The Story of Frankenstein Learn English through story level 3

chapter one

captain

something is moving on the ice

look over there

the sailor stood at the top of the mast

high above the captain

his hand pointed away from the ship

across the miles of ice that covered the

sea

the captain looked to the north

where the sailor was pointing

he saw something coming fast towards the

ship across the ice

he put his telescope to his eye

and through it he could see the shapes

of ten dogs pulling a sledge over the

ice

he could also see the driver of the

sledge

a huge figure

much bigger than a man

the sledge came nearer and nearer to the

sea

soon it was only a quarter of a mile

from the ship

no one needed a telescope now to see the

huge figure of the driver

suddenly the sledge went behind a

mountain of ice

and disappeared

at that moment

another sledge appeared

it too was moving fast

and was clearly chasing the first sledge

this driver was a smaller figure

more like an ordinary man

and faster the dogs ran

then the second sledge also disappeared

behind the mountain of ice

two hours

passed the sledges did not appear again

nothing moved on the ice

soon night came

and in the night there was a storm

in the morning the sailors saw the great

pieces of ice were floating around the

ship

suddenly the sailor on the mast shouted

again

captain

i can see a man on the ice

the sailor was pointing to a piece of

ice that was floating near the ship

a man was sitting on the ice

and near him was a broken sledge

the man was nearly dead from cold and

could not walk

the sailors carried him carefully onto

the ship

and took him to the captain who said

welcome to my ship

i am the captain and my name is robert

walton

thank you captain walton

the man said

my name is frankenstein

victor frankenstein

then he fainted

and said no more

two days passed before the man was

strong enough to talk

and then the captain asked him to tell

his story

i am trying to catch someone

said frankenstein

that is why i have come so far north on

the ice

we saw you following someone the captain

said

he was huge

much bigger than a man

we saw his sledge just in front of you

on the night before the storm

i am pleased you all saw that huge

figure

frankenstein said

perhaps that will help you to believe my

story

during the days

while the captain worked on the ship

frankenstein wrote down his story

and each evening he read what he had

written to the captain

here is victor frankenstein’s story

chapter 2

victor frankenstein’s story begins

i was born in switzerland

in the town of geneva

my parents loved each other very much

and i learned from the example of their

love

i learned that to love and to be patient

are the most important things in the

world

my mother hoped to have a daughter after

i was born

but for five years i was the only child

and then

my mother found a sister for me

she was helping a family in which there

were five children

they were very poor and the children

were thin and hungry

one of the children was a little girl

with golden hair and blue eyes

her name was elizabeth

my mother took the little girl into our

family and elizabeth became the daughter

that my mother had always wanted

as i grew older

my love for elizabeth became stronger

all the time

later

my mother had two other sons

ernest and william

a young woman called justine came to

live in the house to help my mother with

the children

we loved her as much as she loved us

the years passed happily and we had

everything that we needed

at school i met another very fine person

his name was henry claval

and he was very clever

my family also liked him very much

so he was a welcome visitor to our house

i studied very hard at school

i wanted to know the secrets of life

and most of all

i wanted to know how to make living

things

i read all the books that i could find

one day

something happened that added a new idea

to the ideas that i already had

i was 15 at the time

and we were on holiday in the mountains

there was a wild storm

and with it came the most frightening

thunder and lightning that i have ever

seen in my life

about 20 meters in front of our house

was a great tree

suddenly

a huge fork of lightning hit the tree

after a few seconds

there was nothing left of it except a

black piece of wood

two meters high

the lightning had destroyed it

i saw how strong electricity was

i began to read all the books that i

could find about electricity and its

terrible power

chapter 3

for 17 years my life was very happy

then

the first sad thing happened

my mother became very ill

and soon she knew that she was dying

just before she died

she asked elizabeth and me to go to her

room

she held our hands and said

my children

i am very happy because you love each

other

and because one day

you will get married

everyone in the family loves you

elizabeth

will you take my place in the family my

dear

i can die happy if you will look after

them when i have gone

my mother died

and we were very sad

because we loved her dearly

elizabeth was brave and helped us

her sweet smile gave her some happiness

in the unhappy days after my mother’s

death

the time came for me to go to university

i did not want to leave my sad family

but we all knew that i should go

it was hard to leave too because the

parents of my good friend henry claval

would not let him go to university with

me

and so i had to go alone

on my first day at the university i met

my teacher

professor waldman

who was one of the greatest scientists

in the world

he gave a wonderful talk to all the

students who were starting at the

university

he ended his talk by saying

some of you will become the great

scientists of tomorrow

you must study hard and discover

everything that you can

that is why god made you intelligent

to help other people

after the professor’s talk

i thought very carefully

i remembered the storm when i was

fifteen

i remembered how the lightning had

destroyed the tree

i wanted to use electricity to help

people

and i wanted to discover the secrets of

life

i decided to work on these two things

i did not know then

