 CHAPTER 1 Did I request the Maker from my clay to mould me, man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to promote me?" Paradise Lost. Book Ten. Lines 743 to 45. To William Godwin, author of Political Justice, Caleb Williams, etc., these volumes are respectfully inscribed by the author. Preface. The event on which this fiction is founded has been supposed by Dr. Darwin and some of the physiological writers of Germany as not of impossible occurrence. I shall not be supposed as according the remotest degree of serious faith to such an imagination, yet in assuming it as the basis of a work of fancy, I have not considered myself as merely weaving a series of supernatural terrors. The event on which the interest of the story depends is exempt from the disadvantages of a mere tale of spectres or enchantment. It was recommended by the novelty of the situations which it develops, and, however impossible as a physical fact, affords a point of view to the imagination for the delineating of human passions more comprehensive and commanding than any which the ordinary relations of existing events can yield. I have thus endeavored to preserve the truth of the elementary principles of human nature while I have not scrupled to innovate upon their combinations. The Iliad, the tragic poetry of Greece, Shakespeare in the Tempest and Midsummer Night's Dream, and most especially Milton in Paradise Lost conform to this rule, and the most humble novelist who seeks to confer or receive amusement from his labours, may, without presumption, apply to prose fiction a licence, or rather a rule, from the adoption of which so many exquisite combinations of human feeling have resulted in the highest specimens of poetry. The circumstance on which my story rests was suggested in casual conversation. It was commenced partly as a source of amusement, and partly as an expedient for exercising any untried resources of mind. Other motives were mingled with these as the work proceeded. I am by no means indifferent to the manner in which whatever moral tendencies exist in the sentiments or characters it contains shall affect the reader, yet my chief concern in this respect has been limited to avoiding the innovating effects of the novels of the present day and to the exhibition of the amiableness of domestic affection and the excellence of universal virtue. The opinions which naturally spring from the character and situation of the hero are by no means to be conceived as existing always in my own conviction, nor is any inference justly to be drawn from the following pages as prejudicing any philosophical doctrine of whatever kind. It is a subject also of additional interest to the author that this story was begun in the majestic region where the scene is principally laid, and in society which cannot cease to be regretted. I passed the summer of 1816 in the environs of Geneva. The season was cold and rainy, and in the evenings we crowded around a blazing wood fire and occasionally amused ourselves with some German stories of ghosts which happened to fall into our hands. These tales excited in us a playful desire of imitation. Two other friends, a tale from the pen of one of whom would be far more acceptable to the public than anything I can ever hope to produce, and myself agreed to write each a story founded on some supernatural occurrence. The weather, however, suddenly became serene, and my two friends left me on a journey among the Alps and lost in the magnificent scenes which they present, all memory of their ghostly visions. The following tale is the only one which has been completed. End of Section 1 Section 2 of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Volume 1, Letter 1 to Mrs. Savill, England St. Petersburg, December 11th, 17, Blank Blank You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday, and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare and increasing confidence in the success of my undertaking. I am already far north of London, and as I walk in the streets of Petersburg I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks which braces my nerves and fills me with delight. Do you understand this feeling? This breeze which has travelled from the regions towards which I am advancing gives me a foretaste of those icy climbs. Inspired by this wind of promise, my daydreams become more fervent and vivid. I try in vain to be persuaded that the pole is the seat of frost and desolation. It ever presents itself to my imagination as the region of beauty and delight. There, Margaret, the sun is for ever visible, its broad disc just skirting the horizon and diffusing a perpetual splendour. There, for with your leave, my sister, I will put some trust in preceding navigators, there snow and frost are banished, and sailing over a calm sea we may be wafted to a land surpassing in wonders and in beauty every region hitherto discovered on the habitable globe. Its productions and features may be without example as the phenomena of the heavenly bodies undoubtedly are in those undiscovered solitudes. What may not be expected in a country of eternal light? I may there discover the wondrous power which attracts the needle and may regulate a thousand celestial observations that require only this voyage to render their seeming eccentricities consistent for ever. I shall associate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man. These are my enticements, and they are sufficient to conquer all fear of danger or death, and to induce me to commence this laborious voyage with the joy a child feels when he embarks in a little boat with his holiday mates on an expedition of discovery up his native river. But supposing all these conjectures to be false, you cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all mankind to the last generation by discovering a passage near the pole to those countries to reach which at present so many months a requisite, or by ascertaining the secret of the magnet, which if at all possible can only be affected by an undertaking such as mine. These reflections have dispelled the agitation with which I began my letter, and I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven, for nothing contributes so much to tranquilise the mind as a steady purpose, a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. This expedition has been the favourite dream of my early years. I have read with ardour the accounts of the various voyages which have been made in the prospect of arriving at the North Pacific Ocean through the seas which surround the pole. You may remember that a history of all the voyages made for purposes of discovery composed the whole of our good Uncle Thomas's library. My education was neglected, yet I was passionately fond of reading. These volumes were my study day and night, and my familiarity with them increased that regret which I had felt as a child on learning that my father's dying injunction had forbidden my Uncle to allow me to embark in a seafaring life. These visions faded when I perused for the first time those poets whose effusions entranced my soul and lifted it to heaven. I also became a poet, and for one year lived in a paradise of my own creation. I imagined that I also might obtain a niche in the temple where the names of Homer and Shakespeare are consecrated. You are well acquainted with my failure, and how heavily I bore the disappointment. But just at that time I inherited the fortune of my cousin, and my thoughts were turned into the channel of their earlier bent. Six years have passed since I resolved on my present undertaking. I can, even now, remember the hour from which I dedicated myself to this great enterprise. I commenced by enuring my body to hardship. I accompanied the whale-fishers on several expeditions to the North Sea. I voluntarily endured cold, famine, thirst, and want of sleep. I often worked harder than the common sailors during the day, and devoted my nights to the study of mathematics, the theory of medicine, and those branches of physical science from which a naval adventurer might derive the greatest practical advantage. Twice I actually hired myself as an undermate in a Greenland whaler and acquitted myself to admiration. I must own I felt a little proud when my captain offered me the second dignity in the vessel, and entreated me to remain with the greatest earnestness so valuable did he consider my services. And now, dear Margaret, do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose? My life might have been passed in ease and luxury, but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path. Oh, that some encouraging voice would answer in the affirmative. My courage and my resolution is firm, but my hopes fluctuate, and my spirits are often depressed. I am about to proceed on a long and difficult voyage, the emergencies of which will demand all my fortitude. I am required not only to raise the spirits of others, but sometimes to sustain my own when theirs are failing. This is the most favourable period for travelling in Russia. They fly quickly over the snow in their sledges. The motion is pleasant, and in my opinion far more agreeable than that of an English stagecoach. The cold is not excessive if you are apt in furs, a dress which I have already adopted, for there is a great difference between walking the deck and remaining seated motionless for hours, when no exercise prevents me from actually freezing in your veins. I have no ambition to lose my life on the post-road between St. Petersburg and the Archangel. I shall depart for the latter town in a fortnight or three weeks, and my intention is to hire a ship there, which can easily be done by paying the insurance for the owner, and to engage as many sailors as I think necessary among those who are accustomed to the whale-fishing. I do not intend to sail until the month of June, and when shall I return? Ah, dear sister, how can I answer this question? If I succeed many, many months, perhaps years will pass before you and I may meet. If I fail, you will see me again soon, or never. Farewell, my dear, excellent Margaret! Heaven shower down blessings on you, and save me that I may again and again testify my gratitude for all your love and kindness. Your affectionate brother, R. Walton. End of Section 2 Section 3 of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Slippery Rocks recording is in the public domain. Volume 1, Letter 2, to Mrs. Savill, England Archangel, 28th March, 17, Blank, Blank How slowly the time passes here, encompassed as I