The Black Cat

1
The Black Cat
by
Edgar A. Poe
As rewritten by Mrs. Goularte of
PHS Illustrations by Jose Prieto, PHS Senior '03
2
1843

• written from a prison cell

3
This is the wildest, yet basic story which I am
about to tell you. I dont expect you to believe
me. I would be crazy to expect you to believe me
because I am not sure I believe it myself.
4
Yet, I am not mad and I am not dreaming.
5
But tomorrow I die, and today I need to unburden
my soul. I want to tell the world simply and
quickly about what happened.
6
The consequences of what happened have terrified
have tortured have destroyed me.
7
Perhaps someday, someone wiser than me will
understand how my feelings about this event are
exaggerated that the details I share are
nothing more thanan ordinary sequence of very
natural causes and effects.
8
From birth I was known for being peaceful and
nice. My tenderness of heart stood out so much
that my friends used to make fun of me.
9
I loved animals and was spoiled by my parents
with a lot of cool pets. I spent most of my time
with them and was never so happy as when feeding
and petting them..
10
This love of animals continued into my adulthood.
Those who have loved a faithful and intelligent
dog, will understand the pleasure I got from my
pets.
11
There is something in the unselfish and
self-sacrificing love of an animal which goes
directly to the heart of its owner.
12
Men dont show each other that kind of loyalty.
13
I married young and was happy that my wife felt
the same way about pets, and she brought home
many wonderful animals.
14
We had birds, gold fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a
small monkey, and a cat.
15
This cat was a special animal, large and
beautiful, all black and smart to an amazing
degree. In speaking of his intelligence, my wife
(who was not superstitious at all) would joke
about the popular ideas, which regarded all black
cats as witches in disguise. She was never
really serious about this.
16
Pluto, the cats name, was my favorite pet. I
alone fed him, and he followed me wherever I went
around the house. I even had trouble preventing
him from following me through the streets when I
left the house.
17
My friendship with the cat lasted for several
years, during which my general attitude and
character experienced a radical, extreme change
for the worse.
18
I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable,
more unfeeling to the feelings of others.
19
I suffered myself to use foul language to my
loving wife, going as far as threatening her with
violence.
20
My pets felt the change in my behavior. I not
only neglected, but mistreated them.
21
For Pluto, however, I still retained enough
respect and love to keep myself from maltreating
him, but I made no attempt to stop mistreating
the rabbits, the monkey, or even the dog if they
got in my way.
22
But my disease grew (as alcoholism usually does),
and eventually even Pluto, who was now getting
old and irritable, began to experience the bad
effects of my ill temper.
23
One night, returning home, drunk from one of my
haunts around town, I believed that the cat
avoided me. I grabbed him when, in his fright
at my violence, he bit me on my hand.
24
The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I
knew myself no longer. My original soul seemed
to leave my body and a fiendish, gin-nurtured
malevolence madness filled me.
25
I took a pocket knife , opened it, grabbed the
poor beast by the throat, and deliberately cut
one of its eyes from its socket! I blush, I
burn, I shudder to tell you about this terrible
event.
26
When reason returned in the morning when I had
slept off my alcoholic stupor I experienced the
feelings of regret for the crime I had committed
the night before but it was a weak feeling, and
my soul remained untouched.
27
Again I plunged into excess and soon drowned in
wine all memory of the deed.
28
In the meantime the cat slowly recovered. The
socket of the lost eye looked frightful, but he
no longer appeared to suffer any pain. He went
about the house as usual, but, as might be
expected, fled in extreme terror at my approach.
29
At first, I felt bad that this cat, who once
loved me, now hated me. But this feeling soon
turned to irritation, then strange rebellion
one of Mans most primitive, basic sentiments or
feelings.
30
Indeed, who among us has not, a hundred times,
found himself committing a terrible or a silly
act for no other reason than because he knows he
should not?
31
Dont humans have a constant desire to do that
which is forbidden?
32
This strange, perverse feeling finally overtook
me. I had an unbelievable desire of the soul
to vex or annoy itself to offer violence to its
own nature to do wrong for wrongs sake.
33
This feeling is what urged me to finish the
injury I had inflicted upon the unoffending,
innocent animal, my cat Pluto.
34
One morning, in cool blood, I slipped a noose
around the cats neck and hung it to the limb of
a tree
35
-- hung it with tears streaming from my eyes, and
with the bitterest remorse at my heart
36
-- hung it because I knew that it had loved me,
and because I felt it had given me no trouble
37
-- hung it because I knew that in so doing I was
committing a sin a deadly sin that would so
threaten my immortal soul as to place it if
such a thing were possible even beyond the
reach of the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful
and Most Terrible God.
38
I have a hard time establishing a sequence of
cause and effect, between the disaster and the
atrocity. But I am telling a chain of facts
and hope I dont leave out any information.
