Chapter 20



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 forever 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 fulfillment 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 forever. 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 rang 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 mainland. 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 fulfillment 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 daemon

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 sank 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 rang 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 daemon.

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 sank and then sailed away from the spot. The sky became clouded,

but the air was pure, although chilled by the northeast 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 northeast 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 forever, 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 civilized 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.

"Maybe 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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