Frankenstein’s Story A Flash of Lightning
I am from Geneva, in Switzerland. A4y childhood there was a happy one: I knew nothing of the horrors waiting for me in later life. How could I?
To me the world was full of interest, and what fascinated me most was nature. I loved to read about it, to study it, to watch the plants and creatures around my home and wonder how they worked. My father used to laugh at this and say that I was more interested in nature than I was in people, but that was not entirely true. I did have friends and two in particular I truly loved. One was Henry Clerval, a boy of about my own age, and the other was my sister Elizabeth.
In fact,Elizabeth was not a true sister, my parents had adopted her when I was five. I remember the day she came to us. My mother told me she had a present for me, and then, to my surprise, introduced me to this little blue-eyed girl.
‘Here, Victor,’ she said. ‘This is your present –your new sister.’
I was delighted and somehow came to believe that Elizabeth really did belong to me, and that I was responsible for her. She was quite unlike me. While I was impatient and sometimes given to outbursts of temper, she was sweet-natured and generous. Over the years, I became devoted to her. My two little brothers, Ernest and William . Loved her too . She came to be the very heart of that happy family.
One day, when I was about fifteen, a violent storm rumbled out of the mountains and broke over our home. I stood amazed at the door, listening to the crashes of thunder and blinking at the great flashes of lightning which lit up the garden. There was an old oak tree not very far from the house, and, as I watched, I saw it bathed in a sudden and immense stream of fire. When the light was gone, the tree was left a blasted stump, smoking in the rain.
It thrilled me to see such a thing, but I found the idea of it even more thrilling. I marveled at the power and life there must be in all that electricity! If it could destroy such a huge, solid tree, I thought, what else might it do? If only it were possible to harness that power. What great things might be achieved?
From that moment I was determined to find the answers to these questions, to discover the secrets of life.
The time came for me to go to university in Ingoldstadt. I was keen to go, but, just before I was to set out,my mother fell ill with a fever and died. Her parting wish was that Elizabeth would take her place and become a mother to Ernest and William, and that she and I would one day be married.
The house was filled with grief at my mother’s death, and I could not abandon my family to go searching after knowledge in Ingoldstadt. I felt it was my duty to stay and comfort Elizabeth and my father in their sadness. In the end, of course, I had to leave, but my heart was heavy as I climbed into the coach that was to take me away. My father was there to give me his blessing. And Henry Clerval came to wish me good fortune. It was, I know, his fondest wish to come with me and join me in my studies, but his father would not allow it. My dear Elizabeth clasped my hands and begged me to write, to write often, and I promised that I would.
When I got to the university, however, I forgot my promise to Elizabeth. Ingoldstadt was a place of great learning, a place where I realized I could at last tackle the questions which had fascinated me for so long. I threw myself into my studies of the sciences and, over the next two years. Barely wrote to my family and found no time to pay them a single visit.
During this time, I think I impressed my teachers with my enthusiasm for work and the speed of my progress. Recall hearing two of them talk about me as they walked through the cloisters one day.
‘He’s only been here two years,’one said,‘and I honestly believe he’s learned everything we can possibly teach him.’
‘Perhaps so .’ Said the other . ‘but there’s something secretive about the boy. I sometimes wonder where all these private studies will lead him.’
I smiled to hear this because I knew my understanding of science was not just the equal of theirs but far superior. Yes, my studies were sometimes carried out in secret, but I felt sure that they were leading me to the brink of a remarkable discovery.
I used to work, alone and often deep into the night, in a little room at the top of the house where I lived. In fact, I drove myself so hard that I became quite ill – pale and wearied – though I hardly noticed it at the time. What concerned me was the same problem which had fascinated me as a boy – that of life itself. Where, I wondered, does it spring from? What is it that brings it about? I realized that, to find the answers to these questions, I had to examine not just living things but dead ones. I had to understand death and decay.
[释义]“也许是吧，”另一个说。“但这孩子有点神秘。我有时在想，这些私人学习对他会有什么帮助。
