,
and also u n equal. A nd of course you rem em ber th at none of the
w itnesses co u ld agree about its country of o rig in .”
At th at p o in t I felt th at I alm ost u n d ersto o d w hat D upin was
saying bu t I co uld n o t m ake the final connection.
1. lightning rod : long, th in piece of m etal w h ich attracts lightning and allow s
it to reach the ground safely.
2. hand-holds : sm all spaces w here you can p u t your hands.
45
TheW S E i y n th e^ .Rue Morgue,
“You see ,” D upin co n tin u ed , “th at I have m oved the focus of

my in v estig atio n from how the assassins got out to how they got
in. B ecause I believe they u sed the sam e route in both cases. But
now let us co n sid er the in sid e of the apartm ent. Here, the
p ec u lia r thing is w hy the assassins did not take the gold. A lm ost
all the 4,000 francs th at M onsieur M ignaud talked about w ere in
bags on the floor. This m oney cannot be the m otive. It is sim ply a
co in cid en ce th at the m oney was d elivered to the house on the
sam e day as the m urders. S tranger co incidences th an this h ap p en
every day of our lives. If the gold w as the real m otive, th en the
m u rd erer m ust be a com plete idiot. It is im possible to believe th at
after m u rd erin g the tw o w om en, he forgot to take the gold.
“So now we have three points: the strange voice, the in cred ib le
agility and the absence of any m otive for the m u rd e rs.”
46
A C T I V I T I E S
Find the right words
| Here are some definitions. Find the words they refer to in the text.
a. A small group of people associated together in any occupation:
b. The act of examining closely or exploring w ith a view to finding

something: ....................................................................................................
c. A small spike of metal: .............................................................................
d. The part at the foot of a window: ..........................................................
e. A slender bar of metal or another material: ........................................
f. A cover to close a window: .....................................................................
g. High-pitched and piercing: .....................................................................
True or false?
D upin’s speculations are beginning to lead us towards the solution

of the crime. These are some o f his brilliant intuitions but some of
them are not accurate. Correct the false ones.
T F
a. The first thing to look for in order to find the solution □ □
was the way the m urderers had escaped.
b. Both doors facing the corridor were locked from the □ □
outside.
c. The chimneys were quite wide. □ □
d. The m urderers, in order not to be seen, m ust have □ □
passed from the windows in the back room.
e. The three windows in the back room were nailed □ □
shut.
f. One of the windows turned out to be broken which □ □
m eant that it only appeared to be locked.
47
A C T I V I T I E S
g. Less than one metre from this window there was a

lightning rod which ran to the ground.
□□
h. The shutters could provide perfect hand-holds, as
long as the m urderers were very agile and strong.
□□
i. The assassins were absolutely indifferent to the 4,000
francs that were lying on Madame L’Espanaye’s bed.
□□
Three conclusions
] Putting together the p eculiar facts that he had discovered, Dupin

came to three conclusions.
What were they?
1st .............................................................................................................
2nd ...........................................................................................................
3rd ...........................................................................................................
Very analytical... but what does he mean?
| The narrator is amazed by how quickly Dupin has arrived at a solution

to the crime but there are some things he doesn’t quite understand.
Write five queries starting with the following question words.
a. Who ....................................................... ?
b. Where ................................................... ?
c. What ...................................................... ?
d. How ....................................................... ?
e. Why ........................................................ ?
48
A C T I V I T I E S
Relative clauses
Link the two sentences w ith a relative pronoun. Omit it w hen you
can!
a. Dupin was a brilliant investigator. He d id n ’t take long to find out

w hat had really happened.
b. The m urderer had almost decapitated Madame L’Espanaye. His

strength m ust have been remarkable.
c. Dupin searched the flat. He found a lot of interesting things there.
d. Dupin had a lot of intuitions. He told them to the narrator.
e. The narrator was astonished by his reconstruction of the events.

He was not as insightful as Dupin.
f. The police inspected the windows. They appeared to be locked.
g. Each w indow had shutters. Their w idth was about one metre.
h. The m urderer m ust have been of an extraordinary agility. He

clim bed up the wall.
i. One of the two voices was extremely shrill. Dupin talked about it.
49
A C T I V I T I E S
Before you read
Q B Listen to D upin’s speech in Chapter 5 and fill in the gaps w ith the
m issing words.
“But let us look now at the m u rd e rs ................................. Here is a

w o m a n ...............................to death and t h e n ............................. up a
chimney. Would an ordinary m urderer push his victim up a
chimney? Don’t you think that it is a b i t ...............................? A little
absurd even? Do you think that it is something a normal hum an
being would do?
“Remember also that i t four men t o ..............................

her down from the chimney. The m u rd e re r............................. be
incredibly strong. And there is o th e r ...............................to suggest this
almost su p e rh u m a n ................................. On the fireplace there were
several lengths - very thick lengths - of h u m a n ................................
Now you and I know that it i s ............................. difficult to
...............................even twenty or thirty hairs together from the hum an
head. But our m urderer pulled p e rh a p s a m illion
hairs from the head of M ademoiselle L’Espanaye.”
50
CHAPTER 5
“C a u g ht ”
u t let us look now at the m urd ers them selves.

Here is a w om an strangled to death and th en
p u sh ed up a chim ney. W ould an ordinary
m u rd erer p u sh his victim up a chim ney? D on’t
you th in k th at it is a b it excessive? A little absurd even? Do you
th in k th at it is som ething a norm al hu m an being w ould do?
“Rem em ber also th at it took four m en to p u ll her dow n from
the chim ney. The m u rd erer m ust be in cred ib ly strong. A nd there
is o th er evidence to suggest this alm ost su p erh u m a n strength. On
the fireplace th ere w ere several lengths - very th ick lengths - of
hu m an hair. Now you and I know th at it is extrem ely difficult to
p u ll even tw en ty or th irty h airs together from the h u m an head.
But our m u rd erer p u lle d p erh ap s h alf a m illio n h airs from the
head of M adem oiselle L’Espanaye. A nd th en the th ro at of the old
lady w as not sim p ly cut: the head was com pletely separated from
51
The m isSEthe.Rue
^ Morgue,
the body. But the in stru m en t the m u rd erer used was a sim ple
razor. T hen we m ust also co n sid er the terrible ferocity of these
actions.
“Now we alm ost have a com plete p ictu re of the m urderer:
in cred ib ly agile w ith su p erh u m an strength, b ru tally ferocious but
w ith o u t m otive, in h u m an in his reasoning and actions and w ith
an extrem ely strange voice th at is foreign to the ears of m en from
m any different countries. W hat is your o p in io n ?”
“A m ad m an ,” I said. “Some m aniac escaped from a p sy ch iatric
h o s p ita l.”
“An in terestin g id e a ,” said D upin, “but m adm en com e from
som e n ation. It is true th eir language is often in co h eren t but it
does co n tain recognisable w ords. A nd the h air of m adm en is not
like the h air I now ho ld in m y hand. I found this piece of h air in
M adam e L’E sp anaye’s hand. W hat do you th in k ? ”
“D u p in !” I said, com pletely shocked; “this is no h u m a n h a ir.”
“I d id n ’t say th at it w a s,” said D upin, “but before we decide its
tru e n atu re I w ant you to look at this draw ing. It is a fa c s im ile
draw ing of the b ruises and fingerm arks th at w ere found on the
th ro at of M adem oiselle L’Espanaye.
“You see th at this draw ing gives us the idea th at the h an d s of
the m u rd erer easily en circled the throat. They did not m ove u n til
she was dead. Now, take this cy lin d er of w ood w h ich is
ap p ro x im ately the diam eter of the th ro at and w rap the draw ing
aro u n d it.”
I follow ed D u p in ’s in stru ctio n s.
“Now I w ant you to try to place your fingers over the
fingerm arks of the m u rd e re r.”
52
I tried to do th is b u t it was im possible. The h an d s on the paper
w ere too big, the fingers too long.
“T h is,” I said, “is the m ark of no h u m a n h a n d .”
“Now read th is article th at I found in a book on ethology.” 1
I took the book th at D upin offered m e and read. It
was a d etailed d escrip tio n of the large orang
outang of the East In d ian islands. I knew
very w ell the b e a st’s enorm ous size, its
in cred ib le stren g th and ferocity and
its capacity to im itate h um an
sounds an d actions. I now
u n d ersto o d co m pletely the
horrors of the m u rd ers in
the Rue M orgue.
“The d esc rip tio n of the
fingers is exactly the sam e as
those in the d raw in g ,” I said.
“The orang-outang is the only
th at could m ake th ese m arks. Also the
h air th at you show ed me is id en tical to th at of the beast described
in the book. But I can n o t u n d e rsta n d the details of the m ystery.
For exam ple, the fact th at there w ere two voices arguing and one
of them was clearly th at of a F ren c h m a n .”
“This is tru e ,” said D upin, “and we also know th at it was the
voice of the F ren ch m an w ho said the w ords ‘My G od!’. C ertainly
this F ren ch m an knew about the m urders. It is probable, how ever,
1. ethology : the science of anim al behaviour.

