03-01-07-神秘及幻想故事集 [9]
我找遍了每一个角落，但是它已无影无踪了。我终于自由了！当天夜里，我太太平平地酣睡了一场——我，一个刚刚杀害了自己爱妻的家伙，居然睡了个好觉！
三天过去了，那只猫仍然没有出现。我现在快乐极了，是很久以来最快乐的时候。我对自己犯下的罪行并不担心。人们来问了几个问题，警察也到我家来过了，但他们什么也没有发现。
第四天，警察又来了，并且开始进行搜查。他们查看了每一个房间，然后下台阶来到地窖里面。我陪着他们，心里感到非常平静和安全，一直冷眼旁观他们检查每一个角落。他们没有找到任何东西，似乎相当高兴，并且准备离开了。我满心欢喜。我确信自己是安全的，但又想说点什么，哪怕是一两句话，就为了表示一下我是多么满不在乎、清白无辜。
“先生们，”我开口道，“你们在这里没有找到任何东西，现在又要离开这幢房子了，我很高兴……不过我要给你们看样东西，先生们。你们看见没有，这房子建得有多么好？你们会注意到，这几堵墙结实极了。”我一面说着这话，一面用根棍子敲打着墙壁——正是我藏匿妻子尸体的那面墙！
就在那一刻，我们听见了一个声音。这声音很古怪，同我以前听到过的声音都大不一样。它开始时很轻，几乎像是一个婴儿的哭声；然后就升得越来越高，转而成为一声没完没了的长啸，仿佛从地狱中响起的哀号。
警察们一齐望着我，又彼此看了看。他们奔到墙边，开始拼命将砖块飞快地向外扒。几分钟不到，砖墙扒倒了；那里赫然便是我那亡妻的尸首。在她的头顶上蹲着那只黑猫，张开血盆大口，一只独眼里燃烧着鬼火——这畜生诱使我犯下了杀人罪，现在又要送我去见阎王了。
我把这可怕的东西，同我妻子一起，活活砌到墙里去了！
■ The Masque of the Red Death
The Red Death had been in the country for many，many years．No disease had ever been so deadly．People called it the Red Death because it left blood，red horrible blood，on the body and face of each person it visited．And no one，if visited，was ever left alive．Once a person was touched by the Red Death，he immediately felt pains，and soon afterwards started to bleed from every part of his body．in thirty minutes he was dead．After that no one，not even his family，went near the blood-covered body．
Everybody was afraid of the Red Death-everybody except the fearless Prince Prospero．He refused to be troubled by it．Although half the people of his country had already died from this terrible disease，he continued to enjoy life to the full．One day he decided to invite a thousand of his strong and brave friends to stay with him in one of his castles，far out in the countryside．There the Red Death would not be able to touch them．
It was a huge and extraordinary castle，built to Prince Prospero's own plan．It had strong high walls and great gates of heavy metal．Now when the Prince and his friends arrived at the castle gates they went inside，locked the gates carefully and threw away the keys．In that way no one would be able to enter or escape．They were all there together，far away from the Red Death．Now they could forget the world outside and think only of themselves．They had everything they needed to amuse themselves，because the Prince had forgotten nothing．He had brought in food and wine，actors，musicians，and dancers．All of this，and life itself，was inside the castle．Outside lay the Red Death．
Towards the end of the fifth or sixth month，while the Red Death was at its most deadly outside，the Prince gave a wonderful masked ball for his friends．It was a wild and wonderful ball，but first let me tell you about the rooms in which he gave the ball．There were seven rooms in all．In most castles，of course，the rooms for great parties or dances join each other end to end．In this way，when the doors at the end of each room are opened，the seven rooms become one huge room，and you can see from the first room right through to the last one．In Prospero's castle，it was different．Each room turned suddenly round a corner into the next，so if you were standing in one room it was impossible to see into the other rooms．
In the middle of each wall，on the right and left，there was a tall，narrow window opening onto the closed passage which ran along beside all seven rooms．Each window was made of different coloured glass，and the colour of the glass was the same as the colour of the room that it opened onto．The first room，for example，was blue，and so its windows were also a deep blue．The second room was purple，and so the windows，too，were purple．The third was green，with green windows，the fourth orange，the fifth white，and the sixth violet．The seventh room was black．Its walls were black，its thick，heavy carpet was also black．But its windows were red-a deep blood－red．
There were no candles in any of the rooms．The only light came from fires，in hanging metal baskets，which were in the passages outside the rooms．Each fire was opposite a window，and so the light from the fire shone through the coloured glass and filled each room with strange and fantastic shadows．But in the black room the firelight that shone through the blood-red window changed the room into something too horrible to describe
