Allan Poe

AVEC , YES YOU CAN!
At 3 o’clock in the morning, dreadful shrieks awaken

a quiet street in XIXth century Paris. Neighbours rush to
the scene only to find that a mother and her daughter
have just been brutally murdered. The police find
it all very confusing. Of course the young Monsieur
Dupin, cool-headed and clever, can no doubt solve the
mystery...
Envie de lire en anglais ?

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Découvrez une célèbre nouvelle policière d’Edgar Allan
Poe, pionnier du genre, en VO et avec des traductions
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ISBN 356-0-39-556080-2
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Après un premier conte fantastique (Manuscrit trouvé
dans une bouteille, 1833), Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), jour-
naliste littéraire américain, publie des récits d’épouvante
ou des contes à énigmes, inventant ce faisant la nouvelle
policière. Selon un schéma récurrent, le narrateur relate
une énigme qui laisse perplexes la police comme le lecteur,
et que seul le héros enquêteur peut résoudre par son esprit
analytique hors pair.

Direction De la publication : Carine Girac-Marinier
Direction éDitoriale : Claude Nimmo
Un certain nombre d’annotations proviennent de la traduction de
Charles Baudelaire.
r évision Des notes : Marianne Mouchot
r electure : Élisabeth Le Saux
informatique éDitoriale : Philippe Cazabet, Marie-Noëlle Tilliette
conception graphique : Uli Meindl
mise en pages : Patrick Mahé, Cynthia Savage
fabrication : Rebecca Dubois
Remerciements à Marie Gabiache

Mot de l’éditeur
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à l’histoire. Aussi les mots sont-ils traduits dans le contexte
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Les expressions figées anglaises sont, bien entendu,
rendues par une expression équivalente en français.
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saxon sont expliquées également dans la marge, pour vous
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qui règnent chez les maîtres de la littérature anglo-saxonne.
Lire en VO ? You can indeed!

Coup de pouce pour vous aider
à bien comprendre le début de l’histoire...
Les ressources de l’esprit humain sont infinies. Selon la
situation, au jeu de dames par exemple, c’est une bonne
logique qui fera la différence ; aux échecs, un sens aigu de
l’observation sera plus utile. Avec de tels atouts, on atteint
des sommets de virtuosité.
Chez M. Dupin, gentleman doué d’une perspicacité hors
du commun, cette finesse analytique tient du génie. Son dis-
cernement ne sera pas de trop lorsqu’il s’agira de résoudre
une curieuse affaire de meurtres, une nuit, en plein Paris…

1. sirènes
2. avait-il pris
What song the Syrens1 sang, or what name Achilles 3. épineuses
4. au-delà de
assumed2 when he hid himself among women, although toute
puzzling3 questions, are not beyond all4 conjecture. 5. facultés
6. dites
—Sir Thomas Browne. analytiques
7. fort peu
8. Ce que nous
en savons
The mental features5 discoursed of as the ana 9. à un degré
lytical6, are, in themselves, but little7 susceptible extraordinaire
10. jouissance
of analysis. We appreciate them only in their ef des plus vives
fects. We know of them8, among other things, that 11. se réjouit de
12. l’analyste
they are always to their possessor, when inordin s’enorgueillit de
ately9 possessed, a source of the liveliest enjoy 13. dont la
ment10. As the strong man exults in11 his physic

fonction est de
démêler
al ability, delighting in such exercises as call his 14. tire du
15. simples
muscles into action, so glories the analyst in12 that 16. qui mettent
moral activity which disentangles13. He derives14 ses talents en
pleasure from even the most trivial15 occupations jeu
17. raffole
bringing his talent into play16. He is fond17 of enig 18. devinettes
mas, of conundrums18, of hieroglyphics; exhibit 19. perspicacité
20. au commun
ing in his solutions of each a degree of acumen19 des mortels
which appears to the ordinary20 apprehension 21. relever du
præternatural21. His results, brought about by22 surnaturel

22. habilement
the very soul23 and essence of method, have, in déduits par
23. l’âme même
truth, the whole air of intuition. 24. tire peut-
The faculty of resolution is possibly much in être une grande
force de
vigorated by24 mathematical study, and especial 25. fort
ly by that highest branch of it which, unjustly25, improprement
26. simplement
and merely on account26 of its retrograde oper en raison
ations, has been called, as if par excellence 27, 27. elle était
l’analyse par
analysis. Yet to calculate is not in itself to analyze. excellence
A chessplayer28, for example, does the one with 28. joueur
d’échecs
out effort at the other. It follows29 that the game 29. s’ensuit
of chess, in its effects upon 30 mental character, is 30. sur

M urders in the r ue M orgue
1. traité greatly misunderstood. I am not now writing a

2. récit passa-
blement singulier treatise1, but simply prefacing a somewhat pecu
3. tout à fait liar narrative2 by observations very much at ran
décousues dom 3; I will, therefore4, take occasion to assert5
4. donc
5. proclamer that the higher powers of the reflective intellect
6. activement
7. mis à profit
are more decidedly6 and more usefully tasked7
8. modeste by the unostentatious8 game of draughts9 than
9. dames
by all the elaborate frivolity of chess10. In this
10. futilité labo-
rieuse des échecs latter11, where the pieces have different and bi
11. Dans ce zarre motions12, with various and variable13 val
dernier jeu
12. mouvements ues, what is only complex is mistaken14 (a not un
13. diverses et usual error) for what is profound. The attention
variées
14. pris is here called power fully into play15. If it flag16
15. puissamment for an instant, an oversight17 is committed result
mise en jeu
16. se relâche
ing in injury18 or defeat. The possible moves be
17. erreur ing not only manifold but involute19, the chanc
18. perte [d’un
pion] es of such oversights are multiplied; and in nine
19. non seule- cases out of20 ten it is the more concentrative
ment variés, rather than the more acute21 player who con
mais complexes
20. sur quers22. In draughts, on the contrary, where the
21. habile
22. gagne
moves are unique and have but lit tle variation,
23. n’étant pas the probabilities of inadver tence are diminished,
accaparée and the mere at tention being left comparatively
24. tous les
avantages unemployed23, what advantages24 are obtained by
25. chacun des either party25 are obtained by superior acumen.
joueurs
26. il n’y aurait To be less abstract — let us suppose a game of
pas lieu de draughts where the pieces are reduced to four
s’attendre à des
étourderies kings, and where, of course, no oversight is to be
27. absolument expected26. It is obvious that here the victory can
28. puissant
effort be decided (the players being at all27 equal) only
29. Privé by some recherché movement, the result of some
30. entre dans
31. s’identifiant
strong exer tion 28 of the intellect. Deprived29 of
complètement ordinary resources, the analyst throws himself
avec lui into30 the spirit of his opponent, identi fies himself
32. souvent
33. ainsi therewith 31, and not unfrequently32 sees thus33,
10

E dgar a llan PoE
at a glance1, the sole methods (sometimes indeed 1. d’un seul coup

d’œil
absurdly simple ones) by which he may seduce 2. Le whist
into error or hurry into miscalculation. 3. a longtemps
été cité
Whist has long been noted for its influence 4. sur ce qu’on
2 3
upon what is termed4 the calculating power; and appelle

5. incompréhen-
men of the highest order of intellect have been sible
known to take an apparently unaccountable5 de 6. tout en ne
voyant dans les
light in it, while eschewing chess as6 frivolous. échecs qu’un jeu
Beyond doubt there is nothing of a similar na 7. qui fasse plus
travailler
ture so greatly tasking7 the faculty of analysis. 8. de la
The best chessplayer in Christendom8 may be lit chrétienté
9. la force
tle more than the best player of chess; but profi 10. spéculations
ciency9 in whist implies capacity for success in all 11. lutte
12. les cas
those more important undertakings10 where mind dont on peut
struggles11 with mind. When I say proficiency, I légitimement
mean that perfection in the game which includes tirer avantage
13. se dérobent
a comprehension of all the sources whence legit 14. dans des
imate advantage may be derived12. These are not recoins de la
pensée
only manifold but multiform, and lie13 frequently 15. somme toute
among recesses of thought14 altogether15 inaccess 16. [écrivain
anglais du
ible to the ordinary understanding. To observe at xviiie s.,
tentively is to remember distinctly; and, so far, spécialisé dans
les règles des
the concentrative chessplayer will do very well jeux de cartes]
at whist; while the rules of Hoyle16 (themselves 17. facilement
based upon the mere mechanism of the game) are 18. fidèle
19. se conformer
sufficiently17 and generally comprehensible. Thus aux règles
20. constituant,
to have a retentive18 memory, and to proceed by pour l’opinion
“the book” are points commonly regarded as commune,
19 20
the sum total21 of good playing. But it is in mat 21. summum

22. dans les cas
ters22 beyond the limits of mere23 rule that the 23. simple
skill24 of the analyst is evinced25. He makes, in si 24. talent
25. se manifeste
lence, a host26 of observations and inferences27. 26. une foule
So, perhaps, do his companions28; and the diffe 27. déductions
28. Ses parte-
rence in the extent of the information obtained, naires en font
lies not so much in the validity of the inference peut-être autant
11

1. L’important as in the quality of the obser vation. The neces

est de savoir
sary knowledge is that of1 what to observe. Our
2. ne se confine
pas dans son jeu player confines himself not at all2; nor, because
3. l’objet actuel the game is the object3, does he reject deduc
de son attention tions from things external to the game. He exam
4. physionomie
ines the countenance4 of his partner, comparing it
5. avec celle de
chacun carefully with that of each5 of his opponents. He
6. tenir considers the mode of assorting6 the cards in each
7. atout hand; often counting trump7 by trump, and hon
8. par or by honor, through8 the glances bestowed by9
9. que their holders upon each10. He notes every vari
s’échangent ation of face as the play progresses, gathering a
10. les joueurs
entre eux fund of thought11 from the differences in the ex
11. inférant pression of cer tainty, of surprise, of triumph, or
beaucoup of chagrin. From the manner of gathering up a
12. dont l’un trick12 he judges whether the person taking it can
ramasse une
levée, make another in the suit13. He recognizes what is
13. à la suite played through feint14, by the air with which it is
14. par feinte thrown upon the table. A casual15 or inadvertent
15. désinvolte word; the accidental dropping16 or turning of a
16. chute card, with the accompanying anxiety or careless
17. l’air inquiet ness17 in regard to its concealment18; the count
ou dégagé
ing of the tricks, with the order of their arrange
18. avec lequel
on la dissimule ment; embarrassment, hesitation, eagerness19 or
19. impatience trepidation20 — all afford21, to his apparently in
20. inquiétude tuitive perception, indications of the true state
21. tout est of affairs22. The first two or three rounds23 hav
pour lui ing been played, he is in full possession of the
22. situation
réelle du jeu contents of each hand, and thencefor ward24 puts
23. manches down his cards with as absolute a precision of
24. dès lors purpose as if the rest of the party had turned out
25. retourné ward25 the faces of their own.
26. une grande The analytical power should not be confounded

ingéniosité with ample ingenuity26; for while27 the analyst is
27. car, si necessar ily ingenious, the ingenious man is often
12

E dgar a llan PoE
remarkably incapable of analysis. The construct 1. [qui voyaient

un lien entre
ive or combining power, by which ingenuity is les fonctions
usually manifested, and to which the phrenolo mentales, le
tempérament
gists1 (I believe erroneously2) have assigned a sep de chacun et la
arate organ, supposing it3 a primitive faculty, has forme de son
crâne]
been so frequently seen in those whose intellect 2. ils ont tort,
bordered other wise upon4 idiocy, as to have at selon moi
3. en supposant
tracted general obser vation among writers on
qu’elle soit
morals. Between ingenuity and the analytic ability 4. confinait à
there exists a difference far greater, indeed, than 5. la rêverie
that between the fancy5 and the imagination, but 6. caractère
of a character6 very strictly analogous. It will be

found7, in fact, that the ingenious are always fan On verra
7.
ciful, and the truly imaginative never other wise8 n’est jamais
8.
autre chose
than analytic.
The narrative which follows will appear to the
9. comme une
reader somewhat in the light of a9 commentary sorte de
upon the10 propositions just advanced. 10. des
Residing in Paris during the spring and part of

11. j’y fis la
the summer of 18—, I there became acquainted connaissance
with a11 Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin. This young d’un certain
gentleman was of an excellent—indeed of an il
12. malencontreux
lustrious family, but, by a variety of untoward12
events, had been reduced to such poverty that the 13. y succomba
energy of his character succumbed beneath it13, 14. de se pousser
and he ceased to bestir himself14 in the world, 15. rétablissement
or to care for the retrieval15 of his fortunes. By 16. Grâce à la
cour tesy16 of his creditors, there still remained bonne volonté

17. reliquat
in his possession a small remnant17 of his patri 18. la rente qu’il
mony; and, upon the income arising from this18, en tirait
he managed, by means of a rigorous economy,
to procure the necessaries of life, without troub
ling himself about its superfluities. Books, indeed,
13

