I sat one evening in my laboratory; the sun
had set, and the moon was just rising from the sea; I had not
sufficient light for my employment, and I remained idle, in a pause
of consideration of whether I should leave my labour for the night,
or hasten its conclusion by an unremitting attention to it. As I
sat, a train of reflection occurred to me, which led me to consider
the effects of what I was now doing. Three years before I was
engaged in the same manner, and had created a fiend whose
unparalleled barbarity had desolated my heart, and filled it for
ever with the bitterest remorse. I was now about to form another
being, of whose dispositions I was alike ignorant; she might become
ten thousand times more malignant than her mate, and delight, for
its own sake, in murder and wretchedness. He had sworn to quit the
neighbourhood of man, and hide himself in deserts; but she had not;
and she, who in all probability was to become a thinking and
reasoning animal, might refuse to comply with a compact made before
her creation. They might even hate each other; the creature who
already lived loathed his own deformity, and might he not conceive a
greater abhorrence for it when it came before his eyes in the female
form? She also might turn with disgust from him to the superior
beauty of man; she might quit him, and he be again alone,
exasperated by the fresh provocation of being deserted by one of his
own species.
Even if they were to leave Europe, and inhabit
the deserts of the new world, yet one of the first results of those
sympathies for which the daemon thirsted would be children, and a
race of devils would be propagated upon the earth who might make the
very existence of the species of man a condition precarious and full
of terror. Had I right, for my own benefit, to inflict this curse
upon everlasting generations? I had before been moved by the
sophisms of the being I had created; I had been struck senseless by
his fiendish threats: but now, for the first time, the wickedness of
my promise burst upon me; I shuddered to think that future ages
might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had not hesitated to
buy its own peace at the price, perhaps, of the existence of the
whole human race.
I trembled, and my heart failed within me;
when, on looking up, I saw, by the light of the moon, the daemon at
the casement. A ghastly grin wrinkled his lips as he gazed on me,
where I sat fulfilling the task which he had allotted to me. Yes, he
had followed me in my travels; he had loitered in forests, hid
himself in caves, or taken refuge in wide and desert heaths; and he
now came to mark my progress, and claim the fulfilment of my
promise.
As I looked on him, his countenance expressed the
utmost extent of malice and treachery. I thought with a sensation of
madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling
with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged. The
wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he
depended for happiness, and, with a howl of devilish despair and
revenge, withdrew.
I left the room, and, locking the door,
made a solemn vow in my own heart never to resume my labours; and
then, with trembling steps, I sought my own apartment. I was alone;
none were near me to dissipate the gloom, and relieve me from the
sickening oppression of the most terrible reveries.
Several
hours passed, and I remained near my window gazing on the sea; it
was almost motionless, for the winds were hushed, and all nature
reposed under the eye of the quiet moon. A few fishing vessels alone
specked the water, and now and then the gentle breeze wafted the
sound of voices, as the fishermen called to one another. I felt the
silence, although I was hardly conscious of its extreme profundity,
until my ear was suddenly arrested by the paddling of oars near the
shore, and a person landed close to my house.
In a few
minutes after, I heard the creaking of my door, as if some one
endeavoured to open it softly. I trembled from head to foot; I felt
a presentiment of who it was, and wished to rouse one of the
peasants who dwelt in a cottage not far from mine; but I was
overcome by the sensation of helplessness, so often felt in
frightful dreams, when you in vain endeavour to fly from an
impending danger, and was rooted to the spot.
Presently I
heard the sound of footsteps along the passage; the door opened, and
the wretch whom I dreaded appeared. Shutting the door, he approached
me, and said, in a smothered voice--"You have destroyed the work
which you began; what is it that you intend? Do you dare to break
your promise?
I have endured toil and misery: I left
Switzerland with you; I crept along the shores of the Rhine, among
its willow islands, and over the summits of its hills. I have dwelt
many months in the heaths of England, and among the deserts of
Scotland. I have endured incalculable fatigue, and cold, and hunger;
do you dare destroy my hopes?"
