Fear (Maupassant)
A group of men, including a captain and a well-traveled man with a sunburned face, were on a ship sailing towards Africa. The captain shared a story of a time when he was frightened, but the sunburned man disagreed, saying that fear is different from anxiety or restlessness.
He then shared two instances when he experienced true fear. The first instance took place in Africa, where he and a small group were traveling through a desert. They heard the mysterious sound of a drum, which terrified the locals. His friend suddenly died from sunstroke, and the drumming continued for two hours, filling him with dread.
Fear (and the bravest men can experience it) is sometimes terrible, a dreadful sensation; it can be compared to the decomposition of the soul.
The second instance occurred in a forest in northeastern France during a stormy night. He and a guide sought shelter in a forester's home, where the family was terrified because the forester had killed a poacher two years prior and believed his ghost would return. The family dog began to howl, sensing something unseen, and the atmosphere became increasingly tense.
For one whole hour the dog howled without moving; he howled as if in the throes of a nightmare, and fear, horrible, stealthy fear, was slowly taking possession of me.
The guide threw the dog outside, and they heard something scratching at the door. A white head with flaming eyes appeared at the window, and the forester shot at it. The next morning, they discovered the dog dead outside, having been shot by the forester.
He had got out of the yard by digging a hole under the fence.
The sunburned man concluded that he would rather face real dangers than experience the fear he felt during those two instances.