Chapter 5 Chapter Five The Novels of Edgar Allan Poe

American novelist Edgar Allan Poe published his novel "The Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym" in Richmond. Here we try to make a brief analysis of this famous novel. It is necessary that I give an overview of the novel in this chapter.You can see whether it is really reasonable to doubt that the adventures of the protagonist of this novel are purely fictional.Of the many readers this book has, will there be anyone but Captain Lan Guy who believes it to be true? Edgar Allan Poe narrates the story through the mouths of the main characters in the book.In the preface to the book, Arthur Pym describes how, after his Antarctic ocean expedition, some gentlemen in Virginia were very concerned about geographical discoveries.One of them, Edgar Allan Poe, was publishing the Southern Papers in Richmond.According to Arthur Pym, Edgar Allan Poe, with his permission, published the first part of his expedition "in science fiction form" in his newspaper.After publication, it was warmly welcomed by readers.Then later published the whole work, including the whole process of the expedition.Published under the name of Edgar Allan Poe.

From my conversation with Captain Lan Guy, it appears that Arthur Gordon Pym was born on Nantucket, and attended New Bedford School until he was sixteen. After leaving this school, he entered the junior college run by Mr. E. Ronald.There he befriended a captain's son, August Barnard, two years his senior.The young man had traveled to the Antarctic with his father's whaling ship, and his accounts of his voyages kept sparking Arthur Pym's fantasies. The deep friendship between the two young people gave Arthur Pym a strong yearning for adventure.And, naturally, the high Antarctic latitudes held a particular fascination for him.

August Barnard and Arthur Pym's first expedition was in a sloop.The name of the ship was "Water Spirit", it was a small boat with half deck, it was originally owned by Arthur Pym's family, one night, the two got drunk and braved the cold weather in October, they secretly got on board Ship, set up the jib, this is the mainsail.When the wind was full, they sailed out to sea with a strong southwesterly wind. With the help of low tide, the "Shui Jing" could no longer see land.Suddenly there was a violent storm.The two careless guys are still drunk.No one was at the helm, and there was no reef on board.A gust of wind came, and the mast of the boat was swept away.Shortly thereafter, a large ship appeared, and flew by the "Water Spirit", just as the "Water Spirit" can fly by a floating feather.

Arthur Pym gives an extremely detailed account of the rescue of him and his traveling companions after the collision.In short, the rescue was carried out under extremely difficult conditions.Finally, the "Penguin" of New London arrived at the scene of the accident.Thanks to the first mate of the "Penguin", the pair of half-dead brothers and sisters were finally rescued and sent back to Nantucket. I have no objection to the fact that this adventure has its authenticity, even its complete truth.This is but an ingenious preparation for the following chapters.Subsequent chapters, up to the day when Arthur Pym crossed the polar circle, can also be treated as if the story were true.The authenticity of the series of events that occurred during this period can still be accepted.However, after passing the polar circle, what happened on the large ice floes in Antarctica is another matter.If the author is not entirely fabricated, I would... let's go on!

This first adventure did not dampen the enthusiasm of the two young men in the slightest.The voyage stories August Barnard told Arthur Pym made Arthur Pym's mind more and more hot.Since then, however, he has also suspected that the stories were "laden with hyperbole". Eight months after the "Water Spirit" incident, in June 1827, the Lloyd and Frendenberg Company assembled the brig "Orca" for whaling in Antarctic waters. No.The ship is an old skeleton, hastily repaired.August's father, Mr. Barnard, was in charge of conducting.His son was to accompany his father on this voyage, and he urged Arthur Pym to go with him.Arthur Pym certainly wanted it.But the people in the family, especially his mother, couldn't bear to let him go.

Of course, this did not deter a bold young man who did not care much about submitting to his parents.August's urgent request made him even hotter.He decided to sneak aboard the "Orca".Because if Mr. Barnard knew the truth, he would not allow him to go against the will of the family.He fabricated that a friend had invited him to stay at his home in New Bedford for a few days, say goodbye to his parents, and embark on a journey.Forty-eight hours before the brig sailed, he sneaked aboard.August had prepared a hiding place for him behind the back of his father and the crew, and he hid there.

