1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: All Zone Media The Club book Club The Club. Hello 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: and welcome to Coo Zone Media Book Club. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,080 Speaker 1: Margaret Kiljoy. Every week I read you fiction. Sometimes those 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: stories are looking ahead into possible futures or to analyze 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: the present. Sometimes they take us into the past. This 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: week and next we're doing that the thing where we 7 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: want in the past. I'm convinced the past matters that 8 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: understanding how humans have thought and behaved in various times 9 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: and places and contexts is incredibly useful when it comes 10 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: to understanding how we behave now. Also, I just like 11 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: weird old shit, especially Gothic stuff. So this week we're 12 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: talking about the Vampire, not just a vampire, but a 13 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 1: story old enough that it was a best seller under 14 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: the name the Vampire, but with a y instead of 15 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: an eye and vampire before this story, which the stories 16 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: from eighteen nineteen, vampires were rarely aristocratic. They were Eastern 17 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: European folklore, not the heroes and villains of Romantic and 18 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: Gothic literature we know them as today. So this is 19 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: the story that all of that comes from. And it 20 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: was written by a man who's absolutely not famous, named 21 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: John Polidori, who was the personal physician to a man 22 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: who is famous, Lord Byron. There's a famous tale about 23 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,400 Speaker 1: the summer of eighteen sixteen and how it birthed modern 24 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: speculative fiction. There's these three far left rich British people, 25 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: Mary Shelley, her husband, Percy Shelley, and their friend and 26 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: maybe Pollockule member, Lord Byron. They spent the summer of 27 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: eighteen sixteen in Switzerland, and eighteen sixteen was the year 28 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: without a summer because some volcanoes and shit, it was 29 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: super cold that year. Well we're going to miss that 30 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: year coming up anyway. So they're in this villa in 31 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: Switzerland and they stayed up late telling each other ghost stories. 32 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: Then they challenged one another to write ghost stories. Percy 33 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: wrote something kind of forgettable. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, what's 34 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: often called the first work of science fiction. Lord Byron 35 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: he wrote a story that never quite went anywhere. He 36 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: didn't finish his homework, and it was called fragment of 37 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: a novel, which is obviously if you're I don't think 38 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: he called it that. I just that's what they had 39 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: to call it when they published it. Because Lord Byron's 40 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: famous enough that everything he wrote eventually got published. It's 41 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: about a nobleman traveling to the east with the intention 42 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: of eventually throwing a vampire into the story. But there 43 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: was a fourth person there in Switzerland. Actually there was 44 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: probably a ton of people there, But who cares about servants? 45 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: Am I right? John Polladori, the physician. He had been 46 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: traveling with Lord Byron. Some suggest the two were sleeping together. 47 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: Lord Byron at least was quite openly by well, he 48 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: was quite bisexual. That was repressed and hidden by history 49 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: for a long time, but he was pretty open about it. 50 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: Gay sex between the men was a capital crime in 51 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: England at the time, just part of why he stayed 52 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: away from England. If the two were dating, it was 53 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: a tempestuous relationship, if not honestly an abuse of one. 54 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: It sounds like Lord Byron did not treat Polodori well, 55 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: often mocking him and keeping him out of things and 56 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: complaining about his like you know, oh, Polardori is so vain, 57 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: and all historians are like, oh, Polodori is like so vain. 58 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: What a terrible and annoying person. And I'm like he 59 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,079 Speaker 1: was under the employee of this man who was negging 60 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: him constantly, and they were possibly sleeping together. I'm going 61 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: to give John a lot of leeway here, but I've 62 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: only read so much about that relationship, so who knows. 63 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: I mean the people who wrote more about it no more, 64 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: although still it's all conjecture. So John Polodori he wrote 65 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: his own story, and it was his own version of 66 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: Lord Byron's story. This time it was about two men 67 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: traveling east. One is a charming, seductive man who drains 68 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: the energy from everyone around him, the other effectively his 69 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: thrall spoiler alert. The charming man is a vampire. It's 70 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: in the title of the story. I don't think I'm 71 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: ruining anything too much. And the thing is the vampire 72 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: Lord Ruthven is one hundred percent based on Lord Byron. 