"Begone! I do break my
promise; never will I create another like yourself, equal in
deformity and wickedness."
"Slave, I before reasoned with
you, but you have proved yourself unworthy of my condescension.
Remember that I have power; you believe yourself miserable, but I
can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to
you. You are my creator, but I am your master;--obey!"
"The
hour of my irresolution is past, and the period of your power is
arrived. Your threats cannot move me to do an act of wickedness; but
they confirm me in a determination of not creating you a companion
in vice. Shall I, in cool blood, set loose upon the earth a daemon,
whose delight is in death and wretchedness? Begone! I am firm, and
your words will only exasperate my rage."
The monster
saw my determination in my face, and gnashed his teeth in the
impotence of anger. "Shall each man," cried he, "find a wife for his
bosom, and each beast have his mate, and I be alone? I had feelings
of affection, and they were requited by detestation and scorn. Man!
you may hate; but beware! your hours will pass in dread and misery,
and soon the bolt will fall which must ravish from you your
happiness for ever. Are you to be happy while I grovel in the
intensity of my wretchedness? You can blast my other passions; but
revenge remains--revenge, henceforth dearer than light or food! I
may die; but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun
that gazes on your misery. Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore
powerful. I will watch with the wiliness of a snake, that I may
sting with its venom. Man, you shall repent of the injuries you
inflict."
"Devil, cease; and do not poison the air with
these sounds of malice. I have declared my resolution to you, and I
am no coward to bend beneath words. Leave me; I am inexorable."
"It is well. I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your
wedding-night."
I started forward, and exclaimed, "Villain!
before you sign my death-warrant, be sure that you are yourself
safe."
I would have seized him; but he eluded me, and
quitted the house with precipitation. In a few moments I saw him in
his boat, which shot across the waters with an arrowy swiftness, and
was soon lost amidst the waves.
All was again silent; but
his words rung in my ears. I burned with rage to pursue the murderer
of my peace and precipitate him into the ocean. I walked up and down
my room hastily and perturbed, while my imagination conjured up a
thousand images to torment and sting me. Why had I not followed him,
and closed with him in mortal strife? But I had suffered him to
depart, and he had directed his course towards the main land. I
shuddered to think who might be the next victim sacrificed to his
insatiate revenge. And then I thought again of his words--"I
will be with you on your wedding-night." That then was the period
fixed for the fulfilment of my destiny. In that hour I should die,
and at once satisfy and extinguish his malice. The prospect did not
move me to fear; yet when I thought of my beloved Elizabeth,--of her
tears and endless sorrow, when she should find her lover so
barbarously snatched from her,--tears, the first I had shed for many
months, streamed from my eyes, and I resolved not to fall before my
enemy without a bitter struggle.
The night passed away, and
the sun rose from the ocean; my feelings became calmer, if it may be
called calmness, when the violence of rage sinks into the depths of
despair. I left the house, the horrid scene of the last night's
contention, and walked on the beach of the sea, which I almost
regarded as an insuperable barrier between me and my
fellow-creatures; nay, a wish that such should prove the fact stole
across me. I desired that I might pass my life on that barren rock,
wearily, it is true, but uninterrupted by any sudden shock of
misery. If I returned, it was to be sacrificed, or to see those whom
I most loved die under the grasp of a damon whom I had myself
created.
I walked about the isle like a restless spectre,
separated from all it loved, and miserable in the separation. When
it became noon, and the sun rose higher, I lay down on the grass,
and was overpowered by a deep sleep. I had been awake the whole of
the preceding night, my nerves were agitated, and my eyes inflamed
by watching and misery. The sleep into which I now sunk refreshed
me; and when I awoke, I again felt as if I belonged to a race of
human beings like myself, and I began to reflect upon what had
passed with greater composure; yet still the words of the fiend rung
in my ears like a death-knell, they appeared like a dream, yet
distinct and oppressive as a reality.
