Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Metzengerstein

Metzengerstein

Poe, Edgar Allan

Paperback

Series: Edgar Allan Poe Collection

Classic FictionGeneral Fiction

ISBN10: 1515226646
ISBN13: 9781515226642
Publisher: Createspace
Published: Jul 25 2015
Pages: 26
Weight: 0.12
Height: 0.06 Width: 5.98 Depth: 9.02
Language: English
The story, told from an unnamed third-person narrator, takes place in Hungary at an unspecified date. The opening passages describe a centuries-long rivalry between two wealthy families: the Metzengersteins and the Berlifitzings. The bitter enmity between the two families is so old that no one knows how far back it dates. The narrator states that its origin appears to rely on an ancient prophecy: A lofty name shall have a fearful fall when, as the rider over his horse, the mortality of Metzengerstein shall triumph over the immortality of Berlifitzing. Young Frederick, Baron of Metzengerstein, was orphaned at a young age and, thus, inherited the family fortune at age 18 (though the age changes throughout its many re-publications). Equipped with enormous wealth and power, he begins to exhibit particularly cruel behavior. The behavior of the heir out-heroded Herod. Four days after he receives his inheritance, the stables of the rival family Berlifitzing catch fire. The neighborhood instantaneously attributed the act of arson to Frederick Metzengerstein (the story, however, does not say expressly if he did it or not). That day, Metzengerstein, in his home, sits staring intently at an old tapestry depicting an enormous, and unnaturally colored horse that belonged to the Berlifitzing clan. Just behind the horse, Frederick sees its rider who has just been killed by the dagger of a Metzengerstein. Soon, Frederick sees the horse move and assume an energetic and human expression. Immediately, Frederick opens the door to leave, and the action strikingly causes his shadow to fall exactly on the spot of the murderer in the tapestry.

9 different editions

Also available

Also in

General Fiction

View All