介绍:
Chapter Eight
Montanvert is very steep. The path winds slowly up the mountain. The pine trees on both sides were heavy with snow. It was midday when I arrived at the top of the mountain. Then I climbed down onto the glacier . I spent two hours crossing that great river of ice. Then I sat on a rock to rest, looking back at Montanvert and, behind it, Mont Blanc. The snowy peaks of the mountains glistened above the clouds in the sunshine. For a moment I was happy.
Suddenly I saw a man running towards me over the ice. As he approached me at great speed, I recognized him. It was the monster I had created! I trembled with hatred and anger. 'Devil!' I cried. 'Are you not afraid to approach me? Are you not afraid that I will avenge the deaths of those you have murdered?'
'I expected this,' said the monster. 'Everyone hates me. I am the most miserable creature on earth. Even you, my creator, hate me. You say you will kill me. How dare you play with life and death! Do your duty towards me, and I will do my duty towards you and the rest of mankind. Do what I ask and I will leave you and them in peace. If you refuse, I will murder everyone you love.'
'Hateful monster! Devil! I was mad to create you. Now I will destroy you!'
'Be calm,' he said, 'and hear my story. Remember that you made me stronger than you. Oh Frankenstein, you are fair to everyone else! Be fair to me, your creature, as well! I should be your Adam, but instead I am your Satan. Everywhere I see happiness, but for me there is no happiness. I was good, but unhappiness made me evil . Make me happy, and I will be good again.'
'Go!' I cried. 'I will not listen to you. We are enemies. Either go or fight with me until one of us is dead.'
'How can I make you understand?' replied the monster. 'I was capable of love and kindness. But I am alone. Everyone hates me. I hide in the mountains. I live in the caves of ice. If people knew of my existence, they would try to kill me. How can I love them when they hate me? If I am unhappy, I will make them unhappy too, but you can save them. If you refuse my request, I will kill not only you and your family but many others too. Listen to my tale. In court, the guilty are allowed to speak in their own defence before they are condemned. You say I am a murderer, but you want to murder me, your own creature. Listen to me, and then, if you wish, destroy the work of your own hands.'
'Do not remind me that I am your creator. I wish you had never come to life. I curse my own hands for having made you! Go! I hate the sight of you!'
'Then do not look at me,' said the monster, and he put his horrible hands over my eyes. 'Do not look at me, but listen. Hear my tale; it is long and strange. Before the sun sets this evening, you will know everything. Then you will decide whether I will go away to live a harmless life or stay to murder your fellow creatures.'
I agreed to listen to his story. I was curious to know what had happened to him, and, for the first time, I felt that as his creator I had a duty towards him. He took me across the ice to a small hut. Inside, he lit a fire. I sat down, and the monster began his tale.
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