73 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,359 Speaker 1: It's not subtle. It's not subtle to anyone at the 74 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: time either, because an ex lover, a woman this time, 75 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: had actually written a book about how shitty it was 76 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: to date Lord Byron already and use the name Ruthven 77 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: for Lord Byron's character, his like stand in character. This 78 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: is like how you be like, I don't know, like 79 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: salty to your exes at the time. If you're all 80 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: in the nobility of England. It's kind of fun. Polidori 81 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: finished his story, though, and to hear him tell it, 82 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: he never intended to publish it anywhere. How it wound 83 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: up on the desk of a disreputable publisher who put 84 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: it out with Lord Byron as the byeline, which was 85 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,679 Speaker 1: almost certainly not the plan. It took a long time 86 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: to set the record straight, and the fallout destroyed Polodari's 87 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: reputation and functionally destroyed his life. He was accused of 88 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: plagiarism when he tried to claim authorship of his own 89 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: best selling book, and later when he a devout Catholic, 90 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: tried to join a monastery, he was turned away because 91 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: of his authorship of the Sordid and Bloody Vampire Story. 92 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: Within two years, Polodori was dead, most likely by suicide, 93 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: at the age of only twenty five years old. So 94 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: his parable about having the life sucked out of him 95 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 1: was proven true, and the metaphorical vampire Lord Byron might 96 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: not have been so metaphorical. After all, this is part 97 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,679 Speaker 1: of my Lord Byron was the first vampire theory. See 98 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: the two part series that comes out I Guess Tomorrow. 99 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,239 Speaker 1: If you're listening to this when it first comes out 100 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: about the Luodites in England who are happening around this time, 101 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: and how Lord Byron the Vampire was the only one 102 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:16,600 Speaker 1: who defended them. So if you want to hear good 103 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: stuff about Lord Byron, you should listen to that episode. Anyway, 104 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:26,279 Speaker 1: now you can listen to the story itself, So prepare 105 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: your ears for the Vampire. The Vampire by John Pollodori. 106 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: It happened that, in the midst of the dissipation's attendant 107 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,359 Speaker 1: upon London winter, there appeared at the various parties of 108 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: the leaders of the ton, a nobleman more remarkable for 109 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: his singularities than his rank. He gazed upon the mirth 110 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: around him, as if he could not participate therein. Apparently 111 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 1: the light laughter of the fair only attracted his attention, 112 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 1: that he might buy a look, quell it, and throw 113 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: fear into those breasts where thoughtlessness reigned. Those who felt 114 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: the sensation of all could not explain whence it arose. 115 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: Some attributed it to the dead gray eye, which, fixing 116 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: upon the object's face, did not seem to penetrate, and 117 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: at one glance to pierce through to the inward workings 118 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: of the heart, but fell upon the cheek with a 119 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: leaden ray that weighed upon the skin it could not pass. 120 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: His peculiarities caused him to be invited to every house. 121 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: All wished to see him, and those who had been 122 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: accustomed to violent excitement and now felt the weight of nui, 123 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: were pleased at having something in their presence capable of 124 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: engaging their attention. In spite of the deadly hue of 125 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: his face, which never gained a warmer tint, either from 126 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: the blush of modesty or from the strong passion of emotion, 127 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: though its form and outline were beautiful, many of the 128 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: female hunters after notoriety, attempted to win his attentions and 129 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: gain at least some marks of what they might term affection. 130 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: Lady Mercer, who had been the mockery of every monster 131 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: shown in drawing room since her marriage, threw herself in 132 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: this way, and did all but put on the dress 133 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,239 Speaker 1: of a mountebank to attract his notice, though in vain. 134 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: When she stood before him, though his eyes were apparently 135 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: fixed upon hers, still seemed as if they were unperceived. 136 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 1: Even her unappalled impudence was baffled, and she left the field. 137 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: But though the common adulteress could not influence even the 138 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: guidance of his eyes. It was not that the female 139 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: sex was indifferent to him. Yet such was the apparent 140 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,079 Speaker 1: caution with which he spoke to the virtuous wife and 141 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: innocent daughter that few knew he ever addressed himself to females. 