The sun had far
descended, and I still sat on the shore, satisfying my appetite,
which had become ravenous, with an oaten cake, when I saw a
fishing-boat land close to me, and one of the men brought me a
packet; it contained letters from Geneva, and one from Clerval,
entreating me to join him. He said that he was wearing away his time
fruitlessly where he was; that letters from the friends he had
formed in London desired his return to complete the negotiation they
had entered into for his Indian enterprise. He could not any longer
delay his departure; but as his journey to London might be followed,
even sooner than he now conjectured, by his longer voyage, he
entreated me to bestow as much of my society on him as I could
spare. He besought me, therefore, to leave my solitary isle, and to
meet him at Perth, that we might proceed southwards together. This
letter in a degree recalled me to life, and I determined to quit my
island at the expiration of two days.
Yet, before I
departed, there was a task to perform, on which I shuddered to
reflect: I must pack up my chemical instruments; and for that
purpose I must enter the room which had been the scene of my odious
work, and I must handle those utensils, the sight of which was
sickening to me. The next morning, at daybreak, I summoned
sufficient courage, and unlocked the door of my laboratory. The
remains of the half-finished creature, whom I had destroyed, lay
scattered on the floor, and I almost felt as if I had mangled the
living flesh of a human being. I paused to collect myself, and then
entered the chamber. With trembling hand I conveyed the instruments
out of the room; but I reflected that I ought not to leave the
relics of my work to excite the horror and suspicion of the
peasants; and I accordingly put them into a basket, with a great
quantity of stones, and, laying them up, determined to throw them
into the sea that very night; and in the meantime I sat upon the
beach, employed in cleaning and arranging my chemical apparatus.
Nothing could be more complete than the alteration that had
taken place in my feelings since the night of the appearance of the
damon. I had before regarded my promise with a gloomy despair, as a
thing that, with whatever consequences, must be fulfilled; but I now
felt as if a film had been taken from before my eyes, and that I,
for the first time, saw clearly. The idea of renewing my labours did
not for one instant occur to me; the threat I had heard weighed on
my thoughts, but I did not reflect that a voluntary act of mine
could avert it. I had resolved in my own mind, that to create
another like the fiend I had first made would be an act of the
basest and most atrocious selfishness; and I banished from my mind
every thought that could lead to a different conclusion.
Between two and three in the morning the moon rose; and
I then, putting my basket aboard a little skiff, sailed out about
four miles from the shore. The scene was perfectly solitary: a few
boats were returning towards land, but I sailed away from them. I
felt as if I was about the commission of a dreadful crime, and
avoided with shuddering anxiety any encounter with my
fellow-creatures. At one time the moon, which had before been clear,
was suddenly overspread by a thick cloud, and I took advantage of
the moment of darkness, and cast my basket into the sea: I listened
to the gurgling sound as it sunk, and then sailed away from the
spot. The sky became clouded; but the air was pure, although chilled
by the north-east breeze that was then rising. But it refreshed me,
and filled me with such agreeable sensations, that I resolved to
prolong my stay on the water; and, fixing the rudder in a direct
position, stretched myself at the bottom of the boat. Clouds hid the
moon, everything was obscure, and I heard only the sound of the
boat, as its keel cut through the waves; the murmur lulled me, and
in a short time I slept soundly.
I do not know how long I
remained in this situation, but when I awoke I found that the sun
had already mounted considerably. The wind was high, and the waves
continually threatened the safety of my little skiff. I found that
the wind was north-east, and must have driven me far from the coast
from which I had embarked. I endeavoured to change my course, but
quickly found that, if I again made the attempt, the boat would be
instantly filled with water. Thus situated, my only resource was to
drive before the wind. I confess that I felt a few sensations of
terror. I had no compass with me, and was so slenderly acquainted
with the geography of this part of the world, that the sun was of
little benefit to me. I might be driven into the wide Atlantic, and
feel all the tortures of starvation, or be swallowed up in the
immeasurable waters that roared and buffeted around me. I had
already been out many hours, and felt the torment of a burning
thirst, a prelude to my other sufferings. I looked on the heavens,
which were covered by clouds that flew before the wind, only to be
replaced by others: I looked upon the sea, it was to be my grave.
