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The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar by Edgar Allan Poe · Audiobooks & Scary Stories

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  Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy this reading, which comes from a
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  Speaker 1: work in the public domain, the facts in the case
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  Speaker 1: of M. Valdemar Edgar Allan Poe. Of course, I shall
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  Speaker 1: not pretend to consider it any matter for wonder that
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  Speaker 1: the extraordinary case of M. Valdemar has excited discussion. It
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  Speaker 1: would have been a miracle had it not, especially under
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  Speaker 1: the circumstances, through the desire of all parties concerned to
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  Speaker 1: keep the affair from the public at least for the present,
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  Speaker 1: or until we had farther opportunities for investigation. Through our
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  Speaker 1: endeavors to effect this, a garbled or exaggerated account made
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  Speaker 1: its way into society and became the source of many
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  Speaker 1: unpleasant misrepresentations, and very naturally, of a great deal of disbelief.
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  Speaker 1: It is now rendered necessary that I give the facts,
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  Speaker 1: as far as I comprehend them myself. They are succinctly these.
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  Speaker 1: My attention for the last three years have been repeatedly
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  Speaker 1: drawn to the subject of mesmerism, and about nine months
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  Speaker 1: ago it occurred to me quite suddenly that in a
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  Speaker 1: series of experiments made hitherto, there had been a very
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  Speaker 1: remarkable and most unaccountable omission. No person had as yet
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  Speaker 1: been mesmerized in articulo mortis. It remained to be seen
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  Speaker 1: first whether in such condition there existed in a patient
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  Speaker 1: any susceptibility to the magnetic influence. Secondly, whether, if any existed,
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  Speaker 1: it was impaired or increased by the condition. Thirdly, to
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  Speaker 1: what extent, or for how long a period the encroachments
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  Speaker 1: of death might be arrested by the process. There were
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  Speaker 1: other points to be ascertained, but these most excited my curiosity,
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  Speaker 1: the last and especial from the immensely important character of
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  Speaker 1: its consequences. In looking around me for some subject by
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  Speaker 1: whose means I might test these particulars, I was brought
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  Speaker 1: to think of my friend m Ernest Valdemar, the well
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  Speaker 1: known compiler of the Bibliotheca Forensica, an author under the
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  Speaker 1: non diplume of Issachar marks of the Polish version of
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  Speaker 1: Wallenstein and Gargantua. M Valdemar, who has resided principally at Harlem,
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  Speaker 1: New York since the year eighteen thirty nine, is or
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  Speaker 1: was particularly noticeable for the extreme spareness of his person,
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  Speaker 1: his lower limbs much resembling those of John Randolph, and
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  Speaker 1: also for the whiteness of his whiskers in violent contrast
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  Speaker 1: to the blackness of his hair, the latter, in consequence
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  Speaker 1: being very generally mistaken for a whig. His temperament was
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  Speaker 1: markedly nervous, and rendered him a good subject for mesmeric experiment.
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  Speaker 1: On two or three occasions I had put him to
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  Speaker 1: sleep with little difficulty, but was disappointed in other results
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  Speaker 1: which his peculiar constitution had naturally led me to anticipate.
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  Speaker 1: His will was at no period positively or thoroughly under
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  Speaker 1: my control, and in regard to clairvoyance I could accomplish
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  Speaker 1: with him nothing to be relied upon. I always attributed
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  Speaker 1: my failure at these points to the disordered state of
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  Speaker 1: his health. For some months previous to my becoming acquainted
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  Speaker 1: with him, his physicians had declared him in a confirmed thesis.
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  Speaker 1: It was his custom, indeed, to speak calmly of his
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  Speaker 1: approaching dissolution, as of a matter neither to be avoided
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  Speaker 1: nor regretted. When the ideas to which I have alluded
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  Speaker 1: first occurred to me, it was of course very natural
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  Speaker 1: that I should think of M. Voldemar. I knew the
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  Speaker 1: steady philosophy of the man too well to apprehend any
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  Speaker 1: scruples from him, and he had no relatives in America
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  Speaker 1: who would be likely to interfere. I spoke to him
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  Speaker 1: frankly upon the subject, and to my surprise, his interest
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  Speaker 1: seemed vividly excited. I say to my surprise, for although
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  Speaker 1: he had always yielded his person freely to my experiments,
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  Speaker 1: he had never before given me any tokens of sympathy
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  Speaker 1: with what I did. His disease was of that character
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  Speaker 1: which would admit of exact calculation and respect to the
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  Speaker 1: epoch of its termination in death. And it was finally
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  Speaker 1: arranged between us that he would send for me about
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  Speaker 1: twenty four hours before the period a nounounced by his
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  Speaker 1: physicians as that of his decease. It is now rather
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  Speaker 1: more than seven months since I received from M. Valdemar
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  Speaker 1: himself the subjoined note, my dear p you may as
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  Speaker 1: well come now. D and F are agreed that I
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  Speaker 1: cannot hold out beyond tomorrow midnight, and I think they
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  Speaker 1: have hit the time very nearly. Valdemar I received this
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  Speaker 1: note within half an hour after it was written, and
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  Speaker 1: in fifteen minutes more I was in the dying man's chamber.