In August Barnard's cabin, there is a flap that can be flipped, which communicates with the cargo hold of the "Orca".The hold was filled with vats, ammunition, and various other items that the ship's cargo carried.Arthur Pym came to his hiding-place through a trap-a big ordinary box with one side slipping off.There are mattresses, quilts, a can of water in the box, biscuits, sausages, a piece of roast lamb, several bottles of blood-invigorating medicinal wine, and writing materials.Arthur Pym had a lamp, and a great store of candles and phosphor paper, and spent three days and nights in his hiding place.August Barnard only had to visit him when the Orca was about to set sail.

After an hour Arthur Pym began to feel the schooner rocking from side to side and pitching back and forth.He was uncomfortable in this narrow box, so he got out of the box.Guided by a fastened rope in the dark, he passed through the hold until he reached the trap door of his companion's cabin.In the midst of all this chaos, he finally managed to make it through.Then he went back to the big box, ate and slept. Several days passed without August Barnard appearing again.Either he could not come into the hold, or he dared not, for fear of thereby revealing the secret of Arthur Pym on board.He thought that the time had not yet come to confess all to Mr. Barnard.

Arthur Pym was beginning to feel unwell in the hot, stale air.The nightmare continued, making him dizzy.He felt himself raving.He tried in vain to find a place where he could breathe more comfortably in the congested cargo hold.In the dream, he seemed to have fallen into the claws of a tropical lion.In extreme fear, he was about to cry out to expose himself when he lost consciousness. In fact, this is not a dream.It was not a lion that tore his chest, but a white-haired puppy.The dog was named Tiger, and it was a Newfoundland dog owned by Arthur Pym.The August Barnards had taken it aboard without knowing it--a highly improbable event, it must be admitted.At this time, the loyal little animal saw its master again, and was so happy that it didn't know what to do. It licked his face and hands.

The prisoner thus had a companion.Unfortunately, the companion drank all the water in the jar when Arthur Pym was unconscious.When Arthur Pym wanted to drink water to quench his thirst, there was no water left in the jar.His lights were out too—he was unconscious for days—and neither phosphor paper nor candles could be found.He decided to reconnect with August Barnard.In spite of his weakness from suffocation and hunger, he came out of his hiding place, and, groping for the rope, made his way to the trap-door.He was walking when the boat suddenly swayed from side to side.A box in the cargo hold lost its balance and fell over, blocking his way.He spent a lot of effort and overcame the obstacle, but his efforts were in vain!He reached the trap under August Barnard's compartment, but it would not budge.He stabbed in through the gap with a knife, and sure enough, he felt a heavy and large iron object pressing down on the valve, as if it was intentionally blocking the valve.He had no choice but to give up the plan and return to the box with heavy steps.On arrival, he collapsed from exhaustion. "Tiger" comforted him in every possible way.

The puppy and its owner were parched and thirsty.Arthur Pym reached out and touched Tiger. The "tiger" was lying on his back, with his legs on his back, and his dog's hair was slightly erected.As he was stroking the puppy, his hand touched a small rope that was tied to the dog.A note was attached to the string, just under the puppy's left shoulder. Arthur Pym felt helpless beyond measure.His mind was numb and he could barely think.He tried several times to light the lamp, but failed.Finally, I wiped the phosphor paper, and there was only a little phosphor on the paper.At this time—this narrative, Edgar.Poe described a series of details, of such delicacy as to be unimaginable to the common man—a few words of the most dreadful kind appeared. . . In a quarter of a second a faint light illuminated the The last few words: "...blood...don't come out...your life is at stake..." Readers, please imagine Arthur Pym's situation: under the cargo hold, facing the four walls of the box, there is no light, no water to drink, only strong liquor to quench his thirst! ... The command to him was to continue to hide.The first word "blood" is the most important, full of mystery, pain and terror! ...Is there a fight on the "Orca"? ...or was the ship attacked by pirates? ...or was there a mutiny on board? ...how long has this been going on? ... Ordinary people may think that to write about such a frightening situation, the creative poet should have exhausted his imagination? ……it's not true! ...his great genius carried