"Fiend," I exclaimed, "your task is already fulfilled!" I thought of
Elizabeth, of my father, and of Clerval; all left behind, on whom
the monster might satisfy his sanguinary and merciless passions.
This idea plunged me into a reverie, so despairing and frightful,
that even now, when the scene is on the point of closing before me
for ever, I shudder to reflect on it.
Some hours passed
thus; but by degrees, as the sun declined towards the horizon, the
wind died away into a gentle breeze, and the sea became free from
breakers. But these gave place to a heavy swell: I felt sick, and
hardly able to hold the rudder, when suddenly I saw a line of high
land towards the south.
Almost spent, as I was, by fatigue,
and the dreadful suspense I endured for several hours, this sudden
certainty of life rushed like a flood of warm joy to my heart, and
tears gushed from my eyes.
How mutable are our feelings, and
how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess
of misery! I constructed another sail with a part of my dress, and
eagerly steered my course towards the land. It had a wild and rocky
appearance; but, as I approached nearer, I easily perceived the
traces of cultivation. I saw vessels near the shore, and found
myself suddenly transported back to the neighbourhood of civilised
man. I carefully traced the windings of the land, and hailed a
steeple which I at length saw issuing from behind a small
promontory. As I was in a state of extreme debility, I resolved to
sail directly towards the town, as a place where I could most easily
procure nourishment. Fortunately I had money with me. As I turned
the promontory, I perceived a small neat town and a good harbour,
which I entered, my heart bounding with joy at my unexpected escape.
As I was occupied in fixing the boat and arranging the
sails, several people crowded towards the spot. They seemed much
surprised at my appearance; but, instead of offering me any
assistance, whispered together with gestures that at any other time
might have produced in me a slight sensation of alarm. As it was, I
merely remarked that they spoke English; and I therefore addressed
them in that language: "My good friends," said I, "will you be so
kind as to tell me the name of this town, and inform me where I am?"
"You will know that soon enough," replied a man with a
hoarse voice. "May be you are come to a place that will not prove
much to your taste; but you will not be consulted as to your
quarters, I promise you."
I was exceedingly surprised on
receiving so rude an answer from a stranger; and I was also
disconcerted on perceiving the frowning and angry countenances of
his companions. "Why do you answer me so roughly?" I replied;
"surely it is not the custom of Englishmen to receive strangers so
inhospitably."
"I do not know," said the man, "what the
custom of the English may be; but it is the custom of the Irish to
hate villains."
While this strange dialogue continued, I
perceived the crowd rapidly increase. Their faces expressed a
mixture of curiosity and anger, which annoyed, and in some degree
alarmed me. I inquired the way to the inn; but no one replied. I
then moved forward and a murmuring sound arose from the crowd as
they followed and surrounded me; when an ill-looking man
approaching, tapped me on the shoulder, and said, "Come, sir, you
must follow me to Mr. Kirwin's, to give an account of yourself."
"Who is Mr. Kirwin? Why am I to give an account of
myself? Is not this a free country?"
"Ay, sir, free enough
for honest folks. Mr. Kirwin is a magistrate; and you are to give an
account of the death of a gentleman who was found murdered here last
night."
This answer startled me; but I presently recovered
myself. I was innocent; that could easily be proved: accordingly I
followed my conductor in silence, and was led to one of the best
houses in the town. I was ready to sink from fatigue and hunger;
but, being surrounded by a crowd, I thought it politic to rouse all
my strength, that no physical debility might be construed into
apprehension or conscious guilt. Little did I then expect the
calamity that was in a few moments to overwhelm me, and extinguish
in horror and despair all fear of ignominy or death.
I must
pause here; for it requires all my fortitude to recall the memory of
the frightful events which I am about to relate, in proper detail,
to my recollection.
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