The Tell-Tale Heart

by Edgar Allan Poe.

Abridged and edited for educational purposes.

TRUE! -- nervous -- very nervous; but not mad. The disease had sharpened my senses. My
hearing was more acute than ever.

It is impossible to say how the idea entered my brain; but it haunted me day and night. I loved
the old man. He never insulted me. I had no desire for his gold. I think it was his eye! He had the
eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold;
and so very gradually, I decided to take the life of the old man, and thus get rid of that eye forever.

You may think I am mad. But you should have seen how wisely I acted, with what caution. I was
never kinder to the old man than during the week before I killed him. And every night, about
midnight, I went to his room and --oh so gently and slowly I opened the door. When I had made an
opening sufficient for my head to enter, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, so that no light escaped.
I moved it slowly, so that I might not wake up the man. It took me an hour to place my whole head
within the opening so far that I could see him sleeping on his bed.

And then, when my head was well in the room, I opened the lantern cautiously --oh, so carefully --I
undid it just so much that a single thin ray of light fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven
long nights --every night just at midnight –but every night the eye was closed; and so it was
impossible to do the work.

Every morning, I went to see him and lovingly asked him how he had passed the night. So he never
suspected.

On the eighth night I was more cautious than on the previous nights. I felt powerful. I could not
contain my feelings of triumph. I laughed a little at the idea; and maybe he heard me; as he
suddenly moved on the bed. Now you may think that I abandoned my plan --but no. His room was
completely dark and so I knew that he could not see me.

I was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped, the lantern made a noise, and the old
man sprang up in bed, crying out --"Who's there?"

I kept silent. For an hour I did not move a muscle, in the meantime, he was sitting up, listening.

I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. I knew what the old man
felt. I felt bad for him, although I was also silently happy. He was terrified since he perceived a
presence in the room.
 When I had waited a long time, very patiently, I decided to open a very little crevice in the
lantern. So I opened it, until a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye.

It was open and I grew furious as I looked at it. It was blue, with a hideous veil over it; but I could
see nothing else of the old man's face or person, because I had directed the ray as if by instinct,
precisely upon the damned eye.

As I told you, my senses were better than ever. And to my ears came a sound. I knew that sound
well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury.

The beat grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder. The old man's terror was extreme!
And a new anxiety filled me --the sound could be heard by a neighbor! The old man's end had
arrived! I threw open the lantern and jumped into the room. He screamed only once. In an instant
I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled. The heartbeat
continued with a muffled sound. This, however, did not stop me.

The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the body. I placed my hand on his heart.
There was no pulsation. Yes, he was dead. His eye would trouble me no more.

If you still think I am crazy, you will not think so after I describe the wise precautions I took for
the concealment of the body.

First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.

I then took up all the stained wooden boards from the floor and replaced them with new ones.

It was four o'clock when I finished. I had nothing to fear.

The doorbell rang. I went down to open.

Three men entered, they were officers of the police. A neighbor heard something during the night.
The police was called by him and the officers were sent to investigate.

I smiled, I welcomed the gentlemen. The sound, I said, was me, screaming because of a bad
dream. The old man, I mentioned, was not in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I
showed them the old man’s treasures, all of them secure and then I brought chairs into the room,
and offered the policemen to rest. I placed my own chair upon the place where the corpse of the
victim rested.

The officers were satisfied. They sat while we chatted of familiar things. After a while, I felt
getting pale and wished they left. My head was in pain. I felt a ringing in my ears.

The ringing became more distinct. I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling. I discovered that
the noise was not inside my ears.

I was pale but I talked more fluently. The sound increased. It was a dull sound; the officers did
not hear it. I talked more quickly but the noise increased. I got up and talked with violent
gesticulations but the noise increased. Why would they not leave? The men continued chatting
pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible that they did not hear the sound? That’s impossible. They
must have heard it. They were making fun of my horror! I could not take those hypocritical smiles
anymore! I felt that I needed to scream.

"Villains!" I shouted, "I admit it! He is down here! The sound is the beating of his hideous heart!"

Instructions:

1. Listen to the story, it is a horror story, so do not listen in the dark.

2. Listen again, but this time, read the text at the same time. Try to follow the reading.
3. Underline all the verbs in past and look for them in a dictionary. I recommend
Wordreference.com.
4. Make a list with the verbs on your notebook, example:
Base form of the verb Past form Meaning
to be (am/is/are) was / were ser / estar
enter entered entrar

5. Read again and answer the following comprehension questions:

A. Who are the main characters in the story?
a) An old man and a younger man.
b) An uncle and his nephew.
c) Three firefighters, the old man and his grandson.
d) Three policemen and other three men.

B. According to his own words, the person who tells the story…
a) hated the old man.
b) wanted the old man’s money.
c) loved the old man.
d) acted without caution.

C. According to his own words, the person who tells the story…
a) planned to steal the old man’s treasures.
b) decided and planned to murder the old man.
c) called the police on the phone.
d) was mad.

D. According to his own words, the person who tells the story wanted to kill the old
man because…
a) He hated the old man’s false eye.
b) The old man insulted him.
 c) He really disliked everything about the old man.
d) He was crazy.

E. All of the following sentences are TRUE, except:

a) After the murder, the young man replaced the stained wooden boards with
new ones.
b) The police officers arrested the killer.
c) The young man screamed at the officers.
d) The policemen and the young man talked of familiar things.

F. All of the following sentences are FALSE, except:

a) A neighbor called the police.
b) The old man suspected something before.
c) The young man never asked the old man how he had passed the night.
d) The young man felt relaxed during his chat with the policemen.

6. Choose 10 positive PAST SIMPLE sentences from the story and convert them into negative
sentences and into questions. Example:
Positive sentence Negative sentence Question
1. It haunted me day and It didn’t haunt me day and Did it haunt me day and
night. bight. night?
2. I loved the old man I didn’t love the old man Did I love the old man?