“‘No; but I was educated by a French family and understand that language only.I am now going to claim the protection of some friends, whom I sincerely love, and of whose favour I have some hopes.’
“‘Are they Germans?’
“‘No, they are French. But let us change the subject. I am an unfortunate and deserted creature,I look around and I have no relation or friend upon earth.These amiable people to whom I go have never seen me and know little of me. I am full of fears,for if I fail there, I am an outcast in the world for ever.’
“‘Do not despair. To be friendless is indeed to be unfortunate, but the hearts of men,when unprejudiced by any obvious self-interest, are full of brotherly love and charity. Rely,therefore, on your hopes; and if these friends are good and amiable, do not despair.’
“‘They are kind—they are the most excellent creatures in the world; but, unfortunately,they are prejudiced against me. I have good dispositions;my life has been hitherto harmless and in some degree beneficial;but a fatal prejudice clouds their eyes, and where they ought to see a feeling and kind friend, they behold only a detestable monster.’
“‘That is indeed unfortunate; but if you are really blameless, cannot you undeceive them?’
“‘I am about to undertake that task; and it is on that account that I feel so many overwhelming terrors.I tenderly love these friends; I have, unknown to them,been for many months in the habits of daily kindness towards them;but they believe that I wish to injure them, and it is that prejudice which I wish to overcome.’
“‘Where do these friends reside?’
“‘Near this spot.’
“The old man paused and then continued, ‘If you will unreservedly confide to me the particulars of your tale,I perhaps may be of use in undeceiving them. I am blind and cannot judge of your countenance,but there is something in your words which persuades me that you are sincere.I am poor and an exile, but it will afford me true pleasure to be in any way serviceable to a human creature. ’
“‘Excellent man!I thank you and accept your generous offer. You raise me from the dust by this kindness;and I trust that, by your aid, I shall not be driven from the society and sympathy of your fellow creatures. ’
“‘Heaven forbid!Even if you were really criminal, for that can only drive you to desperation,and not instigate you to virtue. I also am unfortunate; I and my family have been condemned,although innocent; judge, therefore, if I do not feel for your misfortunes.’
“‘How can I thank you, my best and only benefactor?From your lips first have I heard the voice of kindness directed towards me;I shall be for ever grateful; and your present humanity assures me of success with those friends whom I am on the point of meeting. ’
“‘May I know the names and residence of those friends?’
“I paused. This, I thought, was the moment of decision,which was to rob me of or bestow happiness on me for ever.I struggled vainly for firmness sufficient to answer him,but the effort destroyed all my remaining strength; I sank on the chair and sobbed aloud.At that moment I heard the steps of my younger protectors. I had not a moment to lose,but seizing the hand of the old man, I cried, ‘Now is the time!Save and protect me!You and your family are the friends whom I seek. Do not you desert me in the hour of trial!’
“‘Great God!’ exclaimed the old man. ‘Who are you?’
“At that instant the cottage door was opened, and Felix, Safie, and Agatha entered.Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me?Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage.Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung,in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick.I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope.But my heart sank within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained.I saw him on the point of repeating his blow, when, overcome by pain and anguish,I quitted the cottage, and in the general tumult escaped unperceived to my hovel.”
Chapter 16
“Cursed, cursed creator!Why did I live?Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge.I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants and have glutted myself with their shrieks and misery.
“When night came I quitted my retreat and wandered in the wood; and now,no longer restrained by the fear of discovery, I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howlings.I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils,destroying the objects that obstructed me and ranging through the wood with a stag-like swiftness. Oh!What a miserable night I passed!The cold stars shone in mockery, and the bare trees waved their branches above me;now and then the sweet voice of a bird burst forth amidst the universal stillness. All, save I,were at rest or in enjoyment; I, like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me,and finding myself unsympathised with, wished to tear up the trees,spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down and enjoyed the ruin.
“But this was a luxury of sensation that could not endure;I became fatigued with excess of bodily exertion and sank on the damp grass in the sick impotence of despair.There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me;and should I feel kindness towards my enemies?No; from that moment I declared everlasting war against the species, and more than all,against him who had formed me and sent me forth to this insupportable misery.
“The sun rose; I heard the voices of men and knew that it was impossible to return to my retreat during that day.Accordingly I hid myself in some thick underwood,determining to devote the ensuing hours to reflection on my situation.
