Metzengerstein: a Tale in Imitation of the German [pp. 97-100]

SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.
METZENGERSTEIN.
A TALE IN IMITATION OF THE GERMAN.
BY EDGAR A. POE.
Pestis eram vivus-moriens tua mors ero.
Martin Luther.
Horror and Fatality have been stalking abroad in all
ages. Why then give a date to the story I have to tell?
I will not. Besides, I have other reasons for conceal ment. Let it suffice to say, that at the period of which
I speak, there existed, in the interior of Hungary, a
settled although hidden belief in the doctrines of the
Metemnpsychosis. Of the doctrines themselves-that is,
of their falsity, or of their probability-I say nothing.
I assert, however, that much of our incredulity-as La
Bruycre says of all our unhappiness-"vient de ne poe voir etre seals."
But there were some points in the Hungarian super stition which were fast verging to absurdity. They the Hungarians-differed very essentially from their
Eastern authorities. For example. " The soul," said
the former-I give the words of an acute and intelligent
Parisian-ne demeure qu'un seal fois dans an corps sensi ble: aet reste-un cheval, un chien, in homme meme n' est
que la ressemblance pea tangible de ces animaux."
* ** * * *
The families of Berlifitzing and Metzengerstein had
been at variance for centuries. Never before were two
houses so illustrious mutually embittered by hostility so
deadly. Indeed, at the era of this history, it was ob served by an old crone of haggard and sinister appearance, that "fire and water might sooner mingle than a
Berlifitzing clasp the hand of a Metzengerstein." The
origin of this enmity seems to be found in the words
of an ancient prophecy-" A lofty name shall have a
fearful fall when, like the rider over his horse, the mortality of Metzengerstein shall triumph over the immortality of Berlifitzing."
To be sure the words themselves had little or no
mleaning. But more trivial causes have given rise-and
that no long while ago-to consequences equally eventful. Besides, the estates, which were contiguous, had
long exercised a rival influence in the affairs of a busy
government. Moreover, near neighbors are seldom
frienids-and the inhabitants of the Castle Berlifitzing
might look, from their lofty buttresses, into the very
windows of the Chateau Metzengerstein. Least of all
wvas the more than feudal magnificence thus discovered
calculated to allay the irritable feelings of the less ancient and less wealthy Berlifitzings. What wonder,
then, that the words, however silly, of that prediction,
should have succeeded in setting and keeping at variance two families already predisposed to quarrel by
every instigation of hereditaryjealousy? TI'heprophecy
seemed to imply-if it implied any thing-a final triumph on the part of the already more powerful house;
and was of course remembered with the more bitter
animosity on the side of the weaker and less influential.
* * * * * *
Wilhelm, Count Berlifitzing, although honorably and
loftily descended, was, at the epoch of this narrative,
an infirm and doting old man, remarkable for nothing
but an inordinate and inveterate personal antipathy to
the family of his rival, and so passionate a love of horses,
and of hunting, that neither bodily infirmity, great age,
nor mental incapacity, prevented his daily participation
in the dangers of the chase.
Frederick, Baron Metzengerstein, was, on the other
hand, not yet of age. His father, the Minister G,
died young. His mother, the Lady Mary, followed
quickly after. Frederick was, at that time, in his fif teenth year. In a city fifteen years are no long period a child may be still a child in his third lustrum: but in
a wilderness-in so magnificent a wilderness as that old
principality, fifteen years have a far deeper meaning.
The beautiful Lady Mary! How could she die? and of consumption! But it is a path I have prayed to
follow. I would wish all I love to perish of that gentle
disease. How glorious! to depart in the hey-day of
the young blood-the heart all passion-the imagina tion all fire-amid the remembrances of happier days in the fall of the year-and so be buried up forever in
the gorgeous autumnal leaves!
Thus died the Lady Mary. The young Baron Fre derick stood without a living relative by the coffin of
his dead mother. He placed his hand upon her placid
forehead. No shudder came over his delicate frame no sigh from his flinty bosom. Heartless, self-willed,
and impetuous from his childhood, he had reached the
age of which I speak through a career of unfeeling,
wanton, and reckless dissipation; and a barrier had
long since arisen in the channel of all holy thoughts and
gentle recollections.
* * * *
From some peculiar circumstances attending the ad ministration of his father, the young Baron, at the de cease of the former, entered inimediately upon his vast
possessions. Such estates were seldom held before by
a nobleman of Hungary. His castles were without
ntulmber-of these the chief in point of splendor and
extent was the "Chateau Metzengerstein." The boundary line of his dominions was never clearly definedbut his principal park embraced a circuit of fifty miles.
Upon the succession of a proprietor so young-with
a character so well known-to a fortune so unparalleled-little speculation was afloat in regard to his probable course of conduct. And, indeed, for the space of
three days the behavior of the heir out-heroded Herod,
and fairly surpassed the expectations of his most enthlusiastic admirers. Shameful debaucheries-flagrant
treacheries-unheard-of atrocities-gave his trenmbling
vassals quickly to understand that no servile submission
on their part-no punctilios of conscience on his ownwere thenceforward to prove any security against the
remorseless and bloody fangs of a petty Caligula. On
the night of the fourth day, the stables of the Castle
Berlifitzing were discovered to be on fire: and the
unanimous opinion of the neighborhood instantaneously
added the crime of the incendiary to the already hideous
list of the Baron's misdemeanors and enormities.
But during the tumult occasioned by this occurrence,
the young nobleman himself sat, apparently buried in
meditation, in a vast and desolate upper apartment of
the family palace of Metzengerstein. The rich although faded tapestry-hangings which swung gloomily
upon the walls, represented the shadowy and majestic forms of a thousand illustrious ancestors. Here,
rich-ermined priests, and pontifical dignitaries, familiarly seated with the autocrat and the sovereign, put
a veto on the wishes of a temporal king-or res **..*a*.!..
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