him farther afield! ... Sure enough.Arthur Pym lay drowsy on the mattress, as if suffering from narcolepsy.Suddenly he heard a strange whistle and a continuous panting sound.This is "Tiger" panting.In the dark, "Tiger"'s eyes were shining, and his teeth were clucking. "Tiger" got rabies... The mad dog sprang at him, and Arthur Pym was terrified.In utter terror, he regained his strength and avoided the dog's bite.He wrapped himself in a blanket, which the dog tore apart with its white paws.He jumped out of the box.The door of the box is closed, shutting the "tiger" inside, and the "tiger" is struggling in the four walls... Arthur Pym finally made his way through the cargo hold.Dazed, he bumped into a suitcase and dropped the knife from his hand. He was about to take his last breath when he heard someone calling his name.A bottle of water was brought to his lips, and he drank it with a movement of his lips.He took a long breath and gulped down the sweet and delicious drink-this was the most wonderful pleasure of all pleasures... He came to himself. Some time later, in a corner of the hold, by dim light, August Barnard related to his companions what had happened on board the brig since she set sail. I repeat, so far, the story is believable.We have not yet spoken of events whose "thrilling" level is unbelievable. There were thirty-six people on board the Orca, including Barnard and his son.After the brig put out to sea on June 20, August Barnard made several unsuccessful attempts to visit Arthur Pym in his hiding place.After three or four days, there was a mutiny on board.In the lead was the foreman, a negro like Endicott on our Halle Brenaner.I hasten to add that Endicott was not a man who would never rebel. There are many incidents described in the novel: most of the sailors loyal to Captain Barnard were killed; and when they arrived near Bermudas, Captain Barnard and four others were abandoned on a whaling boat , Since then, these people have never heard from them. August Barnard would not have survived had Dirk Peters not intervened.Dirk Peters is a cable master on the "Orca", a member of the Upsalok tribe.This is a half-breed, his father is a fur trader, and his mother is an Indian from Montenegro.This is the man Captain Lan Guy intends to go to Illinois to find... The "Orca" sailed southwest, under the command of the first officer, with the intention of galloping the southern seas for piracy. After this series of events, August Barnard would have liked to join Arthur Pym.But he was locked in the crew rest cabin with handcuffs and shackles.The head cook made it plain to him that he could only go out when "the brig ceased to be a brig."A few days later, August Barnard finally broke free of his shackles and opened the thin partition between him and the cargo hold. "Tiger" followed him.He tried to go to the hiding place of his companions, but failed.Coincidentally, the puppy "smelled" Arthur Pym.So August Barnard came up with an idea to tie the written note around the neck of the "tiger".The note said: "I wrote these words in blood, don't come out, this is a matter of life and death for you." This note, as everyone knows, has been received by Arthur Pym.Arthur Pym, thirsty and dying, slipped into the hold.Just when the knife slipped from his hand and made a sound, it caught the attention of his companion and finally found him. August Barnard, after relating these events to Arthur Pym, added that the mutinies were deeply divided.Some advocated sailing the Orca to the Cape Verde Islands; others were determined to sail to the Pacific Islands.Dirk Peters is of the latter opinion. As for "Tiger", its owner thought it was suffering from rabies, but it was not.Primarily due to hunger and thirst, puppies go into this hyper-excited state.Anyway, if August Barnard didn't take him back to the forecastle, he might really get hydrophobia. At this point there is a long digression in the book about the stowage of cargo in a cargo ship—the safety of a ship depends to a large extent on stowage techniques. The cargo on the Orca was so sloppy that every time the ship swayed, the items would shift.Therefore Arthur Pym could not stay in the hold without danger.Thanks to the help of August Barnard, he was transferred to a corner of the second deck, not far from the crew quarters. During this period, the half-breed continued to show friendly feelings towards Captain Barnard's son.So the captain's son considered whether he could rely on the cable master to try to take the ship back... Thirteen days had passed since sailing from Nantucket.On the Fourth of July, another violent argument broke out among the rebels on board.The problem was caused by a brig appearing on the sea.Some argue for pursuing it, others for letting it go.As a result, one sailor was