th at he w as in n o cen t of the bloody act itself. I im agine th at the
orang-outang escaped from him and th at he follow ed it to the
house in the Rue M orgue. But after the confusion of the in cid en t I
do not believe th at he recap tu re d it. It is still free. But this is just
my in tu itio n . If the F renchm an is in n o cen t of the m urders, the
a d v e rtise m e n t1 w h ich I left at the office of Le M onde last night
w ill bring him to our h o u se .”
He gave me a new sp ap er and I read:
of (the morning after the murder) a very

large red orang-outang. The ow ner of the
animal (believed to be a sailor from a Maltese
ship) may come to collect it at No. - Rue - ,
Faubourg St. Germain.
“How co uld you possibly k n o w ,” I asked, “that the m an was a

sailor, and from a M altese sh ip ? ”
“I do n o t know it,” said D upin. “I am not sure of it. But I found
this piece of ribbon 2 at the bottom of the lightning rod. It is the
type of ribbon th at sailors use to tie th eir h air in a ponytail. If you
look at the k n o t 3 you w ill see th at it is the kin d th at only sailors
1. advertisem ent [aedv's^tismant] : a n n o u n cem en t in a new spaper.

2. ribbon : long narrow piece of cloth used for tying things.
3. knot :
54
Caught
can tie. A nd this p artic u la r knot is p ecu liar to the

M altese.
“O ur m an is in n o cen t of the m u rd e rs,” D upin
co n tin u ed , “bu t he know s about them . C ertainly he w ill
h esitate before replying to the adv ertisem en t - and
before com ing here and asking for the orang-outang. But he
w ill also think: ‘I am poor; m y orang-outang is of great value
- p artic u la rly to som eone poor like me; w hy sh o u ld I be
afraid? W hy sh o u ld I lose it because of som e im agined
danger? After all, the beast was found in the
Bois du B oulogne - a very great distance
from the scene of the m urders. A nd no-
one could possibly th in k th at an
anim al was resp o n sib le for
them . Above all, the
ad v ertiser know s me. I
d o n ’t know how m uch
he know s about the
atrocity, but if I do not
collect the anim al I
w ill attract suspicion,
both to it and to me. A nd
I do not w ant to do that.
Therefore I w ill answ er the
ad v ertisem en t and get the orang
outang back and keep it w ith me u n til
everyone has forgotten this horrible
in c id e n t.’ ”
55
A C T I V I T I E S
What happened in Chapter Five?
] Answ er the follow ing questions.
a. What was the narrator’s opinion regarding the identity of the

murderer?
b. Why d id n ’t Dupin find it convincing?
c. What did Dupin get the narrator to do with the drawing?
d. What was their conclusion after doing so?
e. What did a book on ethology have to do with the m urders in the

Rue Morgue?
f. Whose were the two voices?
g. What was the Le Monde advertisem ent about?
h. Who wrote it and why?
i. What did the piece of ribbon prove?
j. Who was Dupin expecting a visit from soon?
A bizarre advertisement
] Im agin e you h a v e fou n d a sm a ll fox in you r gard en . W rite an

advertisem ent to be published in the loca l new spaper to find the
owner o f the anim al.
56
A C T I V I T I E S
Understanding the mind of the sailor
Dupin w as very insightful and he knew that the sailor w ould go to

the place m entioned in the ad. What led him to believe so?
a...................................................................................................................................
b.
c.
d.
Role-play
] When Dupin w ent to the office o f Le Monde he found a very curious

and inquisitive secretary...
Work in pairs. One of you is Dupin and the other student is the
secretary who is puzzled by the advertisem ent and asks a lot of
questions about it. Remember that Dupin doesn’t mind answering
because he is really proud o f his discoveries.
57
Apes Going Ape
The king o f all apes who go ape 1 is of course King Kong. The
original King Kong featured in the 1933 classic film of the same
name. The beast, who is captured on a hunting expedition, is
brought to New York to be displayed for all the world to see.
Needless to say, Kong is not too happy about having been torn from
his hom eland and shipped to Am erica for the entertainm ent of the
m asses and soon evades his captors, kidnapping the hunter’s
girlfriend and taking her to the top of the Em pire State Building.
The final sequence which features the wounded Kong swiping 2 at
and Ernest B. Schoedsak, 1933.
1. go ape : (slang) becom e crazy.

2. sw iping : hitting.
58
the aeroplanes that buzz around him, while holding the scream ing
heroine in one of his huge fists is surely one of the m ost famous in
the history of cinem a. Surrounded by the bad acting of the cast,
Kong, brilliantly anim ated by W illis O ’ Brien, is easily the m ost
interesting character in the film and em erges as a tragic hero for
m odern times.
A slightly more eloquent ape is the narrator of Franz K afka’s short
story, “A R eport for an A cadem y” who, im prisoned in a cram ped
cage, decides that his only “way out” is to evolve, which he does by
im itating people. R eporting the story to his judges - the A cadem y -
he rem arks ironically: “your own apehood, gentlem en, in so far as
you have anything of the sort behind you, cannot be farther removed
from you than m ine from me.”
In a clever reversal of the idea of the ape as our savage ancestor, the
1960s science fiction film Planet o f the A p es, the first and best of a
Planet o f the Apes by Franklin J. Schaffner, 1967.
59
series of adaptations of Pierre B oulle’s pedantic novels, has the apes
ruling over what appears to be a sim ian version of the Roman
em pire, while human slaves provide am usem ent and opportunities
for scientific study.
Somewhat more realistically perhaps, chim panzees have provided
the villains for two recent thrillers: In L ink, (1985) a psychopathic
cigar-sm oking chim p chases a terrified woman around an isolated
m ansion after his m aster m ysteriously disappears, while George
R om ero’s infinitely superior M onkey Shines, (1988) tells the story of
Ella, a chim panzee who has been injected with hum an brain tissue
to make her more intelligent. But with her new sem i-hum an
intelligence Ella also learns hum an em otions such as rage,
frustration, jealousy and hate, all of which make her final descent
into m adness and resulting razor-w ielding ram page much more
believable and thus more terrifying.
| Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? Correct the false ones.
T F
a. “Going ape” means going out o f control. □□
b. King Kong was brought to New York for scientific
study.
□□
c. In Kafka’s story the ape decides to become like a
hum an being.
□□
d. Pierre Boulle’s novels are set at the time of the
Roman Empire.
□□
e. M onkey Shine is a thriller. □□
f. Romero’s film is unrealistic. □□
60
I V I
Before you read
^7^ Q Listen carefully!
Listen to Chapter 6 and answer the follow ing questions.
a. How old was the orang-outang?
b. Where did the story begin?
c. What was the orang-outang holding in its hand when it ran away
from the sailor’s place?
d. What happened to Adolphe Le Bon?
e. What happened to the orang-outang?
61
CHAPTER 6
S a i l o r ’s Sto ry
t th at m om ent we h eard the so und of footsteps on

the stairs. But now the v isito r seem ed to h esitate
and we heard him going back dow n. D upin was
m oving to the door w hen we h eard him com ing
back up. This tim e he did not h esitate b u t came to our door and
knocked.
“Come in ,” said D upin in a friendly voice.
A m an entered. He was a sailor, a tall, m u scu lar m an.
“Good ev en in g ,” he said.
“Sit dow n m y frie n d ,” said D upin. “I im agine you are here for
the orang-outang. A rem arkable beast. How old is h e?”
“I d o n ’t know ex actly ,” the sailor re p lied , “m aybe four or five.
Have you got him h ere?”
“Oh n o ,” said D upin. “We cannot keep him here. He is at a
62
stable 1 in the Rue Dubourg. You can get him in the m o rn in g .”

“T hank y o u ,” said the sailor. “I w ill of course pay you a
rew ard 2 for finding h im .”
“T h a t’s very kind of y o u ,” said D upin. “Now let me see. W hat
shall I ask for this service? Ah yes, I know . My rew ard shall be
this. You w ill tell me everything you know about these m urders
in the Rue M orgue.”
As he said these w ords D upin w alked slow ly to the door and
locked it, and p u t the key in his pocket. He th en took a pistol
from his pocket and placed it calm ly on the table.
The sailor fell back into his chair, trem bling w ith fear. His face
w ent as w hite as death itself.
He did not say a w ord.
“My frie n d ,” said D upin
in a kin d voice. “There is no
n eed to be alarm ed. I know th at you
are in n o cen t of the m u rders in the Rue
M orgue. But you m ust adm it th at you are
inv o lv ed in them in som e way. You have noth in g to hide.
But every p rin cip le of h o n o u r obliges you to confess all that
you know . A n in n o cen t m an is now in prison, charged w ith
these m urders. You m ust tell us w ho the real p erp etrato r 3 is .”
“I w ill tell you all I know about this b usiness, but you w ill not
b elieve me. I do not really believe it m yself. But I am in n o c e n t.”
1. stable : b u ild in g in w h ich horses are kept.