am by frost and snow, yet a second step is taken towards my enterprise. I have hired a vessel, and am occupied in collecting my sailors. Those whom I have already engaged appear to be men on whom I can depend, and are certainly possessed of dauntless courage. But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy, and the absence of the object of which I now feel is a most severe evil. I have no friend, Margaret, when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success there will be none to participate my joy. If I am assailed by disappointment no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection. I shall commit my thoughts to paper it is true, but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sympathise with me, whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans. How would such a friend repair the faults of your poor brother? I am too ardent in execution, and too impatient of difficulties. But it is a still greater evil to me that I am self-educated. For the first fourteen years of my life I ran wild on a common and read nothing but our Uncle Thomas' books of voyages. At that age I became acquainted with the celebrated poets of our own country. But it was only when it had ceased to be in my power to derive its most important benefits from such a conviction that I perceived the necessity of becoming acquainted with more languages than that of my native country. Now I am twenty-eight, and am, in reality, more illiterate than many schoolboys of fifteen. It is true that I have thought more, and that my daydreams are more extended and magnificent, but they want, as the painters call it, keeping, and I greatly need a friend who would have sense enough not to despise me as romantic, and affection enough for me to endeavour to regulate my mind. Well, these are the useless complaints. I shall certainly find no friend on the wide ocean, nor even here in Archangel, among merchants and seamen. Yet some feelings, unallied to the dross of human nature, beat even in these rugged bosoms. My lieutenant, for instance, is a man of wonderful courage and enterprise. He is madly desirous of glory. He is an Englishman, and in the midst of national and professional prejudices, unsoffered by cultivation, retains some of the noblest endowments of humanity. I first became acquainted with him on board a whale vessel. Finding that he was unemployed in this city, I easily engaged him to assist in my enterprise. The master is a person of an excellent disposition, and is remarkable in the ship for his gentleness and the mildness of his discipline. He is indeed of so amiable a nature that he will not hunt, a favorite, and almost the only amusement here, because he cannot endure to spill blood. He is, moreover, heroically generous. Some years ago he loved a young Russian lady of moderate fortune, and having amassed a considerable sum in prize money, the father of the girl consented to the match. He saw his mistress once before the destined ceremony, but she was bathed in tears, and throwing herself at his feet, entreated him to spare her, confessing at the same time that she loved another, but that he was poor, and that her father would never consent to the union. My generous friend reassured the supplient, and on being informed of the name of her lover, instantly abandoned his pursuit. He had already bought a farm with his money, on which he had designed to pass the remainder of his life, but he bestowed the whole and his rival, together with the remains of his prize money to purchase stock, and then himself solicited the young woman's father to consent to her marriage with her lover. But the old man decidedly refused, thinking himself bound in honor to my friend, who, when he found the father inexorable, quitted his country, nor returned until he heard that his former mistress was married according to her inclinations. What a noble fellow you will exclaim! He is so, but then he has passed all his life on board a vessel, and has scarcely an idea beyond the rope and the shroud. But do not suppose that because I complain a little, or because I can conceive a consolation for my toils which I may never know that I am wavering in my resolutions. Those are as fixed as fate, and my voyage is only now delayed until the weather shall permit my embarkation. The winter has been dreadfully severe, but the spring promises well, and it is considered as a remarkably early season, so that perhaps I may sail sooner than I expected. I shall do nothing rashly, you know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and considerateness, whenever the safety of others is committed to my care. I cannot describe to you my sensations on the near prospect of my undertaking. It is impossible to communicate to you a conception of the trembling sensation, half pleasurable and half fearful, with which I am preparing to depart. I am going to unexplored regions, to the land of mist and snow, but I shall kill no albatross, therefore do not be alarmed for my safety. Shall I meet you again, after having traversed immense seas, and returned by the most southern cape of Africa or America? I dare not expect such success, yet I cannot bear to look on the reverse side of the picture. Continue to write to me by every opportunity. I may receive your letters, though the chance is very doubtful, on some occasions when I need them most to support my spirits. I love you very tenderly. Remember me with affection, should you never hear from me again. Your Affectionate Brother Robert Walton My dear sister, I write a few lines in haste to say that I am safe and well advanced on my voyage. This letter will reach England by a merchantman now on its homeward voyage from Archangel, more fortunate than I, who may not see my native land perhaps for many years. I am, however, in good spirits, my men are bold and apparently firm of purpose, nor do the floating sheets of ice that continually pass us, indicating the dangers of the region towards which we are advancing, appear to dismay them. We have already reached a very high latitude, but it is the height of summer, and, although not so warm as in England, the southern gales which blow us speedily towards those shores which I so ardently desire to attain, breathe a degree of renovating warmth which I had not expected. No incidents have hitherto befallen us that would make a figure in a letter. One or two stiff gales and the breaking of a mast are accidents which experienced navigators scarcely remember to record, and I should be well content if nothing worse happened to us during our voyage. Adieu, my dear Margaret! Be assured that, for my own sake, as well as yours, I will not rashly encounter danger. I will be cool, persevering, and prudent. Remember me to all my English friends. Most affectionately yours, R.W. End of Section 4 Section 5 of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Volume 1 Letter 4 to Mrs. Savill, England August 5th 17 Blank Blank So strange an accident has happened to us that I cannot forebear recording it, although it is very probable that you will see me before these papers can come into your possession. Last Monday, July 31st, we were nearly surrounded by ice, which closed in the ship on all sides, scarcely leaving her the sea-room in which she floated. Our situation was somewhat dangerous, especially as we were compassed round by a very thick fog. We accordingly lay too, hoping that some change would take place in the atmosphere and weather. About two o'clock the mist cleared away, and we beheld stretched out in every direction, vast and irregular planes of ice, which seemed to have no end. Some of my comrades groaned, and my own mind began to grow watchful with anxious thoughts, when a strange sight suddenly attracted our attention and diverted our solicitude from our own situation. We perceived a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile. A being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge and guided the dogs. We watched the rapid progress of the traveller with our telescopes, until he was lost among the distant inequalities of the ice. This appearance excited our unqualified wonder. We were, as we believed, many hundred miles from any land, but this apparition seemed to denote that it was not in reality so distant as we had imposed. Shut in, however, by ice, it was impossible to follow his track, which we had observed with the greatest attention. About two hours after this occurrence, we heard the ground see, and before night the ice broke and freed our ship. We, however, lay too until the morning, fearing to encounter in the dark those large loose masses which float about after the breaking up of the ice. I profited of this time to rest for a few hours. In the morning, however, as soon as it was light, I went upon deck and found all the sailors busy on one side of the vessel, apparently talking to someone in the sea. It was in fact a sledge, like that we had seen before, which had drifted towards us in the night on a large fragment of ice. Only one dog remained alive, but there was a human being within it, whom the sailors were persuading to enter the vessel. He was not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but a European. When I appeared on deck, the master said, Here is our captain, and he will not allow you to perish on the open sea. On perceiving me, the stranger addressed me in English, although with a foreign accent. Before I come on board your vessel, said he, Will you have the kindness to inform me whether you are bound? You may conceive my astonishment on hearing such a question addressed to me from a man on a brink of destruction, and to whom I should have supposed that my vessel would have been a resource which you would not have exchanged for the most precious wealth the earth can afford. I replied, however, that we were on a voyage of discovery towards the North Pole. Upon hearing this he appeared satisfied and consented to come on board. Good God! Margaret, if you had seen the man who thus capitulated for his safety, your surprise would have been boundless. His limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering. I never saw a man in so wretched a condition. We attempted to carry him into the cabin, but as soon as he had quitted the fresh air he fainted. We accordingly brought him back to the deck, and restored him to animation by rubbing him with brandy and forcing him to swallow a small quantity. As soon as he showed signs of life, we wrapped him up in blankets and placed him near the