"Some Words With a Mummy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Poe Edgar Allan)

I cannot say that I was alarmed at the phenomenon, because "alarmed"
is, in my case, not exactly the word. It is possible, however, that,
but for the Brown Stout, I might have been a little nervous. As for
the rest of the company, they really made no attempt at concealing the
downright fright which possessed them. Doctor Ponnonner was a man to
be pitied. Mr. Gliddon, by some peculiar process, rendered himself
invisible. Mr. Silk Buckingham, I fancy, will scarcely be so bold as
to deny that he made his way, upon all fours, under the table.
After the first shock of astonishment, however, we resolved, as a
matter of course, upon further experiment forthwith. Our operations
were now directed against the great toe of the right foot. We made
an incision over the outside of the exterior os sesamoideum pollicis
pedis, and thus got at the root of the abductor muscle. Readjusting
the battery, we now applied the fluid to the bisected nerves- when,
with a movement of exceeding life-likeness, the Mummy first drew up
its right knee so as to bring it nearly in contact with the abdomen,
and then, straightening the limb with inconceivable force, bestowed
a kick upon Doctor Ponnonner, which had the effect of discharging that
gentleman, like an arrow from a catapult, through a window into the
street below.
We rushed out en masse to bring in the mangled remains of the
victim, but had the happiness to meet him upon the staircase, coming
up in an unaccountable hurry, brimful of the most ardent philosophy,
and more than ever impressed with the necessity of prosecuting our
experiment with vigor and with zeal.
It was by his advice, accordingly, that we made, upon the spot, a
profound incision into the tip of the subject's nose, while the Doctor
himself, laying violent hands upon it, pulled it into vehement contact
with the wire.
Morally and physically- figuratively and literally- was the effect
electric. In the first place, the corpse opened its eyes and winked
very rapidly for several minutes, as does Mr. Barnes in the pantomime,
in the second place, it sneezed; in the third, it sat upon end; in the
fourth, it shook its fist in Doctor Ponnonner's face; in the fifth,
turning to Messieurs Gliddon and Buckingham, it addressed them, in
very capital Egyptian, thus:
"I must say, gentlemen, that I am as much surprised as I am
mortified at your behaviour. Of Doctor Ponnonner nothing better was to
be expected. He is a poor little fat fool who knows no better. I
pity and forgive him. But you, Mr. Gliddon- and you, Silk- who have
travelled and resided in Egypt until one might imagine you to the
manner born- you, I say who have been so much among us that you
speak Egyptian fully as well, I think, as you write your mother
tongue- you, whom I have always been led to regard as the firm
friend of the mummies- I really did anticipate more gentlemanly
conduct from you. What am I to think of your standing quietly by and
seeing me thus unhandsomely used? What am I to suppose by your
permitting Tom, Dick, and Harry to strip me of my coffins, and my
clothes, in this wretchedly cold climate? In what light (to come to
the point) am I to regard your aiding and abetting that miserable