2. reward : recom pense for a service.
3. perpetrator : the person resp o n sib le for a crim e.
64
A Sailor's Story
The sailor was silen t for a m om ent. Then he began to tell the
story.
“It began on the islan d of Borneo. O ur ship sto p p ed there on
the w ay to India. A friend of m ine cap tu red an orang-outang but
he fell sick and died. I becam e the b e a st’s m aster. I took it w ith
me on board the ship, w here it stayed u n til we got back to Paris.
Then I h id it in my apartm ent. I knew th at it w as valuable so I
d ecid ed to sell it.
“The next evening I w ent out w ith som e sailor-
friends. W hen I got back in the early m orning I could
not believe w h at I saw. There, sitting in m y chair, was
the orang-outang. Its face was
covered in shaving foam 1
and in its h an d was
my razor. It sat
there looking at itself
in the m irror. I
realized th at the
beast was trying to
shave. But all I could
th in k about was the razor in its hand. I was
terrified. For a m in u te I d id n ’t know w hat to do.
T hen I took the w hip 2 th at I u sed to control the
orang-outang. W hen he saw it he was afraid, but
before I could do anything he ran out of the
1. shaving foam : a substance m en p u t on th e ir faces before they shave.
2. whip :
&
65
wasSE i• n «t .he
h 1
Rue Morgue
room and dow n the stairs, and th en jum ped out of an open
w in d o w into the street.
“I follow ed the orang-outang dow n street after street. The city
was deserted. It was three o ’clock in the m orning and
everyone was in bed. F inally I trap p e d it in an
alley 1 at the rear 2 of the Rue M orgue. But th en
the beast saw a light shining from the open
w in d o w of M adam e L’E spanaye’s room on the
fo urth floor of her house. R unning to the
b u ild in g , it saw the lightning rod, w h ich it clim bed w ith
u n b eliev ab le agility. Then, w ith one long arm, it grasped 3 the
sh u tter w h ich was against the w all and u sed it to sw ing itself into
the room .
“At first I was happy. The beast
was trap p e d and it w o u ld be easy
to capture it now . But I was afraid
for the occupants of the house. So I
d ecid ed to follow it. W ith som e
difficulty, I clim bed up the
lightning rod, but w hen I got to the
level of the w in d o w I could not
reach the shutter. I could only
look into the room . I was
h o rrified by w hat I saw and
1. alley : narrow street.

2. rear : back part.
3. grasped : took h o ld of.
66
The TSlfHtflffi the^.Rue Morgue,
heard. The tw o w om en w ere scream ing. I saw the orang-outang
take M adam e L’Espanaye by the h air and cut her th ro at w ith the
razor. The m ovem ent of its arm was so pow erful th at the w o m an ’s
head was alm ost separated from her body. On seeing her blood, it
becam e furious and jum ped u p o n the girl, p u ttin g its h ands
aro u n d h er th ro at u n til she too was dead. Just then, it saw me
th ro u g h the w in d ow and was su d d en ly afraid.
“It becam e agitated and started throw ing the fu rn itu re around
the room . I co u ld see it w an ted to h id e the evidence of its terrible
acts, so it took the body of the girl and p u sh ed it up the chim ney.
T hen it tu rn e d to the body of the old w om an w h ich it th rew out of
the w indow .
“As the orang-outang ap p ro ach ed 1 the w in dow I was terrified.
I clim bed back dow n the lightning rod and ran hom e as fast as I
could. I w an ted to get as far aw ay from the beast as p o ssib le .”
“So the w ords th at the party on the stairs h eard w ere your
exclam ations of h o rro r,” I said.
“A nd the sh rill, harsh voice was th at of the b e a st,” D upin
added.
A nd th at is alm ost the end of the story. D upin and I w ent to
the police and told them everything. They im m ediately released
A d olphe Le Bon, the clerk from the bank. A nd as for the sailor -
w ell, he finally caught his orang-outang and sold it to the city zoo
for a very large sum of m oney.
1. approached : cam e near.
68
A C T I V I T I E S
True or false?
| Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? Correct the false ones.
T F
a. The sailor was a skinny man. □□
b. Dupin expected the sailor to pay a large sum of
money as a reward.
□□
c. Dupin put a pistol on the table and this scared the
sailor.
□□
d. Dupin knew the sailor was innocent. □□
e. The orang-outang was captured in Borneo □ □
by the sailor himself.
f. When the sailor arrived from meeting his friend the
beast was trying to shave.
□ □
g- When the beast entered the house in Rue Morgue □ □
the sailor was unable to follow it.
h. One of the two voices was the sailor’s. □ □
i. The sailor was really shocked by the beast’s actions. □□
The key to the mystery
] The editorial board of Le Monde have convinced Dupin to write a

short article about the murders entitled:
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE RUE MORGUE!!!
Write a short but detailed article about what really happened.
70
A C T I V I T I E S
Third conditionals
Q What w ould /w ou ld n’t have happened if...

Make sentences using the follow ing cues.
a. the sailor / not go / Borneo

b. the orang-outang / not find / the razor
c. the window / properly locked
d. Madame L’Espanaye / more fit
e. the orang-outang / not escape from the house
Speaking - role-play
Q Work in pairs. One of you is a journalist, the other is the sailor. Act out
the interview remembering to include as many details as possible.
The story
Q a. Did you like the story?

b. Why/Why not?
c. If you had to describe it w ith three adjectives how w ould you
define it?
The characters
Q Try to describe each character in a few sentences.
The Narrator ......................................................................................................

Dupin ...................................................................................................................
The s a ilo r ............................................................................................................
The orang-outang .............................................................................................
71
Paris in the 1800’s
Napoleon Bonaparte, crowned em peror in 1804, had great projects for
the capital. He decided to improve the River Seine. The Pont des Arts,
made entirely of metal, had just been finished. During his reign three
kilometres of quays 1 were built from the Louvre to the Tuileries, and
around the Cite. Rue de Rivoli with its arches was created.
The Em peror then undertook the construction of the Arc de Triomphe
which was com pleted many years later in 1835, and the church La
M adeleine, in neoclassic style.
With the increase of the population new markets and numerous
slaughter-houses 2 were created to meet the needs of the Parisians.
After the fall of Napoleon, work projects slowed down as the kings
A quay o f the River Seine in 1894.
1. quays [ki:z] : long platform s beside the river.

2. slaughter-houses : places w here anim als are k illed for th eir m eat.
72
who followed did not have Napoleon I ’s ambitious projects and the
coffers 1 had been left empty.
Slowly, however, the coffers filled up again and new
living areas were created inside the capital and
outside its walls.
Thanks to new water supply systems hygiene
improved greatly. Numerous public baths were
created, and they were used by the m iddle classes,
who didn’t have bathrooms at home. Men and
women went to the public baths on alternate days.
Doctors suggested taking baths, but not more than
once a month!
Gas street lighting was introduced and people were
Gas street lamps. able to stroll in the streets until very late at night.
Horse-drawn public carriages, 1835.
1. coffers : m oney th at the governm ent has to spend.
73
carriages appeared which guaranteed a regular transport service. The
mail was picked up several times a day from more than 200 mailboxes.
The demand for food in Paris was constantly increasing. In spite of the
cholera epidemic of 1832, the population continued to grow during the
reign of Louis-Philippe. A great number of nobles who had fled during
the Revolution returned.
The capital had its own food supply thanks to the dairies, cultivated
land and vineyards inside and outside the city walls.
Markets, food and wine shops, mediocre and luxurious cafes, and
prestigious restaurants grew everywhere in the capital.
There were some strange constructions along the Seine: flat-bottomed