chimney of the kitchen stove. By slow degrees he recovered and ate a little soup, which restored him wonderfully. Two days passed in this manner before he was able to speak, and I often fear that his sufferings had deprived him of understanding. When he had in some measure recovered, I removed him to my own cabin and attended on him as much as my duty would permit. I never saw a more interesting creature. His eyes have generally an expression of wildness and even madness, but there are moments when, if any one performs an act of kindness towards him, or does him any the most trifling service, his whole countenance is lighted up, as it were, with a beam of benevolence and sweetness that I never saw equalled. But he is generally melancholy and despairing, and sometimes he gnashes his teeth, as if impatient of the weight of woes that oppresses him. When my guest was a little recovered, I had great trouble to keep off the men who wished to ask him a thousand questions, but I would not allow him to be tormented by their idle curiosity in a state of body and mind whose restoration evidently depended upon entire repose. Once, however, the lieutenant asked why he had come so far upon the ice in so strange a vehicle. His countenance instantly assumed an aspect of the deepest gloom, and he replied, to seek one who fled from me. And did the man whom you pursued travel in the same fashion? Yes. Then I fancy we have seen him, for the day before we picked you up we saw some dogs drawing a sledge with a man in it across the ice. This aroused at the stranger's attention, and he asked a multitude of questions concerning the route which the daemon, as he called him, had pursued. Soon after, when he was alone with me, he said, I have doubtless excited your curiosity as well as that of these good people, but you are too considerate to make inquiries. Suddenly it would indeed be very impertinent and inhuman in me to trouble you with any inquisitiveness of mine. And yet you rescued me from a strange and perilous situation. You have benevolently restored me to life. Soon after this he inquired if I thought that the breaking up of the ice had destroyed the other sledge. I replied that I could not answer with any degree of certainty, for the ice had not broken until near midnight, and the traveller might have arrived at a place of safety before that time, but of this I could not judge. From this time the stranger seemed very eager to be upon deck to watch for the sledge which had before appeared, but I have persuaded him to remain in the cabin, for he is far too weak to sustain the rawness of the atmosphere. But I have promised that someone should watch for him and give him instant notice if any new object should appear in sight. Such is my journal of what relates to this strange occurrence up to the present day. The stranger has gradually improved in health, but is very silent and appears uneasy when any one except myself enters his cabin. Yet his manners are so conciliating and gentle that the sailors are all interested in him, although they have had very little communication with him. For my own part I begin to love him as a brother, and his constant and deep grief fills me with sympathy and compassion. He must have been a noble creature in his better days, being now in wreck so attractive and amiable. I said in one of my letters, my dear Margaret, that I should find no friend on the wide ocean. Yet I have found a man who, before his spirit had been broken by misery, I should have been happy to have possessed as the brother of my heart. I shall continue my journal concerning the stranger at intervals, should I have any fresh incidents to record. August 13th, 17 Blank Blank My affection for my guest increases every day. He excites at once my admiration and my pity to an astonishing degree. How can I see so noble a creature destroyed by misery without feeling the most poignant grief? He is so gentle, yet so wise, his mind is so cultivated, and when he speaks, although his words are cold with the racist art, yet they flow with rapidity and unparalleled eloquence. He is now much recovered from his illness, and is continually on the deck, apparently watching for the sledge that preceded his own. Yet, although unhappy, he is not so utterly occupied by his own misery, but that he interests himself deeply in the employments of others. He has asked me many questions concerning my design, and I have related my little history frankly to him. He appeared pleased with the confidence and suggested several alterations in my plan which I shall find exceedingly useful. There is no pedantry in his manner, but all he does appears to spring solely from the interest he instinctively takes in the welfare of those who surround him. He is often overcome by gloom, and then he sits by himself and tries to overcome all that is sullen or unsocial in his humour. These paroxysms pass from him like a cloud from before the sun, though his dejection never leaves him. I have endeavoured to win his confidence, and I trust that I have succeeded. One day I mentioned to him the desire I had always felt of finding a friend who might sympathise with me and to direct me by his counsel. I said I did not belong to that class of men who were offended by advice. I am self-educated, and perhaps I hardly rely sufficiently upon my own powers. I wish, therefore, that my companion should be wiser and more experienced than myself to confirm and support me, nor have I believed it impossible to find a true friend. I agree with you, replied the stranger, in believing that friendship is not only a desirable but a possible acquisition. I once had a friend, the most noble of human creatures, and am entitled, therefore, to judge respecting friendship. You have hope, and the world before you, and have no cause for despair. But I—I have lost everything, and cannot begin life anew. As he said this, his countenance became expressive of a calm, settled grief that touched me to the heart. But he was silent, and presently retired to his cabin. Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. Such a man has a double existence. He may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments. Yet when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures. Will you laugh at the enthusiasm I express concerning this divine wanderer? If you do, you must have certainly lost that simplicity which was once your characteristic charm. Yet, if you will, smile at the warmth of my expressions, while I find every day new causes for repeating them. August 19th, 17—blank, blank. Yesterday, the stranger said to me, You may easily perceive, Captain Walton, that I have suffered great and unparalleled misfortunes. I had determined once that the memory of these evils should die with me, but you have won me to alter my determination. You seek for knowledge and wisdom as I once did, and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be as serpent to sting you as mine has been. I do not know that the relation of my misfortunes will be useful to you. Yet, if you are inclined, listen to my tale. I believe that the strange incidents connected with it will afford a view of nature which may enlarge your faculties and understanding. You will hear of powers and occurrences, such as you have been accustomed to believe impossible, but I do not doubt that my tale conveys in its series internal evidence of the truth of the events of which it is composed. You may easily imagine that I was much gratified by the offered communication, yet I could not endure that he should renew his grief by a recital of his misfortunes. I felt the greatest eagerness to hear the promised narrative, partly from curiosity, and partly from a strong desire to ameliorate his fate if it were in my power. I expressed these feelings in my answer. I thank you, he replied, for your sympathy, but it is useless. My fate is nearly fulfilled. I wait but for one event, and then I shall repose in peace. I understand your feeling, continued he, perceiving that I wished to interrupt him, but you are mistaken, my friend, if thus you will allow me to name you. Nothing can alter my destiny. Listen to my history, and you will perceive how irrevocably it is determined. He then told me that he would commence his narrative the next day when I should be at leisure. This promised drew for me the warmest thanks. I have resolved, every night, when I am not engaged, to record as nearly as possible in his own words what he has related during the day. If I should be engaged, I will at least make notes. This manuscript will doubtless afford you the greatest pleasure, but to me, who know him, and who hear it from his own lips, with what interest and sympathy in some future day. Volume 1 Chapter 1 I am by birth a Genovese, and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic. My ancestors had been for many years counsellors and syndics, and my father had filled public situations with honor and reputation. He was respected by all who knew him for his integrity and indefatigable attention to public business. He passed his younger days perpetually occupied by the affairs of his country, and it was not until the decline of life that he thought of marrying and bestowing on the state sons who might carry his virtues and his name down to posterity. As the circumstances of his marriage illustrate his character, I cannot refrain from relating them. One of his most intimate friends was a merchant, who, from a flourishing state, fell through numerous mist chances into poverty. This man, whose name was Beaufort, was of a proud and unbending disposition and could not bear to live in poverty and oblivion in the same country where he had formerly languished for his rank and magnificence. Having paid his debts, therefore, in the most honorable manner, he retreated with his daughter to the town of Lucerne, where he lived unknown and in wretchedness. My father loved Beaufort with the truest friendship and was deeply grieved by his retreat in these unfortunate circumstances. He grieved also for the loss and endeavour to persuade him to begin the world again through his credit and assistance. Beaufort had taken effectual measures to conceal himself and it was ten months before my father discovered his abode. Overjoyed at this discovery he hastened to the house which was situated on a mean street near the Royce. But when he entered, misery and despair alone welcomed him. He had a small sum of money from the wreck of his fortunes sufficient to provide him with sustenance