142 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: He had, however, the reputation of a winning tongue, and 143 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: whether it was that he even overcame the dread of 144 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 1: his singular character, or that they were moved by his 145 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: apparent hatred of vice, he was as often among those 146 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: females who formed the boast of their sex from their 147 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: domestic virtues as among those who sully it by their vices. 148 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: About the same time, there came to London a young 149 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: gentleman of the name of Aubrey, who was an orphan, 150 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: left with an only sister, in the possession of great 151 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: wealth by parents who died when he was yet in childhood, 152 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 1: left also to himself by guardians who thought it their 153 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 1: duty merely to take care of his fortune, while they 154 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: relinquished the more important charge of his mind to the 155 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 1: care of mercenary subalterns. He cultivated more of his imagination 156 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: than his judgment. He had, hence that high romantic feeling 157 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,479 Speaker 1: of honor and candor, which daily ruined so many Milliner's apprentices. 158 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: He believed all to sympathize with virtue, and thought that 159 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: vice was thrown in by providence merely for the picturesque 160 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: effect of the scene, as we see in romances. He 161 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: thought that the misery of a cottage merely consisted in 162 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,959 Speaker 1: the vesting of clothes which were as warm, but which 163 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: were better adapted to the painter's eye by their irregular 164 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: folds and various colored patches. He thought, in fine that 165 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: the dreams of poets were the realities of life. He 166 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: was handsome, frank, and rich for these reasons. Upon his 167 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: entering into the gay circles, many mothers surrounded him, striving 168 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: which should describe with least truth their languishing or romping favorites. 169 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: The daughters, at the same time, by their brightening countenances 170 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: when he approached, and by their sparkling eyes when he 171 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: opened his lips, soon led him into false notions of 172 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: his talents and his merit. Attached as he was to 173 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: the romance of his solitary hours, he was startled at 174 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: finding that, except in the tallow and wax candles that flickered, 175 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 1: not from the presence of a ghost, but from the 176 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:44,839 Speaker 1: want of snuffing, there was no foundation in real life 177 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 1: for any of that congres of pleasing pictures and descriptions 178 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:53,079 Speaker 1: contained in those volumes from which he had formed his study, Finding, however, 179 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: some compensation in its grafted vanity, he was about to 180 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,840 Speaker 1: relinquish his dreams when the extraordinary being we have described 181 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:06,439 Speaker 1: crossed him in his career. He watched him and the 182 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,199 Speaker 1: very impossibility of forming an idea of the character of 183 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: a man entirely absorbed in himself, who gave few other 184 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: signs of his observation of external objects than the tacit 185 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: assent to their existence implied by the avoidance of their contact, 186 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: allowing his imagination to picture everything that flattered its propensity 187 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:30,440 Speaker 1: to extravagant ideas. He soon formed this object into the 188 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: hero of a romance, and determined to observe the offspring 189 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: of his fancy rather than the person before him. He 190 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: became acquainted with him, paid him attentions, and so far 191 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 1: advanced upon his notice that his presence was always recognized. 192 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: He gradually learnt that Lord Ruthven's affairs were embarrassed, and 193 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: soon found from the notes of preparation in s blank Street. 194 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: There's this thing where old timey stories will like use 195 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: a series of dashes instead of giving a specific name. 196 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:05,440 Speaker 1: Happening that he was about to travel, desirous of gaining 197 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:09,720 Speaker 1: some information respecting his singular character, who till now had 198 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: only wetted his curiosity, he hinted to his guardians that 199 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:15,960 Speaker 1: it was time for him to perform the tour which 200 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 1: for many generations had been thought necessary to engage the 201 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:22,319 Speaker 1: young to take some rapid steps in their career of vice, 202 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: towards putting themselves upon inequality with the aged, and not 203 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 1: allowing them to appear as if fallen from the skies 204 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: whenever scandalous intrigues are mentioned as the subjects of pleasantry 205 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,199 Speaker 1: or of praise, according to the degree of skill shewn 206 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: in carrying them on. They consented, and Aubrey, immediately mentioning 207 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 1: his intentions to Lord Ruthven, was surprised to receive from 208 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 1: him a proposal to join him. Flattered by such a 209 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 1: mark of esteem from him, who apparently had nothing in 210 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,959 Speaker 1: common with other men, he gladly accepted it, and in 211 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: a few days they had passed the circling waters. But 212 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,079 Speaker 1: you know what else passed the circling waters, which I 213 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: think means they went overseas to mainland Europe. All of 214 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,559 Speaker 1: our advertisers, they are worldly. They too have been to Europe, 215 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 1: done a little bit of time backpacking around. In fact, 216 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: some of them might be vampires. If corporations have personhood 217 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 1: and survive after the death of individuals, are they not 218 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: the vampire? I don't. Here's events and we're back hitherto. 