boats with a basin in the middle where washerwomen washed clothes
and often hung them to dry. These were the laundry boats of the
washerwomen of the Seine.
Small trades developed and artisans flourished. The “bouquinistes”, or
used-books merchants, invaded the quays and bordering area of the
Seine, as exasperated bookshop owners looked on. Small industries,
which produced luxury products such as perfumes and lace, began to
appear.
The development of the railroad promoted commerce and banking, and
industrial fortunes expanded.
Along with this economic growth poverty, alcoholism and contagious
diseases proliferated at various social levels. Social work grew slowly
and important hospital projects were implemented.
Teaching developed too, thanks to the initiative of the church, but
illiteracy remained high. Children were sent to work in factories instead
74
of attending school. Louis-Philippe ordered the embellishment of Place
de la Concorde. The obelisk of Luxor (Egypt) was erected in 1836.
In 1855 and 1867, during the reign of Napoleon III (Second Empire),
two universal Expos took place. Parisians and visitors from all over the
world admired the great industrial and technical discoveries of the 19th
century.
Napoleon III asked the prefect Haussmann to design and restructure the
city with wide streets, and demolish the old, unhealthy areas.
Huge “boulevards” were created that made it easy to move about in the
capital.
Big markets were rebuilt with new materials: iron and cast iron. 1
The prestigious Theatre de V Opera was erected in this period.
Theatre de TOpera.
1. cast iron : iron w h ich c ontains sm all am ount of carbon.
75
A new kind of shop was born: the department store, such as the “Bon
M arche” and the “Belle Jardiniere”. People were very enthusiastic
because of two great novelties: the entrance was free and the prices were
indicated on the products.
In 1870 the Franco-Prussian War caused the fall of the Second Empire.
A disastrous peace treaty for France followed.
The new Assembly of Deputies chose to meet in Versailles and not in
Paris. This awkward move caused discontent mainly among the poor
classes who had already suffered greatly in the war. A General Council
met at the Hotel de Ville and the “Insurrection of the Comune” took
place. The rebels and the deputies confronted each other in Paris, which
was in flames. The rebels were shot. After a difficult beginning, the new
Republic rebuilt a big part of the capital, and tried to make the Parisians
and the entire world forget the victory of the Prussians, the insurrection
of the rebels, and the
civil war.
The last great work
projects which
Haussman had begun
during the Second
Empire were finally
completed. Examples
of these were the
department stores “La
Samaritaine” and “Le
Louvre”. The steam
engine greatly
Le Louvre department store.
improved public transport: trams, funicular railways (there are many
hills in Paris), buses and boats transported numerous travellers who
moved rapidly from one part of the city to the other.
In 1873 an enormous votive church was built on the hill of Montmartre.
It was made of a special kind of
marble that turned white under the
rain. It was the basilica of “Sacre
Coeur”, built to thank Jesus for
having saved Paris during the war
against the Prussians.
A strange tower slowly rose in the
skies of Paris. Passer-bys were
worried about it. Engineer Eiffel, the
designer, promised that the tower
would be ready for the Expo of 1889
to commemorate the centennial of
the French Revolution. Eiffel also
reassured the people that the tower The Eiffel Tower.
would be taken down right after the Expo!
The nineteenth century was drawing to a close. Students and factory
workers went to dance in the popular dance halls located at Montmartre
and other suburbs of Paris.
At the “Moulin Rouge” one could admire the dancers of the can-can,
who danced to the lively rhythms of Offenbach’s music.
This was the beginning of the “Belle Epoque”, a long period of light
heartedness and joy, that started in the 1880’s and was brutally
interrupted by the first World War.
77
| Answ er the follow ing questions.
a. What was built during Napoleon Bonaparte’s reign?

b. Why did work projects slow down after the fall ofNapoleon?
c. How often did doctors suggest that people took baths?
d. What were the “bouquinistes”?
e. What new kind of shop was born?
f. What various kinds of public transport were there?
g. What was special about the marble of the basilica of “Sacre
Cceur”?
h. What was the Eiffel Tower built for?
i. How long did the “Belle Epoque” last?
Boulevard Saint-Michel
78
CHAPTER 1
The Search for

the Letter
I
t was just after dark one w in d y evening in the
au tu m n of 18 . I w as w ith my friend C. A uguste
D upin, in the library of his Paris apartm ent. For one

ho u r at least we had been sitting in profound
silence. D upin seem ed co n ten t just to w atch the sm oke
rising from his pipe. As for m yself, I was th in k in g
about the affair of the Rue
M orgue. M ore p artic u la rly
I was th in k in g about how
quickly D upin had solved the case w hen
the police could do nothing. It was therefore
som ething of a co incidence w hen our old
80
The Search for the Letter
acquaintance 1 M onsieur G of the Paris police arrived at the door.

G. ex p lain ed th at he had called to co n su lt us, or ra th e r to ask
the o p in io n of m y friend, about som e official b u sin ess th at had
caused a great deal of trouble.
“A nd w h at is the d ifficulty n o w ?” I asked. “No m ore m urders,
I h o p e?”
“Oh no, n o th in g like that. The fact is, the b u sin ess is very
sim ple in d eed , and I am sure we can m anage it ourselves. But I
th o u g h t D upin w o uld like to hear the details of the case, because
it is so very o d d .” 2
“S im ple an d o d d ,” said D upin.
“Yes, in a way, though not exactly. The fact is, we have all
been extrem ely p u zz le d 3 because the affair is so sim ple and yet...
we can n o t u n d e rsta n d it.”
“P erhaps it is the very sim p licity of the case w h ich you do not
u n d e rs ta n d ,” said m y friend.
“W hat n o n sen se you talk som etim es, M onsieur D u p in ,” said
the Prefect, laughing.
“P erhaps the m ystery is a little too sim p le ,” D upin co ntinued.
“Oh good heavens! W hat an absurd id e a !”
“A little too o b v io u s.”
“Ha! ha! h a !” laughed our visitor, deeply am used by D u p in ’s
suggestion.
“A nd w hat after all is this bu sin ess all ab o u t?” I asked.
“I w ill tell you in a few w o rd s,” said the Prefect of police, “but
1. acquaintance : som eone you know slightly, b u t not w ell.

2. odd : strange, u n u su al.
3. puzzled : confused.
81
before I begin I m ust w arn you th at th is affair dem ands the

greatest secrecy. If anybody knew that I was telling you about it I
w o u ld probably lose my jo b .”
“P ro ce ed ,” I said.
“W ell then; I have received personal inform ation from a very
high official th at a certain docum ent of the u tm o s t1 im portance
has been p u rlo in e d 2 from the royal apartm ents. The in d iv id u a l
w ho took it is know n; he was seen to take it. It is also know n th at
he still has the d o cu m en t.”
“How do you know th is? ” asked D upin.
“We know , because of the n atu re of the docum ent, and because
if it h ad passed out of the ro b b er’s possession it w o u ld have
certain... ahem ... ‘d ra m a tic’ consequences. Since these
consequences have not yet arrived, we can assum e th at the robber
still has the d o cu m en t.”
“C an’t you be a little m ore e x p licit?” I said.
The po licem an h esitated for a m inute.
“If th is do cum ent w ere revealed to a th ird person - an
exalted 3 personage w hom I cannot nam e - it w ould cause grave
dam age to the h o n o u r and re p u ta tio n of its ow ner - w ho is h erself
an im p o rtan t royal personage. This fact gives the robber pow er
over her. He can use the docum ent as a form of b lack m a il.” 4
“But th is pow er w ould dep en d on the robber know ing th at the
ow ner of the letter knew he had taken it.”
1. utmost : greatest, extrem e.

2. purloined : stolen.
3. exalted : very im portant.
4. blackm ail : w hen you m ake a person pay you m oney to keep his secrets.
82
“The th ie f,” said G. “is the M inister D , an u n scru p u lo u s

in d iv id u a l. The m ethod of the theft w as ingenious. The docum ent
- it is a letter to be ho n est - had been received by the royal
personage w h ile she was alone in the royal bedroom . As she was
reading it, she w as su d d en ly in te rru p te d by the entrance of her
hu sb an d , the o th er personage I m en tio n ed before, the person th at
she w an ted to c o n c e a l1 it from. She tried to throw the letter into a
draw er, w ith o u t success, and so she was forced to lay it, open as
it was, on a table. F ortu n ately only the side w ith the address on it
was v isible and so the letter was not noticed. It was th en th at the
M inister D entered. His sharp 2 eye im m ediately perceived
the letter and recognised the address. W hen he saw the anxious
state of its ow ner, he knew at once her secret. After
some ro u tin e b u sin ess tran sactio n s, he
p ro d u ced from his pocket a letter
sim ilar to the one lying on the table
and open ed it, p re ten d in g to read the
contents. He th en casually p laced his
letter next to the one on the table and
co n tin u ed conversing w ith the lady and
her h u sb an d about p o litical m atters.
T hen ju st before leaving the room he
took the la d y ’s letter from the table. Of
course she saw him take it b u t she could say nothing. Her
h u sb an d was stan d ing next to her, and n atu ra lly she did not w ant
1. conceal : hide.
2. sharp : alert, perceptive.
83
Th e Purloined Letter,
him to know about the letter. A nd so the m in ister left the room
w ith the vital docum ent in his pocket, leaving his ow n letter -
w h ich was of no im portance - u p o n the ta b le .”
“So it is tru e ,” said D upin. “The robber know s th at his victim
saw him take the letter. He has her in his p o w e r.”
“Y es,” said the Prefect of Police. “A nd for the last few m onths
he has been using that pow er for political purposes, to a very
dangerous extent. The lady w ho was robbed is now convinced that
she m ust get the letter back. But this cannot be done openly. That
“Q uite rig h t,” said D upin, thro u g h the sm oke. “I cannot

im agine th at th e Paris police has a b etter ag en t.”
“You flatter 1 m e,” said the Prefect, “bu t perhaps there is som e
tru th in w h at you say .”
“It is cle a r,” said I, “th at the m in ister still has the letter in his
possession. If he u sed it it w ould no longer give him any p o w e r.”
“T ru e ,” said G. “and th at is w hy I d ecided to co n d u ct a
m eticulous search of the m in ister’s house. The problem was how to
search w ith o u t his know ledge. It w ould be extrem ely dangerous if
1. flatter : com plim ent, say n ice things.