1. seul luxe were his sole luxuries1, and in Paris these are eas
2. on se les
ily obtained2.
procure
facilement Our first meeting was at an obscure library in
3. le fait d’être
tous deux par the Rue Montmartre, where the accident of our
hasard both being3 in search of the same very rare and
4. nous very remarkable volume, brought us into closer
rapprocha
5. qui est le
communion4. We saw each other again and again.
propre de tout I was deeply interested in the little family his
Français tory which he detailed to me with all that candor
6. quand il parle
de ses propres which a Frenchman indulges5 whenever mere self
affaires is his theme6. I was astonished, too, at the vast ex
7. étendue tent7 of his reading8; and, above all, I felt my soul
8. lectures
enkindled within me9 by the wild fer vor, and the
9. l’âme prise
vivid freshness of his imagination. Seeking10 in
10. Cherchant
11. qui faisaient
Paris the objects I then sought11, I felt that the so
mon unique ciety of such a man would be to me a treasure be
étude yond price; and this feeling I frankly confided to
12. Nous déci-
dâmes enfin him. It was at length arranged12 that we should
13. affaires live together during my stay in the city; and as
14. mal en point my worldly circumstances13 were somewhat less
15. de louer et embarrassed14 than his own, I was permitted to
meubler
be at the expense of renting, and furnishing15 in
16. mélancolie
17. antique
a style which suited the rather fantastic gloom16
18. villa of our common temper, a timeeaten17 and gro
19. dont nous ne tesque mansion18, long deserted through supersti
daignâmes pas tions into which we did not inquire19, and totter
nous enquérir
20. tombant
ing to its fall20 in a retired and desolate por tion of
presque en ruine the Faubourg St. Germain.
Had the routine of our life at this place been
known to the world, we should have been regarded
21. inoffensive as madmen — although, perhaps, as madmen of
22. réclusion a harm less
21
nature. Our seclusion22 was perfect.
We admitted no visitors. Indeed the locality of
our retirement had been carefully kept a secret
14

E dgar a llan PoE
from my own former associates1; and it had been 1. anciens

camarades
many years since Dupin had ceased to know or
be known in Paris. We existed within ourselves 2. qu’entre nous
alone2. 3. bizarrerie
d’humeur
3
It was a freak of fancy in my friend (for what qu’avait
else shall I call it?) to be enamored of the Night 4. d’aimer la
for her own sake4; and into this bizarrerie, as into nuit pour elle-
même
all his others, I quietly fell; giving myself up to his 5. lubies
wild whims5 with a perfect abandon. The sable6 6. noire
divinity would not herself dwell7 with us always; 7. demeurer
but we could counterfeit8 her presence. At the first 8. simuler
dawn of the morning9 we closed all the massy10 9. Au point du
jour,
shutters11 of our old building; lighting a couple of 10. lourds
tapers12 which, strongly perfumed, threw out only 11. volets
the ghastliest and feeblest13 of rays. By the aid of 12. bougies
these we then busied our souls in dreams — read 13. très faibles
ing, writing, or conversing, until warned by the et très pâles
14. la pendule
clock of the advent14 of the true Darkness. Then nous prévînt de
we sallied forth15 into the streets arm in arm16, l’arrivée
continuing the topics of the day, or roaming far 15. partions
gaillardement
and wide17 until a late hour, seeking, amid18 the 16. bras dessus
wild lights and shadows of the populous city, that bras dessous
infinity of mental excitement which quiet obser va 17. rôdant au
hasard
tion can’t afford19.
18. dans
At such times I could not help remarking and 19. donner
admiring (although from his rich ideality I had 20. un vif plaisir
been prepared to expect it) a peculiar analytic à l’exercer —
plutôt qu’à en
ability in Dupin. He seemed, too, to take an ea faire montre
ger delight in its exercise — if not exactly in its 21. qu’il en tirait
display20 — and did not hesitate to confess the 22. se vantait
pleasure thus derived21. He boasted to me22, with auprès de moi
23. un petit rire
a low chuckling laugh23, that most men, in respect
24. cœurs
to himself, wore windows in their bosoms24, and 25. accompagnait
was wont to follow up25 such assertions by direct d’ordinaire
15

1. des plus and very startling1 proofs of his intimate know

surprenantes
ledge of my own. His manner at these moments
2. glaciale
3. regardaient
was frigid2 and abstract; his eyes were vacant in
dans le vide expression3; while his voice, usually a rich tenor,
4. montait rose into a treble4 which would have sounded
dans des aigus
5. pu être signes
petulantly5 but for6 the deliberateness and entire
de colère distinctness of the enunciation. Observing him in
6. sans these moods, I often dwelt meditatively upon7 the
7. rêvais à old philosophy of the BiPart 8 Soul, and amused
8. double
myself with the fancy of a double Dupin — the
9. l’autre, qui
résout creative and the resolvent9.
10. Qu’on ne
Let it not be supposed10, from what I have
s’imagine pas
just said, that I am detailing any mystery, or pen
11. écris
12. roman ning11 any romance12. What I have described in
the Frenchman, was merely the result of an ex
13. malade cited, or perhaps of a diseased13 intelligence. But
14. donnera une of the character of his remarks at the periods in
meilleure idée
question an example will best convey the idea14.
15. flânions We were strolling15 one night down a long dirty
16. aux street in the vicinity of16 the Palais Royal. Being
abords du
both, apparently, occupied with thought, neither
of us had spoken a syllable for fifteen minutes at
17
17. Tout à coup, least. All at once Dupin broke forth with these
18. s’écria words :18
19. C’est
quelqu’un “He is a very little fellow19, that’s true, and
de très petit would do better for the Théâtre des Variétés.”
20. sans y “There can be no doubt of that,” I replied un

penser wittingly20, and not at first observing (so much
had I been absorbed in reflection) the extraordin
ary manner in which the speaker had chimed in
21. s’accordait à
with21 my meditations. In an instant after ward I
22. repris mes
esprits recollected myself22, and my astonishment23 was
23. étonnement profound.
16

E dgar a llan PoE
“Dupin,” said I, gravely, “this is beyond my

comprehension. I do not hesitate to say that I am
amazed, and can scarcely credit my senses1. How 1. peux à peine
was it possible you should know I was thinking en sens
croire mes
of —?” Here I paused, to ascer tain beyond a doubt 2. m’assurer
whether2 he really knew of whom3 I thought. indubitablement
qu’
—”of Chantilly,” said he, “why do you pause? 3. à qui
You were remarking to yourself that his diminu 4. petite taille
tive figure4 unfitted him for5 tragedy.” 5. le rendait
impropre à
This was precisely what had formed the subject 6. ancien
of my reflections. Chantilly was a quondam6 cob 7. savetier
bler7 of the Rue St. Denis, who, becoming stage 8. pris de la
mad 8, had attempted the rôle of Xer xes, in Crébil rage du théâtre
9. du même nom
lon’s tragedy so called9, and been notoriously
10. ce qui avait
Pasquinaded for his pains10. fait de lui un
sujet de risée
11
“Tell me, for Heaven’s sake ,” I exclaimed, “the 11. l’amour du
method — if method there is — by which you Ciel
have been enabled to fathom my soul12 in this 12. pu pénétrer
matter.” In fact I was even more star tled13 than I mon âme
13. surpris
would have been willing to express14. 14. n’aurais
“It was the fruiterer15,” replied my friend, “who voulu le dire
brought you to the conclusion that the mender of 15. fruitier
16. raccommodeur
soles16 was not of sufficient height for Xer xes et id de semelles
genus omne17.” 17. et tous les
rôles de ce genre
“The fruiterer! — you astonish me — I know 18. strictement
no fruiterer whomsoever18.” aucun fruitier
19. vous est
19
“The man who ran up against you as we en rentré dedans
tered the street — it may have been fifteen min
utes ago.”
I now remembered that, in fact, a fruiter
er, carrying upon his head a large basket20 of
20. panier
apples, had nearly thrown me down21, by ac 21. failli me
cident, as we passed from the Rue C— into renverser
17

1. l’artère the thoroughfare1 where we stood; but what this

principale
had to do with Chantilly I could not possibly
2. afin que
3. reprendre le
understand.
cours There was not a particle of charlâtanerie about
4. anneaux
Dupin. “I will explain,” he said, “and that2 you may
5. se suivent
6. Épicure
comprehend all clearly, we will first retrace the
7. pavés course3 of your meditations, from the moment in
8. le chemin which I spoke to you until that of the rencontre with
9. leur esprit the fruiterer in question. The larger links4 of the
était arrivé chain run5 thus — Chantilly, Orion, Dr. Nichols, Epi
à certaines
conclusions curus6, Stereotomy, the street stones7, the fruiterer.”
10. celui
11. but
There are few persons who have not, at some
12. Qu’on juge
period of their lives, amused themselves in re
donc de mon tracing the steps8 by which par ticular conclusions
étonnement of their own minds have been attained9. The oc
13. dus
reconnaître cupation is often full of interest and he10 who at
14. si je ne tempts it for the first time is astonished by the
m’abuse apparently illimitable distance and incoherence
15. passant
précipitamment between the startingpoint and the goal11. What,
devant then, must have been my amazement12 when I
16. vous jeta heard the Frenchman speak what he had just spo
17. pavés
ken, and when I could not help acknowledging13
18. amoncelés
that he had spoken the truth. He continued:
19. la chaussée
est en travaux “We had been talking of horses, if I remem
20. avez mis le
pied sur ber aright14, just before leaving the Rue C—. This
21. pierres
was the last subject we discussed. As we crossed
branlantes into this street, a fruiterer, with a large basket
22. vous avez upon his head, brushing quickly past15 us, thrust
glissé
23. vous êtes
you16 upon a pile of paving stones17 collected18 at
légèrement foulé a spot where the causeway is undergoing repair19.
la cheville You stepped upon20 one of the loose fragments21,
24. grognon
slipped22, slightly strained your ankle23, appeared
25. avez
marmonné vexed or sulky24, muttered25 a few words, turned
26. avez continué to look at the pile, and then proceeded26 in si
18

E dgar a llan PoE
lence. I was not par ticularly attentive to what you

did; but obser vation has become with me, of late1, 1. ces derniers
a species of necessity. temps
“You kept your eyes upon the ground — glan

cing, with a petulant expression, at the holes and 2. aux ornières
ruts2 in the pavement, (so that I saw you were still
thinking of the stones) until we reached the little
alley3 called Lamar tine, which has been paved, by 3. ruelle
way of experiment, with the overlapping4 and riv 4. unis
5. solidement
eted5 blocks. Here your countenance6 brightened assemblés
up7, and, perceiving your lips move, I could not 6. physionomie
doubt that you murmured the word ‘stereotomy,’ 7. s’est éclaircie
a term very affectedly8 applied to this species9 of 8. prétentieuse-
pavement. I knew that you could not say to your ment

9. genre
self ‘stereotomy’ without being brought to think
10. atomes
of atomies10, and thus of the theories of Epicurus; 11. et comme
and since11, when we discussed this subject not 12. sans que
very long ago, I mentioned to you how singular personne y prît
ly, yet with how little notice12, the vague guesses13 garde
13. conjectures
of that noble Greek had met with con firmation14
14. avaient été
in the late nebular cosmogony15, I felt that you confirmées
could not avoid casting16 your eyes upward to the 15. récentes
great nebula17 in Orion, and I cer tainly expect découvertes de

la cosmogonie
ed that you would do so. You did look up; and 16. porter
I was now assured that I had correctly followed 17. nébuleuse
your steps. But in that bitter tirade upon Chan
tilly, which appeared in yesterday’s ‘Musée,’ the quand il 18.
a embrassé
satirist, making some disgraceful allusions to the
la carrière
cobbler’s change of name upon assuming the bus tragique
kin18, quoted a Latin line19 about which we have19. vers
often conversed20. I mean the line 20. causé

21. [« La
Perdidit antiquum litera sonum.21 première lettre
perdit son
“I had told you that this was in reference to ancien son. »]
Orion, formerly22 written Urion; and, from cer 22. anciennement
19

1. remarques tain pungencies1 connected with this explanation,

caustiques
I was aware2 that you could not have forgotten it.
2. conscient
3. ne pouviez
It was clear, therefore, that you would not fail3 to
manquer combine4 the two ideas of Orion and Chantilly.
4. d’associer That you did combine them I saw by the charac
5. je le vis au
style du sourire ter of the smile5 which passed over your lips. You
6. aviez marché
thought of the poor cobbler’s immolation. So far,
courbé en deux you had been stooping in your gait6; but now I
7. vous redresser saw you draw yourself up7 to your full height. I
8. pensiez à la
très petite taille was then sure that you reflected upon the diminu
tive figure8 of Chantilly. At this point I interrupted
your meditations to remark that as, in fact, he was
a very little fellow — that Chantilly — he would
do better at the Théâtre des Variétés.”
réveillés
9.
Not long after this, we were looking over an
10. cris evening edition of the “Gazette des Tribunaux,”
effrayants when the following paragraphs arrested our
11. provenant attention.
12. étage
13. que l’on “EXTRAORDINARY MURDERS. — This morn
savait occupée ing, about three o’clock, the inhabitants of the
uniquement par
Quartier St Roch were aroused from sleep9 by a
14. retard
15. des efforts
succession of terrific shrieks10, issuing11, appar
infructueux ently, from the fourth story12 of a house in the Rue
16. parvenir à Morgue, known to be in the sole occupancy of13
entrer
17. grande porte
one Madame L’Espanaye, and her daughter Made
18. pince
moiselle Camille L’Espanaye. After some delay14,
19. voisins occasioned by a fruitless attempt15 to procure ad
20. tout ce mission16 in the usual manner, the gateway17 was
monde broken in with a crowbar18, and eight or ten of
21. montait
en courant la the neighbors19 entered accompanied by two gen
première volée darmes. By this time the cries had ceased; but,
d’escaliers
as the party20 rushed up the first flight of stairs21,
22. fortes
23. en pleine
two or more rough22 voices in angry contention23
querelle were distinguished and seemed to proceed from
20

