科学怪人 Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen 'Cursed creator! Why did I live? Why did I not die in that horrible moment? I felt angry, and I wanted revenge. I could have destroyed the cottage and killed the cottagers with pleasure. When night came, I left the hut and ran howling through the woods. The cold stars shone down on me, and the bare trees swayed in the wind. Like Satan, I carried a hell inside me. From that moment I was at war with mankind, and above all, with the man who had given me this miserable life. 'When I returned to the cottage, I found that the cottagers had left. I waited all day. They did not return. That night in anger I placed wood around the cottage and set fire to it. The cottage burned quickly to the ground, and I ran into the woods. 'Where could I go? I thought of you. I knew from your journal that you were my father, my creator, and that Geneva was your hometown. I decided to go there. You were my only hope, but I hated you. 'It was a long and difficult journey. Because I was afraid of being seen by human beings, I travelled only at night. Rain and snow fell upon me. I had nowhere to hide. As I came closer to your hometown, my anger and my desire for revenge grew stronger. 'One morning I continued walking after the sun had risen. The forest was far from any village, so I thought I was safe. It was the beginning of spring. The sun warmed me, and I felt happy for the first time in many months. Walking by the side of a river, I heard human voices. I hid myself under a tree. A young woman ran towards the place where I was hidden. Suddenly, she slipped and fell into the river. I ran out of my hiding place and jumped into the river to save her. When I carried her onto the river bank, she fainted. Then a man appeared. He ran towards me and took the young woman from my arms. Then he turned and ran into the forest. I followed him. When the man saw me behind him, he shot me with a gun. I fell to the ground, and he escaped into the woods. 'I was in awful pain. Was this the reward for my kindness? I had saved a human being from death, and now I suffered for it. I swore revenge on all mankind. For several weeks I lived a miserable life in the forest, trying to nurse my wound. Finally it healed , and I continued my journey. 'It was evening when I reached the countryside around Geneva. I was very tired and lay down to sleep in a field. I was woken by the approach of a beautiful child. As I looked at him, I thought perhaps he was too young to be frightened of me. If I could take him with me and educate him, I would not be alone anymore. I tried to take him in my arms, but when he saw me he put his hands over his face and screamed. '"Why are you screaming, child?" I said. "I will not hurt you." '"Let me go!" cried the child. "Monster! Ugly monster! You want to kill me and eat me! Let me go, or I will tell my father!" '"Come with me," I said. '"No!" cried the boy. "Let me go! My father is Mr Frankenstein, the magistrate. He will punish you." '"Frankenstein!" I cried. "Then you are from the family of my enemy." 'The child kept screaming at me. I put my hands around his throat to silence him. The next moment he lay dead at my feet. 'I looked at the dead child, and I felt glad. "I too can cause pain," I thought. "This will make Frankenstein suffer!" 'Then I saw something around his neck. It was a chain and locket. In the locket was a picture of a lovely woman. For a few moments I looked at it with pleasure, then my anger returned. No woman would ever love me. If this woman could see me she would faint or scream. 'I left the place where I had murdered the child to look for a hiding place. I entered a barn. There I found a young woman asleep. She was not as beautiful as the woman in the picture, but she was young and healthy. "She will smile at everyone except for me," I thought. I bent over her and whispered, "Wake up, your lover is here! I would die for one of your smiles. Wake up!" 'She moved in her sleep. I was afraid she would awaken. If she woke up, she would scream, and I would be arrested for the murder. That thought brought out the devil in me. "She, not I, will suffer for the murder," I thought. "It is her fault really, the fault of all the women who will never smile at me." I put tho locket in her clothes and ran away. 'After a few days, I came to these mountains. I am alone and miserable. No human being will love me, but someone like mysell' would love me. Make me a wife, Frankenstein. Create a female of my own kind. This you must do for me.'