T he Purloined Letter,
he realized we w ere looking for the letter. F ortunately for us the

m in ister is often absent from hom e all night, and he does not have
m any servants. The servants’ bedroom is quite far from the
m in ister’s room s, and the servants are usually d ru n k 1 at night.
“As you know, I have keys w hich can open any room or cabinet
in Paris. So every night for the last three m onths we have been
searching D ’s house. But after all our efforts I m ust now
conclude that the m inister is a m ore astute in d iv id u al than I am. I
can assure you that we have investigated every corner of the
prem ises, every little space w here it w ould be possible to conceal
the letter, b u t still we cannot find it.”
“But is it not p ossible,” I said, “that he has h id d en it som ew here
else, som ew here other than his ow n house?”
“No, I d o n ’t th in k th a t’s very likely,” 2 said Dupin. “He needs to
have the docum ent near to him . It m ust be instantly available so
that he can produce it w henever it becom es necessary to do so.”
“If th at is the case, then the letter m ust be som ew here in the
m in ister’s house. For it is not possible that it is on his p erso n .”
“A bsolutely n o t,” said the Prefect of Police. “My m en have
stopped and searched him tw ice un d er my ow n su p erv isio n .”
“O bviously the m an is not a com plete fool,” said Dupin. “He
surely knew th at he w ould be searched.”
“Not a com plete fool, n o ,” said G. “But he is a poet, w hich I
consider to be only one grade higher than a fool.”
“Tell us the details of your search ,” I said.
1. drunk : into x icated w ith alcohol.

2. lik ely : probable.
86
“W ell, we took our tim e and we searched everyw here. I have a

lot of experience in these m atters. We divided the building into its
separate room s and for each of these room s we spent an entire
w eek searching. First we exam ined the furniture. We opened every
possible draw er. To a w ell-trained police officer the existence of a
secret draw er is im possible: there is only a certain am ount of space
in each cabinet. After the cabinets we exam ined the chairs. We
probed 1 the cushions w ith long needles. Then we rem oved the
tops from the tab les.”
“Why did you do th at?”
“Som etim es a person w ho w ishes to conceal a
docum ent rem oves the top of a table and excavates
of the legs. He th en pushes the docum ent into the
cavity and replaces the top. The bottom s and tops c
bedposts 2 are used in the sam e w ay.”
“But you could not possibly rem ove - you
could not dism antle 3 all the pieces of furniture
in w h ich it w ould be possible to hide a letter. A
letter can be rolled into a th in spiral tube, no
thicker th an a knitting needle. 4 In this form it
could be in serted into the r u n g 5 of a chair for
exam ple. You did not dism antle all the chairs?”
1. probed : (here) exam ined.

2. bedposts : v ertical su p p o rts at the corners of a bed.
3. dism antle : take apart.
4. knitting needle :
5. rung :
87
Purloined Letter
“C ertainly not; but we did better - we exam ined the rungs of

every chair in the house, and indeed the jointings 1 of every other
piece of furniture, w ith the help of a very pow erful m icroscope. If
there h ad been any changes in the jointings, any disorder in the
glueing, we w ould have noticed it im m ediately.”
“I presum e you looked at the m irrors, betw een the frames and
the glass plates, and also the beds and bedclothes as w ell as the
curtains and carpets?”
“Of course; and w hen we had finished exam ining the furniture
we searched the house itself. We divided its surface into num bered
com partm ents; then we scrutinized each in d iv id u al square
centim etre of the house, and also of the two adjoining h o u ses.” 2
“The two adjoining houses!” I exclaim ed. “You m ust have had a
great deal of tro u b le.”
“Yes we had, but the rew ard for finding
the letter is very h ig h .”
“You in clu d ed the grounds around the
hou ses?”
“All the grounds are p a v e d 3 w ith brick.
It was easy to search them . We sim ply had to
check that the grass betw een the bricks was
u n d istu rb e d .”
“Of course you looked through D ’s
papers and exam ined his b o o k s.”
1. jointings : places w here tw o parts of som ething m eet.

2. adjoining houses : the houses on eith er side.
3. paved : covered.
88
“C ertainly; we opened every file and tu rn ed over every page of

every book. We also m easured the thickness of each book cover and
exam ined the bindings 1 w ith the m icroscope. If any of the bindings
had been altered in any way we w ould have n o ticed .”
“You explored the floors beneath the carp ets.”
“Yes. We rem oved every carpet and exam ined the floorboards
w ith the m icroscope.”
“A nd the w allp ap er?”
“Y es.”
“You looked in the cellars?”
“Yes we d id .”
“T h en ,” I said, “you have m ade a m iscalculation and the letter
is not in the h o u se.”
“I th in k you are rig h t,” said the Prefect. “A nd now D upin, w hat
do you th in k I sh ould do?”
“I th in k you should search the house again.”
“T hat w ould be absolutely p o in tle ss,” 2 said the Prefect. “I tell
you, as sure as I live and breathe, the letter is not in the h o u se.”
“I have no better advice to give y o u ,” said Dupin. “I presum e
you have an accurate description of the letter.”
“Oh yes!” said the Prefect. He took a notebook out of his pocket
and began to read a detailed account of the internal, and especially
of the external appearance of the stolen docum ent. Soon
afterw ards, he th anked us for our tim e and left the apartm ent. He
looked m ore depressed than I had ever seen him before.
1. bindings : the parts of books w here the pages are attached to the front cover.
2. pointless : futile, useless.
A C T I V I T I E S
Monsieur Dupin
] The hero o f the story, w hich takes place some time after the case of
the Rue Morgue, is again M onsieur Dupin. How is he presented at
the beginning o f the story? Use your ow n w ords to com plete the
follow ing sentences.
a. It was a w indy ...........................................................................................

b. The narrator and Dupin were ................................................................
c. For one hour ...............................................................................................
d. Dupin was watching .................................................................................
e. The narrator was thinking ......................................................................
f. Suddenly ....................................................................................................
Second or third conditional?
Q This time the case concerns a letter w hich has been purloined. The
w h o le a ffa ir is su rro u n d ed by an air o f se c re cy . C om plete the
follow ing sentences w ith the right conditional.
a. If anybody knew that the policem an M onsieur G. told Dupin

about the c a s e ,............................................................................................
b ............................................................................ , the police w ouldn’t have
been so puzzled.
c. If the docum ent had passed out of the robber’s possession,
d............................................................................ certainly the case w ouldn’t

have been solved.
e. If the M inister D. realized the police were looking for the letter,
f. If the m inister h ad n ’t often been absent from home,
90
A C T I V I T I E S
What type of letter?
] The object o f the investigation is a letter but the narrator is not very
explicit about what type o f letter it is. Try to im agine three types of
letter. Rem em ber that the content m ust be im portant enough to
upset the p olitical situation.
a..................................................................................................................................
b..................................................................................................................................
c ..................................................................................................................................
Where is the letter?
] The police have searched the house thoroughly but couldn’t find the
precious docum ent. Make predictions about where the letter can be.
a. It m ust be .....................................................................................................
b. It can be ............................................................... ............ ............ .............
c. It could be ...................................................................................................
d. It may be ..........................................................................................................
e. Perhaps ......................... :..............................................................................
f. It is p ro b a b ly ...............................................................................................
g. In my opinion ............................................................................................
h. I think it could ...........................................................................................
91
A C T I V I T I E S
Searching step by step
I The search o f the m in ister’s house w as very m eticulous. Are the

follow ing sentences true (T) or false (F)? If they are false, correct
them w ith the right piece of inform ation.
T F
a. M onsieur G. was an expert in conducting searches. □ □
b. First of all they divided the building into its separate □ □
rooms.
c. For each of these rooms they spent two days searching. □ □
d. They examined everything except the chairs. □ □
e. They removed the tops from the tables. □ □
f. They used a microscope to search his desk. □ □
g- They looked between the frames and the glass plates □ □
of the mirrors.
h. They looked under the carpets and behind the □ □
curtains.
i. They examined the main building and the cellar but □ □
d id n ’t examine the two adjoining houses.
j- They m easured the thickness of each book cover as □ □
well as their bindings.
Role-play
Q j Work in pairs. One of you is Dupin and the other one is the policeman.
Dupin is very inquisitive about what the police did when they searched
the minister’s house and the policeman is very precise in answering the
questions.
92
CHAPTER 2
D u p i n ’s Techniques
b out a m o n th later, the Prefect p aid us another
A
visit. He found us o ccupied in the sam e m anner
as before. He sat dow n and began talking about
the general b u sin ess of the week.
A fter a few m in utes I in te rru p te d him :
“W ell, b ut G, w hat about the P u rlo in ed L etter?”
The P refect’s face tu rn e d pale.
“I searched the house again, as D upin suggested, bu t it w as a
w aste of tim e, as I knew it w ould b e .”
“How m uch was the rew ard offered, did you say?” asked Dupin.
“A very large rew ard - a very liberal rew ard - I d o n ’t like to
say how m uch; b u t I w ill say one thing, th at I w ould give my ow n
cheque for fifty th o u san d francs to anyone w ho could give me that
letter. The fact is, the m atter is becom ing m ore and m ore urgent
every day; the rew ard has recen tly been doubled. But even if it
93
T he Purloined Letter,
w ere trebled I could do no m ore than I have done alread y .”