killed.The sailor belonged to the faction of the chief cook, to which Dirk Peters belonged--the opposite of which was headed by the mate. At this time, including Arthur Pym, there were only thirteen people on board. Under such circumstances a terrible storm came and washed the sea.The violent wind and rain shook the "Orca" violently, and water entered the seams.The water pump had to be turned on continuously, and even a sail was used under the front of the hull to keep the water from overflowing inside the boat. The storm did not end until July 9th.On this day, Dirk Peters expressed his intention to clean up the first mate, and August Barnard promised to support him, but did not disclose the news that Arthur Pym was on board. The next day, a sailor loyal to the head cook, named Rogers, died of convulsions. There was no doubt that the first mate had poisoned him.So the head cook was down to four people, Dirk Peters among them.There are five people under the chief mate, and it is very likely that they will overwhelm the other faction in the end. There is no longer an hour of delay.The half-breed announced to August Barnard that the time for action had come.August Barnard then told him all about Arthur Pym. Just as they were discussing how to take the ship back, an irresistible gust of wind knocked the ship down. The "Orca" was poured with a large amount of sea water, and finally stood up again.Then the ship sails with the foremast down and sails at low speed against the wind. Although peace has been made between the rebels, it still looks like a good time to start fighting.However, there were only three people in the wardroom, Dirk Peters, August Barnard, and Arthur Pym, while there were nine people in the crew cabin.The head chef alone owned two pistols and a sailor's knife.It is therefore imperative to proceed with caution. The mutinous sailors never dreamed that Arthur Pym was on board.Arthur Pym had an ingenious plan which might succeed.The poisoned sailors still lay dead on deck.Arthur Pym thought that if he suddenly appeared among these superstitious sailors in the clothes of the ghost, he might immediately stunned them.Dirk Peters can take the opportunity to do whatever he wants... The night was dark.The half-breed walked towards the stern.He was so powerful that he rushed at the helmsman and knocked him out of the bulwark with one blow. He was immediately joined by August Barnard and Arthur Pym, both of whom held the pump shaft as a weapon.They kept Dirk Peters at the helm.Arthur Pym disguised himself as a dead ghost, and guarded the entrance of the gangway with his companions.The first mate, the head cook, all were there, some sleeping, some drinking or talking, with pistols and rifles within reach. The storm was so violent that it was almost impossible to stand on the deck. At this point the first mate gave the order to find August Barnard and Dirk Peters, and passed the order to the helm.The man at the helm was none other than the cable master himself.He stepped down with the captain's son, Barnard Jr., and Arthur Pym appeared at once. The ghost appeared, which produced a very magical effect.Seeing the sailor resurrected, the first mate was stunned, stood up, waved his hand in the air, and immediately fell straight to the ground and died.At this point Dirk Peters sprang at the others, assisted by August Barnard, Arthur Pym and the puppy Tiger.In a blink of an eye, all the people were beaten to death, and some were strangled to death.Only one sailor, Richard Parker, was spared his life. By this time the storm had become more violent, and there were but four of them at the helm of the brig.The water depth in the cargo hold is seven feet, and the operation is very difficult.The mainmast had to be cut down; at daylight the fore-mast was felled.Thrilling day, even more thrilling night!A wave of sea water poured into the hatch of the "Orca", and Dirk Peters and his three partners would have been swept away by the waves if they hadn't hugged the wreckage of the windlass tightly. The novel goes on to describe with great detail the series of events that would inevitably follow under such circumstances from July 14th to August 7th: fishing for food in a flooded cargo hold; Seeing that the ship was full of dead bodies, smelling like a big coffin, drifting along the wind of death; tortured by hunger and thirst; unable to reach the food storage compartment; casting lots with straw sticks of different lengths, doomed to sacrifice Richard Parker to save the other three; how Dirk Peters put the wretch down... and ate him... Later, some groceries were brought out of the hold, a ham, a jar of olives , and a little tortoise... Due to the movement of the cargo space, the "Orca" rolls more and more seriously... The climate in this sea area is extremely