A Diagnosis of Death
安布羅斯·比爾斯 / Ambrose Bierce
安布羅斯·比爾斯（Ambrose Bierce，1842—1914），美國恐怖、靈異小說家，生於俄亥俄州梅格斯縣的一個貧苦農民家庭。參加過南北戰爭，這段不平凡的經曆為他後來的文學創作打下了堅實的基礎。戰爭結束後，他開始了一個編輯兼作家的忙碌生涯。他的人生觀比較悲觀，早期的作品主要是隨筆和諷刺性短詩，也包括一些小說，被人們稱為“辛辣比爾斯”。
"I am not so superstitious as some of your physicians—men of science， as you are pleased to be called， " said Hawver， replying to an accusation that had not been made."Some of you—only a few， I confess—believe in the immortality of the soul， and in apparitions which you have not the honesty to call ghosts. I go no further than a conviction that the living are sometimes seen where they are not， but have been—where they have lived so long， perhaps so intensely， as to have left their impress on everything about them. I know， indeed， that one' s environment may be so affected by one' s personality as to yield， long afterward， an image of one' s self to the eyes of another. Doubtless the impressing personality has to be the right kind of personality as the perceiving eyes have to be the right kind of eyes—mine， for example."
"Yes， the right kind of eyes， conveying sensations to the wrong kind of brains， " said Dr. Frayley， smiling.
"Thank you； one likes to have an expectation gratified； that is about the reply that I supposed you would have the civility to make."
"Pardon me. But you say that you know. That is a good deal to say， don' t you think？ Perhaps you will not mind the trouble of saying how you learned."
"You will call it an hallucination， " Hawver said， "but that does not matter." And he told the story.