for some months and in the meantime he hoped to procure some respectable employment in a merchant's house. The interval was consequently spent in inaction. His grief only became more deep and rankling when he had leisure for reflection and at length it took so fast hold of his mind that at the end of his life. His daughter attended him with the greatest tenderness but she saw with despair that their little fund was rapidly decreasing and that there was no other prospect of support. But Caroline Beaufort possessed a mind of an uncommon mould and her courage rose to support her in her adversity. She procured plain work, she plaited straw and by various means contrived to several months passed in this manner. Her father grew worse, her time was more entirely occupied in attending him, her means of subsistence decreased and in the tenth month her father died in her arms leaving her an orphan and a beggar. This last blow overcame her and she knelt by Beaufort's coffin weeping bitterly when my father entered the chamber. He came like a protecting spirit to the self to his care and after the interment of his friend he conducted her to Geneva and placed her under the protection of a relation. Two years after this event Caroline became his wife. When my father became a husband and a parent he found his time so occupied by the duties of his new situation that he relinquished many of his public employments and devoted himself to the duties I was the eldest and the destined successor to all his labours and utility. No creature could have more tender parents than mine. My improvement and health were their constant care, especially as I remained for several years their only child. But before I continue my narrative I must record an incident which took place when I was four years of age. My father had a sister whom and who had married early in life an Italian gentleman. Soon after her marriage she had accompanied her husband into his native country and for some years my father had very little communication with her. About the time I mentioned she died and a few months afterwards he received a letter from her husband acquainting him with his intention of marrying an Italian lady and requesting my father to take his deceased sister. It is my wish, he said, that you should consider her as your own daughter and educate her thus. Her mother's fortune is secured to her, the documents of which I will commit to your keeping. Reflect upon this proposition and decide whether you would prefer educating your niece yourself to her being brought up by a stepmother. My father did not hesitate and immediately went to Italy that time to visit Elizabeth to her future home. I have often heard my mother say that she was at that time the most beautiful child she had ever seen and showed signs even then of a gentle and affectionate disposition. These indications and a desire to bind as closely as possible the ties of domestic love determined my mother to consider Elizabeth as my future wife, a design which could be considered as my own. From this time Elizabeth Levenza became my playfellow and, as we grew older, my friend. She was docile and good tempered yet gay and playful as a summer insect. Although she was lively and animated her feelings were strong and deep and her disposition uncommonly affectionate. She was restrained and caprice. Her imagination was luxuriant yet her capability of application was great. Her person was the image of her mind, her hazel eyes although as lively as a bird's possessed an attractive softness. Her figure was light and airy and though capable of enduring great fatigue she appeared the most fragile creature in the world. While I admired her understanding and fancy I loved to tend on her as I should on a favourite animal and I never saw so much grace both of person and mind united to so little pretension. Everyone adored Elizabeth. If the servants had any request to make it was always through her intercession. We were strangers to any species of disunion and dispute for although there was a great dissimilitude in our characters there was a harmony in that very dissimilitude. I was more calm and philosophical than my companion yet my temper was not so yielding. My application was of longer endurance but it was not so severe whilst it endured. I delighted in investigating the facts relative to the actual world she busied herself in following the aerial creations of the poets. The world was to me a secret desire to discover. To her it was a vacancy which she sought to people with imaginations of her own. My brothers were considerably younger than myself but I had a friend in one of my school fellows who compensated for this deficiency. Henry Claervel was the son of a merchant of Geneva an intimate friend of my father. He was a boy of singular talent and fancy. I remember when I was nine years old he wrote a fairy tale which was the delight and amazement of all his companions. His favourite study consisted in books of chivalry and romance and when very young I can remember that we used to act plays composed by him out of these favourite books the principal characters of which were Orlando, Robin Hood, Amidus and St. George. No youth could have passed more happily than mine. My parents were indulgent and my companions amiable. Our studies were never forced and by some means we always had an end placed in view which excited us to ardour in the prosecution of them. It was by this method and not by emulation that we were urged to application. Elizabeth was not incited to apply herself to drawing that her companions might not outstrip her but through the desire of pleasing her aunt by the representation of some favourite scene done by her own hand. We learned Latin and English that we might read the writings in those languages and so far from study being made odious to us through punishment we loved application and our amusements would have been the labours of other children. Perhaps we did not read so many books or learn languages so quickly as those who are disciplined according to ordinary methods but what we learned was impressed the more deeply on our memories. In this description of our domestic circle I include Henry Clerval for he was constantly with us. He went to school with me and generally passed the afternoon at our house for being an only child and destitute of companions at home his father was well pleased that he should find associates at our house and we were never completely happy when Clerval was absent. I feel pleasure in dwelling on the recollections of childhood before misfortune had tainted my mind and changed its bright visions of extensive usefulness into gloomy and narrow reflections upon self. But in drawing the picture of my early days I must not omit to record those events which led by insensible steps to my after-tale of misery for when I would account to myself for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled my destiny I found it arose like a mountain river from ignoble and almost forgotten sources but swelling as it proceeded it became the torrent which in its course has swept away all my hopes and joys. Natural philosophy is the genius that has regulated my fate I desire therefore in this narration to state those facts which led to my predilection for that science. When I was thirteen years of age we all went on a party of pleasure to the baths near Thonan the inclemency of the weather obliged us to remain a day confined to the inn. In this house I chanced to find a volume of the works of Cornelius Agrippa I opened it with apathy the theory which he attempts to demonstrate and the wonderful facts which he relates soon changed this feeling into enthusiasm a new light seemed to dawn upon my mind and bounding with joy I communicated my discovery to my father I cannot help remarking here the many opportunities instructors possess of directing the attention of their pupils to useful knowledge which they utterly neglect My father looked carelessly at the title page of my book and said ah Cornelius Agrippa my dear Victor do not waste your time upon this it is sad trash if instead of this remark my father had taken the pains to explain to me that the principles of Agrippa had been entirely exploded and that a modern system of science had been introduced which possessed much greater powers than the ancient because the powers of the latter were chimerical while those of the former were real and practical under such circumstances I should certainly have thrown Agrippa aside and with my imagination warmed as it was should probably have applied myself to the more rational theory of chemistry which has resulted from modern discoveries it is even possible that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin but the cursory glance my father had taken of my volume means assured me that he was acquainted with its contents and I continued to read with the greatest avidity when I returned home my first care was to procure the whole works of this author and afterwards of Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus I read and studied the wild fancies of these writers with delight they appeared to me treasures known to few beside myself and although I often wished to communicate these secret stores to my father yet his indefinite censure of my favourite Agrippa always withheld me I disclosed my discoveries to Elizabeth therefore under a promise of strict secrecy but she did not interest herself in the subject and I was left by her to pursue my studies alone it may appear very strange that a disciple of Albertus Magnus should arise in the 18th century but our family was not scientific and I had not attended any of the lectures given at the schools of Geneva my dreams were therefore undisturbed by reality and I entered with the greatest diligence into the search of the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life but the latter obtained my undivided attention wealth was an inferior object but what glory would attend the discovery if I could banish disease from the human frame and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death nor were these my only visions the raising of ghosts or devils was a promise liberally accorded by my favourite authors the fulfilment of which I most eagerly sought and if my incantations were always unsuccessful I attributed the failure rather to my own inexperience and mistake than to a want of skill or fidelity in my instructors the natural phenomena that take place every day before our eyes did not escape my examinations