Падение дома Ашеров

           Theconditionsofthesentiencehadbeenhere,heimagined,fulfilledinthemethodofcollocationofthesestones—intheorderoftheirarrangement,aswellasinthatofthemanyfungiwhichoverspreadthem,andofthedecayedtreeswhichstoodaround—aboveall,inthelongundisturbedenduranceofthisarrangement,andinitsreduplicationinthestillwatersofthetarn. Itsevidence—theevidenceofthesentience—wastobeseen,hesaid,(andIherestartedashespoke),inthegradualyetcertaincondensationofanatmosphereoftheirownaboutthewatersandthewalls. Theresultwasdiscoverable,headded,inthatsilentyetimportunateandterribleinfluencewhichforcenturieshadmouldedthedestiniesofhisfamily,andwhichmadehimwhatInowsawhim—whathewas. Suchopinionsneednocomment,andIwillmakenone. 

           Ourbooks—thebookswhich,foryears,hadformednosmallportionofthementalexistenceoftheinvalid—were,asmightbesupposed,instrictkeepingwiththischaracterofphantasm. Weporedtogetheroversuchworksasthe“VervertetChartreuse”ofGresset;the“Belphegor”ofMachiavelli;the“HeavenandHell”ofSwedenborg;the“SubterraneanVoyageofNicholasKlimm”byHolberg;the“Chiromancy”ofRobertFlud,ofJeanD’Indaginé,andofDelaChambre;the“JourneyintotheBlueDistance”ofTieck;andthe“CityoftheSun”ofCampanella.