The Frankenstein Part 8

Chapter Eight

Montanvert is very steep. The path winds slowly up the mountain. The

pine trees on both sides were heavy with snow. It was midday when I arrived

at the top of the mountain. Then I climbed down onto the glacier. I spent

two hours crossing that great river of ice. Then I sat on a rock to rest,

looking back at Montanvert and, behind it, Mont Blanc. The snowy peaks of

the mountains glistened above the clouds in the sunshine. For a moment I

was happy.

Suddenly I saw a man running towards me over the ice. As he approached

me at great speed, I recognised him. It was the monster I had created! I

trembled with hatred and anger. 'Devil!' I cried. 'Are you not afraid to

approach me? Are you not afraid that I will avenge the deaths of those you

have murdered?'

'I expected this,' said the monster. 'Everyone hates me. I am the most

miserable creature on earth. Even you, my creator, hate me. You say you

will kill me. How dare you play with life and death! Do your duty towards

me, and I will do my duty towards you and the rest of mankind. Do what I

ask and I will leave you and them in peace. If you refuse, I will murder

everyone you love.'

'Hateful monster! Devil! I was mad to create you. Now I will destroy you!'

'Be calm,' he said, 'and hear my story. Remember that you made me

stronger than you. Oh Frankenstein, you are fair to everyone else! Be fair to

me, your creature, as well! I should be your Adam, but instead I am your

Satan. Everywhere I see happiness, but for me there is no happiness. I was

good, but unhappiness made me evil. Make me happy, and I will be good

again.'

'Go!' I cried. 'I will not listen to you. We are enemies. Either go or fight

with me until one of us is dead.'

'How can I make you understand?' replied the monster. 'I was capable of

love and kindness. But I am alone. Everyone hates me. I hide in the

mountains. I live in the caves of ice. If people knew of my existence, they

would try to kill me. How can I love them when they hate me? If I am

unhappy, I will make them unhappy too, but you can save them. If you

refuse my request, I will kill not only you and your family but many others

too. Listen to my tale. In court, the guilty are allowed to speak in their own

defence before they are condemned. You say I am a murderer, but you want

to murder me, your own creature. Listen to me, and then, if you wish,

destroy the work of your own hands.'

'Do not remind me that I am your creator. I wish you had never come to

life. I curse my own hands for having made you! Go! I hate the sight of you!'

'Then do not look at me,' said the monster, and he put his horrible hands

over my eyes. 'Do not look at me, but listen. Hear my tale; it is long and

strange. Before the sun sets this evening, you will know everything. Then

you will decide whether I will go away to live a harmless life or stay to

murder your fellow creatures.'

I agreed to listen to his story. I was curious to know what had happened to

him, and, for the first time, I felt that as his creator I had a duty towards him.

He took me across the ice to a small hut. Inside, he lit a fire. I sat down, and

the monster began his tale.