“Do you th in k so?” said D upin. “I think, G , that there is
some m ore that you could do to find the letter, eh?”
“How? - in w hat w ay?”
“You m ight, for exam ple, take advice.”
“My dear sir, I w ould happfly pay for such advice. I w ould
really give my fifty th o u san d francs to anyone who could help m e.”
“In th at case,” replied D upin, “you can w rite me a cheque now.
W hen you have signed it, I w ill give you the letter.”
I was astonished. The Prefect appeared absolutely incredulous.
For some m inutes he rem ained silent and m otionless, looking at my
friend w ith open m outh and eyes that seem ed to jum p out from
th eir so c k e ts.1 Then he suddenly took a pen and after some
hesitatio n signed a cheque for fifty th o u san d francs and gave it to
Dupin. D upin quickly exam ined the cheque and pu t it in his
w allet. T hen he opened a draw er in his desk and took a letter from
it w h ich he gave to the Prefect. The Prefect looked at the letter. His
face was a perfect agony of joy as he opened it and quickly scanned
its contents. W ithout saying another w ord, he ran out of the
apartm ent still holding the letter in his hand.
W hen he had gone, D upin began to explain.
“The P arisian p o lice,” he said, “are very capable in their way.
They are persevering and ingenious and they know th eir job well.
W hen G recounted to us his m ode of searching D ’s
house, I was sure he had m ade a satisfactory investigation in as far
as he was ab le.”
1. sockets : tw o hollow bony parts w here your eyeballs are.
94
“In as far as he was able?” I said.

“Yes. The tech n iq u es he u sed w ere not only the best of th eir
kind, they w ere also executed to absolute perfection. If the letter
had been h id d e n w ith in the lim its of G ’s search, he w ould
certain ly have d iscovered it.”
I laughed, b u t D upin seem ed quite serious in all he was saying.
“The te c h n iq u e s,” he co n tin u ed , “w ere the best of th eir kind
and w ere w ell executed. The problem was th at th ey were n o t
suitable fo r this case. They could not be ap p lied to th is p artic u la r
thief. The Prefect has a set of extrem ely
in genious resources and he thinks he can use
them to solve every single case in the sam e way.
But he co n tin u ally m akes the m istake of being
eith er too deep or too superficial, for the case
in question; th ere are m any schoolboys w ho
are b etter th in k ers th an he is. I
knew one about
eight
years of
great success in the

game of ‘even or o d d ’. 1 This game
is sim ple and is p layed w ith
m a rb le s .2 One p layer holds in his
h an d a nu m b er of m arbles and
1. even or odd : even num bers can be d iv id e d exactly by the n um ber two; odd
num bers c a n ’t.
2. marbles : sm all balls of coloured glass.
95
Th e Purloined Letter,
asks the other player w h eth er the num ber is even or odd. If his
guess is right, the guesser w ins one: if he is w rong he loses one.
The boy I refer to w on all the m arbles of the school. Of course he
h ad a p rin cip le w h ich he u sed to m ake his guesses. He observed
and m easu red the in tellig en ce of his opponents. For exam ple,
le t’s im agine his o p p o n en t is a com plete idiot. The id io t ho ld s up
his closed h an d and asks the boy ‘are they even or o d d ?’ Our
schoolboy rep lies ‘o d d ’ and loses; but the next tim e he w ins. How
does he do this? He sim ply says to him self, ‘The id io t had them
even the first tim e and his am ount of intelligence is just sufficient
to m ake him change them to odd the second tim e .’ So he guesses
odd and w ins. Now w ith an id io t a degree m ore in tellig en t th an
the first he w ould reason like this: ‘This boy sees th at the first
tim e I guess odd. Now the second tim e he w ill im m ediately
propose a sim ple v ariation from even to odd, like the first idiot
d id .’ But th en a second thought w ill tell him th at this variatio n is
too sim ple, and finally he w ill decide to keep the m arbles even as
before. ‘I w ill therefore guess ev e n .’ - he guesses even and w ins.
A nd so on. Now this m ethod of reasoning w h ich the other boys
call ‘lu c k ’ - w hat is it exactly?”
“It is sim ply a q u estion of the boy trying to th in k like his
o p p o n e n t,” I said.
“P rec ise ly ,” said D upin. “The boy id en tifies h im self w ith his
o p p o n e n t’s in te lle c t.”
“A nd the success of this id en tificatio n depends on how
accu rately he can m easure the in telle ct of his o p p o n en t?”
“Yes, for its p ractical value it dep en d s on th is ,” re p lie d D upin.
“This is w here the Prefect and his m en m ake the m istake. They do
not id en tify th em selves w ith the in telle ct of th eir opponent. They

do n o t even try to m easure his intellect. They co n sid er only their
own ideas of ingenuity; and in searching for anything h id d en ,
they co n sid er only the w ays in w h ich they w o u ld have h id d e n it.
In part they are right to do so, for th eir ing en u ity is an accurate
re p resen ta tio n of th at of the m a ss ; bu t w hen the in tellig en ce of
the th ie f is greater th an th eir ow n - and often w hen it is low er,
th eir investig atio n s fail. They have no v ariatio n in p rin cip le in
th eir m ethods. The m ost they ever do is to e x te n d or exaggerate
these old m ethods, w ith o u t considering the p rin cip les on w h ich
they are based. L et’s look at the case of D . W hat d id G___
do to vary the p rin c ip le of action? W hat is all this d rillin g and
probing and so u n d ing and scru tin izin g w ith the m icroscope and
d iv id in g the b u ild in g into num b ered square centim etres? It is
sim ply the exaggeration of the application of one set of
p rin cip les, w h ich are based on the P refect’s ow n ideas about
h u m an ingenuity. He th in k s th at all m en w ill h id e a letter in the
sam e way, not n ecessarily in sid e the leg of a chair, but in som e
p lace w h ich is eq ually difficult to reach. But such h id in g places
are im agined only by o rdinary in tellects. In all cases of
concealm ent, it is p resu m ed th at the article w ill be concealed in a
place w h ich is h ard to find. Thus its discovery dep en d s not u p o n
the in tellig en ce of the seekers bu t u p o n th eir patience,
p ersev eran ce and d eterm in atio n . You w ill now u n d e rsta n d w hat I
m eant w h en I said th at the Prefect w ould surely have found the
letter if it h ad been placed w ith in the lim its of his exam ination -
in o th er w ords, if the p rin cip le of its concealm ent was the sam e
as the p rin c ip le of the P refect’s investigation. But the Prefect has
97
been m y s tifie d ,1 and the reason for his defeat is th at he believes

the m in ister to be a fool, sim ply because he is a poet. The Prefect
thinks: all fools are poets, but that does not m ean th at all poets are
necessarily fools!”
“I th o u g h t it was the m in iste r’s b ro th er w ho w as the poet. The
m in ister is a m athem atician, is n ’t h e?”
“No, he is both a m ath em atician and a poet. If he w ere just a
m ath em atician he w ould not be able to reason w ell, and the
Prefect w o u ld have found the le tte r.”
“You su rp rise me w hen you say this. M athem atical reason has
for cen tu ries been regarded as the greatest form of re a so n .”
“T hat is w hat m ath em atician s have m ade us believe, bu t it is
an e rro r.”
“E x p lain .”
“M athem atical axiom s 2 are not axiom s of general tru th , but
only of relation. A nd som ething w hich m ay be true for relatio n -
of form and q uantity for exam ple - is often com pletely false in
term s of m orality, or of h um an nature in general. To p u t it sim ply,
in h u m an n ature the sum of the parts is rarely equal to the w hole.
In life, there is alw ays som ething m ore, som e unp red ictab le
elem ent th at cannot be red u ced to an eq u a tio n .”
“W hatever do you m ean?” I said, laughing. By now I was
co m pletely confused.
“I m ean to say ,” said D upin, “th at if the m in ister had been
only a m ath em atician, the Prefect w ould have been able to keep
1. m ystified : confused, puzzled.

