红死病的面具 (1842)

《红死病的面具》是一部由爱伦·坡于1842年所著的短篇小说，当时发布在 Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine上，并为爱伦·坡带来$12收入。

故事简介

红死病是一种恐怖的传染病，在国家内已经肆虐了一段时间，于是普罗斯彼洛亲王带同骑士、女性、吟游诗人及小丑等到一处偏僻的城堡避世，待红死病离去才回到国家。在城堡度过了六个月，亲王举办了一场奢华的化妆派对，派对中出现了一位装扮为红病死患者的人，亲王对此非常愤怒，决定要吊死此人。众士兵追捕此人，但发现此人只是一堆裹尸布，并没有躯体，自此红死病便在城堡中散播。

"The Masque of the Red Death" (originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy") is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball in seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms. Prospero dies after confronting this stranger, whose "costume" proves to contain nothing tangible inside it. The guests also die in turn.

Poe's story follows many traditions of Gothic fiction and is often analyzed as an allegory about the inevitability of death, though some critics advise against an allegorical reading. Many different interpretations have been presented, as well as attempts to identify the true nature of the eponymous disease. The story was first published in May 1842 in Graham's Magazine and has since been adapted in many different forms, including a 1964 film starring Vincent Price. Poe's short story has also been alluded to by other works in many types of media.

Plot

The Red Death, a terrible plague with gruesome symptoms, has swept over the land. Victims are overcome by "sharp pains", "sudden dizziness", and "profuse bleeding at the pores", and die within half an hour. The "happy and dauntless and sagacious" Prince Prospero and 1,000 "hale and light-hearted" other nobles have taken refuge in a castellated abbey to escape the disease, welding the doors shut to ensure no one enters or leaves. Prospero and his court are indifferent to the sufferings of the population at large, and intend to await the end of the plague in luxury and safety behind the walls of their secure refuge.

One night, five or six months into this seclusion, Prospero holds a masquerade ball to entertain his guests in seven colored rooms of the abbey. Each of the first six rooms is decorated and illuminated in a specific color: blue, purple, green, orange, white, and violet. The last room is decorated in black and is illuminated by a scarlet light, "a deep blood color" cast from its stained glass windows. Because of this chilling pairing of colors, very few guests are brave enough to venture into the seventh room. A large ebony clock stands in this room and ominously chimes each hour, upon which everyone stops talking or dancing and the orchestra stops playing. Once the chiming stops, everyone immediately resumes the masquerade. As nightfall approaches, none of the guests enter the final room as it takes on a more eerie display and the additional chimes of the clock make them uneasy.

At the chiming of midnight, the revelers and Prospero notice a figure in a dark, blood-splattered robe resembling a funeral shroud. The figure's mask resembles the rigid face of a corpse and exhibits the traits of the Red Death. Gravely insulted, Prospero demands to know the identity of the mysterious guest so they can hang him. The guests, too afraid to approach the figure, instead let him pass through the six chambers. The Prince pursues him with a drawn dagger and corners the guest in the seventh room. When the figure turns to face him, the Prince lets out a sharp cry and falls dead. The terrified revelers become enraged and surge into the black room and forcibly remove the mask and robe, only to find to their horror that there is nothing underneath. Only then do they realize the costume was the Red Death all along, having "come like a thief in the night", and all of the guests contract and succumb to the disease, the Red Death holding "illimitable dominion over all."