distillation and the wonderful effects of steam processes of which my favourite authors were utterly ignorant excited my astonishment but my utmost wonder was engaged by some experiments on an air-pump which I saw employed by a gentleman whom we were in the habit of visiting the ignorance of the early philosophers on these and several other points served to decrease their credit with me but I could not entirely throw them aside before some other system should occupy their place in my mind when I was about fifteen years old we had retired to our house near Belle Rive when we witnessed most violent and terrible thunderstorm it advanced from behind the mountains of Dura and a thunder burst at once with frightful loudness of the waters of the heavens I remained while the storm lasted watching its progress with curiosity and delight as I stood at the door on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about twenty yards from our house and so soon as the dazzling light vanished the oak had disappeared and nothing remained but a blasted stump when we visited it the next morning we found the tree shattered in a singular manner it was not splintered by the shock but entirely reduced to thin ribbons of wood I never beheld anything so utterly destroyed the catastrophe of this tree excited my extreme astonishment and I eagerly inquired of my father the nature and origin of thunder and lightning he replied electricity describing at the same time the various effects of that power he constructed a small electrical machine and exhibited a few experiments he made also a kite with a wire and string which drew down that fluid from the clouds this last stroke completed the overthrow of Cornelia Segrippa Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus who had so long reigned the lords but by some fatality I did not feel inclined to commence the study of any modern system and this disinclination was influenced by the following circumstance my father expressed a wish that I should attend a course of lectures upon natural philosophy to which I cheerfully consented some accident prevented my attending these lectures until the course was nearly finished the lecture, being therefore one of the last was entirely incomprehensible to me the professor discussed with the greatest fluency of potassium and boron of sulfates and oxides terms to which I could affix no idea and I became disgusted with the science of natural philosophy although I still read Pliny and Buffon with delight authors in my estimation of nearly equal interest and utility my occupations at this age were principally the mathematics and most of the branches of study appertaining to that science I was busily employed in learning languages Latin was already familiar to me and I began to read some of the easiest Greek authors without the help of a lexicon I also perfectly understood English and German this is the list of my accomplishments at the age of seventeen and you may conceive that my hours were fully employed in acquiring and maintaining a knowledge of this various literature another task also devolved upon me when I became the instructor of my brothers Ernest was six years younger than myself and was my principal pupil he had been afflicted with ill health from his infancy through which Elizabeth and I had been his constant nurses his disposition was gentle but he was incapable of any severe application William, the youngest of our family, was yet an infant and the most beautiful little fellow in the world his lively blue eyes dimpled cheeks and endearing manners inspired the tenderest affection such was our domestic circle from which care and pain seemed forever banished my father directed our studies and my mother partook of our enjoyments neither of us possessed the slightest preeminence over the other the voice of command was never heard amongst us but mutual affection engaged us all to comply with and obey the slightest desire of each other End of Section 6 Section 7 of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley this LibriVox recording is in the public domain when I had attained the age of seventeen my parents resolved that I should become a student at the University of Ingolstadt I had hitherto attended the schools of Geneva but my father thought it necessary for the completion of my education that I should be made acquainted with other customs than those of my native country my departure was therefore fixed at an early date but before the day resolved upon could arrive the first misfortune of my life occurred an omen as it were was my future misery Elizabeth had caught the scarlet fever but her illness was not severe and she quickly recovered during her confinement many arguments had been urged to persuade my mother to refrain from attending upon her she had at first yielded to our entreaties but when she heard that her favourite was recovering she could no longer debar herself from her company and entered her chamber long before the danger of infection was passed the consequences of this imprudence were fatal on the third day my mother sickened her fever was very malignant and the looks of her attendance prognosticated the worst event on her deathbed the fortitude and benignity of this admirable woman did not desert her she joined the hands of Elizabeth and myself my children my firmest hopes of future happiness were placed on the prospect of your union this expectation will now be the consolation of your father Elizabeth, my love you must supply my place to your younger cousins alas I regret that I am taken from you and happy and beloved as I have been is it not hard to quit you all but these are not thoughts befitting me I will endeavour to resign myself cheerfully to death and will indulge a hope of meeting you in another world she died calmly and her countenance expressed affection even in death I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil the void that presents itself to the soul and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance it is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she whom we saw every day and whose very existence appeared a part of our own can have departed forever that the brightness of a beloved eye can have been extinguished and the sound of a voice so familiar and dear to the ear can be hushed never more to be heard these are the reflections of the first days but when the lapse of time proves the reality of the evil then the actual bitterness of grief commences yet from whom has not that rude hand rent away some dear connection and why should I describe a sorrow which all have felt and must feel the time at length arrives when grief is rather an indulgence than a necessity and the smile that plays upon the lips though it may be deemed a sacrilege is not banished my mother was dead but we still had duties which we ought to perform we must continue our course with the rest and learn to think ourselves fortunate whilst one remains whom the spoiler has not seized my journey to Ingolstadt which had been deferred by these events was now again determined upon I obtained from my father a respite of some weeks this period was spent sadly my mother's death and my speedy departure depressed our spirits but Elizabeth endeavored to renew the spirit of cheerfulness in our little society since the death of her aunt her mind had acquired new firmness and vigor she determined to fulfill her duties with the greatest exactness and she felt that that most imperious duty of rendering her uncle and cousins happy had devolved upon her she consoled me amused her uncle instructed my brothers and I never beheld her so enchanting as at this time when she was continually endeavouring to contribute to the happiness of others entirely forgetful of herself the day of my departure at length arrived I had taken leave of all my friends except in Clairval who spent the last evening with us he bitterly lamented that he was unable to accompany me but his father could not be persuaded with him, intending that he should become a partner with him in business in compliance with his favourite theory that learning was superfluous in the commerce of ordinary life Henry had a refined mind he had no desire to be idle and was well pleased to become his father's partner but he believed that a man might become a very good trader and yet possess a cultivated understanding we sat late listening to his complaints and making many little arrangements for the future the next morning early I departed tears gushed from the eyes of Elizabeth they proceeded partly from sorrow at my departure and partly because she reflected that the same journey was to have taken place three months before when a mother's blessing would have accompanied me I threw myself into the chase that was to convey me away and indulged in the most melancholy reflections I who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions continually engaged in endeavouring to bestow mutual pleasure I was now alone in the university, wither I was going I must form my own friends and be my own protector my life had hitherto been remarkably secluded and domestic and this had given me invincible repugnance to new countenances for my brothers, Elizabeth and Clairval these were old familiar faces but I believed myself totally unfitted for the company of strangers such were my reflections as I commenced my journey but as I proceeded my spirits and hopes rose I ardently desired the acquisition of knowledge I had often, when at home thought it hard to remain during my youth cooped up in one place and had longed to enter the world and take my station among other human beings now my desires were complied with and it would indeed have been folly to repent I had sufficient leisure for these and many other reflections during my journey to Ingolstadt which was long and fatiguing at length the high white steeple of the town met my eyes I alighted and was conducted to my solitary apartment to spend the evening as I pleased the next morning I delivered my letters of introduction and paid a visit to some of the principal professors and, among others to Monsieur Cramp professor of natural philosophy he received me with politeness and asked me several questions concerning my progress in the different branches of science appertaining to natural philosophy I mentioned it is true with fear and trembling the only authors I had ever read upon those subjects the professor stared have you, he said really spent your time in studying such nonsense I replied in the affirmative