that my work would destroy me and the

people that i loved

i started work the next day

i worked very hard and soon professor

woldman and i realized that i could

learn to be a very good scientist

the professor helped me very much

and other important scientists who were

his friends helped me too

i was interested in my work and i did

not take one day’s holiday during the

next two years

i did not go home

and my letters to my family were very

short

after two years

i had discovered many things

and i built a scientific machine that

was better than anything in the

university

my machine would help me answer the most

important question of all

how does life begin

is it possible to put life into dead

things to answer these questions about

life

i had to learn first

about death

i had to watch bodies from the moment

when they died and the warm life left

them in the hospital and in the

university

i watched the dying and the dead

day after day

month after month

i followed death

it was a dark and terrible time

then one day

the answer came to me

suddenly

i was sure that i knew the secret of

life

i knew that i could put life into a body

that was not alive

i worked harder and harder now

i slept for only a short time each night

and i did not eat much food

i wrote to my family less often

but they loved me and did not stop

writing to me

they said they understood how busy i was

they did not want me to stop work to

write or to see them

they would wait until i had more time

they hoped to see me very soon

the professors realized that i was doing

very important work

and so they gave me my own laboratory

there was a small flat above the

laboratory where i lived

and sometimes i stayed inside the

building for a week and did not go out

above the laboratory i built a very tall

mast

it was

150 meters high

and higher than the tallest building in

the city

the mast could catch lightning and could

send the electricity down to my machine

in the laboratory

i had never forgotten the lightning that

had destroyed the tree

there had been so much power in the

electricity of that lightning

i believed i could use that electricity

to give life to things that were dead

i will say

no more than that

the secret of my machine must die with

me

i was a very clever scientist

but i did not realize then

what a terrible mistake i was making

chapter four

in my laboratory

i made a body

i bought or stole all the pieces of

human body that i needed

and slowly and carefully

i put them all together

i did not let anybody enter my

laboratory or my flat while i was doing

this awful work

i was afraid to tell anybody my terrible

secret

i had wanted to make a beautiful man

but the face of the creature was

horrible

its skin was thin and yellow

and its eyes were as yellow as its skin

its long black hair and white teeth were

almost beautiful

but the rest of the face was very ugly

its legs and arms were the right shape

but they were huge

i had to use big pieces because it was

too difficult to join small pieces

together

my creature

was two and a half meters tall

for a year i had worked to make this

creature

but now it looked terrible and

frightening

i almost decided to destroy it

but i could

not i had to know if i could put life

into it

i joined the body to the wires from my

machine

more wires joined the machine to the

mast

i was sure that my machine could use

electricity from lightning to give life

to the body

i watched and waited

two days later i saw dark clouds in the

sky

and i knew that a storm was coming

at about one o’clock in the morning the

lightning came

my mast began to do its work immediately

and the electricity from the lightning

traveled down the mast to my machine

would the machine work

at first

nothing happened

but after a few minutes

i saw the creature’s body begin to move

slowly

terribly

the body came alive

its arms and legs began to move

and slowly

it sat up

the dead body had been an ugly thing

but alive

it was much more horrible

suddenly i wanted to escape from it

i ran out of the laboratory and locked

the door

i was filled with fear at what i had

done

for hours i walked up and down in my

flat

at last i lay down on my bed and fell

asleep

but my sleep was full of terrible dreams

and i woke up suddenly

the horrible thing

that i had created was standing by my

bed

its yellow eyes were looking at me

its mouth opened

and it made strange sounds at me

on its yellow face

there was an awful smile

one of its huge hands reached towards me

before it could touch me

i jumped off the bed

and ran downstairs into the garden

i stayed there all night

but i could not think clearly

i was afraid

and when morning came

i went out into the town and began to

walk about

i did not notice where i was walking

but soon i came to the station

a train from geneva had just arrived and

the passengers were leaving the

station one of them ran towards me when

he saw me

it was my dear friend henry claval

he was very pleased to see me

he took my hand and shook it warmly

my dear victor

he said

what a lucky chance that you are here at

this station

your father and elizabeth and the others

are very worried about you

because you have not visited them for a

long time

they asked me to make sure that you are

well

and i have very good news my father has

agreed to let me study at the university

so we shall be able to spend a lot of

time together

i was very happy to hear this news

and

for a moment

i forgot my fears

i took henry back to my flat and asked

him to wait outside while i went in to

look i was afraid that the creature was

still there

but it had disappeared

at that time

i did not think of other people

and what the creature could do to them

i took henry into the flat and cooked a

meal for us

but henry noticed how thin i was

and that i was laughing too much and

could not sit still

suddenly he said

my dear victor

what is the matter with you

are you ill

has something awful happened

don’t ask me that

i cried

i put my hands over my eyes

i thought i could see the horrible

creature there in front of me

i pointed wildly across the room and

shouted

