August 21, 2025 • 14 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The apparition by Guy de Montpassant. The subject of sequestration
of the person came up in speaking of a recent lawsuit,
and each of us had a story to tell, a
true story. He said. We had been spending the evening
together at an old family mansion in the Rue de Grenelle,
just a party of intimate friends. The old Marquis de
(00:21):
la tour. Samuel, who was eighty two, rose and, leaning
his elbow on the mantelpiece, said, in his somewhat shaky voice,
I also know of something strange, so strange that it
has haunted me all my life. It is not of
fifty six years since the incident occurred, and yet not
a month passes that I do not see it again
in a dream. So great is the impression of fear
(00:43):
it is left on my mind. For ten minutes. I
experienced such horrible fright that ever since then a sort
of constant terror has remained with me. Sudden noisies startle
me violently, and objects imperfectly distinguished at night inspire me
with a mad desire to flee from them. In short,
(01:03):
I am afraid of the dark. But I would not
have acknowledged that before I reached my present age, now
I can say anything I have never receded before real danger. Ladies.
It is therefore permissible, at eighty two years of age,
not to be brave in presence of imaginary danger. That
(01:24):
affair so completely upset me caused me such a deep
and mysterious and terrible distress that I never spoke of
it to anyone. I will now tell it to you
exactly as it happened, without any attempt at explanation. In
July eighteen twenty seven, I was stationed at Rouen. One day.
As I was walking along the quay, I met a
(01:45):
man whom I thought I recognized, without being able to
recall exactly who he was. Instinctively I made a movement
to stop. The stranger perceived it, and at once extended
his hand. He was a friend to whom I had
been deeply attached as a youth. For five years. I
had not seen him. He seemed to have aged half
a century. His hair was quite white, and he walked
(02:07):
bent over, as though completely exhausted. He apparently understood my surprise,
and he told me of the misfortune which had shattered
his life, having fallen madly in love with a young girl,
he had married her, but after a year of more
than earthly happiness, she died suddenly of an affection of
the heart. He left his country home on the very
day of her burial and came to his town house
(02:30):
in Rouen, where he lived alone and unhappy, so sad
and wretched that he thought constantly of suicide. Since I
have found you again in this manner, he said, I
will ask you to render me an important service. It
is to go and get me out of the desk
in my bedroom, our bedroom, some papers of which I
have urgent need. I cannot send a servant to her
(02:52):
business clerk, as discretion and absolute silence are necessary. As
for myself, nothing on earth would induce me to re
enter that house. I will give you the key of
the room, which I myself locked on leaving, and the
key of my desk. Also a few words for my gardener,
telling him to open the chateau for you. But come
in breakfast with me to morrow, and we will arrange
(03:15):
all that I promised to do him. This disflike favor,
he asked, it was for that matter only a ride
which I could make in an hour on horseback, his
property being but a few miles distant from Rouen. At
ten o'clock the following day, I breakfast tete a tete
with my friend, but he scarcely spoke. He begged me
to pardon him. The thought of the visit I was
(03:36):
about to make to that room the scene of his
dead happiness overcame him. He said. He indeed seemed singularly
agitated and preoccupied, as though undergoing some mysterious mental struggle.
At length, he explained to me exactly what I had
to do. It was very simple. I must take two
packages of letters and a roll of papers from the
(03:56):
first right hand drawer of the desk, of which I
had the key. He added, I need not beg you
to refrain from glancing at them. I was wounded at
that remark and told him so somewhat sharply. He stammered,
forgive me, I suffer so, and tears came to his eyes.
At about one o'clock I took leave of him to
(04:16):
accomplish my mission. The weather was glorious, and I trotted
across the fields, listening to the song of the larks
and the rhythmical clag of my sword against my boot.
Then I entered the forest and walked my horse. Branches
of trees caressed my face as I passed, And now
and then I caught a leaf of my teeth and
chewed it from sheer gladness of heart at being alive
(04:38):
and vigorous on such a radiant day. As I approached
the chateau, I took from my pocket the letter I
had for the gardener, and was astonished at finding it sealed.
I was so irritated that I was about to turn
back without having fulfilled my promise, but reflected that I
should thereby display undue susceptibility. My friend, in his trouble condition,
(04:59):
might e easily have fastened the envelope without noticing that
he did so. The manner looked as if it had
been abandoned for twenty years. The open gate was falling
from its hinges, the walks were overgrown with grass, and
the flower beds were no longer distinguishable. The noise I
made by kicking at a shutter brought out an old
man from a side door. He seemed stunned with astonishment
(05:21):
at seeing me. On receiving my letter, he read it,
re read it, turned it over, and over looked me
up and down put the paper in his pocket, and
finally said, well, what is it you wish? I replied shortly,
you ought to know, since you have just read your
master's orders, I wished to enter the chateau. He seemed overcome.
