Captain Walton’s Story Figures on the Ice *
We were journeying through the frozen waters of the north, in search of the Pole, when my ship became stuck fast in the ice. So there was nothing we could do but wait. I did not mind – I had always wanted to explore that strange, wild place of ice and mist. It seemed to me not just remote and lonely, but also very beautiful.
It was easy to imagine we were the only living creatures that close to the North Pole, so I was astonished. One bleak afternoon, to make out a tiny speck moving across the icy plain, The crew and I watched it closely and, as it drew nearer to the ship. We saw that it was a sledge pulled by dogs and guided by a huge figure. At first I supposed this figure to be human – what else could .it be? – but when I was able to make out more detail I realized he was at least eight feet tall and quite unlike any man I had ever seen. We watched him plough on, northwards at incredible speed, until he vanished from sight. Who he was . Or where he was going, we had no idea.
About two hours after this, the ice began to groan and crack, and our ship was freed. Some of the crew wanted to sail at once, but I was afraid we would be crushed by loose masses of floating ice. I ordered us to wait one night longer, and took the chance to get some sleep.
At first light I heard shouting on deck and went up to find the crew gathered at the ship’s side. They were peering down at a man huddled against a sledge on a large raft of ice. This man was of ordinary size and quite clearly not the figure we had seen only hours before. How strange, I thought, to come across two souls within a few hours of each other, and in such a deserted place.
We hauled the stranger aboard, half dead with cold and hunger. I told the men to wrap him in blankets and warm him by the ship’s stove. They were curious to know what he was doing alone in that desolate place – I was, too – but he was in no state to answer questions. So he rested there, barely able to move or speak, and two days passed before he was strong enough to respond.
Then he told me his name – Victor Frankenstein – and said he was a scientist. When I asked if his studies had brought him to the frozen north, he looked at me with a deep sadness.
‘I have been searching,’ he said slowly. ‘Someone is trying to escape me. But he must be found.’
‘Someone in a sledge, like yours ?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then I think we’ve seen him. A day before we picked you up.’
On hearing this he became agitated and struggled to sit up.
‘What is it?’ I said, holding him by the shoulders. ‘What’s troubling you?’
At first ’he would not answer. He said his story was terrible, too terrible to hear. He said I would not believe him. But I could see that there was something desperate about him, that he wanted to tell me.
Eventually he calmed himself and began to speak.
