English Original
Henry Armstrong's burial did not convince him he was dead; he was always hard to persuade. Yet the evidence of his senses—lying on his back, hands tied, confined in darkness and silence—forced him to admit he was interred. Still, he believed himself merely gravely ill, feeling an invalid's apathy and a pathological indifference to his fate. Unconcerned, he fell asleep.
Overhead, on a dark summer night lit by distant lightning, three figures felt secure in the deserted cemetery. Two were medical students; the third was Jess, the cemetery's longtime handyman. They excavated the fresh grave with ease. As Jess unscrewed the coffin lid, a thunderclap shook the air, and Armstrong sat up calmly. The students fled in terror, but Jess remained.
At dawn, the pale and shaken students met at their college. "You saw it?" one cried. They found Jess waiting outside the dissecting-room. "I'm waiting for my pay," he said, grinning. Inside, on a table, lay Armstrong's body, his head bloodied from a spade blow.
中文翻译
亨利·阿姆斯特朗被埋葬的事实并未让他相信自己已死；他一向是个难以被说服的人。然而，感官的证据——仰面躺着、双手被缚、禁锢在黑暗与寂静之中——迫使他承认自己被埋了。但他仍认为自己只是病得很重，带着病人的冷漠和对自身命运一种病态的漠不关心。他毫无牵挂地睡着了。
地面上，在一个被远处闪电照亮的黑暗夏夜，三个身影在荒凉的墓地里感到安全。其中两人是医学院的学生；第三人是杰斯，墓地的长期杂工。他们轻易地挖开了那座新坟。当杰斯拧开棺材盖时，一声惊雷划破空气，阿姆斯特朗平静地坐了起来。学生们惊恐地逃窜，但杰斯留了下来。
黎明时分，面色苍白、惊魂未定的学生们在学院碰面。“你看到了吗？”一人喊道。他们发现杰斯等在解剖室门外。“我在等我的报酬，”他咧嘴笑着说。室内，一张长桌上躺着阿姆斯特朗的尸体，他的头部因铁锹的击打而沾满血污。