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  Speaker 1: I had not seen him for ten days, and was
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  Speaker 1: appalled by the fearful alteration which the brief interval had
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  Speaker 1: wrought in him. His face wore a leaden hue, the
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  Speaker 1: eyes were utterly lustreless, and the emaciation was so extreme
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  Speaker 1: that the skin had been broken through by the cheek bones.
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  Speaker 1: His expectoration was excessive, the pulse was barely perceptible. He retained, nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: in a very remarkable manner, both his mental power and
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  Speaker 1: a certain degree of physical strength. He spoke with distinctness,
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  Speaker 1: took some palliated of medicines without aid, and when I
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  Speaker 1: entered the room was occupied in penciling memoranda in a
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  Speaker 1: pocket book. He was propped up in the bed by pillows.
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  Speaker 1: Doctors D and F were in attendance. After pressing Valdemar's hand,
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  Speaker 1: I took these gentlemen aside and obtained from them a
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  Speaker 1: minute account of the patient's condition. The left lung had
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  Speaker 1: been for eighteen months in a semiaceous or cartilaginous state,
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  Speaker 1: and was of course entirely useless for all purposes of vitality.
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  Speaker 1: The right in its upper portion was also partially, if
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  Speaker 1: not thoroughly, ossified, while the lower region was merely a
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  Speaker 1: mass of puril and tubercles running one into another. Several
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: extensive perforations existed, and at one point permanent adhesion to
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  Speaker 1: the ribs had taken place. These appearances in the right
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  Speaker 1: lobe were of comparatively recent date. The ossification had proceeded
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  Speaker 1: with very unusual rapidity. No sign of it had been
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  Speaker 1: discovered a month before, and the adhesion had only been
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  Speaker 1: observed during the three previous days. Independently of the thesis,
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  Speaker 1: the patient was suspected of aneurism of the aorta, but
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  Speaker 1: on this point the osseous symptoms rendered an exact diagnosis impossible.
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  Speaker 1: It was the opinion of both physicians that M. Valdemar
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  Speaker 1: would die about midnight on the morrow Sunday. It was
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  Speaker 1: then seven o'clock on Saturday evening. On quitting the invalid's
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  Speaker 1: bedside to hold conversation with myself, Doctors D and F
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  Speaker 1: had bidden him a final farewell. It had not been
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  Speaker 1: their intention to return, but at my request they agreed
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  Speaker 1: to look in upon the patient about ten the next night.
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  Speaker 1: When they had gone, I spoke freely with him. Valdemar
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  Speaker 1: on the subject of his approaching dissolution, as well as
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  Speaker 1: more particularly of the experiment proposed. He still professed himself
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  Speaker 1: quite willing and even anxious to have it made, and
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  Speaker 1: urged me to commence it at once. A male and
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  Speaker 1: a female nurse were in attendee. But I did not
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  Speaker 1: feel myself altogether at liberty to engage in a task
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  Speaker 1: of this character with no more reliable witnesses than these people,
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  Speaker 1: in case of sudden accident might prove. I therefore postponed
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  Speaker 1: operations until about eight the next night, when the arrival
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  Speaker 1: of a medical student with whom I had some acquaintance,
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  Speaker 1: mister Theodore l. L relieved me from farther embarrassment. It
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  Speaker 1: had been my design originally to wait for the physicians,
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  Speaker 1: but I was induced to proceed, first by the urgent
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  Speaker 1: entreaties of M. Valdemar, and secondly by my conviction that
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  Speaker 1: I had not a moment to lose, as he was
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  Speaker 1: evidently sinking fast. Mister l I was so kind as
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  Speaker 1: to accede to my desire that he would take notes
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  Speaker 1: of all that occurred, and it is from his memoranda
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  Speaker 1: that what I now have to relate is, for the
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  Speaker 1: most part either condensed or copied verbade him. It wanted
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: about five minutes of eight, when taking the patient's hand,
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  Speaker 1: I begged him to state, as distinctly as he could
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  Speaker 1: to mister l L whether he m Valdemar was entirely
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  Speaker 1: willing that I should make the experiment of mesmerizing him
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  Speaker 1: in his then condition. He replied, feebly, yet quite audibly, yes,
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  Speaker 1: I wish to be. I fear you have mesmerized, adding
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  Speaker 1: immediately afterwards, I fear you have deferred it too long.
