A Diagnosis of Death
安布罗斯·比尔斯 / Ambrose Bierce
安布罗斯·比尔斯（Ambrose Bierce，1842—1914），美国恐怖、灵异小说家，生于俄亥俄州梅格斯县的一个贫苦农民家庭。参加过南北战争，这段不平凡的经历为他后来的文学创作打下了坚实的基础。战争结束后，他开始了一个编辑兼作家的忙碌生涯。他的人生观比较悲观，早期的作品主要是随笔和讽刺性短诗，也包括一些小说，被人们称为“辛辣比尔斯”。
"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.