he can tell you

save me

save me

i tried to fight the creature

but there was nothing there

then i fainted

and fell to the floor

poor henry

i do not know what he thought

he called the doctor

and they put me to bed

i was very ill for two months

and henry stayed and looked after me

his loving care saved me from death

i wanted to go home and see my family as

soon as possible

when i was well enough i packed my

clothes and books

all my luggage was ready

and i was feeling very happy

when the postman arrive with some

letters

one of the letters ended my short time

of happiness

chapter five

the letter was from my father in geneva

and this is what he wrote

my dear victor

i want you to know before you arrive

home

that an awful thing has happened

your dear youngest brother william

is dead

he was murdered

it happened last thursday evening when

elizabeth and i and your two brothers

ernest and william went for a walk

outside the city

william and ernest were playing

william had hidden from ernest and

ernest asked elizabeth and me to help

find william

we all began to search for him

but we couldn’t find him

we searched all night

at five in the morning

i found him

he was lying on the grass

white and still

i could see the marks of fingers on his

neck

the murderer had strangled him

elizabeth had let him wear a gold chain

of hers round his neck

on the chain was a very small picture of

your mother

we all think that someone murdered

william to steal the gold chain

poor elizabeth is terribly unhappy at

william’s death

she thinks she died because she let him

wear the chain

hurry home my dear victor

you are the only one who can help

elizabeth

and we all need you

with all our love

your father

henry helped me to catch the train

the journey seemed very long

and it was late at night before the

train reached geneva

i decided to spend the night in a

village outside the town

and go home early in the morning

i wanted to see the place where william

had died

as i started my walk a storm broke and

lightning lit the sky

the police had put posts around the

place where the murderer had strangled

william

so i found it easily

i cried sadly as i stood there

my poor brother had been a kind and

happy boy

and we had all loved him

again the lightning lit the sky

and i saw a huge figure

standing in the rain

when i saw it

i knew at once what it was

it was the creature that i had made

what was he doing there

but although i asked myself the question

i knew the answer

he had murdered my brother

i was sure that i was right

i decided to try and catch him

but as i moved

he ran towards the mountains

he ran much faster than any man

he climbed the mountain easily reached

the top

and disappeared

i stood there in the dark and the rain

and knew that i had created a monster

and he has murdered my brother

chapter six

at first i decided to tell the police my

story

but would they believe me

i had been very ill

when the police learned about my illness

they would think the monster was just

one of my bad dreams

i decided

that i could not tell anybody

i went home to my family

and they were very pleased to see me

then they told me that the police had

found the murderer

perhaps you will think that this was

good news

but i have not told you who the police

had arrested

as i went into the house

i noticed that one person did not come

to meet me

it was justine

the young woman who had looked after the

children

and who was like a sister to us

and it was justine that the police had

arrested

a few days after the murder

the police had searched the house

and had found the gold chain in

justine’s coat pocket

everyone in the family knew that justine

had not murdered william

i knew who the murderer was

but i could not tell

anyone we were sure that justine would

be free after the trial

because nobody could believe that she

was a murderer

but we were wrong

the trial did not go well for justine

there were a number of strange facts

that were difficult to explain

and the judge decided that she was the

murderer

the punishment for murder

was death

we argued and cried

we said she could not murder anyone

but nothing could change the judge’s

order

so i got up early

and went to the judge’s house

and told him about the monster

he did not believe me

he thought i was lying in order to save

justine’s life

in the prison

justine waited quietly for death

we spent many hours with her

and she spoke calmly and kindly to

us she was happy because we believed

that she had not killed william

and she was almost looking forward to

death

because then she would be with william

and our dear mother

in a place of peace

her love and gentleness added to my

great unhappiness

i knew she was going to die

because of me

i knew my brother had died because of me

i had brought nothing but sadness and

misery to my family

i took a boat

and went out on lake geneva

why didn’t i end my life then

two things stopped me

my father was old and another death

would probably kill him

and i had to stay alive

to keep my family safe from the monster

fear for my family and hate for my

monster were with me day and night

i became ill again

and elizabeth’s love could not help me

i needed to escape for a while

to leave my unhappiness behind me

so i went to walk alone in the alps

i hoped the wild beauty of the mountains

would help me

slowly i became calmer among the

beautiful mountains

i learned to sleep again

and for days i did not see anybody

then one morning

i saw a figure coming towards me

faster than any man could go

it jumped easily over the rocks and i

saw with horror

the monster that i had created

on his face was a look of deep sadness

but also of evil

at first i could not speak

because i hated him so much

but at last i said

you are an evil creature

i shall kill you if i can

because you have killed two people that

i love

the monster’s yellow eyes looked at me

i

am the unhappiest creature

in the world

but i shall fight for my life

he said

i am bigger

and stronger than you

but i will not start the fight

i shall always be gentle to you

because you are my king

and creator