E dgar a llan PoE
the upper part1 of the house. As the second land 1. étages

supérieurs
ing was reached2, these sounds, also, had ceased
2. Quand on
and every thing remained perfectly quiet. The par arriva au second
ty spread themselves3 and hurried from room to palier
3. Les gens se
room. Upon arriving at a large back chamber4 répartirent
in the fourth story, (the door of which, being 4. pièce
found locked5, with the key inside, was forced 5. dont la porte,
open) a spectacle presented itself which struck6 étant fermée
6. frappa
every one present not less with horror than with
7. d’une terreur
astonishment7. non moins
grande que leur
“The apartment was in the wildest disorder — étonnement
the furniture broken and thrown about8 in all dir 8. éparpillés
ections. There was only one bedstead9; and from 9. lit
this the bed10 had been removed, and thrown into 10. matelas
11. maculé de
the middle of the floor. On a chair lay a razor, be
12. Dans l’âtre,
smeared with11 blood. On the hearth12 were two
13. boucles
or three long and thick tresses13 of grey human épaisses
hair, also dabbled in14 blood, and seeming to have 14. trempées de
been pulled out15 by the roots16. Upon the floor 15. arrachées

16. racines
were found four Napoleons, an earring17 of topaz,
17. boucle
three large silver spoons18, three smaller of mé d’oreille
tal d’Alger, and two bags, containing nearly four 18. cuillers
thousand francs in gold. The drawers19 of a bu d’argent
19. tiroirs
reau20, which stood in one corner, were open,
20. commode
and had been, apparently, rifled21, although many
21. fouillés
articles still remained in them. A small iron safe22 22. coffret de
was discovered under the bed (not under the bed fer
stead). It was open, with the key still in the door. 23. ne contenait
rien
It had no contents23 beyond24 a few old letters,
24. hormis
and other papers of little consequence25. 25. de peu
“Of Madame L’Espanaye no traces were here d’importance

26. suie
seen; but an unusual quantity of soot26 being
27. foyer
observed in the fireplace27, a search was made 28. chose
in the chimney, and (horrible to relate!28) the horrible à dire !
21

1. cadavre corpse1 of the daughter, head downward2, was

2. tête en bas
3. en fut tiré dragged therefrom3; it having been thus forced
4. poussé par up the narrow aper ture4 for a considerable dis
l’étroite ouverture tance. The body was quite warm. Upon exam
5. égratignures
6. fourré ining it, many excoriations5 were perceived, no
7. puis dégagé doubt occasioned by the violence with which it
8. fortes
égratignures had been thrust up6 and disengaged7. Upon the
9. gorge face were many severe scratches8, and, upon the
10. des
meurtrissures throat9, dark bruises10, and deep indentations of
11. marques finger nails11, as if the deceased12 had been throt
d’ongles tled to death13.
12. la victime
13. étranglée
“After a thorough investigation14 of every por
14. examen
minutieux tion of the house, without far ther discovery15, the
15. découverte party made its way into a small paved yard in the
nouvelle
16. cour située rear of the building16, where lay the corpse of the
à l’arrière de la old lady, with her throat so entirely cut that, upon
bâtisse
17. quand on
an attempt to raise her17, the head fell off. The
essaya de la body, as well as the head, was fearfully18 mutilated
relever —the former so much so19 as scarcely to retain
18. terriblement
19. à tel point any semblance of humanity20.
20. qu’il
gardait à peine “To this horrible mystery there is not as yet21,
apparence we believe, the slightest clew22.”
humaine
21. pour The next day’s paper23 had these additional
l’instant
22. la moindre par ticulars24.
piste “The Tragedy in the Rue Morgue. Many individ
23. journal
24. détails uals have been examined in relation to this most
25. terrible
extraordinary and frightful25 affair. [The word ‘af
26. la légèreté
de ton de faire’ has not yet, in France, that levity of import
l’anglais which it conveys with us26] “but nothing whatever
« affair »
27. qui puisse has transpired to throw light27 upon it. We give
jeter quelque below all the material testimony elicited28.
jour
28. dépositions “Pauline Dubourg, laundress29, deposes30
obtenues that she has known both the deceased for three
29. blanchisseuse
30. déclare years, having washed for them during that period.
22

E dgar a llan PoE
The old lady and her daughter seemed on good 1. Elles

payaient très
terms — very affectionate towards each other. They bien.
were excellent pay.1 Could not speak2 in regard to 2. Ne peut rien
their mode3 or means of living4. Believed that Ma dire
3. quant à leur
dame L. told fortunes5 for a living. Was reputed mode de vie
to have money put by6. Never met any persons in 4. leurs moyens
the house when she called for the clothes7 or took de subsistance
them home. Was sure that they had no ser vant in 5. disait la
bonne aventure
employ8. There appeared to be no furniture in any
6. de côté
part of the building except in the fourth story. 7. venait
“Pierre Moreau, tobacconist9, deposes that he prendre le linge

8. domestique
has been in the habit of selling small quantities
9. buraliste
of tobacco and snuff10 to Madame L’Espanaye for 10. tabac à
nearly four years. Was born in the neighborhood, fumer et à
and has always resided there. The deceased and priser
her daughter had occupied the house in which
the corpses were found, for more than six years.
11. sous-louait
It was formerly occupied by a jeweller, who
underlet11 the upper rooms to various persons.
The house was the property of Madame L. She be 12. son
came dissatisfied with the abuse of the premises locataire, qui
dégradait
by her tenant12, and moved into them herself, reles lieux
13. d’en louer
fusing to let any por tion13. The old lady was child
ish14. Witness15 had seen the daughter some five une seule partie
14. puérile
or six times during the six years. The two lived an
15. Le témoin
exceedingly retired16 life — were reputed to have
16. excessive-
money. Had heard it said among the neighbors ment retirée
17. commission-
that Madame L. told fortunes — did not believe it.
Had never seen any person enter the door except naire
18. médecin
the old lady and her daughter, a por ter17 once or
19. ont déposé
twice, and a physician18 some eight or ten times.
20. dans le
“Many other persons, neighbors, gave evi même sens
dence19 to the same effect20. No one was spoken 21. On ne cite
personne comme
of as frequenting21 the house. It was not known ayant fréquenté
23

1. parents whether there were any living connexions1 of Ma

vivants
dame L. and her daughter. The shutters of the
2. rarement
front windows were seldom2 opened. Those in
the rear were always closed, with the exception of
the large back room, fourth story. The house was
a good house—not very old.
“Isidore Muset, gendarme, deposes that he
was called to the house about three o’clock in the
morning, and found some twenty or thirty per
3. qui sons at the gateway, endeavoring to gain admit
s’efforçaient de tance3. Forced it open, at length4, with a bayonet
pénétrer dans la
maison — not with a crowbar. Had but little difficulty in
4. enfin getting it open, on account of its being5 a dou
5. la porte étant ble or folding gate6, and bolted7 neither at bottom
6. à deux not top. The shrieks were continued until the gate
battants
was forced — and then suddenly ceased. They
7. verrouillée
8. en proie
seemed to be screams of some person (or persons)
aux plus vives in great agony8 — were loud and drawn out9, not
douleurs short and quick. Witness led the way up stairs.
9. très
prolongés Upon reaching the first landing, heard two voices
in loud and angry contention — the one a gruff10
10. bourrue voice, the other much shriller11 — a very strange
11. beaucoup voice. Could distinguish some words of the for
plus aiguë
mer, which was that of a Frenchman. Was posi
12. certain
tive12 that it was not a woman’s voice. Could dis
tinguish the words ‘sacré’ and ‘diable.’ The shrill
13. étranger voice was that of a foreigner13. Could not be sure
whether it was the voice of a man or of a woman.
14. distinguer Could not make out14 what was said, but believed
the language to be Spanish. The state of the room
and of the bodies was described by this witness as
we described them yesterday.
15. de son état “Henri Duval, a neighbor, and by trade15 a
16. orfèvre silversmith , deposes that he was one of the
16
24

E dgar a llan PoE
party who first entered the house. Corroborates1 1. Confirme

the testimony of Muset in general. As soon as they
forced an entrance, they reclosed the door, to keep
2. foule
out the crowd2, which collected3 very fast, not
3. s’amassait
withstanding4 the lateness of the hour5. The shrill 4. malgré
voice, this witness thinks, was that of an Italian. 5. l’heure tardive
Was cer tain it was not French. Could not be sure
that it was a man’s voice. It might have been a
woman’s. Was not acquainted6 with the Italian 6. familiarisé
language. Could not distinguish the words, but
was convinced by the intonation that the speaker
was an Italian. Knew Madame L. and her daugh
ter. Had conversed with both frequently. Was sure
that the shrill voice was not that of either7 of the celle d’aucune
7.
deceased.
“— Odenheimer, restaurateur. This witness
volunteered his testimony8. Not speaking French, a sponta- 8.
was examined through an9 interpreter. Is a na nément souhaité
tive10 of Amsterdam. Was passing11 the house at témoigner
9. interrogé par
the time of the shrieks. They lasted for several le canal d’un
minutes — probably ten. They were long and loud 10. Natif
11. Passait
— very awful12 and distressing13. Was one of those
who entered the building. Corroborated the pre devant
12. atroces
vious evidence14 in every respect but one15. Was 13. navrants
sure that the shrill voice was that of a man — of14. témoignage
a Frenchman. Could not distinguish the words ut 15. à l’exception
tered16. They were loud and quick — unequal17 — d’un seul point
16. prononcés
spoken apparently in fear as well as in anger. The
17. d’un ton
voice was harsh18 — not so much shrill as harsh. inégal
Could not call it a shrill voice. The gruff voice said
18. criarde
19. banquier
repeatedly ‘sacré,’ ‘diable,’ and once ‘mon Dieu.’
20. maison
“Jules Mignaud, banker19, of the firm of20 Mi
21. l’aîné
gnaud et Fils, Rue Deloraine. Is the elder21 Mi 22. quelque
gnaud. Madame L’Espanaye had some property22. fortune
25

Had opened an account with his banking house

in the spring of the year — (eight years previous
auparavant
1. ly1). Made frequent deposits in small sums2. Had
2. sommes checked for nothing3 until the third day before
3. N’était rien her death, when she took out in person the sum
venue retirer
of 4000 francs. This sum was paid in gold, and a
commis
4.
clerk4 went home with the money.
5. chez “Adolphe Le Bon, clerk to5 Mignaud et Fils, de
6. midi poses that on the day in question, about noon6 ,
he accompanied Madame L’Espanaye to her resi

dence with the 4000 francs, put up in two bags.
Upon the door being opened, Mademoiselle L. ap
peared and took from his hands one of the bags,
while the old lady relieved him7 of the other. He
7. le déchargeait
then bowed8 and departed. Did not see any per
8. les salua
son in the street at the time. It is a byestreet9 —
9. rue à l’écart
very lonely.
10. tailleur “William Bird, tailor10, deposes that he was one
of the party who entered the house. Is an Eng
lishman. Has lived in Paris two years. Was one of
11. monter the first to ascend11 the stairs. Heard the voices
in contention. The gruff voice was that of a
12. distinguer Frenchman. Could make out12 several words, but
cannot now remember all. Heard distinctly ‘sacré’
and ‘mon Dieu.’ There was a sound at the moment
13. grattement as if of several persons struggling — a scraping13
14. un
and scuffling sound14. The shrill voice was very
piétinement loud — louder than the gruff one. Is sure that it
was not the voice of an Englishman. Appeared to
be that of a German. Might have been a woman’s
voice. Does not understand German.
15. susdits
16. assignés de “Four of the abovenamed15 witnesses, being
nouveau recalled16, deposed that the door of the chamber
in which was found the body of Mademoiselle L.
26

E dgar a llan PoE
was locked on the inside when the party reached

it. Every thing was perfectly silent — no groans1 1. gémissements
or noises of any kind2. Upon forcing the door no 2. d’aucune sorte
person was seen. The windows3, both of the back 3. [mani-
festement à
and front room, were down4 and firmly fastened guillotine]
from within5. A door between the two rooms was 4. fermées
closed, but not locked. The door leading from the 5. solidement
front room into the passage was locked, with the bloquées de
l’intérieur
key on the inside. A small room in the front of the 6. à l’entrée du
house, on the fourth story, at the head of the pas corridor
sage6 was open, the door being ajar7. This room 7. entrebâillée
was crowded with old beds, boxes, and so forth8. 8. etc.
These were carefully removed and searched.