2. axiom s : statem ents or ideas w h ich people accept as being true.
98
the fifty th o u san d francs for him self. He w ould certainly have
found the letter. But I knew the m in ister w as also a poet. A nd so I
tried to th in k like him , considering the circum stances he was in.
“Go o n ,” I said.
“R em em ber th at th is m an is a clever p o litician . He obviously
knew the norm al police procedures. He knew he w o u ld be
searched and I’m sure he also knew th at
the police w o u ld search his house. The
Prefect said th at he was fortunate that
the m in ister was often absent from
the h ouse at night. But I th in k th at
the m in ister was deliberately
absent. He w an ted the Prefect to
search the house. It was all part of his plan. He w anted to m ake
the police th in k th at the letter was not in the house. So he let
them search it from top to bottom . F inding nothing, the police
w o u ld be co n v in ced th at the letter was not there. The m in ister
m ust have know n how the police co n d u cted th eir searches. He
m ust have know n th at the police w ould exam ine all the norm al
h id in g places, all the places the Prefect told us about. So
obviously he co u ld not h id e the letter in any of these places. I
realized th at because of this he w ould be forced to choose
sim p lic ity as the p rin c ip le for h id in g the letter. You rem em ber
how the Prefect laughed w hen I suggested th at the problem of the
m ystery was p erh aps the fact th at it was too o b v io u s.”
“Y es,” said I, “I rem em ber it w e ll.”
“There is a g am e,” D upin said, “w h ich is p layed on a m ap.
One of the players tells an o th er to find a given w ord on the m ap -
99
Purloined Letter,
it co uld be the nam e of a tow n or a river or a m o num ent - any

w ord th at appears on the m ap. Now a beginner
im m ed iately seeks 1 the m ost d ifficult nam es w ith the
m ost co m p licated spelling; but the expert selects those
sim ple w ords w h ich appear in huge letters and w h ich
stretch from one end of the m ap to the other. These,
like street signs, are w ritten in big letters, but
they escape our atten tio n , p recisely because
th ey are so excessively obvious. We sim ply
d o n ’t see th e m .”
“But w h at is the con n ectio n betw een this
and the m in ister?”
“W hat is true of the ph y sical w orld is also true
of the m oral w orld. This is som ething the
Prefect can n ot u n d ersta n d . He never once
co n sid ered th at the m in ister m ight have placed
the letter right under h is very nose, th at he had
p erh ap s h id d e n it in a very visible place, w here
nobody w o u ld th in k of looking for it. Or th at p erhaps
the best w ay to h id e the letter was n o t to h id e it at a ll.”
1. seeks : looks for.
100
A C T I V I T I E S
What happened in Chapter Two?
] Answ er the follow ing questions.
a. What were Dupin and the narrator doing when the policem an
went back a m onth later?
b. How m uch did the policem an offer as a reward for the person
who could give him the letter?
c. What was the policem an’s reaction when Dupin gave him the
letter?
d. What was wrong w ith the techniques used by the Prefect and his
men?
e. What were the m inister’s occupations apart from politics?
f. How could you sum up the main principle behind D upin’s logic?
Games
] It is obvious that Dupin lik es gam es, esp ecia lly those w hich deal
w ith the art o f logic and the intellect. In this part of the story he
talk s about h ow a clev er boy a lw a y s m anaged to w in the gam e
called ‘even or odd ’. Have you ever played it?
Let us try to sum up the rules o f the game and the method to win.
a. This game is played w i t h ..........................................................................

b. One player holds a num ber of marbles and asks the other player
c. If the other player is right, he
101
A C T I V I T I E S
d. On the other hand, if he is w ro n g ...........................................

e. In order to win you m ust first of all observe and measure
f. If you think the opponent is a complete idiot, and if you lose the
first time answering “odd”, you have t o ...............................................
g. This is because the-opponent will think t h a t .....................................
h. On the other hand, if your opponent seems to be slightly more

intelligent than the first, you s h o u ld .....................................................
i. This is because this “id io t a degree m ore in tellig e n t than the

first” will probably think t h a t .................................................................
Passive
] Turn the following sentences into the passive form. Try to judge when
it is appropriate to put the agent and when it is not necessary.
a. The narrator asked the Prefect a question about the purloined

letter.
b. When the policem an went to see Dupin, they had searched the
house several times.
c. The police are offering a very large reward for finding the letter.
d. To his surprise, Dupin returned the letter to the policeman.
e. It surprised the Prefect that Dupin had found the letter.
f. The Parisian police had used the wrong techniques to solve the
crime.
102
A C T I V I T I E S
Are you a patient person?
Q See if you can discover these jumbled words taken from the first two
parts of the story.
a. dpbteso f. wrader
b. rmbaels 8 - rbreob
c. nceltaoem nc h. earevsepcner
d. nim taeahm icta i. rhesca
e. zupzedl j- tnshkcise
Reward
Q Write a short note to be published in the local new spaper about the
reward and the nature o f the ‘search ’.
SUBSTANTIAL REWARD!
A very im portant le tte r ..............................................................
103
A C T I V I T I E S
Before you read

| U sing the w ords in the box fill in the gaps in the text then read
Chapter 3 to check your answers.
head m inister business purloined spectacles

table m antlepiece books com partm ents letter
tear fem ale appearance Prefect seal
“W ith these ideas in m y ....................I went to visit t h e ....................... at

his house. I wore a pair of special g re e n ..................... to aid my vision.
As the m inister told me about the p o litic a l......................of the day, I
scrutinized his large w ritin g ......................on w hich lay several papers
and letters, as well as one or t w o But there was no trace
of t h e ......................letter itself.
“As my eyes circled around the room I noticed a card-rack hanging
from the centre of t h e ........................In this rack, w hich had five or six
...................... were a few visiting cards and a solitary letter. The letter
was very soiled and crum pled and it was torn at the edge. It seemed
as if someone had decided t o ....................it up but had then changed
their m ind. I looked closer to see what was w ritten on it. It was
addressed to the m inister him self i n ....................handw riting. The
letter had been throw n carelessly into one of the compartments.
“I knew im m ediately that this was t h e ......................I was looking for.
Certainly i t s ....................was com pletely different from the
description of the stolen letter that t h e ..................... had given us. The
wax seal of this letter was large and black w ith D’s insignia inscribed
on it, whereas the purloined letter had a small r e d ....................
bearing the coat of arms of the Royal Fam ily.”
104
CHAPTER 3
The Solution
of the Case
r
M ith these ideas in m y h ead I w ent to v isit the
m in ister at his house. I w ore a p air of special
green spectacles 1 to aid my vision. As the
m in ister told me about the p o litical b u sin ess of
the day, I scru tin ize d his large w riting table on w h ich lay several
pap ers and letters, as w ell as one or two books. But there was no
trace of the p u rlo in ed letter itself.
“As my eyes circled around the room I no ticed a card-rack 2
1. spectacles : glasses.
2. card-rack : <
I
105
Purloined Letter
hanging from the centre of the m a n tle p ie c e .1 In this rack, w hich

had five or six com partm ents, w ere a few visiting cards and a
solitary letter. The letter was very soiled 2 and cru m p led 3 and it
was torn at the edge. It seem ed as if som eone had decid ed to tear
it up b u t h ad th en changed th eir m ind. I looked closer to see w hat
was w ritten on it. It was ad d ressed to the m in ister h im self in
fem ale h an d w riting. The letter had been th ro w n carelessly into
one of the com partm ents.
1. m antlepiece : shelf over the fireplace.

2. soiled : dirty.
The Solution of the Case
“I knew im m ediately th at th is was the letter I was looking for.

