ian superstition which were fast
verging to absurdity. They--the Hungarians--differed very essentially
from their Eastern authorities. For example, "_The soul_," said the
former--I give the words of an acute and intelligent Parisian--"_ne
demeure qu'un seul fois dans un corps sensible: au reste--un cheval,
un chien, un homme meme, n'est que la ressemblance peu tangible de ces
animaux._"

The families of Berlifitzing and Metzengerstein had been at variance
for centuries. Never before were two houses so illustrious, mutually
embittered by hostility so deadly. The origin of this enmity seems to
be found in the words of 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."

To be sure the words themselves had little or no meaning. But more
trivial causes have given rise--and that no long while ago--to
consequences equally eventful. Besides, the estates, which were
contiguous, had long exercised a rival influence in the affairs of a
busy government. Moreover, near neighbors are seldom friends; and the
inhabitants of the Castle Berlifitzing might look, from their lofty
buttresses, into the very windows of the palace Metzengerstein. Least of
all had the more than feudal magnificence, thus discovered, a tendency
to allay the irritable feelings of the less ancient and less wealthy
Berlifitzings. What wonder then, that the words, however silly, of that
prediction, should have succeeded in setting and keeping at variance
two families already predisposed to quarrel by every instigation
of hereditary jealousy? The prophecy seemed to imply--if it implied
anything--a final triumph on the part of the already more powerful
house; and was of course remembered with the more bitter animosity by
the weaker and less influential.

Wilhelm, Count Berlifitzing, although loftily descended, was, at the
epoch of this narrative, an infirm and doting old man, remarkable for
nothing but an inordinate and inveterate personal antipathy to the
family of his rival, and so passionate a love of horses, and of hunting,
that neither bodily infirmity, great age, nor mental incapacity,
prevented his daily participation in the dangers of the chase.

Frederick, Baron Metzengerstein, was, on the other hand, not yet of age.
His father, the Minister G--, died young. His mother, the Lady Mary,
followed him quickly after. Frederick was, a