I spent the following day roaming through
the valley. I stood beside the sources of the Arveiron, which take
their rise in a glacier, that with slow pace is advancing down from
the summit of the hills, to barricade the valley. The abrupt sides
of vast mountains were before me; the icy wall of the glacier
overhung me; a few shattered pines were scattered around; and the
solemn silence of this glorious presence-chamber of imperial Nature
was broken only by the brawling waves, or the fall of some vast
fragment, the thunder sound of the avalanche, or the cracking
reverberated along the mountains of the accumulated ice, which,
through the silent working of immutable laws, was ever and anon rent
and torn, as if it had been but a plaything in their hands. These
sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolation
that I was capable of receiving. They elevated me from all
littleness of feeling; and although they did not remove my grief,
they subdued and tranquillised it. In some degree, also, they
diverted my mind from the thoughts over which it had brooded for the
last month. I retired to rest at night; my slumbers, as it were,
waited on and ministered to by the assemblance of grand shapes which
I had contemplated during the day. They congregated round me; the
unstained snowy mountain-top, the glittering pinnacle, the pine
woods, and ragged bare ravine; the eagle, soaring amidst the
clouds--they all gathered round me, and bade me be at peace.
Where had they fled when the next morning I awoke? All of
soul-inspiriting fled with sleep, and dark melancholy clouded every
thought. The rain was pouring in torrents, and thick mists hid the
summits of the mountains, so that I even saw not the faces of those
mighty friends. Still I would penetrate their misty veil, and seek
them in their cloudy retreats. What were rain and storm to me? My
mule was brought to the door, and I resolved to ascend to the summit
of Montanvert. I remembered the effect that the view of the
tremendous and ever-moving glacier had produced upon my mind when I
first saw it. It had then filled me with a sublime ecstasy that gave
wings to the soul, and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to
light and joy. The sight of the awful and majestic in nature had
indeed always the effect of solemnising my mind, and causing me to
forget the passing cares of life. I determined to go without a
guide, for I was well acquainted with the path, and the presence of
another would destroy the solitary grandeur of the scene.
The ascent is precipitous, but the path is cut into
continual and short windings, which enable you to surmount the
perpendicularity of the mountain. It is a scene terrifically
desolate. In a thousand spots the traces of the winter avalanche may
be perceived, where trees lie broken and strewed on the ground; some
entirely destroyed, others bent, leaning upon the jutting rocks of
the mountain, or transversely upon other trees. The path, as you
ascend higher, is intersected by ravines of snow, down which stones
continually roll from above; one of them is particularly dangerous,
as the slightest sound, such as even speaking in a loud voice,
produces a concussion of air sufficient to draw destruction upon the
head of the speaker. The pines are not tall or luxuriant, but they
are sombre, and add an air of severity to the scene. I looked on the
valley beneath; vast mists were rising from the rivers which ran
through it, and curling in thick wreaths around the opposite
mountains, whose summits were hid in the uniform clouds, while rain
poured from the dark sky, and added to the melancholy impression I
received from the objects around me. Alas! why does man boast of
sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute; it only
renders them more necessary beings. If our impulses were confined to
hunger, thirst, and desire, we might be nearly free; but now we are
moved by every wind that blows, and a chance word or scene that that
word may convey to us.
"We rest; a dream has power to poison
sleep.
We rise; one wandering thought pollutes the day.
We
feel, conceive, or reason; laugh or weep,
Embrace fond woe, or
cast our cares away;
It is the same: for, be it joy or sorrow,
The path of its departure still is free.
Man's yesterday may
ne'er be like his morrow.
Nought may endure but mutability!"
It was nearly noon when I arrived at the top of the ascent.
For some time I sat upon the rock that overlooks the sea of ice. A
mist covered both that and the surrounding mountains. Presently a
breeze dissipated the cloud, and I descended upon the glacier. The
surface is very uneven, rising like the waves of a troubled sea,
descending low, and interspersed by rifts that sink deep. The field
of ice is almost a league in width, but I spent nearly two hours in
crossing it. The opposite mountain is a bare perpendicular rock.
From the side where I now stood Montanvert was exactly opposite, at
the distance of a league; and above it rose Mont Blanc, in awful
majesty. I remained in a recess of the rock, gazing on this
wonderful and stupendous scene. The sea, or rather the vast river of
ice, wound among its dependent mountains, whose aerial summits hung
over its recesses. Their icy and glittering peaks shone in the
sunlight over the clouds. My heart, which was before sorrowful, now
swelled with something like joy; I exclaimed-- "Wandering spirits,
if indeed ye wander, and do not rest in your narrow beds, allow me
this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away from the
joys of life."
As I said this, I suddenly beheld the figure
of a man, at some distance, advancing towards me with superhuman
speed. He bounded over the crevices in the ice, among which I had
walked with caution; his stature, also, as he approached, seemed to
exceed that of man. I was troubled: a mist came over my eyes, and I
felt a faintness seize me; but I was quickly restored by the cold
gale of the mountains. I perceived, as the shape came nearer (sight
tremendous and abhorred!) that it was the wretch whom I had created.