(05:43):
Then you are going in into her room. I began
to lose patience. Damn it, are you presuming to question me?
He stammered in confusion. No, sir, that's but it has
not been opened since since the death. If you will
be kind enough to wait five minutes, I will go
(06:04):
and see if, I interrupted him angrily, See here, what
do you mean by your tricks? You know very well
you cannot enter the room, since here is the key.
He no longer objected. Then, sir, I will show you
the way, show me the staircase, and leave me. I
will find my way without you. But sir, indeed, this
(06:27):
time I lost patience and pushed him aside. Went into
the house. I first went through the kitchen, then two
rooms occupied by this man and his wife. I then
crossed a large hall, mounted a staircase and recognized the
door described by my friend. I easily opened it and
entered the apartment. It was so dark that at first
I could distinguish nothing. I stopped short, disagreeably affected by
(06:51):
that disagreeable, musty odor of closed unoccupied rooms. As my
eyes slowly became accustomed to the darkness, I saw plainly
enough a large and disordered bedroom, the bed without sheets,
but still retaining its mattresses and pillows, on one of
which was a deep impression, as though an elbow or
a head had recently rested there. The chairs all seemed
(07:15):
out of place. I noticed that a door, doubtless that
of a closet, had remained half open. I first went
to the window, which I opened to let in the light,
but the fastenings of the shutter had grown so rusty
that I could not move them. I even tried to
break them with my sword, but without success. As I
was growing irritated over my useless efforts, and could now
(07:37):
see fairly well in the semi darkness, I gave up
the hope of getting more light and went over to
the writing desk. I seated myself in an arm chair,
and letting down the lid of the desk, I opened
the drawer designated it was full to the top. I
needed but three packages, which I knew how to recognize,
and began searching for them. I was straining my eyes
(07:59):
in the effort to read the superscriptions when I seemed
to hear, or rather feel, something rustle at the back
of me. I paid no attention, believing that a draft
from the window was moving some drapery. But in a
minute or so another movement, almost imperceptible, sent a strangely
disagreeable little shiver over my skin. It was so stupid
(08:21):
to be affected even slightly that self respect prevented my
turning round. I had just found the second package I needed,
and was about to lay my hand in a third,
when a long and painful sigh uttered just at my shoulder,
made me bound like a madman from my seat and
land several feet off. As I jumped, I had turned
(08:41):
round my hand on the helt of my sword, and truly,
if I had not felt it at my side, I
should have taken to my heels like a coward. A
tall women dressed in white stood gazing at me from
the back of the chair where I had been sitting.
An instant before, such a shudder ran through all my
limbs that I nearly fell backward. No one who has
(09:02):
not experienced it can understand that frightful, unreasoning terror. The
mind becomes vague, the heart ceases to beat, the entire
body grows as limp as a sponge. I do not
believe in ghosts. Nevertheless, I collapsed my hideous dread of
the dead. And I suffered. Oh I suffered in a
(09:23):
few moments, more than in all the rest of my life,
from the irresistible terror of the supernatural. If she had
not spoken, I should have died, perhaps, But she spoke.
She spoke in a sweet, sad voice that set my
nerves vibrating. I dare not say that I became master
of myself and recovered my reason. No. I was terrified
(09:46):
and scarcely knew what I was doing. But a certain
innate pride, a remnant of soldierly instinct, made me, almost
in spite of myself, maintain a bold front. She said, Oh, sir,
you can render me a great service. I wanted to reply,
(10:06):
but it was impossible for me to pronounce a word.
Only a vague sound came from my throat. She continued,
will you you can save me, cure me? I suffer, frightly,
I suffer, Oh how I suffer? And she slowly seated
herself in my arm chair, still looking at me, will
(10:28):
you she said? I nodded in assent, my voice still
being paralyzed. Then she held out to me a tortoise
shell comb and murmured, comb my hair, Oh, comb my hair.
That will cure me. It must be combed. Look at
(10:49):
my head, how I suffer and my hair pull so
her hair unbound, very long and very black. It seemed
to me hung over the back of the armchair and
touched the floor. Why did I promise? Why did I
take that comb with a shudder? And why did I
hold in my hands her long black hair that gave
(11:11):
my skin a frightful cold sensation as though I were
handling snakes. I cannot tell that sensation has remained in
my fingers, and I still tremble in recalling it. I
combed her hair. I handled. I know not how those
icy locks. I twisted, knotted and unknotted and braided them.
