The Premature Burial (1850)--- Edgar Allan Poe

http://poestories.com/read/premature

catalepsy強直性昏厥;倔強症
catalepsy:A condition of suspended animation and loss of voluntary motion in which the limbs remain in whatever position they are placed.

n default缺席of a more definitive title

lethargy昏睡;瞌睡;. 不活潑;無生氣

a torpid不活潑的,懶散的,遲鈍的; 冬眠(中)的;(動物)非活動狀態的

premature interment 埋葬

unequivocal毫不含糊的;明確的

inhumation埋葬,土葬

hemi-syncope昏倒;暈厥, or half swoon

a dull lethargic瞌睡的;愛睡的consciousness of life

I was quickly and impetuously激烈地;性急地smitten (疾病等)侵襲,襲擊

fell prostrate使俯臥;弄倒

just so tardily緩慢地 -- just so wearily

idiosyncrasy (個人的)氣質,習性A peculiarity of temperament. An individual hyper-sensitiveness, as to a drug or food.

superinduced引起併發症To introduce as an addition over or above something already existing.

abeyance:Suspension, temporary inactivity.. 中止;暫擱

charnel:A building or chamber in which bodies or bones are deposited藏骸所的, 陰森森的

I was lost in reveries空想of death

the idea of premature burial held continual possession of my brain

sepulchral墳墓的

I was mortal, but am fiend惡魔般的人,殘暴的人

My teeth chatter;(發抖時牙齒)格格響as I speak

My nerves became thoroughly unstrung衰弱的, and I fell a prey to perpetual horror

my proneness傾向to catalepsy

protracted拖延的;長時間的

my mortal terrors would listen to no reason -- would accept no consolation.

foredoomed注定的A fancy way to say "doomed"
The plan is foredoomed to failure.
該計劃注定是要失敗的。

tortoise行動遲緩的人 gradation

quiescence靜止;沈默; 【醫】非活動性Inactivity, repose, tranquility.

evanescent逐漸消失的 Something that vanishes like vapor, passing especially quickly into and out of existence

irresolution優柔寡斷

my lips and my parched使乾渴tongue moved convulsively痙攣性地together in the attempt

gasped (因驚訝等)倒抽一口氣and palpitated發抖; (心臟)悸動;撲撲地跳

cattymount: Now spelled "catamount", short for cat-a-mountain, any of various wild cats, like a cougar美洲獅or a lynx山貓,猞猁猻

indubitably不容置疑地

sepulture埋葬;墳墓

"Night Thoughts": A poem about life, death, and immortality, written by British author Edward Young in 1742.

fustian浮誇的話Excessively embellished or affected writing or speech

bugaboo妖怪:An imaginary object of fear. Something that causes fear or distress out of proportion to its importance


A character in "The History of the Caliph Vathek", a Gothic novel written by William Thomas Beckford. It was composed in French in 1782.

impunityFreedom from any punishment, loss, or consequences.

Afrasiab is a character from Firdowsi's great Persian epic, "Shahnama" (The Epic of Kings), written around 1000 AD. It is a remarkable work, containing 62 stories, 990 chapters, and 60,000 rhyming couplets, making it more than seven times the length of Homer's Iliad.