every minute continued Monsieur Cramp with warmth every instant that you have wasted on those books is utterly and entirely lost you have burdened your memory with coded systems and useless names good God in what desert lands have you lived when no one was kind enough to inform you that these fancies which you have so greedily imbibed are a thousand years old and as musty as they are ancient I little expected in this enlightened and scientific age to find a disciple of albertus magnus and paracelsus my dear sir you must begin your studies entirely anew so saying he stepped aside and wrote down a list of several books treating of natural philosophy which he desired me to procure and dismissed me after mentioning that in the beginning of the following week he intended to commence a course of lectures upon natural philosophy in its general relations and that Monsieur Waldman, a fellow professor would lecture upon chemistry the alternate days that he missed I returned home not disappointed for I had long considered those authors useless whom the professor had so strongly reprobated but I did not feel much inclined to study the books which I had procured at his recommendation Monsieur Crimp was a little squat man with a gruff voice and repulsive countenance the teacher therefore did not pre-possess me in favour of his doctrine besides I had a contempt for the uses of modern natural philosophy it was very different when the masters of the science sought immortality and power such views, although futile were grand but now the scene was changed the ambition of the inquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth such were my reflections during the first two or three days spent almost in solitude but as the ensuing week commenced I thought of the information which Monsieur Crimp had given me concerning the lectures and although I could not consent to go and hear that little conceited fellow deliver sentences out of a pulpit I recollected what he had said of Monsieur Waldman whom I had never seen as he had hitherto been out of town partly from curiosity and partly from idleness I went into the lecturing-room which Monsieur Waldman entered shortly after this professor was very unlike his colleague he appeared about fifty years of age but with an aspect expressive of the greatest benevolence a few grey hairs covered his temples but those at the back of his head were nearly black his person was short but remarkably erect the sweetest I had ever heard he began his lecture by a recapitulation of the history of chemistry and the various improvements made by different men of learning pronouncing with fervour the names of the most distinguished discoverers he then took a cursory view of the present state of the science and explained many of its elementary terms after having made a few preparatory experiments he concluded with a panagyric upon modern chemistry the terms of which I shall never forget the ancient teachers of this science said he promised impossibilities and performed nothing the modern masters promise very little they know that metals cannot be transmuted and that the elixir of life is a chimera but these philosophers whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt and used to pour over the microscope or crucible have indeed performed miracles they penetrate into the recesses of nature and show how she works in her hiding places they ascend into the heavens they have discovered how the blood circulates and the nature of the air we breathe they have acquired new and almost unlimited powers they can command the thunders of heaven, mimic the earthquake and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows I departed highly pleased with the professor and his lecture and paid him a visit the same evening his manners in private were even more mild and attractive than in public for there was a certain dignity in his mean during his lecture which in his own house was replaced by the greatest affability and kindness he heard with attention my little narration during my studies and smiled at the names of Cornelia Sagrippa and Paracelsus but without the contempt that Monsieur Crump had exhibited he said that these were men to whose indefatigable zeal modern philosophers were indebted for most of the foundations of their knowledge they had left to us as an easier task to give new names arranging connected classifications the facts which they in a great degree had been the instruments of bringing to light the labours of men of genius however erroneously directed scarcely ever fail in ultimately turning to the solid advantage of mankind I listened to his statement which was delivered without any presumption or affectation and then added that his lecture had removed my prejudices against modern chemists and I at the same time requested his advice concerning the books I ought to procure I am happy said Monsieur Waldman to have gained a disciple and if your application equals your ability I have no doubt of your success chemistry is that branch of natural philosophy in which the greatest improvements have been and may be made it is on that account that I have made it my peculiar study but at the same time I have not neglected the other branches of science a man would make but a very sorry chemist if he attended to that department of human knowledge alone if your wish is to become really a man of science and not merely a petty experimentalist I should advise you to apply to every branch of natural philosophy including mathematics he then took me into his laboratory and explained to me the uses of his various machines instructing me as to what I ought to procure and promising me the use of his own when I should have advanced far enough in the science not to derange their mechanism he also gave me the list of books which I had requested and I took my leave thus ended a day memorable to me it decided my future destiny End of Section 7 Section 8 of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Volume 1 Chapter 3 from this day natural philosophy and particularly chemistry in the most comprehensive sense of the term became nearly my sole occupation I read with ardour those works so full of genius and discrimination which modern inquirers have written on these subjects I attended the lectures with the acquaintance of the men of science of the university and I found even in Monsieur Krempe a great deal of sound sense and real information combined, it is true with repulsive physiognomy and manners but not on that account the less valuable in Monsieur Waldman I found a true friend his gentleness was never tinged by dogmatism and his instructions were given with an air of frankness and good nature that banished every idea of pedantry it was perhaps the amiable character of this man that inclined me more to that branch of natural philosophy which he professed than an intrinsic love for the science itself but this state of mind had place only in the first steps towards knowledge the more fully I entered into the science the more exclusively I pursued it for its own sake that application which at first had been a matter of duty and resolution now became so ardent and eager that the stars often disappeared in the light of the morning whilst I was yet engaged in my laboratory as I applied so closely it may be easily conceived that I improved rapidly my ardour was indeed the astonishment of the students and my proficiency that of the masters Professor Krempe often asked me with a sly smile how Cornelius Agrippa went on whilst Monsieur Waldman expressed the most heartfelt exultation in my progress two years passed in this manner during which I paid no visit to Geneva but was engaged heart and soul in a pursuit of some discoveries which I hoped to make none but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science in other studies you go as far as others have gone before you and there is nothing more to know but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder a mind of moderate capacity which closely pursues one study must infallibly arrive at great proficiency in that study and I who continually sought the attainment of one object of pursuit and was solely wrapped up in this rapidly that at the end of two years I made some discoveries in the improvement of some chemical instruments which procured me great esteem and admiration at the university when I had arrived at this point and had become as well acquainted with the theory and practice of natural philosophy as depended on the lessons of any of the professors at Ingolstadt my residence there being no longer conducive to my improvements I thought of returning to my friends down when an incident happened that protracted my stay one of the phenomena which had peculiarly attracted my attention was the structure of the human frame and indeed any animal endued with life whence I often asked myself did the principle of life proceed it was a bold question and one which has ever been considered as a mystery yet with how many things are we on the brink of becoming acquainted if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries I revolved these circumstances in my mind and determined thenceforth to apply myself more particularly to those branches of natural philosophy which relate to physiology unless I had been animated by an almost supernatural enthusiasm my application to this study would have been irksome and almost intolerable I am in the causes of life we must first have recourse to death I became acquainted with the science of anatomy but this was not sufficient I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body in my education my father had taken the greatest precautions that my mind should be impressed with no supernatural horrors I do not ever remember to have trembled at a tale of superstition or to have feared the apparition of a spirit darkness had no effect upon my fancy and a churchyard was to me merely the receptacle of body's deprived of life which, from being the seat of beauty and strength, had become food for the worm now I was led to examine the cause and progress of this decay and forced to spend days and nights in vaults and charnel houses my attention was fixed upon every object the most insupportable to the delicacy of the human feelings I saw how the fine form of man was degraded and wasted I beheld the corruption of death succeed to the blooming cheek of life I saw how the worm inherited the wonders of the eye and brain I paused examining and analysing all the minutiae of causation as exemplified in