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This is the first part (c. 20%) of the whole story.
Dr. Heidegger's Experiment by Nathaniel Hawthorne
That very singular man, old Dr. Heidegger, once invited four venerable friends to meet him
in his study. There were three white-bearded gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew,
and Mr. Gascoigne, and a withered gentlewoman, whose name was the Widow Wycherly. They were
all melancholy old creatures, who had been unfortunate in life, and whose greatest misfortune
it was that they were not long ago in their graves. Mr. Medbourne, in the vigor of his age,
had been a prosperous merchant, but had lost his all by a frantic speculation, and was now
little better than a mendicant. Colonel Killigrew had wasted his best years, and his health
and substance, in the pursuit of sinful pleasures, which had given birth to a brood of pains,
such as the gout, and divers other torments of soul and body. Mr. Gascoigne was a ruined politician,
a man of evil fame, or at least had been so, till time had buried him from the knowledge of the
present generation, and made him obscure instead of infamous. As for the Widow Wycherly,
tradition tells us that she was a great beauty in her day; but, for a long while past, she
had lived in deep seclusion, on account of certain scandalous stories, which had prejudiced
the gentry of the town against her. It is a circumstance worth mentioning, that each of these
three old gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne, were early lovers
of the Widow Wycherly, and had once been on the point of cutting each other's throats for
her sake. And, before proceeding further, I will merely hint, that Dr. Heidegger and all
his four guests were sometimes thought to be a little beside themselves; as it is not unfrequently
the case with old people, when worried either by present troubles or woeful recollections.
'My dear old friends,' said Dr. Heidegger, motioning them to be seated, 'I am desirous of your
assistance in one of those little experiments which which I amuse myself here in my study.'
If all stories were true, Dr. Heidegger's study must have been a very curious place. It was a
dim, old-fashioned chamber, festooned with cobwebs and besprinkled with antique dust. Around
the walls stood several oaken bookcases, the lower shelves of which were filled with rows
of gigantic folios and black-letter quartos, and the upper with little parchment-covered
duodecimos. Over the central bookcase was a bronze bust of Hippocrates, with which, according
to some authorities, Dr. Heidegger was accustomed to hold consultations, in all difficult cases
of his practice. In the obscurest corner of the room stood a tall and narrow oaken closet,
with its door ajar, within which doubtfully appeared a skeleton. Between two of the bookcases
hung a looking-glass, presenting its high and dusty plate within a tarnished gilt frame.
Among many wonderful stories related of this mirror, it was fabled that the spirits of all
the doctor's deceased patients dwelled within its verge, and would stare him in the face
whenever he looked thitherward. The opposite side of the chamber was ornamented with
the full-length portrait of a young lady, arrayed in the faded magnificence of silk, satin,
and brocade, and with a visage as faded as her dress. Above half a century ago, Dr. Heidegger
had been on the point of marriage with this young lady; but, being affected with some slight
disorder, she had swallowed one of her lover's prescriptions, and died on the bridal evening.
The greatest curiosity of the study remains to be mentioned; it was a ponderous folio volume,
bound in black leather, with massive silver clasps. There were no letters on the back, and
nobody could tell the title of the book. But it was well-known to be a book of magic; and once, when
a chambermaid had lifted it, merely to brush away the dust, the skeleton had rattled in its closet,
the picture of the yound lady had stepped one foot upon the floor, and several ghastly faces had peeped forth
from the mirror; while the brazen heart of Hippocrates frowned, and said - 'Forbear!'
Such was Dr. Heidegger's study. On the summer afternoon of our tale, a small round table, as black as ebony,
stood in the centre of the room, sustaining a cutglass vase, of beautiful form and elaborate workmanship.
The sunshine came through the window, between the heavy festoons of two faded damask curtains, and
fell directly across this vase; so that a mild splendor was reflected from it on the ashen visages
of the five old people who sat around. Four champagne glasses were also on the table.
c. 740 words
Source: Great American Short Stories, Klett 1970, pp. 1-2.
Possible assignments:
1. Summarize the text in your own words (c. 250 words).
2. How are Dr. Heidegger and his four guests introduced?
3. How does the language contribute to the sinister atmosphere in this part of the story?
4. Point out differences or similarities with short stories you dealt with in your course.
5. How might the story carry on?
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