科学怪人 Chapter 10

Chapter Ten I lay on the floor of my hut, but I could not sleep. I thought about the cottagers. How kind and gentle they were! I longed to be with them, but I was afraid. I remembered how the villagers had attacked me. I decided to stay quietly in my hut, watching the gentle cottagers through the hole in the window. 'I soon discovered that the old man was blind. He spent his days sitting by the fire. Sometimes he played music. The young man and the young woman were very gentle and kind to him. At first I thought that their lives must be happy. They had food, fire, and friendship with each other. Yet I noticed that all three looked sad. It was a long time before I discovered that they were very poor. Sometimes in the winter there was very little to eat. On those days, the young woman put all the food on the old man's plate, and she and her brother ate nothing. 'Slowly I realized that they could communicate with each other by making sounds. This was really a godlike science! I wanted very much to learn to speak, but it was difficult. After a row months in my hut, listening to them, I could say "fire", "milk", "food", and "wood". I also learned the people's names. The young woman was called "sister" or "Agatha". The young man was called "Felix", "brother", or "son". But the old man had only one name, "father". I was very happy each time I learned a new word. Some words, like "good", "dearest", and "unhappy", I heard but did not understand. 'I spent the winter listening to them and learning. I hid in the hut during the day and came out at night to look for food. I also collected fire wood and left it for the cottagers. Sometimes I swept the snow from their path. In the morning, when they found the wood and the clean path, they were very surprised. They spoke to each other, using words like "good spirit" and "wonderful", but I did not yet understand those words. 'Every evening Felix read aloud to the others. At first I did not understand what he was doing. Then I realized that he used many of the same sounds in his reading as he used in speech. I thought perhaps there were signs for words written on the paper. I wanted very much to learn to read those signs. 'I knew that I could not show myself to the cottagers until I had mastered their language. Maybe my words could win their sympathy, despite my monstrous appearance. My cottagers were graceful and beautiful. I loved to look at them, but how frightened I was the first time I saw my face reflected in the water! At first I could not believe that it was my own face. When I realized that the horrible reflection really was me, I felt great sadness and shame. 'Spring arrived. The air was warm, birds sang, and leaves began to grow on the trees. Happy, happy earth! Everything was so green and beautiful that I was filled with joy. I spent many hours imagining the future. In these fantasies, I showed myself to the cottagers. At first they were horrified by my appearance, but then I slowly persuaded them to accept me and even to love me.'