219 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: Aubrey had had no opportunity of studying Lord Ruthven's character, 220 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: and now he found that, though many more of his 221 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: actions were exposed to his view, the results offered different 222 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: conclusions from the apparent motives to his conduct. The companion 223 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: was profuse in his liberality. The idol, the vagabond, and 224 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: the beggar received from his hand more than enough to 225 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 1: relieve their immediate wants. But Aubrey could not avoid remarking 226 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: that it was not upon the virtuous, reduced to indigence 227 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 1: by the misfortune's attendant, upon every virtue that he bestowed 228 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: his alms. These were sent from the door with hardly 229 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 1: suppressed sneers. But when the prolificate came to ask something, 230 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: not to relieve his wants, but to allow him to 231 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: wallow in his lust, or to sink him still deeper 232 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: in his inequity. He was sent away with rich charity. 233 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: This was, however, attributed by him to the greater importunity 234 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,239 Speaker 1: of the vicious, which generally prevails of the retiring bashfulness 235 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: of the virtuous indigent. There was one circumstance about the 236 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: charity of his lordship which was still more impressed upon 237 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: his mind. All those upon whom it was bestowed inevitably 238 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: found that there was a curse upon it, for they 239 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: were all either led to the scaffold or sunk the 240 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: lowest and most abject misery. At Brussels and other towns 241 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,280 Speaker 1: through which they passed, Aubrey was surprised at the apparent 242 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: eagerness with which his companion sought for the centers of 243 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 1: all fashionable vice. There he entered into all the spirit 244 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: of the Pharoh table. He bedded and always gambled with success, 245 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: except where the known sharper was his antagonist, and then 246 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: he lost even more than he gained. But it was 247 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: always with the same unchanging face with which he generally 248 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: watched the society around. It was not, however, so, when 249 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: he encountered the wrath youthful novice, or the luckless father 250 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: of a numerous family. Then his very wish seemed fortune's law. 251 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: This apparent abstractedness of mind was laid aside, and his 252 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,760 Speaker 1: eyes sparkled with more fire than that of the cat. 253 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: Whilst dallying with the half dead mouse in every town 254 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: he left the formerly affluent youth torn from the circle 255 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: he adorned, cursing in the solitude of a dungeon, the 256 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: fate that had drawn him within the reach of this fiend, 257 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: while many a father sat frantic amidst the speaking looks 258 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: of mute, hungry children, without a single farthing of his 259 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: late immense wealth wherewith to buy even sufficient to satisfy 260 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: their present craving. Yet he took no money from the 261 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: gambling table, but immediately lost to the ruiner of many 262 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: the last guilder he had just snatched from the convulsive 263 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: grasp of the innocent. This might be but the result 264 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: of a certain degree of knowledge which was not, however, 265 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 1: capable of combating the cunning of the more experienced. Aubrey 266 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: often wished to represent this to his friend, and begged 267 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 1: him to resign that charity and pleasure which proved the 268 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: ruin of all, and did not tend to his own profit, 269 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,000 Speaker 1: but he delayed it for each day he hoped his 270 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: friend would give him some opportunity of speaking frankly and 271 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: openly to him. However, this never occurred. Lord Ruthven, in 272 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 1: his carriage, and amidst the various wild and rich scenes 273 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: of nature, was always the same. His eye spoke less 274 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: than his lip. And though Aubrey was near the object 275 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,959 Speaker 1: of his curiosity, he obtained no greater gratification from it 276 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 1: than the constant excitement of vainly wishing to break that mystery, which, 277 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: to his exalted imagination began to assume the appearance of 278 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:21,479 Speaker 1: something supernatural. They soon arrived at Rome, and Aubrey for 279 