39
On the day of the fire (after the cat was hung),
I visited the ruins what was left over from the
fire.
40
All but one inner wall had fallen. This
remaining wall was the wall by my headboard of my
bed in my bedroom. Surprisingly, the fire hadnt
damaged this wall very much.
41
There were a lot of people standing around
staring at a spot on this wall. I heard them
say, Strange! and Amazing! and many other
expressions. Their comments made me curious so
I wandered over to look..
42
I saw as I approached, as engraved upon the
walls white surface, the picture of a gigantic
cat with a rope around its neck
43
When I saw this, I thought it was a ghost for
what else could it be since my wonder and terror
were extreme.
44
But after thinking about it for awhile, I
remembered that the cat had been hung in a garden
next to the house.
45
When the fire alarm rang, this garden had
immediately filled with people who wanted to
watch the excitement.
46
Someone in this crowd must have cut the cat down
and thrown the dead cat into my bedrooms open
window to wake me up.
47
The falling of other walls must have smashed the
victim of my cruelty (Pluto) into the
freshly-spread plaster on the wall by my bed. I
assume the lime from the plaster had mixed with
the heat and ammonia from the dead animal to
create the ghastly image on the wall.
48
Although I tried to reason through this scary
event, it did not fail to make a deep impression
upon my imagination. For months I could not
delete the image from my mind, and during this
time, I seemed to feel a bit of guilt.
49
In fact, I went so far as to regret the loss of
the animal and to look around town for another
cat similar to Pluto.
50
One night as I sat in a bar, half stupefied by
liquor, I saw a black object, resting on the head
of a large barrel of Gin or Rum. After staring
at this image for a long time, I got up and
walked over to it and touched it.
51
It was a black cat a very large one as big as
Pluto. This cat looked similar to Pluto in
every way but one. This cat had a large white
splotch or mark of white on its chest.
52
Liking my attention, this cat arose, purred
loudly, rubbed against my hand, and appeared
delighted. This, then, was the very creature
that I had been looking for. I offered to buy it
from the pubs owner, but he didnt know to whom
the cat belonged.
53
As I was leaving, the cat followed me home. At
once, it became a favorite part of the family,
especially for my wife.
54
For me, I soon found myself disliking the cat
which was the opposite of what I had expected.
55
It became obvious later that the reason for my
disgust, and annoyance came from the fact that
the cat liked me.
56
Slowly, these feelings grew into a bitter hatred.

57
I avoided the creature.
58
A feeling of shame and the memory of my former
cruel deed, prevented me from physically abusing
the cat.
59
I did not, for some weeks, strike, or otherwise
violently abuse it but gradually very
gradually I came to look upon this animal with
an unspeakable hatred, and to run silently from
its hateful presence, as if from a terrible
disease.
60
What added to my hatred of the beast, was the
discovery, on the morning after I brought it
home, that, like Pluto, it was also missing an
eye.
61
My wife, being a sympathetic person, loved the
cat all the more because of this fact. She had a
humanity of feeling which had once been my
special trait, and the source of many of my
simplest and purest pleasures.
62
As I grew to hate this cat more, its love for me
seemed to grow.
63
It constantly followed me everywhere. Whenever I
sat, it would sit beneath my chair, or jump into
my knees, rubbing me with its terrible caresses.
If I got up to walk it would get between my feet
and nearly trip me, or, use its long, sharp claws
to climb up to my shoulder.
64
At such times, although I wanted to kill it, the
memory of Plutos murder and especially my dread
and fear of this new beast stopped me from doing
so.
65
I dont know how to describe my feelings of dread
and fear. I am almost ashamed to tell that the
terror and horror the cat inspired in me had
increased because of something so small its hard
to believe.
66
My wife had called my attention, more than once,
to the white spot on this cats chest. This
white spot had at first been unrecognizable but,
despite my denial, by slow degrees, it had taken
on shape, like an outline.
67
This white spot had become a shape I fear to say
and for this, above all, I loathed, and
dreaded, and would have rid myself of the monster
had I dared it was now, I say, the image of a
hideous of a ghastly think of the GALLOWS!
oh, mournful and terrible instrument of Horror
and of Crime of Agony and of Death!
68
oh, mournful and terrible instrument of Horror
and of Crime of Agony and of Death
69
And now I was stretched beyond the wickedness of
mere Humanity.
70
God! I could not rest or sleep, day or night! I
awoke, every hour, from fearful nightmares, to
find the hot breath of the thing the cat upon
my face, and its heavy weight upon my heart!
71
With this terror, what was left of the good
within me vanished. Most evil, dark thoughts
became my only friends. The moodiness of my
usual temper increased to hatred of all things
and of all mankind.
72
I suddenly and frequently had uncontrollable
outbursts of anger and fury.
73
My uncomplaining wife was the most usual and the
most patient of sufferers.
74
One day, my wife went with me to our cellar to do
some household chores.
