The Upper Berth; By the Waters of Paradise

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

22246

Title

The Upper Berth; By the Waters of Paradise

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

F. Marion Crawford weaves two supernatural tales of fate and transformation. In 'The Upper Berth,' a sailor's encounter with a ghostly entity aboard a steamer tests the limits of reason and courage. In 'By the Waters of Paradise,' a melancholy heir discovers that love and a changed heart can turn a gloomy ancestral home into an earthly Eden, dispelling a lifelong curse of bad luck.

Summary up to 500 words

F. Marion Crawford's collection presents two distinct tales of supernatural ambiguity and the transformative power of love. The first story, "The Upper Berth," recounts the harrowing experience of an old sailor aboard the steamer *Kamtschatka*. After securing a lower berth, he is unsettled by a tall, pale passenger who vanishes after one night. The ship subsequently suffers a flooding incident where a passenger seemingly throws himself out to sea. Later, the sailor's lantern is extinguished by a force from the upper berth. Upon investigation, he discovers a horrifying, moving corpse with dead white eyes and a foul odor. The entity overpowers the sailor, breaking his arm, before vanishing through an open port. The captain is left stunned, and the ship's carpenter reinforces the door, declaring the berth permanently engaged by the "dead thing." The narrative concludes with the ambiguity of whether the entity was a ghost or a drowned man, leaving the sailor terrified to sail on the vessel again. The second story, "By the Waters of Paradise," follows a narrator born into a gloomy, cursed castle plagued by misfortune. Orphaned at a young age and raised by a strange Welsh nurse who speaks of a "Woman of the Water," the narrator suffers constant bad luck in competitions, considering a hermit's life. He eventually travels to England, marries a charming woman named Margaret, and returns to the castle. Upon his return, the atmosphere lifts, transforming the desolate place into a paradise. However, tragedy strikes on the eve of their wedding. While standing on a bridge above an artificial grotto, the clock tower strikes thirteen, and Margaret falls into the rushing water. The narrator dives into the dark depths to save her, emerging with her body. The nurse confirms that his luck has turned because he fed the Woman of the Water that night. Ten years later, the couple lives happily with children. The narrator reflects that love and a good wife can transform even the most desolate places into heaven, asserting that no place is so miserable that a loving woman cannot make it seem like paradise.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

Download URL

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22246.epub.noimages

Local file path

data/epubs/pg22246.epub

Download EPUB

Downloaded at

2026-07-08 17:39 UTC

Categories

• Supernatural Fiction
• Ghost stories