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  Speaker 1: While he spoke, Thus, I commenced the passes which I
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  Speaker 1: had already found most effectual in subduing him. He was
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  Speaker 1: evidently influenced with the first lateral stroke of my hand
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  Speaker 1: across his forehead, But although I exerted all my powers,
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  Speaker 1: no further perceptible effect was induced until some minutes after
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  Speaker 1: ten o'clock, when doctors D and F called according to appointment.
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  Speaker 1: I explained to them in a few words what I designed,
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  Speaker 1: and as they opposed no objection, saying that the patient
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  Speaker 1: was already in the death agony, I proceeded without hesitation, exchanging, however,
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  Speaker 1: the lateral passes for downward ones, and directing my gaze
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  Speaker 1: entirely into the right eye of the sufferer. By this
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  Speaker 1: time his pulse was imperceptible, and his breathing was stertorous,
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  Speaker 1: and at intervals of half a minute. This condition was
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  Speaker 1: nearly unaltered for a quarter of an hour. At the
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  Speaker 1: expiration of this period, however, unnatural, although a very deep
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  Speaker 1: sigh escaped the bosom of the dying man and the
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  Speaker 1: stertorous breathing ceased, that is to say, its stertorousness was
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  Speaker 1: no longer apparent, the intervals were undiminished. The patient's extremities
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  Speaker 1: were of an icy coldness. At five minutes before eleven,
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  Speaker 1: I perceived unequivocal signs of the mesmeric influence. The glassy
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  Speaker 1: roll of the eye was changed for that expression of
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  Speaker 1: uneasy inward examination, which is never seen except in cases
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  Speaker 1: of sleep waking, and which it is quite impossible to mistake.
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  Speaker 1: With a few rapid lateral passes, I made the lids
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  Speaker 1: quiver as an incipient sleep, and with a few more
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  Speaker 1: I closed them altogether. I was not satisfied, however, with this,
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  Speaker 1: but continued the manipulations vigorously and with the fullest exertion
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  Speaker 1: of the will, until I had completely stiffened them limbs
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  Speaker 1: of the slumber. After placing them in a seemingly easy position.
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  Speaker 1: The legs were at full length, the arms were nearly so,
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  Speaker 1: and reposed on the bed at a moderate distance from
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  Speaker 1: the loin. The head was very slightly elevated. When I
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  Speaker 1: had accomplished this, it was fully midnight, and I requested
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  Speaker 1: the gentleman present to examine M. Valdemar's condition. After a
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  Speaker 1: few experiments, they admitted him to be an unusually perfect
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  Speaker 1: state of mesmeric trance. The curiosity of both the physicians
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  Speaker 1: was greatly excited. Doctor D resolved at once to remain
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  Speaker 1: with the patient all night, while Doctor F took leave
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  Speaker 1: with a promise to return at daybreak. Mister l L
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  Speaker 1: and the nurses remained. We left M. Valdemar entirely undisturbed
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  Speaker 1: until about three o'clock in the morning, when I approached
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  Speaker 1: him and found him in precisely the same condition as
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  Speaker 1: when Doctor F went away. That is to say, he
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  Speaker 1: lay in the same position. The pulse was imperceptible, the
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  Speaker 1: breathing was gentle, scarcely noticeable unless through the application of
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  Speaker 1: a mirror to the lips. The eyes were closed naturally,
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  Speaker 1: and the limbs were as rigid and as cold as marble. Still,
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  Speaker 1: the general appearance was certainly not that of death. As
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  Speaker 1: I approached m. Valdemar I made a kind of half
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  Speaker 1: effort to influence his right arm into pursuit of my own,
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  Speaker 1: as I passed the latter gently to and fro above
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  Speaker 1: his person. In such experiments with this patient I had
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  Speaker 1: never perfectly succeeded before, and assuredly I had little thought
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  Speaker 1: of succeeding now. But to my astonishment, his arm very readily,
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  Speaker 1: although feebly, followed every direction I assigned it with mine.