the change from life to death to life until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in upon me a light so brilliant and wondrous yet so simple that while I became dizzy with the immensity of the prospect which it illustrated I was surprised that among so many men of genius who had directed their inquiries towards the same science that I alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret remember I'm not recording the vision of a madman the sun does not more certainly shine in the heavens than that which I now affirm is true some miracle might have produced it yet the stages of the discovery were distinct and probable after days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life nay more I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter the astonishment which I had at first experienced on this discovery soon gave way to delight and rapture after so much time spent in painful labour to arrive at once at the summit of my desires was the most gratifying consummation of my toils but this discovery was so great and overwhelming that all the steps by which I had been progressively led to it were obliterated and I beheld only the result what had been the study and desire of the wisest men since the creation of the world was now within my grasp not that, like a magic scene it all opened upon me at once the information I had obtained was of a nature rather to direct my endeavours so soon as I should point them towards the object of my search than to exhibit that object already accomplished I was like the Arabian who had been buried with the dead and found a passage to life aided only by one glimmering and seemingly ineffectual light I see by your eagerness and the wonder and hope which your eyes express, my friend that you expect to be informed of the secret with which I am acquainted that cannot be listen patiently until the end of my story and you will easily perceive why I am reserved upon that subject I will not lead you on unguarded and ardent as I was then to your destruction and infallible misery learn from me if not by my precepts at least by my example how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow when I found so astonishing within my hands I hesitated a long time concerning the manner in which I should employ it although I possessed the capacity of bestowing animation yet to prepare a frame for the reception of it with all its intricacies of fibres muscles and veins still remained a work of inconceivable difficulty and labour I doubted at first whether I should attempt the creation of a being like myself or one of simpler organization but my imagination was too exalted by my first success to permit me to doubt of my ability to give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as man the materials at present within my command hardly appeared adequate to so arduous and undertaking but I doubted not that I should ultimately succeed I prepared myself for a multitude of reverses my operations might be incessantly baffled and at last my work be imperfect yet when I considered the improvement which every day takes place in science and mechanics I was encouraged to hope my present attempts would at least lay the foundations of future success nor could I consider the magnitude and complexity of my plan as any argument of its impractic ability it was with these feelings that I began the creation of a human being as the minuteness of the parts formed a great hindrance to my speed I resolved contrary to my first intention to make the being of a gigantic stature that is to say about eight feet in height and proportionably large having formed this determination and having spent some months in successfully collecting and arranging my materials I began no one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards like a hurricane in the first enthusiasm of success life and death appeared to me ideal bounds which I should first break through and pour a torrent of light into our dark world a new species would bless me as its creator and source many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me no father could claim the gratitude of his child completely as I should deserve theirs pursuing these reflections I thought that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter I might in process of time although I now found it impossible renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption these thoughts supported my spirits while I pursued my undertaking with unremitting ardour my cheek had grown pale with study and my person had become emaciated with confinement sometimes on the very brink of certainty I failed yet still I clung to the hope which the next day or the next hour might realise one secret which I alone possessed was the hope to which I had dedicated myself and the moon gazed on my midnight labours while with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness I pursued nature to her hiding places who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay my limbs now tremble and my eyes swim with a remembrance but then a resistless and almost frantic impulse urged me forward I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit it was indeed but a passing trance that only made me feel with renewed acuteness so soon as the unnatural stimulus ceasing to operate I had returned to my old habits I collected bones from charnel houses and disturbed with profane fingers the tremendous secrets of the human frame in a solitary chamber or rather cell at the top of the house and separated from all the other apartments by gallery and staircase I kept my workshop of filthy creation my eyeballs were starting from their sockets in attending to the details of my employment the dissecting room and the slaughter house furnished many of my materials and often did my human nature turn with loathing for my occupation whilst still urged on by an eagerness which perpetually increased I brought my work near a conclusion the summer months passed while I was thus engaged heart and soul in one pursuit it was a most beautiful season never did the fields bestow a more plentiful harvest or the vines yield a more luxuriant vintage but my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature and the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent and whom I had not seen for so long a time I knew my silence disquieted them and I well remembered the words of my father I know that while you are pleased with yourself you will think of us with affection and we shall hear regularly from you you must pardon me if I regard any interruption in your correspondence as a proof that your other duties are equally neglected I knew well therefore what would be my father's feelings but I could not tear my thoughts from my employment loathsome in itself but which had taken an irresistible hold of my imagination I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my feelings of affection until the great object which swallowed up every habit of my nature should be completed I then thought that my father would be unjust if he ascribed my neglect to vice or faultiness on my part but I am now convinced that he was justified in conceiving that I should not be altogether free from blame a human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind and to never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquillity I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule if the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix then that study is certainly unlawful that is to say, not befitting the human mind if this rule were always observed if no man allowed any pursuit whatsoever to interfere with the tranquillity of his domestic affections Greece had not been enslaved Caesar would have spared his country America would have been discovered more gradually and the empires of Mexico and Peru had not been destroyed but I forget that I am moralizing in the most interesting part of my tale and your looks remind me to proceed my father made no reproach in his letters and only took notice of my silence by inquiring into my occupations more particularly than before winter, spring and summer passed away during my labours but I did not watch the blossom or the expanding leaves sights which before always yielded me supreme delight so deeply was I engrossed in my occupation the leaves of that year had withered before my work drew near to a close and now every day showed me more plainly how well I had succeeded but my enthusiasm was checked by my anxiety and I appeared rather like one doomed by slavery to toil in the mines or any other unwholesome trade than an artist occupied by his favourite employment every night I was oppressed by a slow fever and I became nervous to a most painful degree a disease that I regretted the more because I had hitherto enjoyed most excellent health and had always boasted of the firmness of my nerves but I believed that exercise and amusement would soon drive away such symptoms and I promised myself both of these when my creation should be complete End of Section 8 Section 9 of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Volume 1 Chapter 4 It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils with an anxiety that almost amounted to agony I collected the instruments of life around me that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet It was already one in the morning the rain pattered dismally against the panes and my candle was nearly burnt out When, by the glimmer of the half extinguished light I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open it breathed hard and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and cares I had endeavoured to form His limbs were in proportion and I had selected his features as beautiful Beautiful! Good God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath His hair was of illustrous black and flowing, his teeth of a pearly whiteness but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes that seemed almost of the same colour as the done white sockets in which they were set his shriveled complexion and straight black lips The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature I had worked hard for nearly two years for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body For this I had deprived myself of rest and health I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation But now that I had finished the beauty of the dream vanished and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber unable to compose my mind to sleep At length