75
The cat followed us down the stairs, and nearly
tripped me, sending me into a madness.
76
Lifting my axe, I swung it toward the cat..
77
The blow would have been fatal, but my wife
grabbed my arm.
78
My wifes interference threw me into an even more
furious rage!
79
I pulled my arm away from her grip and buried the
axe into her brain.
80
She fell dead upon the spot without making a
sound.
81
This hideous murder completed, I started the task
of concealing the body.
82
I knew that I could not remove it from the house
without the risk of being seen by the neighbors.
83
Many ideas entered my mind.
84
I thought of cutting the corpse into small
pieces, and destroying them by fire.
85
Another idea, I decided to dig a grave for the
corpse in the floor of the cellar.
86
I thought about throwing the corpse into the well
in the yard
87
about packing it in a box and mailing it.
88
Finally, I decided my best bet was to wall it up
in the cellar.
89
The cellar was well built for such a purpose.
Its walls were loosely made, and had recently
been plastered with a rough plaster that was
still wet.
90
In fact, in one of the walls there was a part
that stuck out that could easily be used for my
purpose. I could easily put the body in this
space and wall it in, so that no eye could detect
anything suspicious.
91
My thinking was right. Using a crow-bar, I
easily dislodged the bricks, and propped the body
into the space. Then I re-laid all the brick so
the wall was once again complete. I prepared a
plaster that could not be distinguished from the
old, and with this very carefully went over the
new brick-work.
92
When finished, I felt satisfied everything would
be alright. The new cellar wall didnt look like
it had been changed at all. I cleaned up,
picking up the trash. I looked around and said
triumphantly to myself, Here at least, then, my
labor has not been in vain.
93
My next step was to find the cat, the beast that
had been the cause of so much wretchedness.
94
I had firmly decided to kill it.
95
If I had been able to find it at that moment,
there would have been no doubt as to its fate.
96
It appeared, however, that the smart animal had
been scared of my violence and had run away.
97
It is impossible to describe, or to imagine, the
deep happy sense of relief which the
disappearance of the hated creature caused in my
mind.
98
The cat didnt show up that night and for one
night I slept soundly even with the burden of
murder upon my soul!
99
The second and third day passed, and still my
tormentor, the cat, did not show up.
100
Once again I breathed as a free-man. The
monster, in fright and terror, had fled my home
forever! I should look at it no more! My
happiness was supreme!
101
The guilt of my dark deed disturbed me only a
little.
102
A few questions had been asked, but I answered
them with ease. A search for my wife had been
started, but of course nothing was discovered.
103
I looked upon my future as secure.
104
Upon the fourth day of the murder, a group of
police came to the house unexpectedly and began
searching the house.
105
I was sure of myself and positive my wifes body
would not be found. I felt no embarrassment
whatever.
106
The officers asked me to go with them as they
searched. The looked everywhere, leaving no nook
or corner unexplored.
107
At length, for the third or fourth time, they
went into the cellar.
108
I was not scared at all, not a muscle quivered.
My heart beat calmly as that of one who sleeps in
innocence.
109
I walked the cellar from end to end. I folded my
arms upon my chest and moved easily to and fro.
110
The police were thoroughly satisfied and prepared
to leave.
111
My happiness was too strong to hold back and I
burned to say if but one word, by way of triumph,
to make the police doubly sure of my innocence.
112
Gentlemen, I said at last, as the policemen
were walking up the steps, I am glad Ive
convinced you of my innocence. I wish you all
health, and a little more courtesy. By the way,
gentlemen, this this is a very well constructed
house.
113
(In my crazy desire to say something easily, I
hardly knew what I said at all.)
114
I continued, I may say an excellently well
constructed house. These walls -- are you
going, gentleman? ---- these wall are solidly
build and here, through my bravado, I tapped
heavily, with a cane which I held in my hand,
upon the very place on the brick-work behind
which stood the corpse of my wife.
115
But by God! No sooner had the echo of my blows
sunk into silence than I was answered by a voice
from within the wall!
116
by a voice a cry, at first muffled and loud,
and continuous scream, utterly anomalous and
inhuman a howl
117
a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of
triumph, such as might have come from hell, from
the throats of the damned in their agony.
118
Of my own thoughts it is crazy to speak.
Swooning, swaying, I staggered to the opposite
wall.
119
For one instant the party upon the stairs
remained motionless, still, in terror and awe.
120
In the next instant, a dozen strong arms were
pulling at the wall.
121
It fell.
122
The dead body, already greatly decayed and
clotted with gore, stood erect before the eyes of
the spectators.
123
Upon my dead wifes head, with red extended mouth
and solitary eye of fire, sat the hideous beast
whose craft had seduced me into murder, and whose
traitorous, informing, earsplitting voice had
screamed of my deed to the police --
124
-- and forced me to the hangman.
125
I had walled the monster up within my wifes tomb!
126
The End