you made me and you should love me

and be kind to me

like a father

william and justine died

because you did not love me

why did you create me

if you were not ready to love me

we are enemies

i said

leave me now

or let us fight until one of us is dead

you are a murderer

how can i be kind to you

you say

i

am a murderer the monster said

but you

want to kill your own creature

isn’t that wrong too

i ask you to do one thing for me

listen

come with me to a warmer place

and listen to my story

then you can decide

i thought carefully about what he had

said

it was true that i had given him life

but i had not given him love

i decided to go with him

and listen to his story

he took me to a mountain hut where he

lit a fire

we sat down by the fire

and he began to tell me his story

chapter 7

the monster’s story

after i left the laboratory

i escaped into the country outside the

town

i soon felt hungry and thirsty

and my first food was fruit

which i found on some trees near a river

i drank from the river and then lay down

and went to sleep

at first

my eyes and ears did not work very well

but after a while i began to see and

hear clearly

one day

snow began to fall

of course

i had never walked in snow before

and i found that it made my feet

very cold

i realized that i needed food and a

place to get warm

soon i saw a small hut where an old man

was cooking his breakfast over a fire

when the old man saw me

he shouted loudly and ran away as fast

as he could

i did not understand what the man was

doing

but i wanted to be near the fire

so i sat down in the warm

and ate the man’s breakfast

then i walked across empty fields for

some hours

until i reached a village

i went into one of the houses

but there were children inside

they began to scream when they saw me

and their mother fainted

the whole village came to see what was

the trouble

some of the people ran away when they

saw me

but the others shouted and threw stones

at me

they wanted to kill me

i was badly hurt

but i escaped and ran into the open

country

later

i found an empty hat

which was built against the wall of a

small house

i was afraid to go into the house after

what had happened in the village

so i hid in the hut

there i was safe

and could escape from the cold and hide

from people who wished to hurt me

and then i found that there was a small

hole in the wall between the hut and the

house

through this hole i could see into the

room next to the hut

three people lived in the house

a beautiful girl

an old man

and a young man

day

after day

i watched the three people

i saw how kind they were to each other

i wanted so much to go into the house

and be with them

but i knew i must stay in the hut

i could not forget how the village

people had hurt me when i tried to go

into the house there

each night

after the people in the house had gone

to bed

i stole some of their food for myself

but soon i realized that the old man was

blind

and i realized too

that often the three of them did not

have enough to eat

i saw the two young people put extra

food on the blind man’s plate

although they were hungry themselves

when i saw that

i stopped stealing their food

their life was already hard enough

so i went back to the wild fruit in the

woods

i tried to help them in other ways too

during the night i cut forward for them

and added it secretly to the wood which

the young man had cut during the day

i was very happy to see how much this

pleased the young man

after a while

i began to understand some of the noises

that the people made to each other

the first words that i understood were

words like

fire

and

bread

i also learned that the three people

called each other by names

the girl was agatha

the young man was

felix

and the old man was called

father

i tried to make the noises that they

made

and slowly

i began to speak

the two young people were very beautiful

one day i saw my own face in the water

of the river

it was a terrible face

i understood why people were frightened

why they shouted and threw stones

i knew then

that i could not let these beautiful

people see me

they would be frightened by my horrible

face and body

summer was coming

and i continued to watch and learn

i also continued to help the two people

and their father

and did many jobs for them in the night

they were always surprised in the

morning when they saw what i had done

i heard them talk about the

good creature

who did these

wonderful things

but the family were often sad

and i wished i could make them happy

i looked forward to the time when i

could speak well enough to talk to them

and i was happy

because i was sure i would soon have

three good friends

chapter eight

one day in summer

a lady on horseback rode up to the house

and knocked on the door

she had dark hair

and was very beautiful

family were all very pleased to see her

i soon learned

that her name

was

sophie

she could not speak the family’s

language

and each evening felix taught us some

words

this was a very great help to me

because i was able to learn the meaning

of many words that i had not been able

to understand before

felix taught sophie from books

about what had happened in the world in

the past

so i learned about the greeks and romans

and about christ

and about the first white men in america

and the sad story of the indians

i could not understand why men who knew

all about good and evil

could hate and kill each other

i learned other things too

i learned that people think it is very

important to have money

and to come from a good family

i learned of the love between mother and

father and child

and i realized

that i had no family

the more i learned

the more i thought and the more unhappy

i became

soon i discovered who sophie was

the two families had met in france after

sophie and her father arrived there from

turkey

their own country

sophie’s father was put imprisoned by

the french

but felix and his father had helped him

to escape and leave france

when the french discovered this

felix and his family lost all their

lands and money

and had to leave france forever

now i knew why they were so sad