There was not an inch of any por tion of the house 9. Des balais
which was not carefully searched. Sweeps9 were 10. passés dans
[pour ramoner]
sent up and down10 the chimneys. The house was
11. trappe
a four story one, with garrets (mansardes.) A trap
12. solidement
door11 on the roof was nailed down very secure fermée avec des
ly12 — did not appear to have been opened for clous
13. écoulé
years. The time elapsing13 between the hearing of
14. varie selon
the voices in contention and the breaking open of
the room door, was variously stated by14 the wit
nesses. Some made it as short as three minutes —
some as long as five. The door was opened with
difficulty.
15. entrepreneur
“Alfonzo Garcio, under taker15, deposes that he de pompes
funèbres
resides in the Rue Morgue. Is a native of Spain.
Was one of the party who entered the house. Did 16. Ne monta
not proceed up stairs.16 Is ner vous, and was appre pas à l’étage.
hensive17 of the consequences of agitation. Heard 17. redoute
the voices in contention. The gruff voice was that
of a Frenchman. Could not distinguish what was
said. The shrill voice was that of an Englishman
— is sure of this. Does not understand the English
language, but judges by the intonation.
27

1. confiseur
“Alberto Montani, confectioner1, deposes that
he was among the first to ascend the stairs. Heard
the voices in question. The gruff voice was that of
2. faire des
a Frenchman. Distinguished several words. The
remontrances speaker appeared to be expostulating2. Could
not make out the words of the shrill voice. Spoke
3. par saccades
quick and unevenly3. Thinks it the voice of a Rus
sian. Corroborates the general testimony. Is an
Italian. Never conversed with a native of Russia.
“Several witnesses, recalled, here testified that
the chimneys of all the rooms on the fourth sto
4. balais
ry were too narrow to admit the passage of a hu
on entendait
5.
man being. By ‘sweeps4’ were meant5 cylindrical
sweeping brushes, such as are employed by those
6. chaque who clean chimneys. These brushes were passed
conduit up and down every flue6 in the house. There is no
back passage by which any one could have des
cended while the party proceeded up stairs. The
body of Mademoiselle L’Espanaye was so firmly
7. enfoncé wedged7 in the chimney that it could not be got
down until four or five of the party united their
strength.
au point du
8.
“Paul Dumas, physician, deposes that he was
jour called to view the bodies about daybreak8. They
9. sur le fond de were both then lying on the sacking of the bed
sangle du lit
stead9 in the chamber where Mademoiselle L. was
10. écorché found. The corpse of the young lady was much
11. pourrait bruised and excoriated10. The fact that it had been
suffire à
expliquer thrust up the chimney would sufficiently account
12. à vif for
11
these appearances. The throat was greatly
13. menton chafed12 . There were several deep scratches just
14. marques below the chin13, together with a ser ies of livid
bleuâtres
15. des
spots14 which were evidently the impression15 of
empreintes fingers. The face was fearfully discolored, and the
28

E dgar a llan PoE
eyeballs protruded1. The tongue had been par 1. les yeux

étaient exorbités
tially bitten through2. A large bruise was discov
2. entaillée
ered upon the pit of the stomach3, produced, ap
3. creux de
parently, by the pressure of a knee4. In the opinion
l’estomac
of M. Dumas, Mademoiselle L’Espanaye had been
4. genou
throttled to death by some person or persons un
known. The corpse of the mother was horribly
mutilated. All the bones5 of the right leg and arm 5. os
were more or less shattered6. The left tibia much 6. fracassés
splintered7, as well as all the ribs of the left side. 7. brisé en
Whole body dreadfully bruised and discolored. It

esquilles
was not possible to say how the injuries had been
inflicted. A heavy club of wood8, or a broad bar of 8. massue de
bois
iron9 — a chair — any large, heavy, and obtuse10
9. barre de fer
weapon11 would have produced such results, if
10. contondante
wielded12 by the hands of a very powerful man.
No woman could have inflicted the blows13 with 11. arme
any weapon. The head of the deceased, when 12. elle est

maniée
seen by witness, was entirely separated from the
13. coups
body, and was also greatly shattered. The throat
had evidently been cut with some very sharp14 14. affûté
instrument — probably with a razor.

“Alexandre Etienne, surgeon15, was called with
M. Dumas to view the bodies. Corroborated the 15. chirurgien
testimony, and the opinions of M. Dumas.
“Nothing far ther of importance was elicited16, 16. On n’a pu
obtenir aucun
although several other persons were examined. A autre renseigne-
murder so mysterious, and so perplexing in all its ment significatif
par ticulars, was never before committed in Paris 17. si toutefois
il y a eu
— if indeed a murder has been committed at all17. assassinat
The police are entirely at fault18 — an unusual oc 18. fautive
currence in19 affairs of this nature. There is not, 19. chose
however, the shadow of a clew apparent.” inhabituelle pour
29

1. Selon l’édition The evening edition of the paper stated that1

du soir,
the greatest excitement2 still continued in the
2. agitation
Quartier St Roch — that the premises in question
3. fouillées de
nouveau had been carefully researched3, and fresh ex
4. on dut aminations of witnesses instituted4, but all to no
réinterroger purpose5. A postscript, however, mentioned that
des témoins
5. sans résultat
Adolphe Le Bon had been arrested and impris
6. l’incriminer
oned — although nothing appeared to criminate
him6, beyond the facts already detailed.
autant, du
7. Dupin seemed singularly interested in the pro
moins, que je
pus en juger gress of this affair — at least so I judged7 from his
manner, for he made no comments. It was only af
ter the announcement that Le Bon had been im
prisoned, that he asked me my opinion respect
8. y voyant ing the murders.
9. cette
instruction I could merely agree with all Paris in consider
stérile ing them8 an insoluble mystery. I saw no means by
10. si réputée which it would be possible to trace the murderer.
pour son flair
11. rusée “We must not judge of the means,” said Du
12. mal pin, “by this shell of an examination9. The Pa
appropriées risian police, so much extolled for acumen10, are
13. au but visé
cunning11, but no more. There is no method in
14. qu’elles font
penser their proceedings, beyond the method of the mo
15. réclamant
ment. They make a vast parade of measures; but,
16. dus à
not unfrequently, these are so ill adapted12 to the
17. insuffisantes objects proposed , as to put us in mind
13 14
of Mon
15
18. plans sieur Jourdain’s calling for his robedechambre
19. échouent — pour mieux entendre la musique. The results
20. [bagnard, attained by them are not unfrequently sur prising,
puis chef de
la brigade de but, for the most part, are brought about by
16
sûreté, sous simple diligence and activity. When these qualities

l’Empire et la are unavailing17, their schemes18 fail19. Vidocq20,
Restauration]
21. marchait à
for example, was a good guesser21 and a perse
l’intuition vering man. But, without educated thought, he
30

E dgar a llan PoE
erred1 continually by the very intensity of his in 1. faisait fausse

route
vestigations. He impaired2 his vision by holding
2. restreignait
the object too close. He might see, perhaps, one
3. ce faisant,
or two points with unusual clearness, but in so 4. perdait
doing3 he, necessarily, lost sight4 of the matter la vision
as a whole5. Thus there is such a thing as being 5. dans son
too profound. Truth is not always in a well6. In ensemble

6. puits
fact, as regards7 the more important knowledge,
7. quant à
I do believe that she is invariably super ficial. The
8. profondeur
depth8 lies in the valleys where we seek her, and
9. cîmes
not upon the mountaintops9 where she is found. 10. trouvent
The modes and sources of this kind of error are une parfaite
well typified10 in the contemplation of the heaven illustration
11. corps
ly bodies11. To look at a star by glances — to view célestes
it in a sidelong way12, by turning toward it the ex 12. obliquement
terior portions of the retina (more susceptible13 of 13. sensibles
feeble14 impressions of light than the interior), is 14. faibles
to behold15 the star distinctly — is to have the best 15. regarder
appreciation of its lustre16 — a lustre which grows 16. éclat
dim17 just in propor tion as we turn our vision 17. qui
fully18 upon it. A greater number of rays actually19 s’obscurcit

18. en plein
fall upon the eye in the latter case, but, in the for
19. en réalité
mer, there is the more refined capacity for com
20. une réception
prehension20. By undue21 profundity we perplex plus complète
and enfeeble22 thought; and it is possible to make 21. outrée
even Venus herself vanish from the firmanent 22. affaiblit
by a scrutiny too sustained23, too concentrated, 23. attention
or too direct. trop soutenue
“As for these murders, let us enter into some

examinations for ourselves, before we make up an 24. enquête
opinion respecting them. An inquiry24 will afford 25. nous
us25 amusement,” [I thought this an odd term, so procurera
applied, but said nothing] “and, besides, Le Bon
once rendered me a ser vice for which I am not un je26.lui dont
suis
grateful26. We will go and see the premises with reconnaissant
31

our own eyes. I know G—, the Prefect of Police,

and shall have no difficulty in obtaining the ne
cessary permission.”
1. nous rendîmes The permission was obtained, and we proceeded1
at once to the Rue Morgue. This is one of those mis
2. relient erable thoroughfares which inter vene between2
the Rue Richelieu and the Rue St Roch. It was late
in the afternoon when we reached it; as this quar
3. quartier
ter3 is at a great distance from that in which we
4. de celui que
nous habitions resided4. The house was readily5 found; for there
5. bien vite were still many persons gazing up at the closed
6. de badauds shutters, with an objectless6 curiosity, from the
7. rue opposite side of the way7. It was an ordinary Pa
risian house, with a gateway, on one side of which
vitrée
8. was a glazed8 watchbox9, with a sliding panel10 in
guichet
9.
the window, indicating a loge de concierge. Before
10. panneau
coulissant going in we walked up the street, turned down an
alley, and then, again turning, passed in the rear
of the building — Dupin, meanwhile examining
attention
11. the whole neighborhood, as well as the house,
minutieuse with a minuteness of attention11 for which I could
12. Revenant
sur nos pas see no possible object.
13. façade de la Retracing our steps12, we came again to the
maison
14. laissez-
front of the dwelling13, rang, and, having shown
passer our credentials14, were admitted by the agents in
charge. We went up stairs — into the chamber
where the body of Mademoiselle L’Espanaye had
15. Le désordre been found, and where both the deceased still lay.
16. comme c’est
l’usage The disorders 17
15
of the room had, as usual16, been
17. laissé en
suffered to exist . I saw nothing beyond what had
l’état been stated in the “Gazette des Tribunaux.” Du
pin scrutinized every thing — not excepting the
bodies of the victims. We then went into the oth
er rooms, and into the yard; a gendarme accom
32

E dgar a llan PoE
panying us throughout1. The examination occu 1. toujours

pied us until dark2, when we took our departure. 2. jusqu’au soir
On our way home my companion stepped in3 for 3. entra
a moment at the office4 of one of the daily papers. 4. dans les

bureaux
I have said that the whims of my friend were 5. [je m’en
manifold, and that je les ménageais5: — for this accommodais]
phrase there is no English equivalent. It was his 6. Il entrait
dans sa
humor6, now, to decline all conversation on the fantaisie
subject of the murder, until about noon the next
day. He then asked me, suddenly, if I had observed 7. quoi que ce
any thing peculiar 7 at the scene of the atrocity. soit d’étrange
There was something in his manner of empha 8. me donna le
sizing the word “peculiar,” which caused me to frisson
shudder8, without knowing why.
“No, nothing peculiar,” I said; “nothing more,
at least, than we both saw stated in the paper.”
9. ne tenez pas
“The ‘Gazette,’” he replied, “has not entered, compte
I fear, into the unusual horror of the thing. But 10. vaines
dismiss the9 idle10 opinions of this print11. It ap 11. feuille
pears to me that this mystery is considered in 12. qui devrait le
soluble, for the very reason which should cause faire regarder
13. son caractère
it to be regarded12 as easy of solution — I mean excessif
for the outré character of its features13. The po 14. déroutée
lice are confounded14 by the seeming15 absence of 15. apparente
motive — not for the murder itself — but for the
atrocity of the murder. They are puzzled16, too, 16. Elle est
by the seeming impossibility of reconciling17 the intriguée
voices heard in contention, with the facts that no 17. concilier
one was discovered up stairs but the assassinated