(11:36):
She sighed, bowed her head, seemed happy. Suddenly she said,
thank you, snatched the comb from my hands, and fled
by the door that I had noticed Ajar left alone.
I experienced for several seconds the horrible agitation of one
who awakens from a nightmare. At length, I regained my senses.
(11:57):
I ran to the window, and with a mighty effort,
burst open the shutters, letting a flood of light into
the room. Immediately I sprang to the door by which
that being had departed. I found it closed and immovable.
Then the mad desire to flee overcame me like a panic,
the panic which soldiers know in battle. I seized the
three packets of letters on the open desk, ran from
(12:19):
the room, dashed down the stairs four steps at a time,
found myself outside, I know not how, and, perceiving my
horse a few steps off, leaped into the saddle and
galloped away. I stopped only when I reached rouen, and
alighted at my lodgings, throwing the reins to my orderly.
I fled to my room and shut myself into reflect
(12:39):
for an hour. I anxiously asked myself if I were
not the victim of a hallucination. Undoubtedly I had had
one of those incomprehensible nervous attacks, those exultations of mind
that give rise to visions under the stronghold of the supernatural.
And I was about to believe I had seen a vision,
had a hallucination. When I as I approached the window,
(13:01):
my eyes fell by chance upon my breast. My military
cape was covered with long black hairs, one by one
with trembling fingers. I plucked them off and threw them away.
I then called my orderly. I was too disturbed, too upset,
to go and see my friend that day, and I
also wished to reflect more fully upon what I ought
(13:24):
to tell him. I sent him his letters, for which
he gave the soldier a receipt. He asked after me
most particularly, and on being told I was ill had
had a sunstroke, appeared exceedingly anxious. Next morning, I went
to him, determined to tell him the truth. He had
gone out the evening before and had not yet returned.
(13:46):
I called again during the day my friend was still absent.
After waiting a week longer without news of him, I
notified the authorities, and a judicial research was instituted. Not
this slight distrace of his whereabouts or manner of disappearance
was discovered. A minute inspection of the abandoned chateau revealed
(14:07):
nothing of a suspicious character. There was no indication that
a woman had been concealed. There After, fruitless researches, all
further efforts were abandoned, and for fifty six years I
have heard nothing. I know no more than before end
of the apparition.
The apparition by Guy de Montpassant. The subject of sequestration
of the person came up in speaking of a recent lawsuit,
and each of us had a story to tell, a
true story. He said. We had been spending the evening
together at an old family mansion in the Rue de Grenelle,
just a party of intimate friends. The old Marquis de
(00:21):
la tour. Samuel, who was eighty two, rose and, leaning
his elbow on the mantelpiece, said, in his somewhat shaky voice,
I also know of something strange, so strange that it
has haunted me all my life. It is not of
fifty six years since the incident occurred, and yet not
a month passes that I do not see it again
in a dream. So great is the impression of fear
(00:43):
it is left on my mind. For ten minutes. I
experienced such horrible fright that ever since then a sort
of constant terror has remained with me. Sudden noisies startle
me violently, and objects imperfectly distinguished at night inspire me
with a mad desire to flee from them. In short,
(01:03):
I am afraid of the dark. But I would not
have acknowledged that before I reached my present age, now
I can say anything I have never receded before real danger. Ladies.
It is therefore permissible, at eighty two years of age,
not to be brave in presence of imaginary danger. That
(01:24):
affair so completely upset me caused me such a deep
and mysterious and terrible distress that I never spoke of
it to anyone. I will now tell it to you
exactly as it happened, without any attempt at explanation. In
July eighteen twenty seven, I was stationed at Rouen. One day.
As I was walking along the quay, I met a
(01:45):
man whom I thought I recognized, without being able to
recall exactly who he was. Instinctively I made a movement
to stop. The stranger perceived it, and at once extended
his hand. He was a friend to whom I had
been deeply attached as a youth. For five years. I
had not seen him. He seemed to have aged half
a century. His hair was quite white, and he walked
(02:07):
bent over, as though completely exhausted. He apparently understood my surprise,
and he told me of the misfortune which had shattered
his life, having fallen madly in love with a young girl,
he had married her, but after a year of more
than earthly happiness, she died suddenly of an affection of
the heart. He left his country home on the very
day of her burial and came to his town house
(02:30):
in Rouen, where he lived alone and unhappy, so sad
and wretched that he thought constantly of suicide. Since I
have found you again in this manner, he said, I
will ask you to render me an important service. It
is to go and get me out of the desk
in my bedroom, our bedroom, some papers of which I
have urgent need. I cannot send a servant to her
(02:52):
business clerk, as discretion and absolute silence are necessary. As
for myself, nothing on earth would induce me to re
enter that house. I will give you the key of
the room, which I myself locked on leaving, and the
key of my desk. Also a few words for my gardener,
telling him to open the chateau for you. But come
in breakfast with me to morrow, and we will arrange
(03:15):
all that I promised to do him. This disflike favor,
he asked, it was for that matter only a ride
which I could make in an hour on horseback, his
property being but a few miles distant from Rouen. At
ten o'clock the following day, I breakfast tete a tete
with my friend, but he scarcely spoke. He begged me
to pardon him. The thought of the visit I was
(03:36):
about to make to that room the scene of his
dead happiness overcame him. He said. He indeed seemed singularly
agitated and preoccupied, as though undergoing some mysterious mental struggle.