and why they were poor

but that was not all

sophie and felix loved each other

and sophie’s father had promised that

they could marry

then

when he learned that felix had lost all

his money

he broke his promise

but sophie loved felix very much

so she took some money

and escaped from her father to search

for felix

i had learned to love these good people

and i could not wait another day to

introduce myself

i decided to speak first to the father

because he was blind

and would not be frightened by my

terrible face and body

one day

the three young people went for a walk

while the old man rested

when they had gone

i went to the door of the house

and knocked on it

the old man told me to enter and to sit

down

thank you

i said

i am a traveler and i’m tired and sad

i have no family or friends

the people that i want to have as my

friends

have never seen

me if they don’t take me into their home

i shall be alone in the world

don’t be so sad

the old man said

you will find that the hearts of men are

full of love

if these friends are good people

they will welcome you

they are kind

and the best people in the world

i said

but when they meet me

they may not see a kind creature who has

helped them

instead

they may see a monster

and they will hate me

that mustn’t happen

the old man said

my family and i have had our difficult

times

and we’ll help you

you

are a very good man

i said

and

if you help me

i shall be able to live with my friends

and enjoy their love

at that moment

i heard the young people returning from

their walk

i caught the old man’s hand and cried

now is the time

save me and help me

you and your family are the friends that

i am talking about

then the door opened

and in came felix

sophie and agatha

their faces were filled with horror and

fear when they saw me

agatha fainted

and sophie ran out of the house

felix ran forward

and pulled me away from his father

he threw me to the ground and hit me

again and again with his heavy stick

i did not lift a hand against him

i did not want to hurt him

or any of them

my heart was heavy

and all hope left me

i ran out of the house

and later returned silently

to my heart

nobody saw me

chapter nine

i sat in my dark hut

and felt both angry

and sad

one half of me wanted to hurt the people

who had hurt me

the other half of me still loved them

in the end

i decided to try and speak to the old

man again

i fell into an unhappy sleep

but when i woke in the morning

the family had gone

they had left the house during the night

i knew the name

of only one other person

although i had seen you frankenstein

for only a few moments

i knew that i belonged to you

when i had left your house

i picked up a small

bag there was a book in the bag

and i could now read it

from it i learned my creator’s name and

address

you had made me

but why had you not looked after me

and saved me from this pain and

unhappiness

i decided to go to geneva to find you

one day as i was traveling

i saw a young girl running along the

side of a river

suddenly she fell into the water

i jumped into the river

fought against the fast-moving water

and brought her back to land

while i was doing this

the girl’s father who was looking for

her reached us

he was carrying a gun

and when he saw me

he fired

the bullet hit my arm and broke it

i fell to the ground in great pain

and the man and the girl ran into the

woods as fast as they could

and left me

the bullet was deep in my arm and i lost

a lot of blood

after some days my arm began to get

better but i became sadder and angrier

than before

i had saved the girl’s life

and how did they thank me

with a bullet in the arm

i began to realize that there was no

happiness for me in life

hate grew stronger in me every day

hate for you my creator

who had made me

two months later

i reached geneva

that evening i hid among some trees

outside the town

and went to sleep

but i woke when a little boy ran into my

hiding place

i thought i would catch the child and

make him my friend before he was old

enough to be frightened of my terrible

face

i caught the little boy

but when the child saw me

he covered his eyes with his hands

and screamed loudly

let me go you monster the child shouted

let me go or i will tell my father mr

frankenstein

he will call the police and they’ll

punish you

frankenstein

i shouted

you belong to my enemy

the man that i want to hurt

the child fought and screamed

and i put my hand round his neck to stop

him shouting

in a moment

the child lay dead at my feet

i looked down at his body

and was pleased with what i had done

i knew that the death of this child

would hurt you

victor frankenstein

my creator

then i saw something bright ran the

child’s neck

it was a gold chain

and on the end of it was a picture of a

very beautiful woman

i knew that a beautiful woman would

never smile at me

and i wanted to run into geneva and kill

as many people as i could

but i stopped myself

and went to look for another hiding

place

soon i found a hut

which seemed to be empty

but when i entered

i saw a pretty young woman asleep on the

floor

i hated her because she was pretty

so i put the gold chain into one of her

pockets

and then

before she could wake up

i ran away

i knew the police would think that she

had killed the little boy

chapter 10

victor frankenstein continues his story

the monster finished telling me his

story

and then he said

i am alone and miserable

only someone as ugly as i am could love

me

you must make another creature like me

a woman monster

to be my wife

i shall never make another creature like

you

i shouted

you have done enough evil on your own

if you don’t help me

i shall make you more miserable than you

have ever been in your life

you will wish you were dead

the monster said

but

if you make another monster to be my

friend

we won’t hurt anyone

be kind to me now

and i will learn to love and be kind

i thought long and hard about the

monster’s words

i felt sorry for him

he was so miserable

perhaps i should help him

i shall do what you ask

i told him

but you must promise to live somewhere

in the world where nobody lives