lassitude succeeded to the tumult I had before endured and I threw myself on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness But it was in vain, I slept indeed, but I was disturbed by the wildest dreams I thought I saw Elizabeth in the bloom of health walking in the streets of Ingolstadt Delighted and surprised I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips they became livid with the hue of death, her features appeared to change and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms a shroud enveloped her form and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel I started from my sleep with horror, a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered and every limb became convulsed, when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon as it forced its way through the window-shutters, I beheld the wretch, the miserable monster whom I had created He held up the curtain of the bed and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me His jaws opened and he muttered some inarticulate sounds while a grin wrinkled his cheeks The night had spoken, but I did not hear One hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited, where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniical corpse to which I had so miserably given life Oh! no mortal could support the horror of that countenance, a mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch, I had gazed on him while unfinished, he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived I passed the night wretchedly, sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly that I felt the palpitation of every artery, at others I nearly sank to the ground through langer and extreme weakness, mingled with this horror I felt the bitterness of disappointment, dreams that had been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now become a hell to me, and the change was so rapid the overthrow so complete, morning, dismal and wet, at length dawned, and discovered to my sleepless and aching eyes the church of Ingolstadt its white steeple and clock which indicated the sixth hour, the porter opened the gates of the court which had that night been my asylum, and I issued into the streets, pacing them with quick steps, as if I sought to avoid the wretch whom I feared every turning of the street would present to my view. I did not dare return to the apartment which I inhabited, but felt impelled to hurry on, although wetted by the rain which poured from a black and comfortless sky. I continued walking in this manner for some time, endeavouring by bodily exercise to ease the load that weighed upon my mind. I traversed the streets without any clear conception of where I was or what I was doing. My heart palpitated in the sickness of fear, and I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me. Like one who on a lonely road doth walk in fear and dread, and having once turned round walks on and turns no more his head, because he knows a frightful fiend's doth close behind him tread. Continuing thus, I came at length opposite to the inn, at which the various diligences and carriages usually stopped. Here I paused, I knew not why, but I remained some minutes with my eyes fixed on a coach that was coming towards me from the other end of the street. As it drew nearer, I observed that it was the Swiss diligence. It stopped just where I was standing, and on the door being opened I perceived Henry Clairville, who on seeing me instantly sprung out. My dear Frankenstein, exclaimed he, how glad I am to see you, how fortunate that you should be here at this very moment of my alighting. Nothing could equal my delight on seeing Clairville. His presence brought back to my thoughts my father, Elizabeth, and all those scenes of home so dear to my recollection. I grasped his hand, and in a moment forgot my horror and misfortune. I felt suddenly, and for the first time during many months, calm and serene joy. I welcomed my friend, therefore, in the most cordial manner, and we walked towards my college. Clairville continued talking for some time about our mutual friends, and his own good fortune in being permitted to come to Ingolstadt. You may easily believe, said he, how great was the difficulty to persuade my father, that it was not absolutely necessary for a merchant not to understand anything except bookkeeping. And indeed I believe I left him incredulous to the last, for his constant answer to my unwearied entreaties was the same as that of the Dutch schoolmaster in the vicar of Wakefield. I have ten thousand florins a year without Greek, I eat heartily without Greek. But his affection for me at length overcame his dislike of learning, and he has permitted me to undertake a voyage of discovery to the land of knowledge. It gives me the greatest delight to see you, but tell me how you left my father, brothers, and Elizabeth. Very well, and very happy, only a little uneasy that they hear from you so seldom. By the by I mean to lecture you a little upon their account myself. But my dear Frankenstein," continued he, stopping short and gazing full in my face, I did not before remark how very ill you appear, so thin and pale, you look as if you had been watching for several nights. You have guessed right. I have lately been so deeply engaged in one occupation that I have not allowed myself sufficient rest as you see. But I hope, I sincerely hope, that all these employments are now at an end, and that I am at length free. I trembled excessively, I could not endure to think of, and far less to elude, to the occurrences of the preceding night. I walked with a quick pace, and we soon arrived at my college. I then reflected, and a thought made me shiver, that the creature whom I had left in my apartment might still be there, alive and walking about. I dreaded to behold this monster, but I feared still more that Henry should see him. In treating him, therefore, to remain a few minutes at the bottom of the stairs, I darted upward towards my own room. My hand was already on the lock of the door before I recollected myself. I then paused, and a cold shivering came over me. I threw the door forcibly open, as children are accustomed to do when they expect a spectre to stand in waiting for them on the other side, but nothing appeared. I stepped fearfully in. The apartment was empty, and my bedroom was also freed from its hideous guest. I could hardly believe that so great a good fortune could have befallen me, but when I became assured that my enemy had indeed fled, I clapped my hands for joy and ran down to Clairville. We ascended into my room, and the servant presently brought breakfast, but I was unable to contain myself. It was not joy only that possessed me. I felt my flesh tingle with excess of sensitiveness, and my pulse beat rapidly. I was unable to remain for a single instant in the same place. I jumped over the chairs, clapped my hands, and laughed aloud. Clairville at first attributed my unusual spirits to joy on his arrival. But when he observed me more attentively, he saw a wildness in my eyes for which he could not account, and my loud, unrestrained, heartless laughter frightened and astonished him. My dear Victor, cried he, what for God's sake is the matter? Do not laugh in that manner. How ill you are! What is the cause of all this? Do not ask me, cried I, putting my hands before my eyes, for I thought I saw the dreaded spectre glide into the room. He can tell! Oh, save me! Save me! I imagined that the monster seized me. I struggled furiously, and fell down in a fit. Poor Clairville! What must have been his feelings? A meeting which he anticipated with such joy so strangely turned to bitterness. But I was not the witness of his grief, for I was lifeless, and did not recover my senses for a long, long time. This was the commencement of a nervous fever which confined me for several months. During all that time Henry was my only nurse. I afterwards learned that knowing my father's advanced age and unfitness for so long a journey, and how wretched my sickness would make Elizabeth, he spared them this grief by concealing the extent of my disorder. He knew that I could not have a more kind and attentive nurse than himself, and firm in the hope he felt of my recovery he did not doubt that, instead of doing harm, he performed the kindest action that he could towards them. But I was, in reality, very ill, and surely nothing but the unbounded and unremitting attentions of my friend could have restored me to life. The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes, and I raved incessantly concerning him. Doubtless my words surprised Henry. He at first believed them to be the wanderings of my disturbed imagination, but the pertinacity with which I continually recurred to the same subject persuaded him that my disorder indeed owed its origin to some uncommon and terrible event. By very slow degrees, and with frequent relapses, that alarmed and grieved my friend, I recovered. I remember the first time I became capable of observing outward objects with any kind of pleasure. I perceived that the fallen leaves had disappeared, and that the young buds were shooting forth from the trees that shaded my window. It was a divine spring, and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence. I felt also sentiments of joy and affection revive in my bosom. My gloom disappeared, and in a short time I became as cheerful as before I was attacked by the fatal passion. Dearest Clairville, exclaimed I, how kind, how very good you are to me. This whole winter, instead of being spent in study as you promised yourself, has been consumed in my sick room. How shall I ever repay you? I feel the greatest remorse for the disappointment of which I have been the occasion, but you will forgive me. You will repay me entirely if you do not discompose yourself, but get well as fast as you can, and since you appear in such good spirits, I may speak to you on one subject, may I not? I trembled. One subject. What could it be? Could he allude to an object on whom I dare not even think? Compose yourself, said Clairville, who observed my change of colour. I will not mention it if it agitates you, but your father and cousin would be very happy if they received a letter from you in your own handwriting. They hardly know how ill you have been, and are uneasy at your long silence. Is that all, my dear Henry? How could you suppose that my first thought would not fly towards those dear, dear friends whom I love, and who are so deserving of my love?