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:24,520 Speaker 1: a time lost sight of his companion. He left him 280 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 1: in daily attendance upon the morning circle of an Italian countess, 281 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: whilst he went in search of the memorials of another 282 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:35,879 Speaker 1: almost deserted city. While he was thus engaged, letters arrived 283 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 1: from England, which he opened with eager impatience. The first 284 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,879 Speaker 1: was from his sister, breathing nothing but affection. The others 285 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 1: were from his guardians. The latter astonished him if it 286 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: had before entered into his imagination that there was an 287 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 1: evil power resident in his companion. These seemed to give 288 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: him sufficient reason for the belief. His guardians insisted upon 289 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 1: his immediately leaving his friend, and urged that his character 290 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:06,479 Speaker 1: was dreadfully vicious, for that the possession of irresistible powers 291 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:10,959 Speaker 1: of seduction rendered his licentious habits more dangerous to society. 292 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,199 Speaker 1: It had been discovered that his contempt for the adulteress 293 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: had not originated in hatred of her character, but that 294 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: he had required to enhance his gratification that his victim, 295 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,679 Speaker 1: the partner of his guilt, should be hurled from the 296 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: pinnacle of unsullied virtue down to the lowest abyss of 297 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: infamy and degradation. In fine, that all those females whom 298 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: he had sought, apparently on account of their virtue, had 299 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:40,960 Speaker 1: since his departure, thrown every mask aside, and had not 300 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:44,199 Speaker 1: scrupled to expose the whole deformity of their vices to 301 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:50,639 Speaker 1: the public gaze. Aubrey determined, upon leaving one whose character 302 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 1: had not yet shown a single bright point on which 303 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:56,880 Speaker 1: to rest the eye, he resolved to invent some plausible 304 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: pretext for abandoning him altogether, purposing in the meanwhile to 305 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:04,399 Speaker 1: watch him more closely, and to let no slight circumstances 306 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:08,119 Speaker 1: passed by unnoticed. He entered into the same circle and 307 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: soon perceived that his lordship was endeavoring to work upon 308 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 1: the inexperience of the daughter of the lady of whose 309 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: house he chiefly frequented. In Italy, it is seldom that 310 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: an unmarried female is met within society. He was therefore 311 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 1: obliged to carry on his plans in secret. But Aubrey's 312 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 1: eye followed him in all his windings, and soon discovered 313 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,680 Speaker 1: that an assignation had been appointed which would most likely 314 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,160 Speaker 1: end in the ruin of an innocent, though thoughtless girl. 315 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: Losing no time, he entered the apartment of Lord Ruthven 316 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,119 Speaker 1: and abruptly asked his intentions with respect to the lady, 317 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 1: informing him at the same time that he was aware 318 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:47,280 Speaker 1: of his being about to meet her that very night. 319 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: Lord Ruthven answered that his intentions were such as he 320 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:55,200 Speaker 1: supposed all would have upon such an occasion, and, upon 321 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,680 Speaker 1: being pressed whether he intended to marry her, merely laughed. 322 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:02,640 Speaker 1: Aubrey returned hired and immediately writing a note to say 323 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: that from the moment he must decline accompanying his lordship 324 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,959 Speaker 1: in the remainder of their proposed tour, he ordered his 325 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: servant to seek other apartments, and, calling upon the mother 326 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,360 Speaker 1: of the lady, informed her of all he knew, not 327 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: only with regard to her daughter, but also concerning the 328 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:23,160 Speaker 1: character of his lordship. The assignation was prevented. Lord Ruthven 329 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:26,119 Speaker 1: next day merely sent his servant to notify his complete 330 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:29,919 Speaker 1: ascent to a separation, but did not hint any suspicion 331 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: of his plans, having been foiled by Aubrey's interposition. Having 332 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,640 Speaker 1: left Rome, Aubrey directed his steps towards Greece, and, crossing 333 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: the peninsula, soon found himself in Athens. He then fixed 334 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: his residence in the house of a Greek, and soon 335 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,920 Speaker 1: occupied himself in trading the faded records of ancient glory 336 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,959 Speaker 1: upon monuments that apparently ashamed of chronicling the deeds of freemen. 337 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: Only before slaves had hidden themselves beneath the sheltering soil 338 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,720 Speaker 1: of many colored lichen. Under the same room, Phis himself 339 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,880 Speaker 1: existed a being so beautiful and delicate that she might 340 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: have formed the model for a painter wishing to portray 341 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,880 Speaker 1: on canvas the promised hope of the faithful in Mahamet's paradise, 342 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: save that her eyes spoke too much mind for anyone 343 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: to think she could belong to those who had no souls. 