hot, and the suffering of thirst has reached the limit that people can bear...August · Barnard died on August 1st...the brig sank in the night of the 3rd and 4th...Arthur Pym and the half-breed were stuck in the upturned hull and had to feed on the clams that covered the hull; All around, groups of sharks peeped at them... Finally appeared Liverpool's "Jenny", the captain was William Gay.At that time, the victims of the "Orca" had deflected at least twenty-five degrees to the south... The degree of exaggeration in the above situations cannot be added—it is not surprising that this comes from the magical pen of an American poet—human reason can barely accept the reality of these situations, and does not feel disgusted.But the reader may see if there is even the slightest chance of a sequence of events from this point onwards. Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters, rescued by the British brig, were treated kindly.After half a month, they have recovered from the discomfort and have forgotten all the pain - "the degree of forgetting is proportional to the size of the contrast force".Good and bad weather alternated. On October 13, the "Jenny" arrived at Prince Edward Island.Then, in the opposite direction to the "Halle Brena", I successfully arrived at the Crozet Islands and the Kerguelen Islands that I had just left eleven days ago. It took three weeks to catch the seals, and the brig returned with a full load.It was during this berth that the captain of the "Jenny" placed the bottle, which contained a letter in which Captain William Guy announced his intention to explore the Antarctic sea. The captain of the Halbrena claims he has now found the bottle and the letter inside. On November 12, the brig left the Kerguelen Islands and headed back west towards the Tristan da Cunha Islands.So do we now.Arrived at the island half a month later and anchored for a week.Sailed on December 5th to latitude 53° 15' south, longitude 47° 58' west, to discover the Aurora Islands-the archipelago that no one else could find, nor did they find. On December 12, the "Jenny" headed for the South Pole.On the 26th, after crossing the 73rd parallel, icebergs and large polar ice floes were discovered for the first time. From January 1 to 14, 1828, progress was difficult.Cross the polar circle from the drift ice group, and then bypass the large polar ice floes, sailing on the free-flowing sea-this famous free-flowing sea is found at 81 degrees 21' south latitude and 42 degrees west longitude Yes, the temperature was 47 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees 33 minutes Celsius) and the water temperature was 34 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree 11 minutes Celsius). It can be seen that Edgar Allan Poe is talking nonsense here.No navigator had ever advanced to such high latitudes—not even Captain James Wedell of the British Navy, in 1822, had crossed the 74th parallel. "Jenny" goes so deep into this, it's already unbelievable.The unexpected events that are about to happen are even more jaw-dropping!Arthur Pym—that is, Edgar Allan Poe—recounted these incidents with a naivety of which he was not conscious, and which anyone could feel.In fact, he had no doubts that he could go all the way to the South Pole! ... First of all, on this magical sea, there is no iceberg to be seen anymore.Countless waterfowl are flying - one of them is a pelican, shot...on a block of ice - are there still? ——Encountered an Antarctic bear with a huge body... Finally, land was found ahead of the starboard side... This is a small island with a radius of one mile.To commemorate the owner of the "Jenny" with the captain, the island was named Beni Island. Arthur Pym stated in his diary that the island lay at latitude 82° 50' south and longitude 42° 20' west.I can assure you that a hydrogeographer would never map Antarctic waters on the basis of such nonsense data! Naturally, as the brig kept heading south, the compass shifted less, while the temperature of the air and water became milder, the sky was clear all day, and the sea-breeze continued to blow from some part of the north. Unfortunately symptoms of scurvy developed among the crew.Had it not been for Arthur Pym's repeated entreaties, Captain William Guy might have turned the ship. It goes without saying that at this latitude, and during January, people enjoy continuous days. The "Jenny" continued its adventurous expedition.On January 18, at latitude 83° 20' and longitude 43° 05', they saw a piece of land in the distance. This is an island.It belongs to an archipelago with many islands dotted in its west. The brig approached the island, mooring at a depth of six fathoms.Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters boarded a skiff armed with weapons.Encountering four small boats, the boat stopped.There are armed men on board—"new men," so the novel says. Newcomers indeed.These aborigines, with black jade-like skin and black animal skins, are instinctively afraid of "white".How far can this fear go in winter, I thought to myself? ... Snow, if it falls, is it black?Same goes for ice cubes - if they form at all? ... All of this is pure fiction!In short, the islanders showed no hostility, and they kept shouting "Anamomo" and "Rama-Rama".Their small boat approached the brig, and Tuweit, the leader, was allowed to board with more than twenty companions.They were so amazed that they treated the ship as a living thing and stroked the sails, rigging, masts and bulwarks.Guided by them, the ship advanced among the reefs, crossed a bay with a black sand bottom, and anchored a nautical mile from the beach.Captain William Gay was careful and thoughtful, and took the hostages on board before disembarking from the rocks on the shore.What a strange island!According to Arthur Pym, this is Zalar Island.The trees here are unlike any species found in any temperate zone on earth.The rock structure exhibits bedding that modern mineralogists have never seen before.A liquid flows in the bed of the river.The appearance is opaque and the texture is clear.If the texture is separated with a knife edge, it does not close immediately! ... It takes a walk of three nautical miles to reach Crocker-Crocker, the main village on the island.There are only extremely simple houses, all made of black animal skins.Among the domestic animals, some are similar to ordinary pigs, and there is a kind of black-haired sheep; there are 20 kinds of poultry, domesticated albatrosses, ducks and a large number of Galapagos tortoises. On arriving at Crocker-Crocker, William Guy and his companions found the rowdy and menacing inhabitants of the town to be on their guard, or at least kept from them.Arthur Pym estimated that there were about ten thousand men, women and children.They rested at the "too smart" home for a while, and then returned to the shore.Along the coast, sea cucumbers—a mollusc prized by the Chinese—are more plentiful than anywhere in the Antarctic region and can be shipped away in large quantities. On this issue, they tried to come to terms with "Too Smart".Captain William Gay asked permission to build a warehouse, and the "Jenny" left a few people to process sea cucumbers, and the brig continued to advance to the South Pole. "Too Smart" readily accepted the initiative and reached an agreement that the aborigines would assist in the fishing of this precious mollusk. After a month, everything was settled, and three people were appointed to stay in Zalar.They never had the slightest suspicion of the natives.Before taking his farewell, Captain William Guy wished to make one last trip to Crocker-Crock.Out of prudence he kept six men on board, the shells loaded, the bulwark nets fitted, and the anchors erected.These six should be off limits to any native population. "Too Smart" was guarded by more than a hundred warriors, and came to welcome the guests.They followed a narrow valley lined with hills of soapstone.It was a steatite that Arthur Pym had never seen anywhere else.The hillside is sixty to eighty feet high, but only forty feet wide, and it is rough and tortuous here and there. Although the place was very favorable for laying an ambush, Captain William Guy and his men were not much afraid, and they advanced closely one by one. A little ahead on the right hand walks Arthur Pym, Dirk Peters, and a sailor named Allen. A chasm leads to the mountainside.Walking closer, I saw bunches of hazelnuts hanging from a few withered hazel trees.On a whim, Arthur Pym went in to pick.After picking, I was about to go back the same way.He found that the half-breed and Allen had been with him all the time.The three of them were about to return to the entrance of the rift, when suddenly the mountain shook and the ground shook, throwing the three of them to the ground.At the same time, a large piece of soapstone on the mountain collapsed, and they knew in their hearts that they would all be buried alive now... Are all three alive? ……No!Allen was buried deep in the rubble and had stopped breathing. Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters, crawling on the ground, cut the way with their hunting knives.Finally, it reaches the prominent place of relatively hard flaky clay.Then came a natural platform at the end of a wooded valley.Looking forward, there is a line of blue sky on the top of the valley. From there, there are unobstructed views of the surrounding area. The collapse just happened—it was man-made, yes!It is man-made and made by these indigenous people.Captain William Gay and his twenty-eight comrades in arms were crushed under more than one million tons of earth and rocks and disappeared without a trace. The island was bustling with people, many people came from nearby islands.Undoubtedly, it was the desire to rob the "Jenny" that attracted them.Seventy see-saw boats headed for the brig.The six who remained on board first fired broadside shells at them, which missed; The "Jenny" was still occupied in the end, was set on fire, and the people who defended the ship were killed.The explosives caught fire, and an explosion shook the heavens and the earth, killing and injuring about 2,000 indigenous people.The others, shouting "On behalf of Kelly-Lee! On behalf of Kelly-Lee!" fled in embarrassment. For the next week Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters survived on hazelnuts, plovers, and horseradish, eluding the natives.Aboriginal people never dreamed that they were still here.The place where they hid was, so to speak, a bottomless pit, dark and without exit, excavated in schist and a kind of metallic grain marl.They descended into a series of caves before they traversed the dark abyss.Edgar Allan Poe drew a sketch for it based on its measured plan: the whole picture presents a word of Arabic etymology, which means "is white"; and an Egyptian word, which means "southern area". It can be seen that at this point, the unbelievability of the American author has reached an unbelievable level.Not only have I read and re-read this Arthur Gordon Pym novel, I also know other works by Edgar Allan Poe.I know how to judge a genius whose imagination was greater than intelligence.Didn't a critic say this when commenting on his works: "In him, imagination ranks first among all abilities... This magical ability can penetrate the inner secret connection, correspondence and similarity of things. Sex..." Isn't that very reasonable? Certainly there is not one who does not regard his work as pure fiction!How could a man like Captain Lan Guy, barring madness, think such utterly unrealistic things were real? ... I go on: Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters could not live long in this bottomless pit.After many attempts, they finally slipped down a hillside.Immediately five savages rushed towards them.Fortunately they had pistols, and the mulatto was strong enough to kill four of them.The two of them fled, dragging the fifth.They got into a boat that was anchored by the sea.There are three big turtles on board.More than 20 islanders came to pursue them, trying to catch them, but failed.They drove the islanders back and took to the sculls.The boat sailed out to sea and sped south. Arthur Pym thus sailed south of the eighty-third latitude.It was already early March, which meant that the polar winter was approaching.Five or six islands appeared in the west.Out of caution, we must escape here.Arthur Pym believed that the climate would gradually warm as we approached the poles.At the end of the sculls, the side of the boat, a sail was erected, joined by the shirts of Dirk Peters and his partner.The shirt was white, and the native captive, named Nunu, was shocked when he saw it.With a slight northerly wind blowing, the sea was free of ice during the continuous polar day, and this strange voyage lasted for a week.As the water warmed up and the temperature was uniform, a patch of ice had not been seen since beyond the latitude of Beni Isle. This is where Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters enter the realm of the surprising and the new.A wide barrier of gray smoke adorned the distant sky with long streaks of light that were the aurora.Atmospheric currents come to support the sea breeze.The boat galloped so fast that the surface of the liquid was extremely hot and milky on the outside, as if churning underneath.White dust suddenly fell from the sky—this made Nunu even more terrified, and his upper and lower lips curled up on his pitch-black teeth... On March 9th, this gray rain became more violent, and the temperature of the water rose even higher, making it unbearable to touch it with hands.A huge curtain of smoke stretched around the southern sky, like a boundless waterfall, quietly flowing down from the towering steep wall... Twelve days later, darkness once again shrouded the sea area.From the milky depths of the Antarctic Ocean, shimmering matter scatters, piercing the darkness.The powdery showers are continuous, mingling with the ocean... The boat is fast approaching the waterfall.出于什么原因，阿瑟·皮姆丝毫未予谈及。偶尔雾障开裂，可隐约望见后方，那是漂浮不定、形状不明的零乱景象，强大的气流在震荡…… 在这令人不寒而栗的黑暗中，灰白的巨鸟成群掠过，不断呼喊着“代凯利—利”。就在这时，那个野人俘虏，受惊过度，断了最后一口气。 突然，小船以疯狂的速度投入瀑布的怀抱，一个漩涡张开，仿佛将小船吸进去一般……这时水平方向上突然出现一个蒙面人的面孔。比地球上任何一个居民的脸庞都要大出许多倍……这人皮肤的颜色正像雪花那样纯白…… 这部怪诞的小说，新大陆最伟大的诗人超天才的产物，基本轮廓就是这样。小说就这样结束了。更确切地说，小说并没有结束。在我看来，埃德加·爱伦·波已经无法为如此惊心动魄的冒险设想出一个结局。于是他用主人公“突然而悲惨”的死亡将叙述中断，同时又给人留下希望，以为如果能够找到尚缺的两、三章，仍会公诸于世。这当然是可以理解的。