[Sinister brass sound]
- [Narrator] True!
Nervous --
very, very dreadfully nervous I am.
But why will you say I'm mad?
The disease has sharpened my senses --
not destroyed, not dulled them.
Above all was my sense of hearing acute.
I heard all things in heaven and in the earth.
And I heard many things in hell.
How, then, am I mad?
Hearken and observe how healthily, --
how calmly I can tell you the whole story.
[Sinister brass sound] [Heart beats]
It is impossible to say how the idea first entered my brain, --
but once conceived, --
it haunted me day and night.
I loved the old man.
He never wronged me.
He never insulted me.
But, I think it was the eye.
He had the eye of a vulture.
A pale blue eye, with a film over it.
Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold.
And so, very gradually, --
I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, --
and rid myself the eye forever.
[Clapping sound]
At this point, you fancy me mad.
[Dark ambient sound]
But how wisely I proceeded --
with what caution, --
with what foresight, --
with what dissimulation, --
I went to work.
I did this for seven long nights.
But I found the eye was always closed.
And so, it was impossible to do the work.
For it was not the old man that vexed me, --
but his evil eye.
[Dark ambient sound intensifies]
- And every morning, -- - Did you still sleep through the night?
- when day broke,
Well, you’ve endured this false gravity for so long.
- I offered only the esteem he deserved.
It will be impossible to replace your talents here.
- And he would have had to be a very clever man indeed.
But, luckily, your training skills have matched that of your work.
- To suspect that every night.
You're undoubtedly cut out for your next phase in life.
- I watched over him while he slept.
[Ominous music]
- Never before the eighth night had I felt the extent of my own powers --
of my sagacity.
[Chuckles]
[Malign laugh]
Who’s there?
- Death had him stalked with his black shadow before him.
Ship. Åpne vinduet.
- His room still black as pitch with the thick darkness.
It is nothing but creaks in the old floor panels.
- That dull blue vulture's eye, with a hideous veil over it
that chills the very marrow of my bones.
His fear grows louder and louder.
It increases my fury,
as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.
[Raising voice] So strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror.
And anxiety seized me!
[Squalling] [Noise of struggle]
[Squashing noise]
[Squalling]
[Distraught laugh]
♪[Richard Wagner - Siegfried's Funeral March]♪
Yes, --
he was stone dead.
And I am singularly at ease.
As the craft will be discovered soon without a corpse, --
I worked hastily, --
but in silence.
[Telecom device rings] [Cutting noise]
- [Deputy Chief] wasn't scheduled to vacate your ship
prior to the program completion.
What is going on down there?
I awoke from the sound of his pod as it expelled from our vessel.
I worry of his sudden flee.
Space is always as dark as midnight.
Has there been a terrible accident?
We'll rendezvous with this pod soon.
An investigation unit will dock with you shortly.
[Metal panel sound]
[creaking plastic]
No human eye, not even his, --
could detect anything wrong.
There was nothing more to wash out.
No stain of any kind, no blood spot whatsoever.
[Dark ambient sound]
I opened the airlock with a light heart.
[Alarm sound]
What have I now to fear?
[Airlock doors opening]
Welcome.
Good evening trainee. Let’s get to it.
A screech was audible prior to the unscheduled departure.
Likely the clunky air release as he entered the pod.
This vessel is beginning to age severely.
We'd like to take a look around his quarters.
We hope to discover clues for the reason of his departure.
Certainly.
Right this way.
I showed them his quarters, --
secure, undisturbed.
♪[Maurice Ravel - Oiseaux Triste]♪
The investigators were satisfied as my manner convinced them.
- [Lieutenant] I barely knew him, but he trained a few of my friends.
How long were you stationed here together?
- [Narrator] 400 revs.
He will be absorbed into that ghastly atmosphere in due time.
This is disappointing.
We cannot properly bury him.
We'll surely find his body before he reaches the atmosphere.
I wished them gone.
-[Lieutenant] Perhaps his brilliance led to --
eccentricities.
-[Officer] Undetected after all this time?
Impossible.
My head ached.
Or maybe, apprehension over his impending promotion pushed him over the edge.
[Sudden strident sound]
All those years on this systems --
Why would they not be gone?
-- I can’t understand how you guys do it.
With the knowledge --
pushes humanity forward.
And, the beauty is undeniable.
It’s great until you’re driven insane from it.
Oh God!
What can I do? It's possible they cannot hear?
Perhaps its time to return and deliver our report.
- No! No! They heard! -[Lieutenant] Yes.
They are making a mockery of this horror!
[Heart beats]
Anything is better than this agony!
It is peaceful out here, though.
Anything is more tolerable than this derision!
I sometimes wish for an extended investigation --
so close to these massive bodies.
I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer!
I want to scream or die!
[Dark ambient sound]
[Thumping sound]
[Screeching] [Thumping sound]
[Pastoral choir]
[Squalling] [Squashing sound]
And now, again!
Hark!
Louder!
[Screeching]
Louder!
[Screaming] Louder!
Villains!
Dissemble no more! I admit the deed!
Here, here!
It is the beating of his hideous heart!
[Sinister brass sound] [Beating heart]
Now, --
at the dead hour of the night, --
[Locking sound]
amid the dreadful silence of space, --
I’m satisfied in the wild audacity of my triumph.
The eye would trouble me nevermore.
♪[W.A. Mozart - Lacrimosa]♪