The Masque of the Red Death 红死病的面具(英文版)
TheMasqueoftheRedDeath,originallypublishedas"TheMaskoftheRedDeath",isashortstorywrittenbyEdgarAllanPoeandfirstpublishedin1842.Thestoryfollowsthe"happyanddauntlessandsagacious"PrinceProspero'sattemptstoavoidadangerousplagueknownastheRedDeathbyhidinginhiscastellatedabbey.He,alongwithmanyotherwealthynobles,hasamasqueradeballwithinsevenroomsofhisabbey,eachdecoratedwithadifferentcolor.Inthemidstoftheirrevelry,amysteriousfigureentersandmakeshiswaythrougheachoftherooms.WhenProsperoconfrontsthisstranger,hefallsdead.ThestoryfollowsmanytraditionsofGothicfictionandisoftenanalyzedasanallegoryabouttheinevitabilityofdeath,thoughsomecriticsadviseagainstanallegoricalreading.Manydifferentinterpretationshavebeenpresented,aswellasattemptstoidentifythetruenatureofthediseaseofthe"RedDeath."