三天过去了，那只猫仍然没有出现。我现在快乐极了，是很久以来最快乐的时候。我对自己犯下的罪行并不担心。人们来问了几个问题，警察也到我家来过了，但他们什么也没有发现。
第四天，警察又来了，并且开始进行搜查。他们查看了每一个房间，然后下台阶来到地窖里面。我陪着他们，心里感到非常平静和安全，一直冷眼旁观他们检查每一个角落。他们没有找到任何东西，似乎相当高兴，并且准备离开了。我满心欢喜。我确信自己是安全的，但又想说点什么，哪怕是一两句话，就为了表示一下我是多么满不在乎、清白无辜。
“先生们，”我开口道，“你们在这里没有找到任何东西，现在又要离开这幢房子了，我很高兴……不过我要给你们看样东西，先生们。你们看见没有，这房子建得有多么好？你们会注意到，这几堵墙结实极了。”我一面说着这话，一面用根棍子敲打着墙壁——正是我藏匿妻子尸体的那面墙！
就在那一刻，我们听见了一个声音。这声音很古怪，同我以前听到过的声音都大不一样。它开始时很轻，几乎像是一个婴儿的哭声；然后就升得越来越高，转而成为一声没完没了的长啸，仿佛从地狱中响起的哀号。
警察们一齐望着我，又彼此看了看。他们奔到墙边，开始拼命将砖块飞快地向外扒。几分钟不到，砖墙扒倒了；那里赫然便是我那亡妻的尸首。在她的头顶上蹲着那只黑猫，张开血盆大口，一只独眼里燃烧着鬼火——这畜生诱使我犯下了杀人罪，现在又要送我去见阎王了。
我把这可怕的东西，同我妻子一起，活活砌到墙里去了！
■ The Masque of the Red Death
The Red Death had been in the country for many，many years．No disease had ever been so deadly．People called it the Red Death because it left blood，red horrible blood，on the body and face of each person it visited．And no one，if visited，was ever left alive．Once a person was touched by the Red Death，he immediately felt pains，and soon afterwards started to bleed from every part of his body．in thirty minutes he was dead．After that no one，not even his family，went near the blood-covered body．
Everybody was afraid of the Red Death-everybody except the fearless Prince Prospero．He refused to be troubled by it．Although half the people of his country had already died from this terrible disease，he continued to enjoy life to the full．One day he decided to invite a thousand of his strong and brave friends to stay with him in one of his castles，far out in the countryside．There the Red Death would not be able to touch them．
It was a huge and extraordinary castle，built to Prince Prospero's own plan．It had strong high walls and great gates of heavy metal．Now when the Prince and his friends arrived at the castle gates they went inside，locked the gates carefully and threw away the keys．In that way no one would be able to enter or escape．They were all there together，far away from the Red Death．Now they could forget the world outside and think only of themselves．They had everything they needed to amuse themselves，because the Prince had forgotten nothing．He had brought in food and wine，actors，musicians，and dancers．All of this，and life itself，was inside the castle．Outside lay the Red Death．
Towards the end of the fifth or sixth month，while the Red Death was at its most deadly outside，the Prince gave a wonderful masked ball for his friends．It was a wild and wonderful ball，but first let me tell you about the rooms in which he gave the ball．There were seven rooms in all．In most castles，of course，the rooms for great parties or dances join each other end to end．In this way，when the doors at the end of each room are opened，the seven rooms become one huge room，and you can see from the first room right through to the last one．In Prospero's castle，it was different．Each room turned suddenly round a corner into the next，so if you were standing in one room it was impossible to see into the other rooms．
In the middle of each wall，on the right and left，there was a tall，narrow window opening onto the closed passage which ran along beside all seven rooms．Each window was made of different coloured glass，and the colour of the glass was the same as the colour of the room that it opened onto．The first room，for example，was blue，and so its windows were also a deep blue．The second room was purple，and so the windows，too，were purple．The third was green，with green windows，the fourth orange，the fifth white，and the sixth violet．The seventh room was black．Its walls were black，its thick，heavy carpet was also black．But its windows were red-a deep blood－red．
There were no candles in any of the rooms．The only light came from fires，in hanging metal baskets，which were in the passages outside the rooms．Each fire was opposite a window，and so the light from the fire shone through the coloured glass and filled each room with strange and fantastic shadows．But in the black room the firelight that shone through the blood-red window changed the room into something too horrible to describe