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  Speaker 1: I determined to hazard a few words of conversation. M.
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  Speaker 1: Valdemar I said, are you asleep? He made no answer,
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  Speaker 1: but I perceived a tremor about the lips, and was
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  Speaker 1: thus induced to repeat the question again and again. At
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  Speaker 1: its third repetition, his whole frame was agitated by a
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  Speaker 1: very slight shivering. The eyelids unclosed themselves so far as
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: to display a white line of the ball. The lips
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  Speaker 1: moved sluggishly, and from between them, in a barely audible whisper,
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  Speaker 1: issued the words, yes asleep, Now, do not wake me,
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  Speaker 1: let me die. So I here felt the limbs and
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  Speaker 1: found them as rigid as ever. The right arm, as before,
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  Speaker 1: obeyed the direction of my hand. I questioned the sleep
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  Speaker 1: waker again, do you still feel pain in the breast? M. Valdemar.
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  Speaker 1: The answer now was immediate, but even less audible than before,
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  Speaker 1: No pain, I am dying. I did not think it
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  Speaker 1: advisable to disturb him farther just then, and nothing more
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  Speaker 1: was said or done until the arrival of doctor f
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  Speaker 1: who came a little before sunrise and expressed unbounded astonishment
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  Speaker 1: at finding the patience still alive. After feeling the pulse
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  Speaker 1: and applying a mirror to the lips, he requested me
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  Speaker 1: to speak to the sleep waker again. I did so,
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  Speaker 1: saying M. Valdemar, do you still sleep as before? Some
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: minutes elapsed ere a reply was made, and during the
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  Speaker 1: interval the dying man seemed to be collecting his energies
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  Speaker 1: to speak. At my fourth repetition of the question, he said,
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  Speaker 1: very faintly, almost inaudibly, yes, still asleep dying. It was
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: now the opinion, or rather the wish, of the physicians,
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  Speaker 1: that M. Valdemar should be suffered to remain undisturbed in
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: his present apparently tranquil condition until death should supervene, and
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: this it was generally agreed must now take place within
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  Speaker 1: a few minutes. I concluded, however, to speak to him
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: once more, and merely repeated my previous question. While I spoke,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: there came a marked change over the countenance of the
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: sleep waker. The eyes rolled themselves slowly open, the pupils
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: disappearing upwardly. The skin generally assumed a cadaverous hue, resembling
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  Speaker 1: not so much parchment as white paper. And the circular,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: hectic spots which hitherto had been strongly defined in the
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: center of each cheek went out at once. I use
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: this expression because the suddenness of their departure put me
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: in mind of nothing so much as the extinguishment of
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: a candle by a puff of the breath. The upper lip,
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  Speaker 1: at the same time writhed itself away from the teeth,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: which it had previously covered completely, while the lower jaw
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: fell with an audible jerk, leaving the mouth widely extended
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: and disclosing in full view the swollen and blackened tongue.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: I presume that no member of the party then present
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  Speaker 1: had been unaccustomed to death bed horrors, But so hideous
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: beyond conception was the appearance of m Valdemar at this
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: moment that there was a general shrinking back from the
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: region of the bed. I now feel that I have
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: reached a point of this narrative at which every reader
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: will be startled into positive disbelief. It is my business, however,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: simply to proceed. There was no longer the faintest sign
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: of vitality in M. Valdemar, and concluding him to be dead,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: we were consigning him to the charge of the nurses,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: when a strong vibratory motion was observed in the tongue.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: This continued for perhaps a minute. At the expiration of
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: this period, there issued from the distended and motionless jaws
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: of voice, such as it would be madness in me
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: to attempt describing. There are indeed two or three epithets
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: which might be considered as applicable to it. In part,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: I might say, for example, that the sound was harsh
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: and broken and hollow, but the hideous whole is indescribable,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: for the simple reason that no similar sounds have ever
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: jarred upon the ear of humanity. There were two particulars, nevertheless,
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: which I thought then and still think might fairly be
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: stated as characteristic of the intonation as well adapted to
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: convey some idea of its unearthly peculiarity. In the first place,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: the voice seemed to reach our ears, at least mine,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: from a vast distance, or from some deep cavern within
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: the earth. In the second place, it impressed me I
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: fear indeed, that it will be impossible to make myself
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: comprehended as gelatinous or glutinous matters, impressed the sense of touch.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: I have spoken both of sound and of voice. I
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: mean to say that the sound was one of distinct,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: of even wonderfully thrillingly distinct syllabification. M Voldemar spoke obviously
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: in reply to the question I had propounded to him
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: a few minutes before. I had asked him it will