a priori:Found by deduction. Derived by reasoning from self-evident propositions.
abeyance:Suspension, temporary inactivity.
Afrasiab:Afrasiab is a character from Firdowsi's great Persian epic, "Shahnama" (The Epic of Kings), written around 1000 AD. It is a remarkable work, containing 62 stories, 990 chapters, and 60,000 rhyming couplets, making it more than seven times the length of Homer's Iliad. Read More >
asphytic:having asphyxia, a lack of oxygen or excess of carbon dioxide in the body that is usually caused by interruption of breathing and that causes unconsciousness.
asseveration:A strong and earnest statement or affirmation.
Beresina:A river in Belarus, once part of the Soviet Union. Napoleon Bonaparte's army suffered significant losses when crossing the Berezina in November 1812 during his retreat from Russia. Since then "Berezina" is used in French as a synonym of catastrophe.
Black Hole at Calcutta:Calcutta was renamed to Kolkata in 2001. It was the capital of British India until 1912. The Black Hole of Calcutta was a small dungeon where Indian troops held British prisoners of war in 1756. According to a disputed account, 123 of 146 prisoners died of heat exhaustion in the confined conditions, though historians now believe the number to be at most 43.Read More >
bugaboo:An imaginary object of fear. Something that causes fear or distress out of proportion to its importance.
Carathis:A character in "The History of the Caliph Vathek", a Gothic novel written by William Thomas Beckford. It was composed in French in 1782.
catalepsy:A condition of suspended animation and loss of voluntary motion in which the limbs remain in whatever position they are placed.
cattymount:Now spelled "catamount", short for cat-a-mountain, any of various wild cats, like a cougar or a lynx.
charnel:A building or chamber in which bodies or bones are deposited.
Chirurgical Journal:"Chirurgeon" is an old word for surgeon. The journal may or may not have existed but there was a Medico-Chirurgical Society of Dresden in 1817.
disinter:To take a body out of its grave or tomb.
Earthquake at Lisbon:In 1755, the Lisbon earthquake took place on November 1, at 9:20am. It was one of the most destructive and deadly earthquakes in history, killing between 60,000 and 100,000 people. The quake was followed by a tsunami and fire, resulting in the near total destruction of the city.Read More >
eschew:To avoid or habitually especially on moral or practical grounds.
evanescent:Something that vanishes like vapor, passing especially quickly into and out of existence.
expedient:Suitable for achieving a particular purpose in a given circumstance.
foredoomed:A fancy way to say "doomed".
fustian:Excessively embellished or affected writing or speech.
galvanic:Relating to, or producing a direct current of electricity.
idiosyncrasy:A peculiarity of temperament. An individual hyper-sensitiveness, as to a drug or food.
impunity:Freedom from any punishment, loss, or consequences.
inhumed:buried, as in a grave.
lethargic:sluggish, indifferent
litterateur:A professional writer.
Massacre of St. Bartholomew:The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre was a wave of Catholic mob violence against the Huguenots (French Protestants), under the authority of Catherine de Medici. Starting on August 24, 1572, the massacres spread throughout Paris and later to other cities, during which as many as 70,000 may have been killed.Read More >
Night Thoughts:A poem about life, death, and immortality, written by British author Edward Young in 1742.Read More >
paroxysms:Convulsions or fits. Sudden violent emotions or actions.
pectoral muscles:Any of the muscles which connect the ventral walls of the chest with the bones of the upper arm and shoulder.
petulantly:Rudely or insolently. Characterized by temporary or capricious ill humor.
quiescence:Inactivity, repose, tranquility.
sarcophagus:Coffin, particularly ones from ancient Egypt.
superinduced:To introduce as an addition over or above something already existing.
syllabification:The act, process, or method of forming or dividing words into syllables. Also "syllabication".
syncope:Loss of consciousness resulting from insufficient blood flow to the brain.
torpid:Numb. Having lost motion or the power of exertion or feeling. Sluggish in functioning or acting.
Trepanning:A form of surgery in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the skull, while leaving the membrane around the brain intact. It was performed to reduce abnormal intracranial pressure. Trepanation is generally no longer practiced and is now illegal in most parts of the world.
typhus:A name given to several similar diseases caused by Rickettsiae bacteria. Symptoms are headache, fever, chills, exhaustion, and rash. Also known as "prison fever" and as "ship fever", because it becomes prevalent in crowded conditions in prisons and aboard ships.Typhoid fever is a completely different disease caused by various strains of Salmonella, and should not be confused with typhus.
unequivocal:Unquestionable. Leaving no doubt.
vacillating:Hesitating. Going back and forth between two opinions or courses of action.