you must promise to stay away from other

people

i promise

i promise

he cried

please

start your work

i shall watch you

and when you are ready

you can be sure

i will come back

he turned and left me

and ran down the mountain

i went back to geneva immediately

my family were very worried when they

saw me

i was pale

my eyes were wild

i could not forget my promise to the

monster

and the awful work that waited for me

but i had to do it

it was the only way to keep my family

safe

safe from his murdering hands around

their necks

i needed to study for several months to

make a woman monster successfully

i heard that an english scientist had

done some useful work

so i decided to go to england

before i went

my father asked me

are you going to marry elizabeth or do

you love another woman

is this why you are so unhappy

no father

i replied

i have always loved elizabeth and i want

to marry her

but

i must do one more piece of scientific

work

before we can marry

i must go to england to do the work

and i want to marry elizabeth when i

return

my father and elizabeth did not want me

to go to england alone

because i had been so ill

they spoke to my old friend henry claval

and he was very happy to travel with me

i was pleased that he could come

although i did not want him to discover

anything about my horrible work

henry and i reached london in early

october and stayed there for a few

months

i met and talked with english scientists

and learned many useful things from them

then henry was invited to visit some

friends in scotland

i planned to travel with him

but i told him that i wanted to go

walking in the mountains alone

henry was not happy with my plan

but in the end he agreed

i bought all that i needed for a

laboratory and sent everything to

scotland

henry and i traveled to edinburgh

together

and then i went further north to find a

good place for my laboratory

at last i found the right place on an

island off the north coast it was a wild

and lonely place

only five people lived on the island

so i could work alone

and nobody would discover my awful

secret

there was a large empty hut on the

island

and i brought builders from scotland to

make the hut into a laboratory for me

i showed them how to build my mast

and soon everything was ready for me to

start work

on the woman monster

chapter 11

one evening two months later

i was sitting in my laboratory

most of my work was done

and i could finish the woman monster

that night

but i wondered if i should finish the

work

was i making a monster more evil than

the first creature

perhaps a thousand times more evil

how could i know

perhaps the woman monster would be

another murderer

she had not promised to stay away from

other people

perhaps the two monsters would hate each

other

and would kill

and murder and destroy

without end

as i thought these things

i looked up at the window

suddenly

in the moonlight

i saw the monster’s awful face looking

at me

and in his yellow eyes i could see only

hate and evil

i knew he would not keep his promise

i went over to the laboratory table

where the new creature was lying

i pulled off the wires that joined her

to my machine

i took a sharp knife

and cut through the body that i joined

together so carefully

through the window

the monster saw me destroy his woman

with a loud and miserable scream of

sadness and lost hope

he ran into the laboratory

you have destroyed all my hopes of

happiness

he cried

you have left me with one feeling

hate

and with one wish

to destroy your happiness

you will be sorry that you were ever

born

remember this

i shall be with you on your wedding

night

he ran quickly out of the laboratory

and i watched him as he left the island

in his boat

and sailed away across the sea

i sat and cried as i thought of the

danger to elizabeth

but i knew that the monster would not

visit us until our wedding night

i would not die easily

and i would try to kill him before he

could kill me

the next morning

i received a letter from henry

he told me that he was waiting for me to

return

i decided to clear the laboratory and to

leave the island on the following day

so i returned to the laboratory where

the pieces of the woman monster’s body

still lay on the floor

i put them all in a large bag with some

heavy stones

then i took the bag to my boat and

sailed out to sea

i threw the bag into deep water

and watched it disappear

i was happier than i had felt for months

i knew i had done the right thing

and now there would be no second monster

to follow the first

i was very tired

and i went to sleep in the boat

i do not know how long i slept

but when i woke up

i was in the middle of a storm

the wind was driving me further out to

sea and my boat began to fill with water

i knew i was in great danger

after some hours the storm passed

and i saw land to the south

soon i could see the beach

and a crowd of people standing and

watching me

their faces were cold and unfriendly

as i landed

four of the men came towards me and took

me by the arms

we are taking you to mr cohen the judge

he wants to ask you some questions about

the murder of a man here last night

one of the men told me

i was sad to hear of the murder

but i did not worry about it

i had been far away at the time and knew

nothing about any murder

it would be easy to explain that

so i went with the men to the large

house where judge kerwin lived

chapter 12

the judge was an old kind man

but his face was very serious as he

looked at me

he asked a number of men to tell me what

they had seen and found the night before

the first man told his story

he and his son were coming home from a

long days fishing

it was a dark night

and on the beach they had fallen over

the dead body of a man

they had carried the body to the nearest

house

and found that it was a good-looking

young man about 25 years old

there were the marks of fingers around

his neck

when they spoke of the marks of fingers

i remembered the murder of my brother

and i felt a terrible fear

the son then told his story

he had seen a boat with a man in it not

far from the beach

he thought it was my boat

