This condition was nearly unaltered for a quarter of an hour. At
      the expiration of this period, however, a natural although a very
      deep sigh escaped the bosom of the dying man, and the stertorous
      breathing ceased—that is to say, its stertorousness was no longer
      apparent; the intervals were undiminished. The patient’s
      extremities were of an icy coldness. At five minutes before eleven I perceived unequivocal signs of
      the mesmeric influence. The glassy roll of the eye was changed
      for that expression of uneasy inward examination which is never
      seen except in cases of sleep-waking, and which it is quite
      impossible to mistake. With a few rapid lateral passes I made the
      lids quiver, as in incipient sleep, and with a few more I closed
      them altogether. I was not satisfied, however, with this, but
      continued the manipulations vigorously, and with the fullest
      exertion of the will, until I had completely stiffened the limbs
      of the slumberer, after placing them in a seemingly easy
      position. The legs were at full length; the arms were nearly so,
      and reposed on the bed at a moderate distance from the loin. The
      head was very slightly elevated. When I had accomplished this, it was fully midnight, and I
      requested the gentlemen present to examine M. Valdemar’s
      condition. After a few experiments, they admitted him to be an
      unusually perfect state of mesmeric trance. The curiosity of both
      the physicians was greatly excited. Dr. D—— resolved at once to
      remain with the patient all night, while Dr. F—— took leave with
      a promise to return at daybreak. Mr. L—l and the nurses remained. We left M. Valdemar entirely undisturbed until about three
      o’clock in the morning, when I approached him and found him in
      precisely the same condition as when Dr. F—— went away—that is to
      say, he lay in the same position; the pulse was imperceptible;
      the breathing was gentle (scarcely noticeable, unless through the
      application of a mirror to the lips); the eyes were closed
      naturally; and the limbs were as rigid and as cold as marble. Still, the general appearance was certainly not that of death. As I approached M. Valdemar I made a kind of half effort to
      influence his right arm into pursuit of my own, as I passed the
      latter gently to and fro above his person. In such experiments
      with this patient, I had never perfectly succeeded before, and
      assuredly I had little thought of succeeding now; but to my
      astonishment, his arm very readily, although feebly, followed
      every direction I assigned it with mine. I determined to hazard a
      few words of conversation. “M. Valdemar,” I said, “are you asleep?” He made no answer, but I
      perceived a tremor about the lips, and was thus induced to repeat
      the question, again and again. At its third repetition, his whole
      frame was agitated by a very slight shivering; the eyelids
      unclosed themselves so far as to display a white line of the
      ball; the lips moved sluggishly, and from between them, in a
      barely audible whisper, issued the words:

      “Yes;—asleep now. Do not wake me!—let me die so!”

      I here felt the limbs and found them as rigid as ever. The right
      arm, as before, obeyed the direction of my hand. I questioned the
      sleep-waker again:

      “Do you still feel pain in the breast, M. Valdemar?”

      The answer now was immediate, but even less audible than before:

      “No pain—I am dying.”

      I did not think it advisable to disturb him farther just then,
      and nothing more was said or done until the arrival of Dr. F——,
      who came a little before sunrise, and expressed unbounded
      astonishment at finding the patient still alive. After feeling
      the pulse and applying a mirror to the lips, he requested me to
      speak to the sleep-waker again. I did so, saying:

      “M. Valdemar, do you still sleep?”

      As before, some minutes elapsed ere a reply was made; and during
      the interval the dying man seemed to be collecting his energies
      to speak. At my fourth repetition of the question, he said very
      faintly, almost inaudibly:

      “Yes; still asleep—dying.”

      It was now the opinion, or rather the wish, of the physicians,
      that M. Valdemar should be suffered to remain undisturbed in his
      present apparently tranquil condition, until death should
      supervene—and this, it was generally agreed, must now take place
      within a few minutes. I concluded, however, to speak to him once
      more, and merely repeated my previous question. While I spoke, there came a marked change over the countenance of
      the sleep-waker. The eyes rolled themselves slowly open, the
      pupils disappearing upwardly; the skin generally assumed a
      cadaverous hue, resembling not so much parchment as white paper;
      and the circular hectic spots which, hitherto, had been strongly
      defined in the centre of each cheek, went out at once. I use this
      expression, because the suddenness of their departure put me in
      mind of nothing so much as the extinguishment of a candle by a
      puff of the breath. The upper lip, at the same time, writhed
      itself away from the teeth, which it had previously covered
      completely; while the lower jaw fell with an audible jerk,
      leaving the mouth widely extended, and disclosing in full view
      the swollen and blackened tongue. I presume that no member of the
      party then present had been unaccustomed to death-bed horrors;
      but so hideous beyond conception was the appearance of M.
      Valdemar at this moment, that there was a general shrinking back
      from the region of the bed. I now feel that I have reached a point of this narrative at which
      every reader will be startled into positive disbelief. It is my
      business, however, simply to proceed. There was no longer the faintest sign of vitality in M. Valdemar;
      and concluding him to be dead, we were consigning him to the
      charge of the nurses, when a strong vibratory motion was
      observable in the tongue. This continued for perhaps a minute. At
      the expiration of this period, there issued from the distended
      and motionless jaws a voice—such as it would be madness in me to
      attempt describing. There are, indeed, two or three epithets
      which might be considered as applicable to it in part; I might
      say, for example, that the sound was harsh, and broken and
      hollow; but the hideous whole is indescribable, for the simple
      reason that no similar sounds have ever jarred upon the ear of
      humanity.