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: be remembered if he still slept. He now said, yes, no,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: I have been sleeping, and now now I am dead.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: No person present even affected to deny or attempted to
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: repress the unutterable shuddering horror which these few words thus
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: uttered were so well calculated to convey. Mister l L
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: the student swooned. The nurses immediately left the chamber, and
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: could not be induced to return my own impressions. I
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: would not pretend to render intelligible to the reader. For
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: nearly an hour, we busied our else silently, without the
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: utterance of a word, in endeavors to revive mister l L.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: When he came to himself, we addressed ourselves again to
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: an investigation of M. Valdemar's condition. It remained in all
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: respects as I have last described it, with the exception
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: that the mirror no longer afforded evidence of respiration. An
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: attempt to draw blood from the arm failed. I should
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: mention too, that this limb was no farther subject to
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: my will. I endeavored in vain to make it follow
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: the direction of my hand. The only real indication, indeed,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: of the mesmeric influence, was now found in the vibratory
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: movement of the tongue. Whenever I addressed M. Valdemar a question,
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: he seemed to be making an effort to reply, but
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: had no longer sufficient volition to queries put to him
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: by any other person than myself. He seemed utterly insensible,
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: although I endeavored to place each member of the company
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: in mesmeric rapport with him. I believe that I have
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: now related all that is necessary to an understanding of
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: the sleep Wakers stayed. At this epoch, other nurses were procured,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: and at ten o'clock I left the house in company
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: with the two physicians and mister l. Bell. In the
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: afternoon we all called again to see the patient. His
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: condition remained precisely the same. We had now some discussion
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: as to the propriety and feasibility of awakening him, but
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: we had little difficulty in agreeing that no good purpose
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: would be served by so doing. It was evident that
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: so far death, or what is usually termed death, had
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: been arrested by the mesmeric process. It seemed clear to
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: us all that to awaken M. Valdemar would be merely
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: to ensure his instant, or at least his speedy dissolution.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: From this period until the close of last week, an
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: interval of nearly seven months, we continued to make daily
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: calls at M. Valdemar's house, accompanied now and then by
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: medical and other friends. All this time, the sleeperwake remained
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: exactly as I have last described him. The nurse's attentions
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: were continual. It was on Friday last that we finally
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: resolved to make the experiment of awakening, or attempting to
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: awaken him. And it is the perhaps unfortunate result of
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: this latter experiment which has given rise to so much
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: discussion in private circles, to so much of what I
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: cannot help thinking unwarranted popular feeling. For the purpose of
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: relieving M. Valdemar from the mesmeric trance, I made use
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: of the customary passes. These, for a time were unsuccessful.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: The first indication of revival was afforded by a partial
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: descent of the iris. It was observed as especially remarkable
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: that this lowering of the pupil was accompanied by the
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: profuse outflowing of a yellowish kor from beneath the lids
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: of a pungent and highly offensive odor. It was now
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: suggested that I should attempt to influence the patient's arm
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: as heretofore. I made the attempt and failed. Doctor f
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: then intimated a desire to have me put a question.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: I did so as follows. M. Valdemar, can you explain
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: to us what are your feelings or wishes? Now there
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: was an instant return of the hectic circles on the cheeks.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: The tongue quivered, or rather rolled violently in the mouth,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: although the jaws and lips remained rigid as before, and
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: at length the same hideous voice which I have already described,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: broke forth. For God's sake, quick, quick put me to sleep,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: or quick waken me quick, I say to you that
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: I am dead. I was thoroughly unnerved, and for an
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: instant remain undecided what to do. At first, I made
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: an endeavor to recompose the patient, but failing in this
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: thrue total abeyance of the will, I retraced my steps,
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: and as earnestly struggled to awaken him in this attempt,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: I soon saw that I should be successful, or at
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: least I soon fancied that my success would be complete.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: And I am sure that all in the room were
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: prepared to see the patient awaken. For what really occurred, however,
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: it is quite impossible that any human being could have
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: been prepared. As I rapidly made the mesmeric passes amid
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: ejaculations of dead dead, absolutely bursting from the tongue and
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: not from the lips of the sufferer, his whole frame
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: at once, within the space of a single minute or
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: even less, shrunk, crumbled, absolutely rotted away beneath my hands
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: upon the bed. Before that whole company there lay a
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: nearly liquid mass of loathsome of detestable putrescence,