a woman had also seen a man in a boat

sailing away from the beach

she thought i was the man

then i was taken to the room where the

dead body lay

how can i tell you what i felt when i

saw the body

i put my arms around it and cried

what have i done

my friend

my dear friend

the body

was henry claval’s

and so now

i had destroyed another person

this third death was too much for me

i fell down in a kind of madness

and they had to carry me from the room

for two months i was very ill

and wished only to die

but slowly

my madness left me

and my health began to return

at last i was able to speak to judge

cohen

and i asked for news of my family

there is someone here who can answer

your question better than i can

he said

your father arrived a few minutes ago

and is waiting to see you

for the first time since henry’s death

i felt some happiness

i held out my hands to my father as he

came into the room

and he took me in his arms

he gave me the good news that elizabeth

and ernest were safe and well

i was really too ill to travel

but i asked my father to take me home

immediately

the police had found somebody who had

seen me on my island at the time of the

murder

and so the judge let me go free

my father looked after me on the long

journey home

and sat with me for every minute

night after night while i was asleep

i shouted that i was the murderer of

william justine and henry

my father asked me why i said these

awful things

i wanted to answer his question

but i could not tell him my terrible

secret

he thought that i was still a little mad

we stayed for a few days in paris on the

way home

and elizabeth wrote to me at our hotel

this is what her letter said

my dearest victor

i am so happy to know that you will soon

be home

but i’m afraid that henry’s death is not

the only reason for your sadness

do you still want to marry me

or do you love another woman

you must tell me

i love you victor

and i dream of the day when i shall be

your wife

but i do not want you to marry me

just because your parents wanted it

i can only be happy

if you are happy

do not answer this letter

wait until you arrive before you give me

your answer

but if you are well

and if i can make you smile

i need nothing more to make me happy

with all my love

elizabeth

i replied immediately

i told her that i loved her very much

and wanted to marry her

i remembered the monster’s promise to be

with me on the night of my wedding

let him come

we would fight to the death on that

night

and after that fight

i would either be dead and at peace

or alive and free

free to be happy with elizabeth

we arrived in geneva soon after my

letter had reached elizabeth

it was wonderful to see her again

she ran into my arms and i held her

close

she cried when she saw how thin and old

i looked

she too was thinner because she had

worried about me so much

but her gentleness and her love

made her as beautiful as ever

we agreed that the wedding would be in

ten days time

as the day came nearer

i became more and more afraid

i tried to hide my fear and laughed and

smiled as often as i could

elizabeth knew that i was unhappy

but she was sure she could give me

happiness

she looked forward to our wedding

i began to carry a gun and a knife with

me everywhere i went

chapter 13.

after the wedding a large number of our

friends came to a party at our house

when the party had started

elizabeth and i said goodbye and left

for our honeymoon

we traveled first by boat and planned to

spend the night at a hotel on the other

side of the lake

the mountains and the lake were calm and

beautiful

and at last elizabeth and i were

together

for the first time for months

and for the last time ever

i enjoyed the feeling of happiness

in the evening the wind became stronger

and soon a great storm broke above us

every noise frightened me

and i kept my hand on my gun under my

coat

i saw the monster in every shadow

suddenly i realized how terrible the

fight would be for elizabeth

i asked her to go to bed

and i decided to search for the monster

i planned to join her when i was sure he

was not in or around the hotel

elizabeth left me

and i searched every corner of the hotel

every dark doorway and staircase

i could not find him

and i began to hope that he had not

followed us to the hotel

but suddenly

i heard a loud and terrible scream

it came from our room

then

too late

i understood

the monster had promised to be with me

on my wedding night

but he had not planned to kill me

the scream came again

and i ran to our room

why did i not die there and then

on the bed

elizabeth lay still

in the cold sleep of death

i took her in my arms

and saw the marks of the murderer’s

fingers on her neck

other people in the hotel had heard the

screams and came into our room

i sent one of them to call the police

the others left me alone with my misery

i held elizabeth close

and as i held her

i saw the monster watching me through

the open window of the room

there was an evil laugh on his face

i pulled my gun from my coat and fired

him

i missed

and he ran from the window and jumped

into the lake

the other people heard the noise of the

shot and came back into the room

i showed them the place where the

monster had jumped into the lake

we searched the edge of the lake

but we could not find him

i returned to our room

and lay on the bed next to my dear wife

suddenly i had another terrible thought

at this very moment perhaps my father

was fighting the monster

with ernest dead at his feet

i left the hotel

and returned to geneva as fast as i

could

my father and ernest were safe

but the awful news of elizabeth’s death

killed my father

he had loved elizabeth dearly

he became ill

and after a few days

he died in my arms

so the evil monster had brought

unhappiness and death to a dear old man

who had never hurt anybody

i do not know what happened next

i think i left the real world

and entered a dangerous world of dreams

and madness

later i found that they had put me in

prison because of my madness

after many months they let me free

i had only one wish

to find

and kill the monster

chapter 14.