Mademoiselle L’Espanaye, and that there were no 18. aucun moyen
de sortir
means of egress18 without the notice of19 the par
19. être vu par
ty ascending. The wild disorder of the room; the
corpse thrust, with the head downward, up the
chimney; the frightful mutilation of the body of
33

the old lady; these considerations, with those just

mentioned, and others which I need not men
1. déroutant
complètement tion, have sufficed to paralyze the powers, by put
2. perspicacité si ting completely at fault1 the boasted acumen2, of
vantée the government agents. They have fallen into the
3. grossière
mais courante gross but common3 error of confounding the un
4. et
usual with the abstruse4. But it is by these devi
l’inintelligible ations from the plane of the ordinary5, that rea
5. cours ordi- son feels its way6, if at all, in its search for the
naire des choses
true. In investigations such as we are now pursu
6. trouve son
chemin ing, it should not be so much asked7 ‘what has oc
7. il ne faut curred,’ as ‘what has occurred that has never oc
pas tant se curred before.’ In fact, the facility with which I
demander
8. proportion-
shall arrive, or have arrived, at the solution of this
nelle à mystery, is in the direct ratio of8 its apparent in
solubility in the eyes of the police.”
9. étonnement
I stared at the speaker in mute astonishment9.
10. en train
d’attendre “I am now awaiting10,” continued he, looking
toward the door of our apartment — ”I am now
awaiting a person who, although perhaps not the
11. responsable perpetrator of these butcheries11, must have been
de cette
boucherie in some measure12 implicated in their perpetra
12. en partie tion. Of the worst por tion of the crimes commit
13. car ted, it is probable that he is innocent. I hope that I
14. c’est là-
dessus que je am right in this supposition; for13 upon it I build14
fonde my expectation of reading the entire riddle15. I
15. résoudre look for the man here — in this room — every
toute l’énigme moment16. It is true that he may not arrive; but the
16. d’une minute
à l’autre probability is that he will. Should he come, it will
17. le retenir be necessary to detain him17. Here are pistols; and
18. en cas de we both know how to use them when occasion
nécessité demands their use18.”
19. sans trop
20. en croire mes
I took the pistols, scarcely19 knowing what I
oreilles did, or believing what I heard20, while Dupin went
34

E dgar a llan PoE
on, very much as if in a soliloquy1. I have already 1. monologue

spoken of his abstract manner at such times. His
discourse was addressed to myself; but his voice,
2. à un
although by no means loud2, had that intonation niveau sonore
which is commonly3 employed in speaking to raisonnable
some one at a great distance. His eyes, vacant in 3. d’ordinaire
expression, regarded only the wall.
“That the voices heard in contention,” he said,
“by the party upon the stairs, were not the voices
of the women themselves, was fully proved by the
evidence. This relieves us of4 all doubt upon the 4. Cela nous ôte
question whether the old lady could have first de
stroyed5 the daughter and after ward6 have com 5. d’abord tué
6. ensuite
mitted suicide. I speak of this point chiefly7 for
7. surtout
the sake8 of method; for the strength of Madame 8. par esprit
L’Espanaye would have been utterly unequal to 9. absolument
the task9 of thrusting her daughter’s corpse up incapable
the chimney as it was found; and the nature of the
wounds10 upon her own person entirely preclude 10. blessures
11. exclut le
the idea of selfdestruction11. Murder, then, has suicide
been committed by some third party12; and the 12. des tiers
voices of this third party were those heard in con
tention. Let me now advert13 — not to the whole 13. Venons-en
testimony respecting these voices — but to what maintenant
was peculiar in that testimony. Did you observe
any thing peculiar about it?”
I remarked that, while all the witnesses agreed
in supposing the gruff voice to be that of a French
man, there was much disagreement in regard to
the shrill, or, as one individual14 termed it, the 14. un seul
individu
15
harsh voice. 15. criarde
“That was the evidence itself,” said Dupin, “but 16. ce qui est
bizarre dans ce
it was not the peculiarity of the evidence16. You témoignage
have observed nothing distinctive17. Yet there was 17. de particulier
35

something to be observed. The witnesses, as you

1. il y a
remark, agreed about the gruff voice; they were
unanimité here unanimous1. But in regard to the shrill voice,
the peculiarity is — not that they disagreed —
but that, while an Italian, an Englishman, a Span
Espagnol
2.
iard2, a Hollander, and a Frenchman attempted
to describe it, each one spoke of it as that of a
3. compatriotes foreigner. Each is sure that it was not the voice
4. la compare
of one of his own countrymen3. Each likens it4
5. dont la — not to the voice of an individual of any nation
langue lui serait with whose language he is conversant5 — but the
familière
6. contraire
converse6. The Frenchman supposes it the voice
7. s’il avait su un
of a Spaniard, and ‘might have distinguished some
peu d’espagnol words had he been acquainted with the Spanish7.’
8. Néerlandais The Dutchman8 maintains it to have been that
of a Frenchman; but we find it stated that ‘not
understanding French this witness was examined
through an inter preter.’ The Englishman thinks it
the voice of a German, and ‘does not understand
German.’ The Spaniard ‘is sure’ that it was that of
an Englishman, but ‘judges by the intonation’ al
9. n’est pas together, ‘as he has no knowledge of the English.’
d’accord The Italian believes it the voice of a Russian, but
10. cependant
‘has never conversed with a native of Russia.’ A
11. n’ayant pas
la connaissance second Frenchman differs9, moreover10, with the
12. langue first, and is positive that the voice was that of an
13. cette voix Italian; but, not being cognizant11 of that tongue12,
devait être
en effet fort is, like the Spaniard, ‘convinced by the intonation.’
étrange Now, how strangely unusual must that voice have
14. si elle a pu really been13, about which such testimony as this
susciter de tels
témoignages could have been elicited14! — in whose tones,
15. des citoyens even, denizens15 of the five great divisions of Eur
ope could recognise nothing familiar! You will say
that it might have been the voice of an Asiatic —
of an African. Neither Asiatics nor Africans abound
36

E dgar a llan PoE
in Paris; but, without denying the inference1, I will 1. nier que cela
puisse donc être
now merely call your attention to three points. le cas
The voice is termed by one witness ‘harsh ra
2. brève et
ther than shrill.’ It is represented by two others to saccadée
have been ‘quick and unequal.’2 No words — no 3. ne sais
sounds resembling words — were by any witness 4. j’ai pu faire
mentioned as distinguishable. 5. pour faire
naître un
“I know not3,” continued Dupin, “what impres soupçon
sion I may have made4, so far, upon your own 6. devrait
nous orienter
understanding; but I do not hesitate to say that et permettre
legitimate deductions even from this por tion of d’avancer
résolution
vers la
the testimony — the por tion respecting the gruff 7. Je voulais
and shrill voices — are in themselves sufficient to faire entendre
engender a suspicion5 which should give direc 8. seules
9. convenables
tion to all far ther progress in the investigation6 of
10. en surgit
the mystery. I said ‘legitimate deductions;’ but my inévitablement
meaning is not thus fully expressed. I designed to comme le seul
résultat possible
imply7 that the deductions are the sole 8 proper9 11. immédiate-
ones, and that the suspicion arises inevitably from ment
them as the single result10. What the suspicion is, 12. que vous
pensiez
however, I will not say just yet11. I merely wish you 13. tout comme
to bear in mind12 that, with myself13, it was suffi moi
ciently forcible14 to give a definite form — a cer 14. suffisait
tain tendency — to my inquiries in the chamber. 15. en
imagination
“Let us now transport ourselves, in fancy15, to 16. L’issue par
this chamber. What shall we first seek here? The laquelle
sortis
sont
means of egress employed by16 the murderers. It 17. surnaturels
is not too much to say that neither of us believe in 18. Les
præternatural17 events. Madame and Mademois assassins
elle L’Espanaye were not destroyed by spirits. The 19. des êtres de
chair et d’os
18 19
doers of the deed were material , and escaped 20. par des voies
materially20. Then how? Fortunately, there is but concrètes
one mode of reasoning21 upon the point, and that 21. il n’y a
qu’une manière
mode must lead us to a definite decision. — Let de raisonner
37

us examine, each by each, the possible means of

egress. It is clear that the assassins were in the
room where Mademoiselle L’Espanaye was found,
1. adjacente or at least in the room adjoining1, when the par
ty ascended the stairs. It is then only from these
2. chambres two apartments2 that we have to seek issues. The
3. ôté les
parquets police have laid bare the floors3, the ceilings4, and
4. plafonds the masonry5 of the walls, in every direction. No
5. mis à nu la secret issues could have escaped their vigilance.
maçonnerie But, not trusting6 to their eyes, I examined with
6. ne me fiant
pas my own. There were, then, no secret issues. Both
doors leading from the rooms into the passage
were securely locked, with the keys inside. Let
7. largeur us turn to the chimneys. These, although of or
8. sur environ dinary width7 for some eight or ten feet8 above
3 mètres the hearths, will not admit9, throughout their ex
9. ne laisseraient
pas passer tent10, the body of a large cat. The impossibility
10. tout le long of egress, by means already stated, being thus ab
du conduit solute, we are reduced to the windows. Through
those of the front room no one could have es
11. par des
déductions aussi caped without notice from the crowd in the street.
incontestables The murderers must have passed, then, through
12. nous ne those of the back room. Now, brought to this con
saurions clusion in so unequivocal a manner11 as we are,
13. en nous
fondant sur it is not our part12, as reasoners, to reject it on ac
14. n’existent count of13 apparent impossibilities. It is only left
pas for us to prove that these apparent ‘impossibilities’
15. n’est pas are, in reality, not such14.
obstruée
16. entièrement “There are two windows in the chamber. One
17. Le bas of them is unobstructed15 by furniture, and is
18. massif wholly16 visible. The lower por tion17 of the other
19. collée dessus is hidden from view by the head of the unwieldy18
20. bloquée de
l’intérieur bedstead which is thrust close up against it19. The
21. aux efforts
former was found securely fastened from with
les plus violents in20. It resisted the utmost force21 of those who
38

E dgar a llan PoE
endeavored1 to raise it. A large gimlethole2 had 1. essayèrent

been pierced in its frame3 to the left, and a very 2. trou avec une
vrille
stout nail4 was found fitted therein5, nearly to the 3. châssis
head6. Upon examining the other window, a simi 4. gros clou
lar nail was seen similarly fitted in it; and a vig 5. fiché dedans
orous attempt to raise this sash7, failed also. The 6. enfoncé
police were now entirely satisfied that egress had jusqu’au bout
7. châssis
not been in these directions. And, therefore, it was
8. superflu
thought a matter of supererogation8 to withdraw9 9. retirer
the nails and open the windows.
“My own examination was somewhat more
par ticular10, and was so for the reason I have just 10. minutieux
given — because here it was, I knew, that all ap
parent impossibilities must be proved to be not
such in reality.
“I proceeded to think thus — a posteriori. The
11. Par
murderers did escape from one of these windows.
conséquent
This being so11, they could not have refastened12 12. refermé
the sashes from the inside, as they were found 13. de par son
fastened; — the consideration which put a stop, évidence
14. pouvoir
through its obviousness13, to the scrutiny of the
15. se fermer
police in this quar ter. Yet the sashes were fas d’eux-mêmes
tened. They must, then, have the power of14 fas 16. m’approchai
tening themselves15. There was no escape from de
17. fenêtre
this conclusion. I stepped to16 the unobstructed
18. Un ressort
casement17, withdrew the nail with some diffi caché
culty and attempted to raise the sash. It resisted 19. hypothèses
all my efforts, as I had anticipated. A concealed 20. quelque
spring18 must, I now know, exist; and this corrob mystérieuses que
m’apparussent
oration of my idea convinced me that my prem toujours
ises19 at least, were correct, however mysterious 21. relatives aux
22. révéla
still appeared20 the circumstances attending the21 l’emplacement
nails. A careful search soon brought to light the22 du
39

1. je m’abstins hidden spring. I pressed it, and, satisfied with the
discovery, forbore1 to upraise the sash.
“I now replaced the nail and regarded it atten
2. sortant par tively. A person passing out through2 this win
3. se serait dow might have reclosed it, and the spring would
enclenché have caught3 — but the nail could not have been
4. claire
replaced. The conclusion was plain4, and again
5. réduisait
encore narrowed in5 the field of my investigations. The
assassins must have escaped through the other
window. Supposing, then, the springs upon each
6. dont ils sash to be the same, as was probable, there must
avaient été fixés
be found a difference between the nails, or at
7. Une fois
monté sur least between the modes of their fixture6. Getting
8. par-dessus la upon7 the sacking of the bedstead, I looked over
tête de lit the headboard8 minutely9 at the second case
9. avec un soin
minutieux ment. Passing my hand down behind the board,
10. facilement I readily10 discovered and pressed11 the spring,
11. fis jouer which was, as I had supposed, identical in char
acter with its neighbor. I now looked at the nail.
12. un terme It was as stout as the other, and apparently fitted
sportif
13. n’avais pas
in the same manner — driven in nearly up to the
commis une seule head.
« faute ».
14. piste
“You will say that I was puzzled; but, if you
15. un seul think so, you must have misunderstood the nature
instant of the inductions. To use a sporting phrase12, I had
16. aucun défaut not been once ‘at fault.’13 The scent14 had never
dans aucun
maillon de la for an instant15 been lost. There was no flaw in
chaîne any link of the chain16. I had traced17 the secret
17. suivi
to its ultimate result, — and that result was the
18. en tous
points nail. It had, I say, in every respect18, the appear
19. du clou ance of its fellow19 in the other window; but this
correspondant fact was an absolute nullity (conclusive as it might
20. quelque
concluant qu’il seem to be20) when compared with the consider
fût en apparence ation that here, at this point, terminated the clew.
40

