The Pit and the Pendulum (Poe)
Short Summary
Spain, during the time of the Inquisition. After being sentenced to death, a man regained consciousness in complete darkness.
Exploring his prison cell in darkness, he discovered a circular pit in its center. After nearly falling into it, he lost consciousness. Upon awakening, he found himself strapped to a wooden frame, with a massive pendulum blade descending from the ceiling. The blade swung lower with each pass, inevitably approaching his body.
Death, I said, any death but that of the pit! Fool! might I have not known that into the pit it was the object of the burning iron to urge me? Could I resist its glow? or if even that, could I withstand its pressure?
Using his wit, he managed to attract rats with food from his plate. The rats gnawed through his bindings, allowing him to escape the pendulum's blade. However, the walls of his cell began to heat up and move, gradually forcing him toward the pit. Just as he was about to fall into the abyss, French soldiers led by General Lasalle entered Toledo and rescued him, as the Inquisition had fallen to its enemies.
Detailed Summary
Division into chapters is conditional.
The Sentence and Initial Torment
A prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition received his death sentence and lost consciousness. Upon awakening, he found himself in complete darkness, unsure of his fate.
I was sick—sick unto death with that long agony... The sentence—the dread sentence of death—was the last of distinct accentuation which reached my ears. After that, the sound of the inquisitorial voices merged in one dreamy hum.
His last memory before fainting was of the black-robed judges pronouncing his sentence. He recalled their thin white lips and stern expressions as they condemned him.
The Dark Chamber and the Pit
After regaining consciousness, the prisoner found himself in total darkness. He stretched out his hands and discovered smooth, slimy walls. Walking carefully, he attempted to measure his prison cell by counting steps and marking his starting point with a piece of his robe. However, he fell asleep during this process and lost his orientation. Upon waking, he found bread and water beside him, which he consumed eagerly.
Continuing his exploration, the prisoner stumbled and fell near the edge of a circular pit in the center of the chamber. He dropped a fragment of stone into it and heard it bounce against the walls before splashing into water far below. This discovery revealed the intended method of his execution - he was meant to fall into the pit.
The Pendulum's Descent
After falling asleep again, possibly due to drugged water, the prisoner awoke to find himself strapped to a wooden frame. The chamber was now dimly lit, revealing its true nature - an iron-walled prison decorated with demonic figures. Above him hung a massive pendulum with a razor-sharp crescent blade, slowly descending toward his chest.
Down—steadily down it crept. I took a frenzied pleasure in contrasting its downward with its lateral velocity. To the right—to the left—far and wide—with the shriek of a damned spirit; to my heart with the stealthy pace of the tiger!
For hours, he watched the blade's descent, calculating its path and speed. The pendulum was designed to cross directly over his heart, though it would first slowly cut through his robe. Despite his terror, the prisoner maintained enough clarity to observe and analyze his situation.
It was hope—the hope that triumphs on the rack—that whispers to the death-condemned even in the dungeons of the Inquisition... For the first time during many hours—or perhaps days—I thought.
Escape from the Pendulum
As the blade came within inches of his chest, the prisoner devised an escape plan. He noticed that rats had been attracted by the food left near him. He rubbed the food-soaked bandages binding him, encouraging the rats to gnaw through his restraints. Though disgusted by the rats crawling over him, he remained still as they chewed through the straps. Once freed, he barely managed to escape the pendulum's final descent.
The Final Torment and Rescue
The pendulum retracted into the ceiling, but the prisoner's ordeal wasn't over. The iron walls began to heat up, glowing with increasing intensity. Demon eyes appeared in the wall decorations, glowing with hellish fire. The chamber's shape started changing, becoming a lozenge that gradually compressed, forcing him toward the central pit.
The entire surface of this metallic enclosure was rudely daubed in all the hideous and repulsive devices... The figures of fiends in aspects of menace, with skeleton forms, and other more really fearful images.
As the heated walls forced him closer to the pit, the prisoner heard sudden commotion - trumpets blasting and voices shouting. Just as he was about to fall into the abyss, an arm grabbed him.
I felt that I tottered upon the brink—I averted my eyes... There was a discordant hum of human voices! There was a loud blast as of many trumpets! The fiery walls rushed back! An outstretched arm caught my own as I fell.
It was General Lasalle who saved him - the French army had entered Toledo and taken control of the Inquisition's prison.
Throughout his ordeal, the prisoner had faced multiple forms of torture designed to break both body and spirit. The pendulum represented slow, inevitable death, while the pit symbolized a swift but terrifying end. The heated, moving walls combined physical torture with psychological terror. Each method was carefully calculated to maximize suffering, demonstrating the sophisticated cruelty of the Inquisition. The prisoner's survival depended not only on his physical resilience but also on his ability to maintain rational thought under extreme duress. His analytical mind allowed him to understand and ultimately escape each torture device, while his will to live gave him the strength to endure until rescue arrived. The French army's timely intervention represented not just personal salvation but also the triumph of enlightenment over medieval brutality.
I saw that the crescent was designed to cross the region of the heart... Notwithstanding its terrifically wide sweep and the hissing vigor of its descent, still the fraying of my robe would be all that, for several minutes...
The story revealed the calculated nature of the Inquisition's methods - each torture was designed not just to kill, but to maximize psychological suffering. The prisoner's cell transformed from a simple dungeon into an elaborate death trap, with each new horror building upon the last. The pendulum's slow descent, the glowing walls with their demonic decorations, and the gradually shrinking room all worked together to create an atmosphere of escalating terror. Yet through it all, the prisoner maintained enough presence of mind to observe, analyze, and ultimately survive his torments, demonstrating remarkable resilience in the face of seemingly inevitable death. His rescue by the French army served as both a personal salvation and a symbolic victory of enlightenment over medieval brutality, marking the end of the Inquisition's reign of terror in Toledo.