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He painted strange pictures，and sang mysterious songs with wild words．His ideas，too，were strange，and he had one idea thst seemed more important to him than all the others．He was quite sure that all things，plants，trees，even stones，were able to feel．
他画了一些古怪的画，唱了一些神秘的歌曲，歌词中尽是些狂野的字眼儿。还有，他脑子里的念头也很古怪，其中有一个想法好像比其他想法对他来说更重要。他相当肯定地认为，万事万物，花草，树木，甚至石头，都是有感知能力的。
‘The House of Usher itself，’he told me，‘is like a living thing．When the walls were first built，life went into the stones themselves and year after year it has grown stronger．Even the air around the walls and above the lake has its own life，and belongs to the house．Don't you see，’he cried，‘how the stones and the air have shaped the lives of the Usher family？’
“鄂榭府本身，”他对我说道，“就好像是一个活物。当墙壁最初被垒起来的时候，生命便进入了这些石头，此后年复一年，逐渐成长壮大。哪怕是围绕着石墙、聚集在湖面上的空气，也有它自己的生命，它是属于这宅子的。你难道没看见吗，”他嚷道，“那石头、那空气是如何塑造了鄂榭家族的众多生灵的？”
These ideas were too fantastic for me，and I could not answer him．
这些看法对我来说简直太离奇了，我都不知该怎么回答他才好。
One evening I was reading quietly when my friend told me，in very few words，that the Lady Madeleine had died．He had decided，he said，to keep her body for a fortnight in one of the vaults under the house，before it went to its last resting-place．This was because his sister's illness had been a mysterious one，and her doctors wanted to learn more about it．He asked me to help him and I agreed．
一天傍晚，我正在安安静静地看书，我的朋友非常简短地告诉我，玛德琳小姐已经故去了。他说，他已经决定在宅子下面的一间地窖里停尸两个星期，然后再将其送往最后的长眠之地，理由是他妹妹的病很古怪，医生们还想再研究研究。他请求我帮忙料理一下，我答应了。
Together we carried the body in its coffin down to the vaults under the house．The vault that he had chosen was a long way down，but was under the part of the house where I slept．It had once been a prison，and was small，dark，and airless，with a heavy metal door．
我们两个一起抬着盛了尸体的棺材，向下来到房子底部的地窖里。他选定的那间地窖要向下走很长一段才到，但它的正上方恰巧是我的寝室那一带。它从前曾经做过牢房，又小又黑，叫人透不过气来，还装着一扇沉重的铁门。
We put the coffin down and then gently lifted up the cover to look at the dead woman for the last time．As I looked down at her face，I realized how much Usher's sister looked like him．My friend then said a few quiet words and I learnt that he and his sister had been born on the same day．Each had known the other's mind without the need for words．
我们把棺材放下，然后轻轻地掀开棺盖，想最后看一眼死者。我低头朝鄂榭的妹妹脸上望去，这才发现他们兄妹二人是多么相像。然后我的朋友沉着地说了几句话，我终于得知他们二人是同日出生的孪生兄妹，彼此间无须言语交流便能心意相通。