E dgar a llan PoE
‘There must be something wrong,’ I said, ‘about

the nail.’ I touched it; and the head, with about a
quar ter of an inch of the shank1, came off2 in my 1. tige
fingers. The rest of the shank was in the gimlet 2. me resta
hole where it had been broken off. The fracture
was an old one (for its edges were incrusted with
3. les bords
rust3), and had apparently been accomplished by étaient incrustés
the blow of a hammer4, which had par tially im de rouille
bedded5, in the top of the bottom sash, the head 4. marteau
5. enfoncé
por tion of the nail. I now carefully replaced this
6. creux
head por tion in the indentation6 whence7 I had 7. d’où
taken it, and the resemblance to a perfect nail was
complete — the fissure was invisible. Pressing the
spring, I gently raised the sash for a few inches;
the head went up with it, remaining firm8 in its 8. sans bouger
bed9. I closed the window, and the semblance of 9. logement
the whole nail was again perfect.
“The riddle, so far, was now unriddled.10 10. Une
The assassin had escaped through the win première énigme
était résolue.
dow which looked upon the bed. Dropping11 of 11. Qu’elle fût
its own accord12 upon his exit (or perhaps pur retombée
12. d’elle-même
posely closed13), it had become fastened by the
13. qu’on l’eût
spring; and it was the retention14 of this spring refermée
which had been mistaken by the police for that of 14. résistance
the nail, — farther inquiry being thus considered
unnecessary.
“The next question is that of the mode of des
cent. Upon this point I had been satisfied in my
walk with you around the building. About five feet 15. À env.
and a half15 from the casement in question there 1, 70 m
16. paratonnerre
runs a lightningrod16. From this rod it would have
been impossible for any one to reach the window 17. à plus forte
itself, to say nothing17 of entering it. I observed, raison
however, that the shutters of the fourth story were
41

1. menuisiers of the peculiar kind called by Parisian carpenters1

2. de nos jours
ferrades — a kind rarely employed at the present
3. simple
day2, but frequently seen upon very old mansions
4. à double
battant at Lyons and Bordeaux. They are in the form of an
5. à croisillons ordinary door, (a single3, not a folding4 door) ex
6. treillissée cept that the lower half is latticed5 or worked in
7. prise open trellis6 — thus affording an excellent hold7
8. Dans le cas
présent, for the hands. In the present instance8 these shut
9. font au moins ters are fully three feet and a half9 broad10. When
1,05 m we saw them from the rear of the house, they
10. de large
were both about half open — that is to say, they
11. faisaient
angle droit avec stood off at right angles from11 the wall. It is prob
12. bâtiment able that the police, as well as myself, examined
13. dans le sens the back of the tenement12; but, if so, in look
de leur largeur ing at these ferrades in the line of their breadth13
14. ne lui ont
pas accordé (as they must have done), they did not perceive
l’importance this great breadth itself, or, at all events, failed
nécessaire to take it into due consideration14. In fact, hav
15. n’auront
procédé ici qu’à ing once satisfied themselves that no egress could
16. sommaire have been made in this quar ter, they would natur
17. de ally bestow here15 a very cursory16 examination. It
18. si on le rabat was clear to me, however, that the shutter belong
sur
19. arriverait
ing to17 the window at the head of the bed, would,
20. moins de if swung fully back to18 the wall, reach19 to within
60 cm two feet20 of the lightningrod. It was also evident
21. en faisant
that, by exer tion21 of a very unusual degree of ac
preuve
22. d’une énergie
tivity and courage22, an entrance into the window,
et d’un courage from the rod, might have been thus effected. —
hors du commun By reaching to the distance of two feet and a half
23. complètement
ouvert (we now suppose the shutter open to its whole ex
24. voleur tent23) a robber24 might have taken a firm grasp25
25. prise solide upon the trelliswork. Letting go, then, his hold
26. Lâchant dès upon26 the rod, placing his feet securely against
lors
27. s’élançant
the wall, and springing boldly27 from it, he might
vivement have swung the shutter so as to close it, and, if we
42

E dgar a llan PoE
imagine the window open at the time, might even

have swung himself into the room.
“I wish you to bear especially in mind that I
have spoken of a very unusual degree of activ
ity as requisite1 to success in so hazardous and so 1. nécessaire
difficult a feat2. It is my design to show you, first, 2. entreprise
that the thing might possibly have been accomp
lished: — but, secondly and chiefy3, I wish to im 3. principalement
4. attirer votre
press upon your understanding4 the very extra attention sur
ordinary — the almost præternatural character of
that agility which could have accomplished it.
“You will say, no doubt, using the language of 5. je devrais
plutôt sous-
the law, that ‘to make out my case,’ I should ra évaluer
ther under value5, than insist upon a full estima 6. réclamer
tion6 of the activity required in this matter. This l’exacte estima-
tion
may be the practice in law, but it is not the usage
of reason. My ultimate object is only the truth.
My immediate purpose is to lead you to place in
juxtaposition, that very unusual activity of which
I have just spoken with that very peculiar shrill
(or harsh) and unequal voice, about whose na
tionality no two persons could be found to agree,
and in whose utterance no syllabification could be 7. qui n’a parlé
que par borbo-
detected7.” rygmes
At these words a vague and halfformed con
ception of the meaning of Dupin flitted over8 my
mind. I seemed to be upon the verge of9 compre
8. passa dans
hension without power to comprehend — men, at 9. au bord de
times, find themselves upon the brink of remem 10. sur le point
brance10 without being able, in the end, to remem de se souvenir
ber. My friend went on with his discourse. 11. déplacé
12. entrée
“You will see,” he said, “that I have shifted11
13. Mon but
the question from the mode of egress to that of était
ingress12. It was my design13 to convey the idea14 14. démontrer
43

1. Mais
that both were effected in the same manner, at
retournons the same point. Let us now revert1 to the interior
2. Examinons of the room. Let us survey the appearances here.
2
The drawers of the bureau, it is said, had been ri

3. vêtements fled, although many articles of apparel still re
3
mained within them. The conclusion here is ab

surd. It is a mere guess — a very silly one — and
no more. How are we to know that the articles
4. ne représentent
pas tout ce que found in the drawers were not all4 these drawers
had originally contained? Madame L’Espanaye and
5. ne voyaient
her daughter lived an exceedingly retired life —
personne saw no company5 — seldom went out — had little
6. peu use for numerous changes of habiliment . Those
6 7
d’occasions found were at least of as good quality as any like

7. de changer de ly8 to be possessed by these ladies. If a thief9 had
toilette
taken any, why did he not take the best — why
8. vraisembla-
blement did he not take all? In a word, why did he aban
9. voleur
don four thousand francs in gold to encumber
10. s’encombrer
himself10 with a bundle of linen11? The gold was
abandoned. Nearly the whole sum mentioned by
11. d’un paquet
de linge Monsieur Mignaud, the banker, was discovered, in
12. écarter bags, upon the floor. I wish you, therefore, to dis
13. saugrenue
card12 from your thoughts the blundering13 idea
of motive, engendered in the brains of the police
by that por tion of the evidence which speaks of
14. livraison
money delivered at the door of the house. Coinci
15. moins de
trois jours dences ten times as remarkable as this (the deliv
après réception ery14 of the money, and murder committed within
16. sans attirer three days upon the party receiving it15), happen
notre attention
un seul instant to all of us every hour of our lives, without at
17. pierres
tracting even momentary notice16. Coincidences,
d’achoppement in general, are great stumblingblocks17 in the way
of that class of thinkers who have been educated
to know nothing of the theory of probabilities —
that theory to which the most glorious objects of
44

E dgar a llan PoE
human research are indebted for1 the most glori 1. doivent

ous of illustration. In the present instance, had
the gold been gone, the fact of its delivery three
days before would have formed something more
than a coincidence. It would have been corrobora
tive of this idea of motive. But, under the real cir
cumstances of the case, if we are to suppose gold
the motive of this outrage2, we must also imagine 2. saccage
the perpetrator so vacillating3 an idiot as to have 3. indécis
abandoned his gold and his motive together.
“Keeping now steadily in mind the points to
which I have drawn your attention — that pecu
liar voice, that unusual agility, and that startling
absence of motive in a murder so singularly atro
cious as this — let us glance at the butchery itself.
Here is a woman strangled to death by manual
strength, and thrust up a chimney, head down
ward. Ordinary assassins employ no such modes 4. Encore moins
of murder as this. Least of all4, do they thus dis 5. cachent-ils
ainsi
pose of 5 the murdered. In the manner of thrust
ing the corpse up the chimney, you will admit that
there was something excessively outré — some
thing altogether irreconcilable6 with our common 6. inconciliable
notions of human action, even when we suppose7 7. même en
supposant
the actors the most depraved 8 of men. Think, too,
8. pervertis
how great must have been that strength which
could have thrust the body up such an aper ture9 9. ouverture
so forcibly that the united vigor of several persons
was found barely10 sufficient to drag it down! 10. à peine
“Turn, now, to other indications of the em

ployment of a vigor most mar vellous. On the
hearth were thick tresses — very thick tresses —
of grey human hair. These had been torn out by
the roots. You are aware of the great force neces
45

1. arracher sary in tearing1 thus from the head even twen

ty or thirty hairs together. You saw the locks2
2. mèches
in question as well as myself. Their roots (a hid
3. À leurs
racines (affreux eous sight!) were clotted with3 fragments of the
spectacle ! ) flesh of the scalp4 — sure token5 of the prodigious
adhéraient des
4. cuir chevelu
power which had been exerted in6 uprooting7
5. preuve
perhaps half a million of hairs at a time. The
6. déployée pour throat of the old lady was not merely cut, but the
7. déraciner head absolutely severed from the body: the in
8
8. séparée strument was a mere razor. I wish you also to

9. actes look at the brutal ferocity of these deeds9. Of the
bruises upon the body of Madame L’Espanaye I do

not speak. Monsieur Dumas, and his worthy co
10. honorable
confrère adjutor Monsieur Etienne, have pronounced that
10
11. contondant they were inflicted by some obtuse

11
instrument;
and so far these gentlemen are very correct. The
obtuse instrument was clearly the stone pavement
in the yard, upon which the victim had fallen from
the window which looked in upon the bed. This
idea, however simple it may now seem, escaped
the police for the same reason that the breadth of
the shutters escaped them — because, by the affair
of the nails, their perceptions had been hermetic
ally sealed against the possibility of the windows
having ever been opened at all.
12. de plus “If now, in addition to all these things12, you
13. nous sommes have properly reflected upon the odd disorder of
allés assez the chamber, we have gone so far as to13 combine
avant pour
14. stupéfiante
the ideas of an agility astounding14, a strength
15. étrangère
superhuman, a ferocity brutal, a butchery without
motive, a grotesquerie in horror absolutely alien15
16. où il était from humanity, and a voice foreign in tone to
impossible de the ears of men of many nations, and devoid of
discerner aucune
syllabe all distinct or intelligible syllabification16. What
46

E dgar a llan PoE
result, then, has ensued?1 What impression have I 1. Qu’en

ressort-il
made upon your fancy?” donc ?
I felt a creeping of the flesh as Dupin asked 2. frisson
2
me the question. “A madman3,” I said, “has done 3. fou

this deed — some raving maniac4, escaped from a 4. fou furieux
neighboring Maison de Santé.”
“In some respects,” he replied, “your idea is 5. ne manque
not irrelevant5. But the voices of madmen, even pas de
pertinence
in their wildest parox ysms, are never found to
tally with that peculiar voice heard upon the
stairs. Madmen are of some nation, and their
language, however incoherent in its words, has
always the coherence of syllabification. Besides,
the hair of a madman is not such as6 I now hold 6. ne ressemblent
pas à ce que
in my hand. I disentangled this little tuft7 from the
7. touffe
rigidly clutched 8 fingers of Madame L’Espanaye.
8. raides et
Tell me what you can make of it.” crispés
“Dupin!” I said, completely unnerved9; “this 9. déconcerté
hair is most unusual — this is no human hair.”
“I have not asserted10 that it is,” said he; “but, 10. affirmé
before we decide this point, I wish you to glance
at the little sketch11 I have here traced upon this 11. croquis
paper. It is a facsimile drawing of what has been
described in one por tion of the testimony as ‘dark
bruises, and deep indentations of finger nails,’
upon the throat of Mademoiselle L’Espanaye, and
in another, (by Messrs. Dumas and Etienne) as a
‘series of livid spots, evidently the impression of
fingers.’
12. Vous voyez
“You will perceive12,” continued my friend, 13. en déployant
spreading out13 the paper upon the table before 14. Il n’y a pas
us, “that this drawing gives the idea of a firm and d’apparence que
les doigts aient
fixed hold. There is no slipping apparent . Each glissé
14
finger has retained — possibly until the death of