i decided to leave geneva forever

i took all the money that i needed

and left the town

before i left

i went to visit the place where william

elizabeth and my father lay at rest

i stood there and promised them that i

would stay alive until i had killed the

monster

a loud evil laugh rang out through the

silent night

then i heard the monster’s voice

it pleases me that you have decided to

live

because that is just what i want

i ran towards the voice

but i could not catch the monster

i saw him running away

but he ran faster than any man could go

too fast for me to catch

but i followed him

and i have been following him since that

day

i shall stay alive until i can catch him

he wants me to live as long as possible

he wants me to feel day after day

the pain and misery that he has given me

he leaves messages to tell me where he

is

he knows that i shall follow him

i am only happy

when i am asleep

i dream that i am with my family

and elizabeth and henry

when i am awake

i look forward to my death

to the day when i shall be with them

in his last message

the monster told me that he was going

north

he wanted to take me where the cold

would hurt me and make me more miserable

i followed him to the cold lands of the

north and bought dogs and a sledge

until now

he has always left me further and

further behind when i chased him but the

dogs were very fast and i was getting

closer and closer to him

soon he was only one day’s journey in

front of me

he was going towards the sea and i hoped

to catch him before he reached it

the chase over the ice continued for

about three weeks

the pain from the cold was very great

and i began to lose hope

i thought i would never catch him

my dogs could not run much further and

one of them died

then i saw something on the ice in front

of me

it was the monster and his sledge

suddenly i was full of hope again

and i gave a great shout of happiness

i got closer and closer to him

then a great storm started

the ice began to break

and the sea carried him away from me

my sledge was broken and i lost my dogs

i was left on a piece of ice that was

becoming smaller all the time

many hours went by

and then i saw your

ship the rest you know

i ask you captain walton

to chase the monster and kill him

do not listen to what he

says he knows how to argue and perhaps

you will feel sorry for him

but remember that he is evil

remember the deaths of william

justine

henry claval

elizabeth

my father

and remember me

victor frankenstein

there is no more for me to say

except to thank you captain walton

for your help and kindness

thank you also for listening to my story

i want you to tell the world that the

monster is a danger to everyone

i know that i have only a few hours left

to live

but i can feel my loved ones near me

and i welcome death

goodbye

this is the end of victor frankenstein’s

story

chapter 15

captain walton’s note

i

captain robert walton

have added this final note to the story

when you have read it

you will know that victor frankenstein’s

story was true

victor frankenstein died a few hours

after he had written his last word

i was sad to see him die

because he had become a good friend

but he will not be unhappy or in pain

anymore

and i am happy for him

we laid his body in a cabin near my own

later

i heard a voice coming from the cabin

i went into the cabin and saw a huge

shape standing over the dead body

i knew that the horrible creature which

was standing there

was frankenstein’s monster

so

i have killed you too

the monster said to frankenstein’s body

oh frankenstein

forgive me

how i wish you could answer me

i went towards him

and said

it is too late for frankenstein to

forgive you

he is dead

his pain is ended

you do not know how much pain and

unhappiness i have felt

said the monster

i knew that i was doing evil things

but i could not stop myself

do you think i enjoyed killing people

my heart was made for love

like a man’s heart

after i killed henry clavel

i hated myself

but i could not stop myself from more

murder

frankenstein would not give me a wife

but he hoped to find happiness with a

wife of his own

he was not fair to me

but now

it has ended

frankenstein

is the last person

i shall kill

i have done all those evil things

but am i the only person who has done

wrong

i wanted love and friendship

think about felix and his family

who hated me after i had given them love

think about the man who shot me

after i had saved his little girl from

the river

but i know that i have done evil

and i hate myself more than you hate me

my own death is near

i shall leave this ship

and go north across the ice

i shall build a great fire

and lie down on it to die

i shall welcome the pain of the fire

because it will help me to forget the

pain in my heart

i have felt more pain than frankenstein

and when the fire has died down

i shall be at peace

the monster jumped from the cabin window

as he said this

he got into the small boat in which he

had reached the ship

the sea soon carried him away

and he was lost in the darkness

you