344 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:19,439 Speaker 1: As she danced upon the plane or tripped along the 345 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: mountain side, one would have thought that the gazelle a 346 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: poor type of her beauties, for one would have exchanged 347 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: her eye, and apparently the eye of animated nature, for 348 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: that sleepy, luxurious look of the animal suited but to 349 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,440 Speaker 1: the taste of an epicure the light step of Ianthe 350 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: often accompanied Aubrey in his search after antiquities, and often 351 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,439 Speaker 1: with the unconscious girl engaged in the pursuit of a 352 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: cashmere butterfly, show the whole beauty of her form, floating 353 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: as it were, upon the wind, to the eager gaze 354 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: of him, who forgot the letters he had just deciphered 355 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,280 Speaker 1: upon an almost effaced tablet, in the contemplation of her 356 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:02,160 Speaker 1: sylph like figure of tresses falling as she flitted abound 357 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: exhibit in the sun's ray such delicately brilliant and swiftly 358 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,399 Speaker 1: fading hues. It might well excuse the forgetfulness of the 359 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: antiquary who let escape from his mind the very object 360 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:15,679 Speaker 1: he had before thought of vital importance to the proper 361 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 1: interpretation of a passage in the Pausaneus. But why attempt 362 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,719 Speaker 1: to describe charms which all feel but none can appreciate? 363 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:27,359 Speaker 1: It was innocence, youth, and beauty, unaffected by crowding, drawing 364 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: rooms and stifling balls. Whilst he drew those remains of 365 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,480 Speaker 1: which he wished to preserve a memorial for his future hours, 366 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 1: she would stand by and watch the magic effects of 367 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,919 Speaker 1: his pencil in tracing the scenes of her native place. 368 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: She would then describe to him the circling dance upon 369 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: the open plain would paint to him in all the 370 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,880 Speaker 1: glowing colors of youthful memory, the marriage pump she remembered 371 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,119 Speaker 1: viewing in her infancy, and then, turning to subjects that 372 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 1: had evidently made a greater impression upon her mind, would 373 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,399 Speaker 1: tell him all the supern the natural tales of her nurse, 374 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: her earnestness, an apparent belief of what she narrated excited 375 00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:09,440 Speaker 1: the interest even of Aubrey, and often as she told 376 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 1: him the tale of the living vampire who had passed 377 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: years amidst his friends and dearest ties forced every year 378 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: by feeding upon the life of a lovely female to 379 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,320 Speaker 1: prolong as existence. For the ensuing months, his blood would 380 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:27,439 Speaker 1: run cold, whilst he attempted to laugh her out of 381 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,439 Speaker 1: such idle and horrible fantasies. But ianthe cited to him 382 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: the names of old men who had last detected one 383 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: living among themselves after several of their near relatives and 384 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: children had been found marked with the stamp of the 385 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 1: fiend's appetite. And when she found him so incredulous, she 386 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 1: begged of him to believe her, for it had been 387 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:50,919 Speaker 1: remarked that those who had dared to question their existence 388 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:54,679 Speaker 1: always had some proof given, which obliged them with grief 389 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 1: and heartbreaking to confess it was true. She detailed to 390 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: him the traditional appearance of these monsters, and his horror 391 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:07,360 Speaker 1: was increased by hearing a pretty accurate description of Lord Ruthven. He, however, 392 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:10,239 Speaker 1: still persisted in persuading her that there could be no 393 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 1: truth in her fears, though at the same time he 394 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 1: wondered at the many coincidences which had all tended to 395 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,400 Speaker 1: excite a belief in the supernatural power of Lord Ruthven, 396 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:26,119 Speaker 1: who is capable of one of his superpowers, vampires, of 397 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:45,359 Speaker 1: the superpowers of seamless ad transitions like this one, and 398 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 1: Rebecca Aubrey began to attach himself more and more to aanthe. 399 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:54,280 Speaker 1: Her innocence, so contrasted with all the affected virtues of 400 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 1: the women among whom he had sought for his vision 401 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:00,080 Speaker 1: of romance, won his heart. And while he ridiculed the 402 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,240 Speaker 1: the idea of a young man of English habits marrying 403 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 1: an uneducated Greek girl, still he found himself more and 404 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: more attached to the almost fairy form before him. He 405 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: would tear himself at times from her, and forming a 406 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 1: plan for some antiquarian research. He would depart, determined not 407 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 1: to return until his object was attained. But he always 408 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: found it impossible to fix his attention upon the ruins 409 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,919 Speaker 1: around him, whilst in his mind he retained an image 410 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: that seemed alone the rightful possessor of his