“The pleasant sunshine and the pure air of day restored me to some degree of tranquillity;and when I considered what had passed at the cottage,I could not help believing that I had been too hasty in my conclusions.I had certainly acted imprudently. It was apparent that my conversation had interested the father in my behalf,and I was a fool in having exposed my person to the horror of his children.I ought to have familiarised the old De Lacey to me,and by degrees to have discovered myself to the rest of his family,when they should have been prepared for my approach.But I did not believe my errors to be irretrievable,and after much consideration I resolved to return to the cottage, seek the old man,and by my representations win him to my party.
“These thoughts calmed me, and in the afternoon I sank into a profound sleep;but the fever of my blood did not allow me to be visited by peaceful dreams.The horrible scene of the preceding day was for ever acting before my eyes;the females were flying and the enraged Felix tearing me from his father’s feet. I awoke exhausted,and finding that it was already night, I crept forth from my hiding-place, and went in search of food.
“When my hunger was appeased, I directed my steps towards the well-known path that conducted to the cottage.All there was at peace. I crept into my hovel and remained in silent expectation of the accustomed hour when the family arose.That hour passed, the sun mounted high in the heavens, but the cottagers did not appear.I trembled violently, apprehending some dreadful misfortune. The inside of the cottage was dark,and I heard no motion; I cannot describe the agony of this suspense.
“Presently two countrymen passed by, but pausing near the cottage, they entered into conversation,using violent gesticulations; but I did not understand what they said,as they spoke the language of the country, which differed from that of my protectors. Soon after,however, Felix approached with another man; I was surprised,as I knew that he had not quitted the cottage that morning,and waited anxiously to discover from his discourse the meaning of these unusual appearances.
“‘Do you consider,’ said his companion to him,‘that you will be obliged to pay three months’ rent and to lose the produce of your garden?I do not wish to take any unfair advantage,and I beg therefore that you will take some days to consider of your determination.’
“‘It is utterly useless,’ replied Felix; ‘we can never again inhabit your cottage.The life of my father is in the greatest danger,owing to the dreadful circumstance that I have related.My wife and my sister will never recover from their horror.I entreat you not to reason with me any more.Take possession of your tenement and let me fly from this place.’
“Felix trembled violently as he said this. He and his companion entered the cottage,in which they remained for a few minutes, and then departed.I never saw any of the family of De Lacey more.
“I continued for the remainder of the day in my hovel in a state of utter and stupid despair.My protectors had departed and had broken the only link that held me to the world.For the first time the feelings of revenge and hatred filled my bosom,and I did not strive to control them, but allowing myself to be borne away by the stream,I bent my mind towards injury and death. When I thought of my friends,of the mild voice of De Lacey, the gentle eyes of Agatha, and the exquisite beauty of the Arabian,these thoughts vanished and a gush of tears somewhat soothed me.But again when I reflected that they had spurned and deserted me, anger returned, a rage of anger,and unable to injure anything human, I turned my fury towards inanimate objects. As night advanced,I placed a variety of combustibles around the cottage,and after having destroyed every vestige of cultivation in the garden,I waited with forced impatience until the moon had sunk to commence my operations.
“As the night advanced, a fierce wind arose from the woods and quickly dispersed the clouds that had loitered in the heavens;the blast tore along like a mighty avalanche and produced a kind of insanity in my spirits that burst all bounds of reason and reflection.I lighted the dry branch of a tree and danced with fury around the devoted cottage,my eyes still fixed on the western horizon, the edge of which the moon nearly touched.A part of its orb was at length hid, and I waved my brand; it sank,and with a loud scream I fired the straw, and heath, and bushes, which I had collected.The wind fanned the fire, and the cottage was quickly enveloped by the flames,which clung to it and licked it with their forked and destroying tongues.
“As soon as I was convinced that no assistance could save any part of the habitation,I quitted the scene and sought for refuge in the woods.
“And now, with the world before me, whither should I bend my steps?I resolved to fly far from the scene of my misfortunes; but to me, hated and despised,every country must be equally horrible. At length the thought of you crossed my mind.I learned from your papers that you were my father, my creator;and to whom could I apply with more fitness than to him who had given me life?Among the lessons that Felix had bestowed upon Safie, geography had not been omitted;I had learned from these the relative situations of the different countries of the earth.You had mentioned Geneva as the name of your native town,and towards this place I resolved to proceed.
“But how was I to direct myself?I knew that I must travel in a southwesterly direction to reach my destination,but the sun was my only guide. I did not know the names of the towns that I was to pass through,nor could I ask information from a single human being; but I did not despair.From you only could I hope for succour,although towards you I felt no sentiment but that of hatred. Unfeeling, heartless creator!You had endowed me with perceptions and passions and then cast me abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind.But on you only had I any claim for pity and redress,and from you I determined to seek that justice which I vainly attempted to gain from any other being that wore the human form.