At length, he explained to me exactly what I had
to do. It was very simple. I must take two
packages of letters and a roll of papers from the
(03:56):
first right hand drawer of the desk, of which I
had the key. He added, I need not beg you
to refrain from glancing at them. I was wounded at
that remark and told him so somewhat sharply. He stammered,
forgive me, I suffer so, and tears came to his eyes.
At about one o'clock I took leave of him to
(04:16):
accomplish my mission. The weather was glorious, and I trotted
across the fields, listening to the song of the larks
and the rhythmical clag of my sword against my boot.
Then I entered the forest and walked my horse. Branches
of trees caressed my face as I passed, And now
and then I caught a leaf of my teeth and
chewed it from sheer gladness of heart at being alive
(04:38):
and vigorous on such a radiant day. As I approached
the chateau, I took from my pocket the letter I
had for the gardener, and was astonished at finding it sealed.
I was so irritated that I was about to turn
back without having fulfilled my promise, but reflected that I
should thereby display undue susceptibility. My friend, in his trouble condition,
(04:59):
might e easily have fastened the envelope without noticing that
he did so. The manner looked as if it had
been abandoned for twenty years. The open gate was falling
from its hinges, the walks were overgrown with grass, and
the flower beds were no longer distinguishable. The noise I
made by kicking at a shutter brought out an old
man from a side door. He seemed stunned with astonishment
(05:21):
at seeing me. On receiving my letter, he read it,
re read it, turned it over, and over looked me
up and down put the paper in his pocket, and
finally said, well, what is it you wish? I replied shortly,
you ought to know, since you have just read your
master's orders, I wished to enter the chateau. He seemed overcome.
(05:43):
Then you are going in into her room. I began
to lose patience. Damn it, are you presuming to question me?
He stammered in confusion. No, sir, that's but it has
not been opened since since the death. If you will
be kind enough to wait five minutes, I will go
(06:04):
and see if, I interrupted him angrily, See here, what
do you mean by your tricks? You know very well
you cannot enter the room, since here is the key.
He no longer objected. Then, sir, I will show you
the way, show me the staircase, and leave me. I
will find my way without you. But sir, indeed, this
(06:27):
time I lost patience and pushed him aside. Went into
the house. I first went through the kitchen, then two
rooms occupied by this man and his wife. I then
crossed a large hall, mounted a staircase and recognized the
door described by my friend. I easily opened it and
entered the apartment. It was so dark that at first
I could distinguish nothing. I stopped short, disagreeably affected by
(06:51):
that disagreeable, musty odor of closed unoccupied rooms. As my
eyes slowly became accustomed to the darkness, I saw plainly
enough a large and disordered bedroom, the bed without sheets,
but still retaining its mattresses and pillows, on one of
which was a deep impression, as though an elbow or
a head had recently rested there. The chairs all seemed
(07:15):
out of place. I noticed that a door, doubtless that
of a closet, had remained half open. I first went
to the window, which I opened to let in the light,
but the fastenings of the shutter had grown so rusty
that I could not move them. I even tried to
break them with my sword, but without success. As I
was growing irritated over my useless efforts, and could now
(07:37):
see fairly well in the semi darkness, I gave up
the hope of getting more light and went over to
the writing desk. I seated myself in an arm chair,
and letting down the lid of the desk, I opened
the drawer designated it was full to the top. I
needed but three packages, which I knew how to recognize,
and began searching for them. I was straining my eyes
(07:59):
in the effort to read the superscriptions when I seemed
to hear, or rather feel, something rustle at the back
of me. I paid no attention, believing that a draft
from the window was moving some drapery. But in a
minute or so another movement, almost imperceptible, sent a strangely
disagreeable little shiver over my skin. It was so stupid
(08:21):
to be affected even slightly that self respect prevented my
turning round. I had just found the second package I needed,
and was about to lay my hand in a third,
when a long and painful sigh uttered just at my shoulder,
made me bound like a madman from my seat and
land several feet off. As I jumped, I had turned
(08:41):
round my hand on the helt of my sword, and truly,
if I had not felt it at my side, I
should have taken to my heels like a coward. A
tall women dressed in white stood gazing at me from
the back of the chair where I had been sitting.