thoughts. Ianthe 411 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,879 Speaker 1: was unconscious of his love, and was ever the same frank, 412 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: infantile being he had first known. She always seemed to 413 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 1: part from him with reluctance, but it was because she 414 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,200 Speaker 1: had no longer anyone with whom she could visit her 415 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: favorite haunts. Whilst her guardian was occupied in sketching or 416 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,680 Speaker 1: uncovering some fragment which had yet escaped the destructive hand 417 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: of time. She had appealed to her parents on the 418 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: subject of vampires, and they both was several present, affirmed 419 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:03,879 Speaker 1: their existence, hale with horror at the very name. Soon after, 420 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,640 Speaker 1: Aubrey determined to proceed upon one of his excursions, which 421 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: was to detain him for a few hours. When they 422 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: heard the name of the place, they all at once 423 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 1: begged of him to not return at night, as he 424 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,800 Speaker 1: must necessarily pass through a wood where no Greek would 425 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: ever remain after the day had closed. Upon any consideration, 426 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:26,399 Speaker 1: they described it as the resort of the vampires in 427 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:30,719 Speaker 1: their nocturnal orgies, and denounced the most heavily evils as 428 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:35,040 Speaker 1: impending upon him who dared to cross their path. Aubrey 429 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,560 Speaker 1: made light of their representations and tried to laugh them 430 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,680 Speaker 1: out of the idea, But when he saw them shudder 431 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,159 Speaker 1: at his daring thus to mock a superior infernal power, 432 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,160 Speaker 1: the very name of which apparently made their blood freeze, 433 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:53,439 Speaker 1: he was silent. Next morning, Aubrey set off upon his 434 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,640 Speaker 1: excursion unattended. He was surprised to observe the melancholy face 435 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:00,399 Speaker 1: of his host, and was concerned to find that his 436 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:04,240 Speaker 1: words mocking the belief of those horrible fiends had inspired 437 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:07,159 Speaker 1: them with such horror. When he was about to depart, 438 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,880 Speaker 1: ianthe came to the side of his horse and earnestly 439 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,399 Speaker 1: begged of him to return. Ere night allowed the power 440 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: of those beings to be put in action, he promised. 441 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: He was, however, so occupied in his research that he 442 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 1: did not perceive the daylight would soon end, and that 443 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: in the horizon there was one of those specks which, 444 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 1: in the warmer climates so rapidly gather into a tremendous 445 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: mass and pour all their rage upon the devoted country. 446 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: He at last, however, mounted his horse, determined to make 447 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:38,879 Speaker 1: up by speed for his delay, but it was too late. 448 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,439 Speaker 1: Twilight in these southern climates is almost unknown. Immediately the 449 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,960 Speaker 1: sun sets, night begins, and ere he had advanced far. 450 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 1: The power of the storm was above its echoing thunders 451 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,359 Speaker 1: had scarcely an interval of rest. Its thick, heavy rain 452 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 1: forced its way through the canopying foliage, whilst the blue 453 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: forked lightning seemed to fall and re eighty eight at 454 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 1: his very feet. Suddenly, his horse took fright, and he 455 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: was carried with dreadful rapidity through the entangled forest. The animal, 456 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: at last, through fatigue, stopped, and he found by the 457 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 1: glare of lightning that he was in a neighborhood of 458 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,119 Speaker 1: a hovel that had hardly lifted itself up from the 459 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,720 Speaker 1: masses of dead leaves and brushwood which surrounded it. Dismounting, 460 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,960 Speaker 1: he approached, hoping to find someone to guide him to 461 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:28,879 Speaker 1: the town, or at least trusting to obtain shelter from 462 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: the pelting of the storm. As he approached, the thunders 463 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,920 Speaker 1: for a moment silent allowed him to hear the dreadful 464 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,920 Speaker 1: shrieks of a woman, mingling with the stifled exultant mockery 465 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:45,239 Speaker 1: of a laugh, continued in one almost unbroken sound. He 466 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,960 Speaker 1: was startled but roused by the thunder, which again rolled 467 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: over his head. He, with a sudden effort, forced open 468 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: the door of the hut. He found himself in utter darkness. 