“My travels were long and the sufferings I endured intense.It was late in autumn when I quitted the district where I had so long resided.I travelled only at night, fearful of encountering the visage of a human being.Nature decayed around me, and the sun became heatless; rain and snow poured around me;mighty rivers were frozen; the surface of the earth was hard and chill, and bare, and I found no shelter. Oh, earth!How often did I imprecate curses on the cause of my being!The mildness of my nature had fled, and all within me was turned to gall and bitterness.The nearer I approached to your habitation,the more deeply did I feel the spirit of revenge enkindled in my heart. Snow fell,and the waters were hardened, but I rested not. A few incidents now and then directed me,and I possessed a map of the country; but I often wandered wide from my path.The agony of my feelings allowed me no respite;no incident occurred from which my rage and misery could not extract its food;but a circumstance that happened when I arrived on the confines of Switzerland,when the sun had recovered its warmth and the earth again began to look green,confirmed in an especial manner the bitterness and horror of my feelings.
“I generally rested during the day and travelled only when I was secured by night from the view of man.One morning, however, finding that my path lay through a deep wood,I ventured to continue my journey after the sun had risen; the day,which was one of the first of spring, cheered even me by the loveliness of its sunshine and the balminess of the air.I felt emotions of gentleness and pleasure, that had long appeared dead, revive within me.Half surprised by the novelty of these sensations, I allowed myself to be borne away by them,and forgetting my solitude and deformity, dared to be happy. Soft tears again bedewed my cheeks,and I even raised my humid eyes with thankfulness towards the blessed sun, which bestowed such joy upon me.
“I continued to wind among the paths of the wood, until I came to its boundary,which was skirted by a deep and rapid river, into which many of the trees bent their branches,now budding with the fresh spring. Here I paused, not exactly knowing what path to pursue,when I heard the sound of voices, that induced me to conceal myself under the shade of a cypress.I was scarcely hid when a young girl came running towards the spot where I was concealed, laughing,as if she ran from someone in sport. She continued her course along the precipitous sides of the river,when suddenly her foot slipped, and she fell into the rapid stream.I rushed from my hiding-place and with extreme labour, from the force of the current,saved her and dragged her to shore. She was senseless,and I endeavoured by every means in my power to restore animation,when I was suddenly interrupted by the approach of a rustic,who was probably the person from whom she had playfully fled. On seeing me, he darted towards me,and tearing the girl from my arms, hastened towards the deeper parts of the wood.I followed speedily, I hardly knew why; but when the man saw me draw near, he aimed a gun,which he carried, at my body and fired. I sank to the ground, and my injurer,with increased swiftness, escaped into the wood.
“This was then the reward of my benevolence!I had saved a human being from destruction,and as a recompense I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound which shattered the flesh and bone.The feelings of kindness and gentleness which I had entertained but a few moments before gave place to hellish rage and gnashing of teeth.Inflamed by pain, I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind.But the agony of my wound overcame me; my pulses paused, and I fainted.
“For some weeks I led a miserable life in the woods,endeavouring to cure the wound which I had received. The ball had entered my shoulder,and I knew not whether it had remained there or passed through;at any rate I had no means of extracting it.My sufferings were augmented also by the oppressive sense of the injustice and ingratitude of their infliction.My daily vows rose for revenge—a deep and deadly revenge,such as would alone compensate for the outrages and anguish I had endured.
“After some weeks my wound healed, and I continued my journey.The labours I endured were no longer to be alleviated by the bright sun or gentle breezes of spring;all joy was but a mockery which insulted my desolate state and made me feel more painfully that I was not made for the enjoyment of pleasure.
“But my toils now drew near a close, and in two months from this time I reached the environs of Geneva.
“It was evening when I arrived, and I retired to a hiding-place among the fields that surround it to meditate in what manner I should apply to you.I was oppressed by fatigue and hunger and far too unhappy to enjoy the gentle breezes of evening or the prospect of the sun setting behind the stupendous mountains of Jura.
“At this time a slight sleep relieved me from the pain of reflection,which was disturbed by the approach of a beautiful child,who came running into the recess I had chosen, with all the sportiveness of infancy. Suddenly,as I gazed on him, an idea seized me that this little creature was unprejudiced and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity.If, therefore, I could seize him and educate him as my companion and friend,I should not be so desolate in this peopled earth.
