《泄密的心》这篇短篇小说的主角是一个“神经过敏”的人，他自述了自己谋杀同住的一位老人的经过。他与老人之间并无冤仇，也无意于老人的财产，一切只因老人那双眼睛使他产生了固执的杀人念头。整整一个星期他都在模拟如何杀人，第八天夜里，谋杀得手，之后他把尸体肢解并埋在了老人卧房的地板之下，但是他的幻觉使他将老人怀表走动的声音跟心脏的跳声混淆了。凌晨时，警员来调查，这位“神经过敏”的人不一会儿就被死者“心跳”的巨大声响惊吓得失常错乱，对杀人直认不讳。爱伦坡的小说中译本颇多，各有特色，其中曹明伦所译的《爱伦·坡集》已成为我国英美文学和翻译研究经常引用的文本，此处所择取的选段译文即为曹译。既是名篇。又是名译，读过之后必能获益良多。

【作者简介】

爱伦·坡（Edgar Allan Poe，1809－1849）是19世纪美国著名小说家、诗人、文艺评论家，有着“侦探小说的鼻祖”和“恐怖小说之父”之美称。他的哥特小说（Gothic Fiction）大都表现和探讨死亡及恐惧，调子阴郁悲伤，具有独特的美学风格，在文体上透过圆熟精湛的修辞技巧，令作品弥漫着恐怖、怪异、神秘的气氛，揭示出人最隐密的内心活动，刻划出人不愿面对的丑恶，成为西方哥特小说的典范。爱伦·坡的作品想象丰富、内容诡谲、手法新奇，心理、意识刻画细致入微，这些都对现代西方文学和电影的发展产生了重大的影响。英国柯南道尔的《福尔摩斯探案集》、法国凡尔纳的科幻小说，以及今天广为流传的种种推理、罪案小说，都深受其作品影响。

【选段阅读】

It was open — wide, wide open — and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness — all a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man’s face or person: for I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot.

And now — have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over acuteness of the senses? — now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man’s heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.

But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eye. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man’s terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! — do you mark me well? I have told you that I am nervous: — so I am. And now, at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst! And now a new anxiety seized me — the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old man’s hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once — once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then sat upon the bed and smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.

那只眼睛睁着——圆圆地睁着——而我一看见它就怒不可遏。我当时把它看得清清楚楚——一团浑浊的蓝色，蒙着层可怕的阴翳，它使我每一根骨头的骨髓都凉透；但我看不见脸上的其余部分和老人的躯体，因为仿佛是出于本能，我将那道光线丝毫不差地对准了那个该死的蓝点。

瞧，我难道没告诉过你，你所误认为的疯狂只不过是感觉的过分敏锐？那么现在我告诉你，当时我的耳朵里传进了一种微弱的、沉闷的、节奏很快的声音，就像是一只被棉花包着的表发出的声音。我也熟悉那种声音。那是老人的心在跳动。它使我更加狂怒，就像是咚咚的战鼓声激发出了士兵的勇气。

但我仍然控制住自己，仍然保持一声不吭。我几乎没有呼吸。我举着灯一动不动。我尽可能让那束灯光稳定地照在那只眼上。与此同时那可怕的心跳不断加剧。随着分分秒秒的推移，那颗心跳得越来越快，越来越响。那老人心中的恐惧肯定已到了极点！我说随着时间的推移，那心跳的声音变得越来越响！你明白我的意思吗？我已经告诉过你我神经过敏，我的确神经过敏。而当时是在夜深人静的时刻，在那幢老房子可怕的沉寂之中，那么奇怪的一种声音自然使我感到难以抑制的恐惧。但在相当长一段时间里，我仍然抑制住恐惧静静地站着。可那心跳声越来越响！我想那颗心肯定会炸裂。而这时我又感到一种新的担忧——这声音恐怕会被邻居听见！那老人的死期终于到了！随着一声呐喊，我亮开提灯并冲进了房间。他尖叫了一声——只叫了一声。转眼之间我已把他拖下床来，而且把那沉重的床推到压在他身上。眼见大功告成，我不禁喜笑颜开。但在好几分钟内，那颗心仍发出低沉的跳动声。不过它并没使我感到恼火，那声音不会被墙外边听到。最后它终于不响了。那个老人死了。我把床搬开，检查了一下尸体。不错，他死了，的确死了。我把手放在他心口试探了一阵。没有心跳。他完全死了。他那只眼睛再也不会折磨我了。