The Frankenstein Part 8
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.