“Urged by this impulse, I seized on the boy as he passed and drew him towards me.As soon as he beheld my form, he placed his hands before his eyes and uttered a shrill scream;I drew his hand forcibly from his face and said, ‘Child, what is the meaning of this?I do not intend to hurt you; listen to me.’
“He struggled violently. ‘Let me go,’ he cried; ‘monster!Ugly wretch!You wish to eat me and tear me to pieces. You are an ogre. Let me go, or I will tell my papa.’
“‘Boy, you will never see your father again; you must come with me.’
“‘Hideous monster!Let me go. My papa is a syndic—he is M. Frankenstein—he will punish you. You dare not keep me.’
“‘Frankenstein!you belong then to my enemy—to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim.’
“The child still struggled and loaded me with epithets which carried despair to my heart;I grasped his throat to silence him, and in a moment he lay dead at my feet.
“I gazed on my victim, and my heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph; clapping my hands,I exclaimed, ‘I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable;this death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him.’
“As I fixed my eyes on the child, I saw something glittering on his breast. I took it;it was a portrait of a most lovely woman. In spite of my malignity, it softened and attracted me.For a few moments I gazed with delight on her dark eyes, fringed by deep lashes,and her lovely lips; but presently my rage returned;I remembered that I was for ever deprived of the delights that such beautiful creatures could bestow and that she whose resemblance I contemplated would,in regarding me, have changed that air of divine benignity to one expressive of disgust and affright.
“Can you wonder that such thoughts transported me with rage?I only wonder that at that moment, instead of venting my sensations in exclamations and agony,I did not rush among mankind and perish in the attempt to destroy them.
“While I was overcome by these feelings, I left the spot where I had committed the murder,and seeking a more secluded hiding-place, I entered a barn which had appeared to me to be empty.A woman was sleeping on some straw; she was young,not indeed so beautiful as her whose portrait I held,but of an agreeable aspect and blooming in the loveliness of youth and health. Here, I thought,is one of those whose joy-imparting smiles are bestowed on all but me.And then I bent over her and whispered, ‘Awake, fairest,thy lover is near—he who would give his life but to obtain one look of affection from thine eyes; my beloved, awake!’
“The sleeper stirred; a thrill of terror ran through me. Should she indeed awake, and see me,and curse me, and denounce the murderer?Thus would she assuredly act if her darkened eyes opened and she beheld me. The thought was madness;it stirred the fiend within me—not I, but she, shall suffer;the murder I have committed because I am for ever robbed of all that she could give me,she shall atone. The crime had its source in her; be hers the punishment!Thanks to the lessons of Felix and the sanguinary laws of man, I had learned now to work mischief.I bent over her and placed the portrait securely in one of the folds of her dress. She moved again, and I fled.
“For some days I haunted the spot where these scenes had taken place, sometimes wishing to see you,sometimes resolved to quit the world and its miseries for ever.At length I wandered towards these mountains, and have ranged through their immense recesses,consumed by a burning passion which you alone can gratify.We may not part until you have promised to comply with my requisition. I am alone and miserable;man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me.My companion must be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create.”
Chapter 17
The being finished speaking and fixed his looks upon me in the expectation of a reply.But I was bewildered, perplexed, and unable to arrange my ideas sufficiently to understand the full extent of his proposition. He continued,
“You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being.This you alone can do, and I demand it of you as a right which you must not refuse to concede.”
The latter part of his tale had kindled anew in me the anger that had died away while he narrated his peaceful life among the cottagers,and as he said this I could no longer suppress the rage that burned within me.
“I do refuse it,” I replied; “and no torture shall ever extort a consent from me.You may render me the most miserable of men, but you shall never make me base in my own eyes.Shall I create another like yourself, whose joint wickedness might desolate the world. Begone!I have answered you; you may torture me, but I will never consent.”
“You are in the wrong,” replied the fiend; “and instead of threatening,I am content to reason with you. I am malicious because I am miserable.Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph; remember that,and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?You would not call it murder if you could precipitate me into one of those ice-rifts and destroy my frame,the work of your own hands. Shall I respect man when he condemns me?Let him live with me in the interchange of kindness,and instead of injury I would bestow every benefit upon him with tears of gratitude at his acceptance.But that cannot be; the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union.Yet mine shall not be the submission of abject slavery. I will revenge my injuries;if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my arch-enemy,because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred. Have a care;I will work at your destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart,so that you shall curse the hour of your birth.”