47

the victim — the fearful grasp by which it ori

ginally imbedded itself. Attempt, now, to place all
your fingers, at the same time, in the respective
impressions as you see them.”
I made the attempt in vain.
Sans doute ne
1. “We are possibly not giving this mat ter a fair
procédons-nous
pas comme il trial1,” he said. “The paper is spread out upon
convient a plane sur face; but the human throat is cylin
2. rouleau
drical. Here is a billet 2 of wood, the circum fer
3. à peu près
celle ence of which is about that 3 of the throat. Wrap4
4. Enroulez the drawing around it, and try the experiment
again.”
I did so; but the difficulty was even more
obvious than before. “This,” I said, “is the mark of
no human hand.”
“Read now,” replied Dupin, “this passage from
5. [naturaliste Cuvier5.”
français mort
en 1832] It was a minute6 anatomical and generally de
6. minutieuse
scriptive account7 of the large fulvous8 Ourang
7. description
générale Outang of the East Indian Islands. The gigantic
8. à poil fauve stature, the prodigious strength and activity, the
9. facultés wild ferocity, and the imitative propensities9 of
10. de ces these mammalia10 are sufficiently well known to
mammifères
all. I understood the full horrors of the murder at
once.
11. doigts “The description of the digits11,” said I, as I
s’accorde
12. made an end of reading, “is in exact accordance12
parfaitement
13. espèce
with this drawing. I see that no animal but an
14. marques OurangOutang, of the species13 here mentioned,
15. fauves could have impressed the indentations14 as you
16. poils have traced them. This tuft of tawny15 hair16, too,
is identical in character with that of the beast
of Cuvier. But I cannot possibly comprehend
48

E dgar a llan PoE
the par ticulars of this fright ful mystery. Besides,

there were two voices heard in contention, and
one of them was unquestionably1 the voice of a 1. incontesta-
French man.”
blement
“True; and you will remember an expression

attributed almost unanimously, by the evidence,
to this voice, — the expression, ‘mon Dieu!’ This,
under the circumstances, has been justly char 2. qualifié
acterized2 by one of the witnesses (Montani, the
confectioner), as an expression of remonstrance 3. reproche
or expostulation3. Upon these two words, there
fore, I have mainly built my hopes of a full solu
tion of the riddle. A Frenchman was cognizant4 of 4. a eu
connaissance
the murder. It is possible — indeed it is far more
than probable — that he was innocent of all par
ticipation in the bloody transactions which took
place. The OurangOutang may have escaped
from him. He may have traced it to the chamber;
but, under the agitating circumstances which en qui ont suivi
5.
dans la
6.
sued5, he could never have recaptured it. It is still nature
at large6. I will not pursue these guesses — for
I have no right to call them more — since the
shades of reflection upon which they are based
are scarcely of sufficient depth7 to be appreciable
d’une
7.
profondeur à
by my own intellect, and since I could not pre peine suffisante
tend to make them intelligible to the understand
ing of another. We will call them guesses then,
and speak of them as such. If the Frenchman in
question is indeed, as I suppose, innocent of this 8. annonce
atrocity, this adver tisement 8 which I left last night, 9. consacré
upon our return home, at the office of ‘Le Monde,’ 10. aux
(a paper devoted9 to the shipping interest10, and questions

maritimes
much sought11 by sailors12), will bring him to our 11. recherché
residence.” 12. les marins
49

He handed me a paper, and I read thus:

CAUGHT — In the Bois de Boulogne, early in the
1. du ... courant morning of the — inst.1, (the morning of the murder),
2. de Bornéo a very large, tawny OurangOutang of the Bornese2
3. qu’on sait être species. The owner, (who is ascertained to be3 a sailor,
4. maltais
belonging to a Maltese4 vessel5) may have the animal
5. navire
again, upon identifying it satisfactorily, and paying6
6. s’il rembourse
7. les frais de
a few charges arising from7 its capture and keeping8.
8. sa garde Call 9 at No. —, Rue —, Faubourg St Germain — au
9. S’adresser troisième.
“How was it possible,” I asked, “that you should
know the man to be a sailor, and belonging to a
Maltese vessel?”
“I do not know it,” said Dupin. “I am not sure
of it. Here, however, is a small piece of ribbon,
graisseux
10.
which from its form, and from its greasy10 appear
11. nouer
ance, has evidently been used in tying11 the hair
12. nœud
13. de ceux que
in one of those long queues of which sailors are
peu hormis les so fond. Moreover, this knot12 is one which few
marins savent besides sailors can tie13, and is peculiar to the14
faire
14. caractéris- Maltese. I picked the ribbon up at the foot of the
tique des lightningrod. It could not have belonged to either
15. à aucune des of the deceased15. Now if, after all, I am wrong in
deux victimes
my induction from this ribbon, that the French
16. je n’aurai man was a sailor belonging to a Maltese vessel,
fait de mal à still I can have done no harm16 in saying what I
personne
did in the adver tisement. If I am in error, he will
17. induit en merely suppose that I have been misled17 by some
erreur circumstance into which he will not take the trou
ble to inquire. But if I am right, a great point is
gained. Cognizant although innocent of the mur
der, the Frenchman will naturally hesitate about
replying to the adver tisement — about demand
ing the OurangOutang. He will reason thus: —
50

E dgar a llan PoE
’I am innocent; I am poor; my OurangOutang is

of great value — to one in my circumstances1 a 1. pour quelqu’un
for tune of itself — why should I lose it through dans ma

situation
idle2 apprehensions of danger? Here it is, within 2. vaines
my grasp3. It was found in the Bois de Boulogne 3. à portée de
— at a vast distance from the scene of that butch main
ery. How can it ever be suspected that a brute
beast should have done the deed? The police are 4. le moindre
at fault — they have failed to procure the slight indice
est clew4. Should they even trace the animal, it 5. que j’aie eu
would be impossible to prove me cognizant5 of connaissance

6. de
the murder, or to implicate me in guilt6 on account m’incriminer
of that cognizance. Above all, I am known. The
adver tiser designates me as the possessor of the
beast. I am not sure to what limit his knowledge
may extend. Should I avoid7 claiming a property Si j’évite
7.
of so great value, which it is known that I pos

attirer au
8.
sess, I will render the animal at least, liable to sus moins sur
picion8. It is not my policy to attract attention ei l’animal un
dangereux
ther to myself or to the beast. I will answer the soupçon
adver tisement, get the OurangOutang, and keep 9. le tenir
it close until this matter has blown over9.’” enfermé jusqu’à

ce que l’affaire
At this moment we heard a step10 upon the soit oubliée
10. un pas
stairs.
“Be ready,” said Dupin, “with your pistols, but
neither use them11 nor show them until at a sig 11. ne vous en
servez pas
nal from myself.”
The front door of the house had been left open,
and the visitor had entered, without ringing, and
advanced several steps upon the staircase. Now,
however, he seemed to hesitate. Presently we
heard him descending. Dupin was moving quick
ly to the door, when we again heard him com
ing up. He did not turn back a second time, but
51

1. frappa stepped up with decision, and rapped1 at the door

of our chamber.
2. gai et cordial “Come in,” said Dupin, in a cheerful and
hearty2 tone.
A man entered. He was a sailor, evidently, —
trapu
3.
a tall, stout3, and muscularlooking person, with
4. expression
hardie a cer tain daredevil expression of countenance4,
5. pas not altogether5 unprepossessing6. His face, greatly
totalement sunburnt7, was more than half hidden by whisker8
6. déplaisante
and mustachio. He had with him a huge oaken
7. hâlée
8. une barbe
cudgel9, but appeared to be other wise unarmed.
9. gourdin de
He bowed10 awkwardly11, and bade us12 “good
chêne evening,” in French accents, which, although
10. s’inclina somewhat Neufchatelish13, were still sufficiently
11. gauchement
indicative of a Parisian origin.
12. nous
souhaita “Sit down, my friend,” said Dupin. “I suppose
13. teinté de you have called about the OurangOutang. Upon
suisse [de
Neuchâtel] my word, I almost envy you the possession of
him; a remarkably fine, and no doubt a very valu
able animal. How old do you suppose him to
be?”
14. prit une
profonde The sailor drew a long breath14, with the air of
inspiration a man relieved of some intolerable burden15, and
15. poids
then replied, in an assured tone:
“I have no way of telling — but he can’t be
more than four or five years old. Have you got
him here?”
16. n’avions pas
de lieu commode “Oh no, we had no conveniences16 for keep
17. écurie de ing him here. He is at a livery stable
17
in the Rue
manège Dubourg, just by . You can get him in the morn
18
18. près d’ici
ing. Of course you are prepared to identify the
property?”
19. Certainement “To be sure I am19, sir.”
52

E dgar a llan PoE
“I shall be sorry to part with him1 ,” said Dupin. 1. m’en séparer

2. vous ayez
“I don’t mean that you should be at all this pris tant de
trouble2 for nothing, sir,” said the man. “Couldn’t peine
expect it. Am very willing to pay3 a reward4 for 3. J’paierai
volontiers
the finding of the animal — that is to say, any 4. récompense
thing in reason5.” 5. un chiffre
“Well,” replied my friend, “that is all very fair6, raisonnable

6. fort juste
to be sure. Let me think! — what should I have?
Oh! I will tell you. My reward shall be this. You
shall give me all the information in your power
about these murders in the Rue Morgue.”
Dupin said the last words in a very low tone,
and very quietly. Just as quietly, too, he walked to
ward the door, locked it and put the key in his
pocket. He then drew a pistol from his bosom7 and 7. de son sein
8. le moindre
placed it, without the least flurry8, upon the table. émoi
The sailor’s face flushed up9 as if he were strug 9. devint
pourpre
gling with suffocation. He started to his feet10 and
10. se leva
grasped11 his cudgel, but the next moment he fell 11. saisit
back into his seat, trembling violently, and with
the countenance of death itself. He spoke not a
word. I pitied him12 from the bottom of my heart. 12. Je le
plaignis
“My friend,” said Dupin, in a kind tone13, “you
13. voix pleine
are alarming yourself unnecessarily — you are in de bonté
deed. We mean you no harm14 whatever. I pledge 14. Nous ne
you the15 honor of a gentleman, and of a French vous voulons
aucun mal
16
man, that we intend you no injury . I perfect 15. Sur mon
ly well know that you are innocent of the atroci 16. aucun mal
ties in the Rue Morgue. It will not do17, however, 17. Cela ne veut
to deny that you are18 in some measure implicated pas dire
in them. From what I have already said, you must 18. que vous n’y
soyez pas
know that I have had means of information about
this matter — means of which you could never 19. Voici où en
have dreamed. Now the thing stands thus.19 You sont les choses.
53

have done nothing which you could have avoided

— nothing, cer tainly, which renders you culp
able. You were not even guilty of robbery, when
1. auriez pu you might have robbed1 with impunity. You have
voler nothing to conceal2. You have no reason for con
2. cacher
cealment. On the other hand, you are bound by
every principle of honor to confess all you know.
An innocent man is now imprisoned, charged
3. accusé du with that3 crime of which you can point out the
perpetrator.”
4. recouvré The sailor had recovered4 his presence of
mind, in a great measure, while Dupin uttered5
5. prononçait
6. hardiesse
these words; but his original boldness of bearing6
was all gone.
“So help me God,” said he, after a brief pause,
“I will tell you all I know about this affair; — but
I do not expect you to believe one half I say — I
7. je dirai tout
ce que j’ai sur le would be a fool indeed if I did. Still, I am inno
cœur cent, and I will make a clean breast7 if I die for
8. même si je
it8.”
dois en mourir
What he stated was, in substance, this. He had
lately made a voyage to the Indian Archipelago.
9. dont il faisait A party, of which he formed one9, landed at Bor
partie
neo, and passed into the interior on an excursion
10. de loisir of pleasure10. Himself and a companion had cap
tured the OurangOutang. This companion dying,
the animal fell into his own exclusive possession.
After great trouble, occasioned by the intract
11. indomptable able11 ferocity of his captive during the home
12. à la longue voyage, he at length12 succeeded in lodging
it safely at his own residence in Paris, where,
not to attract toward himself the unpleasant
13. enfermé
14. jusqu’à ce curiosity of his neighbors, he kept it carefully se
qu’il ait guéri cluded13, until such time as it should recover14
54

E dgar a llan PoE
from a wound in the foot1, received from a splin 1. d’une blessure

au pied
ter2 on board ship. His ultimate design was to sell
2. à la suite
it. d’une écharde
Returning home from some sailors’ frolic3 the
3. orgie
night, or rather in the morning of the murder, he
found the beast occupying his own bedroom,
into which it had broken from a closet adjoining4, 4. cabinet voisin
where it had been, as was thought5, securely con 5. comme il le
fined6. Razor in hand, and fully lathered7, it was croyait
6. enfermé
sitting before a lookingglass8, attempting the op
7. tout barbouillé
eration of shaving9, in which it had no doubt10 de savon
previously watched its master through the key 8. miroir
hole11 of the closet. Terrified at the sight of so dan 9. de se raser
gerous a weapon in the possession of an animal 10. sans doute

11. trou de la
so ferocious, and so well able to use it, the man, serrure
for some moments, was at a loss what to do12. He 12. n’avait
had been accustomed, however, to quiet the crea su quel parti
prendre
ture13, even in its fiercest moods14, by the use of a
13. calmer
whip15, and to this he now resorted16. Upon sight l’animal
of it, the OurangOutang sprang at once through 14. accès les plus
the door of the chamber, down17 the stairs, and furieux