469 00:28:56,280 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: The sound, however, guided him. He was apparently unperceived, for 470 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:04,480 Speaker 1: though he called still, the sounds continued and no notice 471 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: was taken of him. He found himself in contact with 472 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 1: someone whom he immediately seized when a voice cried again, baffled, 473 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: to which a loud laugh seceded, and he felt himself 474 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: grappled by one whose strength seemed superhuman. Determined to sell 475 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: his life as dearly as he could, he struggled, but 476 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:27,320 Speaker 1: it was in vain. He was lifted from his feet 477 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: and hurled with enormous force against the ground. His enemy 478 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: threw himself upon him, and, kneeling upon his breast, had 479 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: placed his hands upon his throat. When the glare of 480 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,680 Speaker 1: many torches penetrating through the hole gave light in the 481 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 1: day disturbed him. He instantly rose, and, leaving his prey, 482 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: rushed through the door, and a moment the crashing of 483 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 1: the branches as he broke through the wood was no 484 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: longer heard. The storm was now still, and Aubrey, incapable 485 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: of moving, was soon heard by those without. They entered. 486 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:04,800 Speaker 1: The light of their torches fell upon the mud walls 487 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,520 Speaker 1: and thatch loaded on every individual's straw with heavy flakes 488 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,840 Speaker 1: of soot. As the desire of Aubrey, they searched for her, 489 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: who had attracted him by her cries. He was again 490 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: left in darkness, But what was his horror when the 491 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: light of those torches once again burst upon him to 492 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: perceive the airy form of his fair conductress brought in 493 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: in a lifeless course. He shut his eyes, hoping that 494 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,480 Speaker 1: it was but a vision arising from his disturbed imagination. 495 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,760 Speaker 1: But again he saw the same form when he unclosed them, 496 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 1: stretched by his side, there was no color upon her cheek, 497 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,400 Speaker 1: not even upon her lip. Yet there was a stillness 498 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,240 Speaker 1: about her face that seemed almost as attaching as the 499 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: life that once dwelt. There. Upon her neck and breast 500 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 1: was blood, and upon her throat were the marks of teeth. 501 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:59,960 Speaker 1: Having opened the vein to this, the men pointed, crying. Simultaneously, 502 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 1: they struck with horror. A vampire, A vampire. A litter 503 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: was quickly formed, and aubrey was laid by the side 504 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:10,560 Speaker 1: of her, who had lately been to him the object 505 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,800 Speaker 1: of so many bright and fairy visions. Now fallen with 506 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: the flower of life that had died within her. He 507 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: knew not what his thoughts were. His mind was benumbed 508 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,520 Speaker 1: and seemed to shun reflection and take refuge in vacancy. 509 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 1: He had almost unconsciously in his hand a naked dagger 510 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: of particular construction, which it had been found in the hut. 511 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:36,040 Speaker 1: They were soon met by different parties who had been 512 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: engaged in the search of her, of her whom a 513 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 1: mother had missed. Their lamentable cries as they approached to 514 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:46,040 Speaker 1: the city for warned the parents of some dreadful catastrophe. 515 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,800 Speaker 1: To describe their grief would be impossible. But when they 516 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: ascertained the cause of their child's death, they looked at 517 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 1: Aubrey and pointed to the course. They were inconsolable. Both 518 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 1: died broken hearted. And that's the end of part one. 519 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,000 Speaker 1: In part two, what will happen? Okay? I will say 520 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: though I'm reading this for yeah, probably the fourth time 521 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 1: or something, and just thinking about what caused this story 522 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 1: to be written, and like, what just happened? All right, 523 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,960 Speaker 1: here's my money. I bet that John Polodari had a 524 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:22,960 Speaker 1: threeesome with some with Lord Byron and some girl that 525 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: he liked, and then was like, I have sullied her, 526 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,840 Speaker 1: I have ruined her. I am so guilty. You know. 527 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:30,800 Speaker 1: I have a feeling that it's just kind of like 528 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:35,000 Speaker 1: someone who is not a libertine being really upset by 529 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 1: the actions of libertines. And it really, you know, this 530 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,720 Speaker 1: idea that the vampire is this figure that is going 531 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:49,400 Speaker 1: to like destroy the beautiful, innocent young girl is like, well, 532 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 1: it's such like groomer rhetoric, right, it's so reflected in 533 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: modern you know, destroying the virtue of whatever. And I 534 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: don't know, it's just interesting to me. I hope it's 535 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 1: interesting to you too. And what will happen? What's going 536 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: to happen is Lady Love lies dead. The woman that 537 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:14,040 Speaker 1: he was objectifying for her beauty is now dead. What 538 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: will happen? Find out next week on cool Zone Media 539 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:22,120 Speaker 1: book Club. It Could Happen Here as a production of 540 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,080 Speaker 1: cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, 541 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 1: visit our website coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out 542 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,960 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 543 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,880 Speaker 1: to podcasts. You can find sources for It Could Happen Here, 544 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 1: updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.