I trembled with rage and horror, resolving to wait his approach, and
then close with him in mortal combat. He approached; his countenance
bespoke bitter anguish, combined with disdain and malignity, while
its unearthly ugliness rendered it almost too horrible for human
eyes. But I scarcely observed this; rage and hatred had at first
deprived me of utterance, and I recovered only to overwhelm him with
words expressive of furious detestation and contempt.
"Devil," I exclaimed, "do you dare approach me? and do not
you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable
head? Begone, vile insect! or rather, stay, that I may trample you
to dust! and, oh! that I could, with the extinction of your
miserable existence, restore those victims whom you have so
diabolically murdered!"
"I expected this reception," said
the daemon. "All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated,
who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator,
detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties
only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to
kill me. How dare you sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me,
and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind. If you will
comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but
if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated
with the blood of your remaining friends."
"Abhorred
monster! fiend that thou art! the tortures of hell are too mild a
vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched devil! you reproach me with your
creation; come on, then, that I may extinguish the spark which I so
negligently bestowed." My rage was without bounds; I sprang on him,
impelled by all the feelings which can arm one being against the
existence of another.
He easily eluded me, and said--
"Be calm! I entreat you to hear me, before you give vent to
your hatred on my devoted head. Have I not suffered enough that you
seek to increase my misery? Life, although it may only be an
accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.
Remember, thou hast made me more powerful than thyself; my height is
superior to thine; my joints more supple. But I will not be tempted
to set myself in opposition to thee. I am thy creature, and I will
be even mild and docile to my natural lord and king, if thou wilt
also perform thy part, the which thou owest me. Oh, Frankenstein, be
not equitable to every other, and trample upon me alone, to whom thy
justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due. Remember,
that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the
fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere
I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was
benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I
shall again be virtuous."
"Begone! I will not hear you.
There can be no community between you and me; we are enemies.
Begone, or let us try our strength in a fight, in which one must
fall."
"How can I move thee? Will no entreaties cause thee
to turn a favourable eye upon thy creature, who implores thy
goodness and compassion? Believe me, Frankenstein: I was benevolent;
my soul glowed with love and humanity: but am I not alone, miserably
alone? You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I gather from your
fellow-creatures, who owe me nothing? they spurn and hate me. The
desert mountains and dreary glaciers are my refuge. I have wandered
here many days; the caves of ice, which I only do not fear, are a
dwelling to me, and the only one which man does not grudge. These
bleak skies I hail, for they are kinder to me than your
fellow-beings. If the multitude of mankind knew of my existence,
they would do as you do, and arm themselves for my destruction.
Shall I not then hate them who abhor me? I will keep no terms with
my enemies. I am miserable, and they shall share my wretchedness.
Yet it is in your power to recompense me, and deliver them from an
evil which it only remains for you to make so great that not only
you and your family, but thousands of others, shall be swallowed up
in the whirlwinds of its rage. Let your compassion be moved, and do
not disdain me. Listen to my tale: when you have heard that, abandon
or commiserate me, as you shall judge that I deserve. But hear me.
The guilty are allowed, by human laws, bloody as they are, to speak
in their own defence before they are condemned. Listen to me,
Frankenstein. You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a
satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature. Oh, praise the
eternal justice of man! Yet I ask you not to spare me: listen to me;
and then, if you can, and if you will, destroy the work of your
hands."
"Why do you call to my remembrance," I rejoined,
"circumstances, of which I shudder to reflect, that I have been the
miserable origin and author? Cursed be the day, abhorred devil, in
which you first saw light! Cursed (although I curse myself) be the
hands that formed you! You have made me wretched beyond expression.
You have left me no power to consider whether I am just to you or
not. Begone! relieve me from the sight of your detested form."
"Thus I relieve thee, my creator, "he said, and placed his
hated hands before my eyes, which I flung from me with violence;
"thus I take from thee a sight which you abhor. Still thou canst
listen to me, and grant me thy compassion. By the virtues that I
once possessed, I demand this from you. Hear my tale; it is long and
strange, and the temperature of this place is not fitting to your
fine sensations; come to the hut upon the mountain. The sun is yet
high in the heavens; before it descends to hide itself behind yon
snowy precipices, and illuminate another world, you will have heard
my story, and can decide. On you it rests whether I quit for ever
the neighbourhood of man, and lead a hapless life, or become the
scourge of your fellow-creatures, and the author of your own speedy
ruin."
As he said this, he led the way across the ice: I
followed. My heart was full, and I did not answer him; but, as I
proceeded, I weighed the various arguments that he had used, and
determined at least to listen to his tale. I was partly urged by
curiosity, and compassion confirmed my resolution. I had hitherto
supposed him to be the murderer of my brother, and I eagerly sought
a confirmation or denial of this opinion. For the first time, also,
I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were, and
that I ought to render him happy before I complained of his
wickedness. These motives urged me to comply with his demand. We
crossed the ice, therefore, and ascended the opposite rock. The air
was cold, and the rain again began to descend: we entered the hut,
the fiend with an air of exultation, I with a heavy heart and
depressed spirits. But I consented to listen; and, seating myself by
the fire which my odious companion had lighted, he thus began his
tale. |