C ertainly its ap p earance was com pletely different from the
d esc rip tio n of the stolen letter th at the Prefect had given us. The
wax seal of th is letter was large and black w ith D’s insignia
in scrib ed on it, w hereas the p u rlo in ed letter had a sm all red seal
bearing the coat of arm s of the Royal Fam ily. This letter was
ad d ressed to D in a sm all fem ale hand. The w riting
on the p u rlo in ed letter was large and bold 1 and
it was add ressed to a lady. But it seem ed
1. bold : noticeable.
Purloined Letter
to me th at th ese differences w ere excessive. The fact that this

letter was a lm o st the opposite of the letter the Prefect described
m ade me susp icious. T hen there was the fact th at this letter was
so clearly visible, in full view of every visitor. So visible, in fact,
th at nobody w o u ld see it, just like in the game I told you ab o u t.”
“So w hat d id you do?”
“I m em orized the appearance of the letter and left the
m in is te r’s h ouse im m ediately, leaving a gold tobacco box on the
w ritin g table.
“The next m orning I called at the m in is te r’s house again,
saying th at I h ad forgotten m y tobacco. The m in ister seem ed
h ap p y to see me again and we co n tin u ed the conversation we had
had the prev io us day. S ud d en ly we heard a loud noise com ing
from o u tsid e, the sound of a pistol shot follow ed by several
scream s. D ran to the w in d o w to see
w hat was h appening. In the m eantim e I
w ent over to the card rack, took the
letter, p u t it in my pocket and
i rep laced it w ith a fa csim ile.
“The distu rb an ce in the street
had been caused by a m an w ith a
gun. He had fired it above the heads
of the crow d and everybody thought he was
sim ply a lu n atic or a drunk. In actual fact I had
em ployed him to carry out th is d iv ersio n to d istract D and
give me tim e to get the le tte r.”
“But w hy d id n ’t you sim ply take it on your first v isit? ”
“D ,” re p lie d D upin, “is a desperate and dangerous m an. If
1 08
The Solution of the Case
I h ad taken the letter openly he w ould probably have had me

killed before I co uld leave the building. But there was another
reason. For eighteen m onths the m in ister has had the ow ner of the
letter in his pow er. Now the situ atio n is reversed. She has him in
h er p o w e r.”
“How is th a t.”
“Because he still th in k s he has the letter, thanks to my
facsim ile. He w ill proceed w ith his blackm ail and his p o litical
career w ill be destroyed. It’s ironic in a w ay to o .”
“In w hat w ay?”
“It was the m in ister w ho gave m e the idea of the facsim ile,
w hen he stole the original letter. To get the letter back I just did
the sam e th in g he did w hen he stole it. You could even say th at
betw een our letters there is a perfect, ahem ... co rresp o n d en c e.”
“Very fu n n y .”
1 09
A C T I V I T I E S
What happened in Chapter Three?
] Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? Correct the false ones w ith
the right inform ation.
a. Dupin thought the m inister was perfectly aware of the □ □

fact that the police w ould search his house.
b. The m inister w anted the police to think that the letter □ □
was hidden somewhere in the house.
c. The Prefect’s mistake was m ainly in not understanding □ □
that the m inister could have placed the letter in an
absolutely obvious place.
d. Dupin went to see the m inister three times. □ □
e. Dupin pretended he had forgotten his hat at the □ □
m inister’s house.
f. The m inister realized the letter had disappeared. □ □
Dupin’s strategic visit to the minister step by step
| U nlike the police, Dupin managed to spot the letter and take it with
him. Try to describe each step using the follow ing key-words.
a. went
b. was wearing
c. scrutinized
d. noticed
e. addressed
f. knew im m ediately
8 - left a tobacco box
h. went back
i. heard
)• replaced
110
a c t i v i t i e s
The two letters
Q The letter Dupin finds is very different from the one the Prefect had
described. What are the m ain differences?
Letter A Letter B
Letter writing
B In Chapter 1 you predicted three possible types of purloined letter.

N ow choose one and write it out. Remember the content has to be
som ehow very dangerous or cru cial for the royal personage who
d oesn ’t want her husband to read it.
Ill
A C T I V I T I E S
An interview with Monsieur Dupin
| Im agine you are Dupin. A nsw er the follow ing questions that a very
curious journalist asks you about the Purloined Letter.
jo u r n a lis t: M onsieur Dupin, you have done it again. How did

you manage to solve another apparently unsolvable
case?
d u p in : . .................................... ...........................
j o u r n a lis t: Okay, but le t’s start from the beginning. Who stole
the letter and why?
d u p in : ................................................................................................................................
j o u r n a lis t: Mmm, I see. But d id n ’t the police search his house?

d u p in : ................................................................................................................................
j o u r n a lis t: Were they careful in making the search?

d u p in : .................................................................................................................................
jo u r n a l is t : S o w h a t d id y o u d o?
d u p in : ....................................................................... ........................ ...............................
jo u r n a lis t: A facsimile? Why?

d u p in : .................................................................................................................................
jo u r n a lis t: Very clever! But how come the M inister didiv’t realize
w hat you were up to?
d u p in : .................................................................................................................................
jo u r n a lis t: It really sounds like you, M onsieur Dupin! Just one

more thing. How w ould you sum up your brilliant
m ethods in a few words for our readers?
d u p in : :............................
112
Stadtbibliothek Berlin - Mitte N 1 1 < 0 5 2 0 6 2 5 6 4 5 6
y
Philipp-Schaeffer-Bibliothek 456

Two cases o f detection for M onsieur Auguste C. Dupin,
Poe’s great detective.
Who could have committed the atrocious murders in the
Rue Morgue and how did the murderer get in, or out?
W ill Dupin find the purloined letter and save the royal
personage? Where is the minister hiding it?
• Accessible adaptation at intermediate level
• Wide range of activities focusing on the four skills
• In c lu d e s d o ssie r s on the art o f th e d etectiv e story and
P aris in th e 1 8 0 0 s
• ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ is recorded in full
jL
4
•B*
^ b egin ner ^ elem en ta ry ^ pre-in term ed ia te

Exam Preparation: PET (Bl) Exam: PET (Bl) Exam Preparation: FCE (B2)
^ in term ed ia te ^ u pper-in term ediate

Exam: FCE (B2) Exam Preparation: CAE (Cl)
ISBN13: 978-3-526-52251-5
ISBN10: 3-526-52251-0
9783526522515
This volume without the side coupon is to

be considered a sample copy not for sale. 9 783526ll522515l
Langenscheidt ELT
%

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Edgar Allan Poe

The Purloined Letter

© 1999 Black Cat Publishing,

First edition: January 1999

We would be happy to receive your comments and suggestions,

Printed in Italy by Litoprint, Genoa

The Murders in the Rue Morgue

chapter one Extraordinary Murders 10

chapter tw o The Test.i moni es 20

C H A P T E R THREE At the Scene of the Crime 30

CH APTER FOUR The Mystery Unfolds 42

chapter one The Search for the Letter 80

C H A P T E R TH REE The Solution of the Case 105

The M urders in the Rue M orgue is recorded in fu ll.

1. itinerant [aitinarant] : travelling.

1. gamble : p layed gam es (card gam es etc.) for m oney.

MS. Found in a Bottle in the Baltimore Saturday Visiter. In 1835 Poe

1. boost : increase, im prove.

1. polling booth [bu:d] : place w here p eople go and vote.

was staying in Paris during the spring and part of the

1. frugally : w ith o u t spen d in g m uch m oney.

by th e ex tent of his reading. W hen did he find the tim e to read so

1. rent : m oney p a id for the use of a house.

analytic ability. He told me th at he could see directly into m e n ’s

draw ers of a d esk w hich stood in one co rn e r w ere open and

1. scattered about : th ro w n aro u n d u n tid ily .

Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin

Q C o m p lete th e f o llo w in g s e n te n c e s to d e s c r ib e D u p in and h is

a. Although Dupin came from a noble family, ......... .......................

What happened in Chapter One?

Answer the follow ing questions.

The art of analysis

b. Are there any detectives, either in fiction or in films, that you

c. What is their m ethod for solving a crime?

d. Do you consider yourself to have an analytical mind?

e. Would you make a good investigator? Why/Why not?

Tense revision - Edgar Allan Poe’s parents

Edgar Allan P o e (be born) on 19 January 1809.

] Turn the follow ing sentences into the passive form.

b. If the neighbours h ad n ’t heard the voices, nobody w ould have

d. The police discovered a horrible scene in Madame L’Espanaye’s

e. They had found the girl’s body in the chimney.

Before you read

Pauline Dubourg, Madame L’Espanaye’s .......................... says that she

Now read the text and check your answers.

The next d ay ’s pap er h ad the follow ing a d d itio n al details:

P auline D ubourg, M adam e L’E sp an ay e’s la u n d re s s ,2 says th at

1. w itnesses : p eople w ho see an accident or crim e. In th is case they d id n ’t see

Pierre Moreau, tobacconist, says that he has sold tobacco to

1. porter : perso n w hose job is to carry things.

M onsieur O denheim er, restaurant ow ner, com es from

1. party : (here) group of people.

Jules M ignaud, banker, says that M adam e L’Espanaye had some

A d o lp h e Le Bon, clerk to M ignaud and Son, says that at 12 noon

William Bird, ta ilo r,2 is an

1. property : b u ild in g s or land.

A lfo n so Garcia, u n d e rta k e r,1 says that he lives in the Rue

Alberto M ontani, baker, says he was one of the first to go

1. undertaker : person w hose job is to deal w ith the bodies of p eople w ho

Paul Dumas, doctor, says that he saw the bodies in the

a. Pauline Dubourg laundress

What did the witnesses say?

c. Isidore Muset said that when he had gone to the