15. fouet
thence, through a window18, unfor tunately open, 16. il avait voulu
into19 the street. y recourir
17. dégringola
The Frenchman followed in despair20; the
18. d’une fenêtre
ape21, razor still in hand, occasionally stopping du bas
to look back and gesticulate at its pursuer, un 19. s’était enfui
til the latter had nearly come up with it22. It then dans
20. désespéré
again made off23. In this manner the chase24 con
21. singe
tinued for a long time. The streets were profound 22. l’eût presque
ly quiet, as it was nearly three o’clock in the morn rattrapé
ing. In passing down an alley in the rear of the 23. avait repris
sa course
Rue Morgue, the fugitive’s attention was arrested
24. course-
by a light gleaming from25 the open window of poursuite
Madame L’Espanaye’s chamber, in the fourth sto 25. brillant à
55

ry of her house. Rushing to the building, it per

avait grimpé
1. ceived the lightning rod, clambered up1 with in
2. s’était élancé conceivable agility, grasped the shutter, which
3. tête was thrown fully back against the wall, and, by
4. L’exploit
its means, swung itself2 directly upon the head
5. ne lui avait
pas pris board3 of the bed. The whole feat4 did not occupy5
6. avait été a minute. The shutter was kicked open again6 by
rouvert d’un the OurangOutang as it entered the room.
coup de pied
7. joyeux The sailor, in the meantime, was both rejoiced7
and perplexed. He had strong hopes of now recap
turing the brute, as it could scarcely escape from
8. piège
the trap8 into which it had ventured, except by
il y avait
9.
the rod, where it might be intercepted as it came
lieu d’être fort
inquiet down. On the other hand, there was much cause
10. avait incité for anxiety9 as to what it might do in the house.
This latter reflection urged10 the man still to fol
low the fugitive. A lightningrod is ascended with
11. était située
assez loin out difficulty, especially by a sailor; but, when he
12. il n’avait pu had arrived as high as the window, which lay far11
aller plus loin to his left, his career was stopped12; the most that
13. se dresser
he could accomplish was to reach over13 so as to
obtain a glimpse of the interior of the room. At
14. C’est alors this glimpse he nearly fell from his hold through
15. avaient
excess of horror. Now it was14 that those hideous
retenti dans shrieks arose upon15 the night, which had star tled
16. réveillé en from slumber16 the inmates17 of the Rue Morgue.
sursaut
17. habitants
Madame L’Espanaye and her daughter, habited
18. vêtues de
in18 their night clothes, had apparently been oc
19. traîné cupied in arranging some papers in the iron chest
already mentioned, which had been wheeled19
into the middle of the room. It was open, and its
20. le dos tourné contents lay beside it on the floor. The victims
à
must have been sitting with their backs toward20
21. vu le temps
écoulé the window; and, from the time elapsing21 be
22. entrée tween the ingress22 of the beast and the screams,
56

E dgar a llan PoE
it seems probable that it was not immediately per 1. elles ne

l’avaient pas
ceived1. The flappingto2 of the shutter would nat aperçu tout de
urally have been attributed to the wind. suite
2. claquement
As the sailor looked in, the gigantic animal had
seized3 Madame L’Espanaye by the hair, (which 3. empoigné
was loose4, as she had been combing it5), and 4. défaits
was flourishing6 the razor about her face, in imi 5. en train de les
tation of the motions of a barber7. The daughter peigner
lay prostrate and motionless8; she had swooned9. 6. avait agité
The screams and struggles of the old lady (dur 7. tel un barbier
ing which the hair was torn from her head) had 8. gisait,
immobile
the effect of changing the probably pacific pur 9. s’était
poses of the OurangOutang into those of wrath10. évanouie
With one determined sweep11 of its muscular arm 10. fureur
11. D’un
it nearly severed her head from her body. The mouvement
sight of blood inflamed its anger into phrenzy . ample et décidé
12 13
Gnashing its teeth14, and flashing fire from its 12. avait

eyes15, it flew16 upon the body of the girl, and im transformé
13. en furie
bedded its fearful talons17 in her throat, retaining
14. Grinçant des
its grasp until she expired. Its wandering18 and dents
wild glances fell at this moment upon the head 15. les yeux
of the bed, over which the face of its master, lançant des
éclairs
rigid with horror, was just discernible19. The fury 16. s’était jeté
of the beast, who no doubt bore still in mind20 17. griffes
the dreaded21 whip, was instantly converted into 18. égarés
fear. Conscious of having deserved punishment, it 19. pouvait être
seemed desirous of concealing its bloody deeds, aperçu
and skipped about22 the chamber in an agony of 20. se souvenait
ner vous agitation; throwing down and breaking 21. redouté
22. avait
the furniture as it moved, and dragging the bed23 arpenté
from the bedstead. In conclusion, it seized first 23. arrachant le
the corpse of the daughter, and thrust it up the matelas
chimney, as it was found; then that of the old lady, 24. avait
précipité
which it immediately hurled24 through the win 25. la tête la
dow headlong25. première
57

1. fardeau As the ape approached the casement with its

2. avait reculé, mutilated burden1, the sailor shrank2 aghast3
3. épouvanté
to the rod, and, rather gliding than clambering
4. descendant
le paratonnerre down it4, hurried at once home — dreading the
d’une glissade consequences of the butchery, and gladly aban
[sans s’aider
des mains] doning, in his terror, all solicitude about the fate
of the OurangOutang. The words heard by the
5. d’effroi party upon the staircase were the Frenchman’s
6. mêlées aux exclamations of horror and affright5, commingled
7. glapissements
diaboliques with the6 fiendish jabberings7 of the brute.
8. que la porte I have scarcely any thing to add. The Ourang

fût enfoncée Outang must have escaped from the chamber, by
9. ensuite the rod, just before the break of the door8. It must
10. relâché have closed the window as it passed through it. It
11. après que
nous eûmes was subsequently9 caught by the owner himself,
raconté toutes who obtained for it a very large sum at the Jar
les circonstances din des Plantes. Le Bon was instantly released10,
de l’affaire
12. quelque bien upon our narration of the circumstances11 (with
disposé qu’il fût some comments from Dupin) at the bureau of the
envers
Prefect of Police. This functionary, however well
13. tout à fait
14. se laissa
disposed to12 my friend, could not altogether13
aller à conceal his chagrin at the turn which affairs had
15. parlant de taken, and was fain to indulge14 in a sarcasm or
l’opportunité
qu’il y avait à two, about the propriety of15 every person mind
ce que ing his own business16.
16. s’occupe de
ses propres “Let him talk,” said Dupin, who had not thought
affaires it necessary to reply. “Let him discourse; it will
17. soulager
ease17 his conscience, I am satisfied with having
18. sur son
propre terrain defeated him in his own castle18. Nevertheless,
19. n’est pas that he failed in the solution of this mystery, is by
aussi étonnant no means that matter for wonder19 which he sup
20. qu’il le croit
poses it20; for, in truth, our friend the Prefect is
21. rusé
22. Sa sagesse
somewhat too cunning21 to be profound. In his
n’a pas d’assise. wisdom is no stamen.22 It is all head and no body,
58

E dgar a llan PoE
like the pictures of the Goddess Laverna1,—or, at 1. [déesse

romaine des
best, all head and shoulders, like a codfish2. But Enfers et des
he is a good creature3 after all. I like him espe escrocs]
cially for one master stroke4 of cant5, by which he 2. morue
3. brave homme
has attained his reputation for ingenuity6. I mean
4. coup de
the way he has7 ‘de nier ce qui est, et d’expliquer maître
ce qui n’est pas.’ ” 5. raisonnement
conformiste
6. d’astuce
7. cette façon
qu’il a
Imprimé en Italie par La Tipografica Varese S.p.a

Dépôt légal : mai 2014
31511701/11028650mai 2014
59

AVEC , YES YOU CAN!
At 3 o’clock in the morning, dreadful shrieks awaken

a quiet street in XIXth century Paris. Neighbours rush to
the scene only to find that a mother and her daughter
have just been brutally murdered. The police find
it all very confusing. Of course the young Monsieur
Dupin, cool-headed and clever, can no doubt solve the
mystery...
Envie de lire en anglais ?

Dorénavant, c’est possible grâce à Harrap’s.
Découvrez une célèbre nouvelle policière d’Edgar Allan
Poe, pionnier du genre, en VO et avec des traductions
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Spécimen gratuit. Ne peut être vendu.
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en VO
ISBN 356-0-39-556080-2
9488911
Photo de couverture :
3 560395 560802 © Tim Daniels / Trevillion Images
AVEC , YES YOU CAN!
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Allan Poe

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Allan Poe

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AVEC , YES YOU CAN!

At 3 o’clock in the morning, dreadful shrieks awaken

Envie de lire en anglais ?

556080_Murder_Edgar_Allan_Poe_CV.indd Toutes les pages 08/04/14 16:25

P01-P08-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 1 15/04/2014 12:05:29

HARRAP’s® est une marque de Larousse SAS

ISBN 356 0 39 556080 2

Toute représentation ou reproduction, intégrale ou partielle, faite sans le

P01-P08-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 2 15/04/2014 12:05:29

P01-P08-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 3 15/04/2014 12:05:29

P01-P08-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 4 15/04/2014 12:05:29

Lire en VO ? You can indeed!

P01-P08-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 5 15/04/2014 12:05:29

P01-P08-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 7 15/04/2014 12:05:29

ment10. As the strong man exults in11 his physic­

præternatural21. His results, brought about by22 surnaturel

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 9 15/04/2014 12:05:51

1. traité greatly misunderstood. I am not now writing a

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 10 15/04/2014 12:05:51

at a glance1, the sole methods (sometimes indeed 1. d’un seul coup

upon what is termed4 the calculating power; and appelle

the sum total21 of good playing. But it is in mat­ 21. summum

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 11 15/04/2014 12:05:52

1. L’important as in the quality of the obser vation. The neces­

26. une grande The analytical power should not be confounded

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 12 15/04/2014 12:05:52

remarkably incapable of analysis. The construct­ 1. [qui voyaient

of a character6 very strictly analogous. It will be

Residing in Paris during the spring and part of

cour tesy16 of his creditors, there still remained bonne volonté

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 13 15/04/2014 12:05:52

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 14 15/04/2014 12:05:52

from my own former associates1; and it had been 1. anciens

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 15 15/04/2014 12:05:52

1. des plus and very startling1 proofs of his intimate know­

20. sans y “There can be no doubt of that,” I replied un­

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 16 15/04/2014 12:05:52

“Dupin,” said I, gravely, “this is beyond my

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 17 15/04/2014 12:05:52

1. l’artère the thoroughfare1 where we stood; but what this

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 18 15/04/2014 12:05:52

lence. I was not par ticularly attentive to what you

“You kept your eyes upon the ground — glan­

pavement. I knew that you could not say to your­ ment

great nebula17 in Orion, and I cer tainly expect­ découvertes de

often conversed20. I mean the line 20. causé

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 19 15/04/2014 12:05:52

1. remarques tain pungencies1 connected with this explanation,

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 20 15/04/2014 12:05:52

the upper part1 of the house. As the second land­ 1. étages

ections. There was only one bedstead9; and from 9. lit

been pulled out15 by the roots16. Upon the floor 15. arrachées

“Of Madame L’Espanaye no traces were here d’importance

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 21 15/04/2014 12:05:52

1. cadavre corpse1 of the daughter, head downward2, was

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 22 15/04/2014 12:05:52

The old lady and her daughter seemed on good 1. Elles

“Pierre Moreau, tobacconist9, deposes that he prendre le linge

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 23 15/04/2014 12:05:52

1. parents whether there were any living connexions1 of Ma­

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 24 15/04/2014 12:05:52

party who first entered the house. Corroborates1 1. Confirme

P09-P64-3560395560802-MurdersMorgue_HARRAPS.indd 25 15/04/2014 12:05:53

ment10. As the strong man exults in11 his physic

the sum total21 of good playing. But it is in mat 21. summum

1. L’important as in the quality of the obser vation. The neces

remarkably incapable of analysis. The construct 1. [qui voyaient

1. des plus and very startling1 proofs of his intimate know

20. sans y “There can be no doubt of that,” I replied un

“You kept your eyes upon the ground — glan

pavement. I knew that you could not say to your ment

great nebula17 in Orion, and I cer tainly expect découvertes de

the upper part1 of the house. As the second land 1. étages

1. parents whether there were any living connexions1 of Ma

he accompanied Madame L’Espanaye to her resi

eyeballs protruded1. The tongue had been par 1. les yeux

erred1 continually by the very intensity of his in 1. faisait fausse

panying us throughout1. The examination occu 1. toujours

dismiss the9 idle10 opinions of this print11. It ap 11. feuille

pears to me that this mystery is considered in 12. qui devrait le

endeavored1 to raise it. A large gimlethole2 had 1. essayèrent

The drawers of the bureau, it is said, had been ri

mained within them. The conclusion here is ab

d’occasions found were at least of as good quality as any like

human research are indebted for1 the most glori 1. doivent

“Turn, now, to other indications of the em

1. arracher sary in tearing1 thus from the head even twen

the victim — the fearful grasp by which it ori