An instant before, such a shudder ran through all my
limbs that I nearly fell backward. No one who has
(09:02):
not experienced it can understand that frightful, unreasoning terror. The
mind becomes vague, the heart ceases to beat, the entire
body grows as limp as a sponge. I do not
believe in ghosts. Nevertheless, I collapsed my hideous dread of
the dead. And I suffered. Oh I suffered in a
(09:23):
few moments, more than in all the rest of my life,
from the irresistible terror of the supernatural. If she had
not spoken, I should have died, perhaps, But she spoke.
She spoke in a sweet, sad voice that set my
nerves vibrating. I dare not say that I became master
of myself and recovered my reason. No. I was terrified
(09:46):
and scarcely knew what I was doing. But a certain
innate pride, a remnant of soldierly instinct, made me, almost
in spite of myself, maintain a bold front. She said, Oh, sir,
you can render me a great service. I wanted to reply,
(10:06):
but it was impossible for me to pronounce a word.
Only a vague sound came from my throat. She continued,
will you you can save me, cure me? I suffer, frightly,
I suffer, Oh how I suffer? And she slowly seated
herself in my arm chair, still looking at me, will
(10:28):
you she said? I nodded in assent, my voice still
being paralyzed. Then she held out to me a tortoise
shell comb and murmured, comb my hair, Oh, comb my hair.
That will cure me. It must be combed. Look at
(10:49):
my head, how I suffer and my hair pull so
her hair unbound, very long and very black. It seemed
to me hung over the back of the armchair and
touched the floor. Why did I promise? Why did I
take that comb with a shudder? And why did I
hold in my hands her long black hair that gave
(11:11):
my skin a frightful cold sensation as though I were
handling snakes. I cannot tell that sensation has remained in
my fingers, and I still tremble in recalling it. I
combed her hair. I handled. I know not how those
icy locks. I twisted, knotted and unknotted and braided them.
(11:36):
She sighed, bowed her head, seemed happy. Suddenly she said,
thank you, snatched the comb from my hands, and fled
by the door that I had noticed Ajar left alone.
I experienced for several seconds the horrible agitation of one
who awakens from a nightmare. At length, I regained my senses.
(11:57):
I ran to the window, and with a mighty effort,
burst open the shutters, letting a flood of light into
the room. Immediately I sprang to the door by which
that being had departed. I found it closed and immovable.
Then the mad desire to flee overcame me like a panic,
the panic which soldiers know in battle. I seized the
three packets of letters on the open desk, ran from
(12:19):
the room, dashed down the stairs four steps at a time,
found myself outside, I know not how, and, perceiving my
horse a few steps off, leaped into the saddle and
galloped away. I stopped only when I reached rouen, and
alighted at my lodgings, throwing the reins to my orderly.
I fled to my room and shut myself into reflect
(12:39):
for an hour. I anxiously asked myself if I were
not the victim of a hallucination. Undoubtedly I had had
one of those incomprehensible nervous attacks, those exultations of mind
that give rise to visions under the stronghold of the supernatural.
And I was about to believe I had seen a vision,
had a hallucination. When I as I approached the window,
(13:01):
my eyes fell by chance upon my breast. My military
cape was covered with long black hairs, one by one
with trembling fingers. I plucked them off and threw them away.
I then called my orderly. I was too disturbed, too upset,
to go and see my friend that day, and I
also wished to reflect more fully upon what I ought
(13:24):
to tell him. I sent him his letters, for which
he gave the soldier a receipt. He asked after me
most particularly, and on being told I was ill had
had a sunstroke, appeared exceedingly anxious. Next morning, I went
to him, determined to tell him the truth. He had
gone out the evening before and had not yet returned.
(13:46):
I called again during the day my friend was still absent.
After waiting a week longer without news of him, I
notified the authorities, and a judicial research was instituted. Not
this slight distrace of his whereabouts or manner of disappearance
was discovered. A minute inspection of the abandoned chateau revealed
(14:07):
nothing of a suspicious character. There was no indication that
a woman had been concealed. There After, fruitless researches, all
further efforts were abandoned, and for fifty six years I
have heard nothing. I know no more than before end
of the apparition.
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