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The cast of Amontillado
Fortunato did and said a thousand things to hurt me. 
But when he insulted me, I knew that it was time to punish him. 
‘But I must do it cleverly and secretly,’ I thought. ‘Only Fortunato himself must know that I am punishing him.’
I was as friendly to Fortunato as before, of course. 
I went on smiling at him, and he did not know that I was smiling at the thought of his death.
Both he and I liked and bought fine wine. 
Fortunato knew very little about other things, but he did know about wine and sherry wine. And so did I.
One evening, during the city's carnival, I met my friend in the street. 
He was dressed in carnival clothes and smelled strongly of wine.
‘My dear Fortunato!’ I said. ‘What luck to meet you! 
‘I have bought a cask of Amontillado- but now, well. I'm not so sure that it is Amontillado.’
‘Amontillado?’ said Fortunato. ‘No, no! Nobody sells the best sherry in the middle of carnival. No, no, no!’
‘I was stupid,’ I said. ‘I paid the full Amontillado price, and did not ask you to try it first. 
‘But I couldn't find you, and I was afraid of losing it to another buyer. So, the cask is already in my vaults.’
‘Amontillado!’ he said.[]‘Perhaps,’ I said. ‘But I must be sure. 
‘I can see that you are on your way to a carnival party. I'll go and see Luchresi. He will tell me—’
‘Luchresi does not know the difference between Amontillado and any other sherry wine,’ he said.
‘Really? But some people say that he knows wine as well as you do.’
‘Come, let's go,’ he said.[]‘Where to?’[]‘To your vaults,’ he said.
‘My friend, no,’ I said. ‘I can hear that you have a bad cough, and my vaults are terribly cold and wet.’
‘My cough is nothing,’ Fortunato said. ‘Let's go. Amontillado! Never! 
‘Your wine-seller is stealing your money. And as for Luchresi- what does he know about Amontillado?’
He took my arm, and we walked quickly to my house.
There was no one at home because my servants were out enjoying themselves at the carnival. 
I took Fortunato through the building and down the stairs into the vaults. 
Here were the tombs of the Montresors- my family.
‘The Amontillado?’ Fortunato said. He began to cough in the cold, damp air.
‘It's further on,’ I said. ‘How long have you had that cough?’
He went on coughing for some time before he could answer me. ‘It is nothing,’ he said, at last.
My friend was full of wine, and found walking difficult. 
The little bells on his carnival suit made ringing noises when he moved. 
He began to cough again.[]‘We'll go back,’ I said. ‘You must not get ill. 
‘You have family, friends, you are loved, needed- you must take care of yourself. We'll go back. I can go to Luchresi—’
‘Stop!’ he said. ‘The cough is nothing. It will not kill me. I shall not die from a cough.’
‘That's true,’ I said. ‘But you must be careful. 
‘Take a drink from this bottle of Medoc. It is a good wine and will warm you. 
‘Here you are, drink this!’ I opened the bottle and gave it to him. 
‘I drink,’ he said, ‘to all the dead Montresors sleeping around us.’ And he drank.
‘And I drink to your long life,’ I said.
Again he took my arm and we walked on.
‘These vaults are very large,’ he said.
‘The Montresor family is a very old one. There have been a great many of us.’
I was warmed by the Medoc, and the wine was making Fortunato's eyes bright. 
We walked on, past casks and bottles of wine, deep into the vaults. 
I stopped again and held his arm. ‘We are under the river now,’ I said. 
‘See how wet the walls are here. Come, we will go back before it is too late. Your cough—’
‘It is nothing,’ he said. ‘Let's go on. But first, another drink to keep us warm.’
I took another bottle of wine and gave it to him. 
He drank it all without stopping. His eyes were even brighter, and he laughed.
‘Now, let's go on to the Amontillado,’ he said.
We went on, and down, and came into the deepest vault. 
Around three walls, from floor to ceiling, were the bones of the dead. 
Many more bones lay on the floor. Cut into the fourth wall was a smaller vault.
Fortunato held up his torch and looked into the blackness, but could see nothing.
‘Go in,’ I told him. ‘You will find the Amontillado in there.’
He went inside and I followed him. 
In three steps he was at the back wall of the vault, and he stood there, looking stupid. 
On the wall were two metal rings and a chain with a lock. 
Before he could do anything, I put the chain around him and locked it to the rings.
‘Put your hand on the wall, Fortunato,’ I said. ‘How wet it is! How very wet! 
‘Once more I ask, why don't you go back? No? Then I must leave you. But first I must try to make you comfortable.’
‘The- the Amontillado!’ my friend said. He did not understand.[]‘True,’ I said. ‘The Amontillado.’
Hidden under some of the bones on the floor were stones and other things for building a wall. 
I took them across to the small vault and began to work quickly.
Before the wall was half a metre high, Fortunato began to make soft crying noises. 
Then he was silent for some time. 
I worked on busily, building the wall higher and higher. 
Then I heard him again. He was pulling the chain and shaking it, but I knew the lock was strong.
The wall was now as high as my neck. I held my torch higher, to see his face. 
He began to scream, long high screams, filled with terror. I listened, worrying. 
No, we were too deep under the ground. No sounds would escape from this vault. 
I screamed back at Fortunato, longer and louder. Then he stopped.
By midnight the wall was nearly finished. There was one last heavy stone. 
I had it almost in place when I heard a soft but terrible laugh.
Then Fortunato's sad voice said, ‘Ha! Ha! Ha! A very good joke. 
‘We will laugh about it often when we are drinking our wine.’[]‘The Amontillado!’ I said.
‘Ha! Ha! Yes, the Amontillado. But it is getting late. My wife and friends are waiting for me. Let's go now, Montresor.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Let's go.’[]‘For the love of God, Montresor!’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘For the love of God.’ I waited for an answer. None came.
‘Fortunato!’ I called. No answer. I called again. ‘Fortunato!’ Still no answer.
I pushed my torch through the gap in the wall and let it fall. Still nothing. 
I put the last stone in place, and then in front of the new wall I put the bones of the dead. 
For fifty years, nobody has moved them.