A fiendish rage animated him as he said this;his face was wrinkled into contortions too horrible for human eyes to behold;but presently he calmed himself and proceeded—
“I intended to reason. This passion is detrimental to me,for you do not reflect that _you_ are the cause of its excess.If any being felt emotions of benevolence towards me,I should return them a hundred and a hundredfold;for that one creature’s sake I would make peace with the whole kind!But I now indulge in dreams of bliss that cannot be realised.What I ask of you is reasonable and moderate; I demand a creature of another sex,but as hideous as myself; the gratification is small, but it is all that I can receive,and it shall content me. It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world;but on that account we shall be more attached to one another. Our lives will not be happy,but they will be harmless and free from the misery I now feel. Oh!My creator, make me happy; let me feel gratitude towards you for one benefit!Let me see that I excite the sympathy of some existing thing; do not deny me my request!”
I was moved. I shuddered when I thought of the possible consequences of my consent,but I felt that there was some justice in his argument.His tale and the feelings he now expressed proved him to be a creature of fine sensations,and did I not as his maker owe him all the portion of happiness that it was in my power to bestow?He saw my change of feeling and continued,
“If you consent, neither you nor any other human being shall ever see us again;I will go to the vast wilds of South America. My food is not that of man;I do not destroy the lamb and the kid to glut my appetite;acorns and berries afford me sufficient nourishment.My companion will be of the same nature as myself and will be content with the same fare.We shall make our bed of dried leaves; the sun will shine on us as on man and will ripen our food.The picture I present to you is peaceful and human,and you must feel that you could deny it only in the wantonness of power and cruelty.Pitiless as you have been towards me, I now see compassion in your eyes;let me seize the favourable moment and persuade you to promise what I so ardently desire.”
“You propose,” replied I, “to fly from the habitations of man,to dwell in those wilds where the beasts of the field will be your only companions. How can you,who long for the love and sympathy of man, persevere in this exile?You will return and again seek their kindness, and you will meet with their detestation;your evil passions will be renewed, and you will then have a companion to aid you in the task of destruction.This may not be; cease to argue the point, for I cannot consent.”
“How inconstant are your feelings!But a moment ago you were moved by my representations,and why do you again harden yourself to my complaints?I swear to you, by the earth which I inhabit, and by you that made me,that with the companion you bestow, I will quit the neighbourhood of man and dwell,as it may chance, in the most savage of places. My evil passions will have fled, for I shall meet with sympathy!My life will flow quietly away, and in my dying moments I shall not curse my maker.”
His words had a strange effect upon me. I compassionated him and sometimes felt a wish to console him,but when I looked upon him, when I saw the filthy mass that moved and talked,my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred.I tried to stifle these sensations; I thought that as I could not sympathise with him,I had no right to withhold from him the small portion of happiness which was yet in my power to bestow.
“You swear,” I said, “to be harmless; but have you not already shown a degree of malice that should reasonably make me distrust you?May not even this be a feint that will increase your triumph by affording a wider scope for your revenge?”
“How is this?I must not be trifled with, and I demand an answer. If I have no ties and no affections,hatred and vice must be my portion; the love of another will destroy the cause of my crimes,and I shall become a thing of whose existence everyone will be ignorant.My vices are the children of a forced solitude that I abhor,and my virtues will necessarily arise when I live in communion with an equal.I shall feel the affections of a sensitive being and become linked to the chain of existence and events from which I am now excluded. ”
I paused some time to reflect on all he had related and the various arguments which he had employed.I thought of the promise of virtues which he had displayed on the opening of his existence and the subsequent blight of all kindly feeling by the loathing and scorn which his protectors had manifested towards him. His power and threats were not omitted in my calculations; a creature who could exist in the ice-caves of the glaciers and hide himself from pursuit among the ridges of inaccessible precipices was a being possessing faculties it would be vain to cope with. After a long pause of reflection I concluded that the justice due both to him and my fellow creatures demanded of me that I should comply with his request. Turning to him, therefore, I said,
“I consent to your demand, on your solemn oath to quit Europe for ever,and every other place in the neighbourhood of man,as soon as I shall deliver into your hands a female who will accompany you in your exile.”
“I swear,” he cried, “by the sun, and by the blue sky of heaven,and by the fire of love that burns my heart, that if you grant my prayer,while they exist you shall never behold me again. Depart to your home and commence your labours;I shall watch their progress with unutterable anxiety;and fear not but that when you are ready I shall appear.”
Saying this, he suddenly quitted me, fearful, perhaps, of any change in my sentiments.I saw him descend the mountain with greater speed than the flight of an eagle,and quickly lost among the undulations of the sea of ice.