Learn English through story | Graded reader level 3: Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley chapter 1 captain something is moving on the ice look over there the Sailor stood at the top of the mast high above the captain his hand pointed away from the ship across the miles of ice that covered the sea the captain looked to the north where the Sailor was pointing he saw something coming fast towards the ship across the ice he put his telescope to his eye and threw it he could see the shapes of ten dogs pulling a sledge over the ice he could also see the driver of the sledge a huge figure much bigger than a man the sledge came nearer and nearer to the sea soon it was only a quarter of a mile from the ship no one needed a telescope now to see the huge figure of the driver suddenly the sledge went behind a mountain of ice and disappeared at that moment another sledge appeared it too was moving fast and was clearly chasing the first sledge this driver was a smaller figure more like an ordinary man faster and faster the dogs ran then the second sledge also disappeared behind a mountain of ice two hours passed the sledges did not appear again nothing moved on the ice soon night came and in the night there was a storm in the morning the Sailor saw the great pieces of ice were floating round to the ship suddenly the Sailor on the mast shouted again captain I can see a man on the ice the Sailor was pointing to a piece of ice that was floating near the ship a man was sitting on the ice and near him was a broken sledge the man was nearly dead from cold and could not walk the sailors carried him carefully onto the ship and took him to the captain who said welcome to my ship I am the captain and my name is Robert Walton Thank You captain Walton the man said my name is Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein then he fainted and said no more two days passed before the man was strong enough to talk and then the captain asked him to tell his story I am trying to catch someone said Frankenstein that is why I have come so far north on the ice we saw you following someone the captain said he was huge much bigger than a man we saw his sledge just in front of you on the night before the storm I am pleased you all saw that huge figure Frankenstein said perhaps that will help you to believe my story during the days while the captain worked on the ship Frankenstein wrote down his story and each evening he read what he had written to the captain here is Victor Frankenstein's story chapter 2 Victor Frankenstein's story begins I was born in Switzerland in the town of Geneva my parents loved each other very much and I learned from the example of their love I learned that to love and to be patient are the most important things in the world my mother hoped to have a daughter after I was born but for five years I was the only child and then my mother found a sister for me she was helping a family in which there were five children there were very poor and the children were thin and hungry one of the children was a little girl with golden hair and blue eyes her name was Elizabeth my mother took the little girl into our family and Elizabeth became the daughter that my mother had always wanted as I grew older my love for Elizabeth became stronger all the time later my mother had two other sons Ernest and William a young woman called Justine came to live in the house to help my mother with the children we loved her as much as she loved us the years passed happily and we had everything that we needed at school and that's another very fine person his name was Henry Clerval and he was very clever my family also liked him very much so he was a welcome visitor to our house I studied very hard at school I wanted to know the secrets of life and most of all I wanted to know how to make living things I read all the books that I could find one day something happened that added a new idea to the ideas that I already had I was 15 at the time and we were on holiday in the mountains there was a wild storm and with it came the most frightening thunder and lightning that I have ever seen in my life about 20 meters in front of our house was a great tree suddenly a huge full of lightning hit the tree after a few seconds there was nothing left of it except a black piece of wood 2 meters high the Lightning had destroyed it I saw how strong electricity was I began to read all the books that I could find about electricity and it's terrible power chapter 3 for 17 years my life was very happy then the first sad thing happened my mother became very ill and soon she knew that she was dying just before she died she asked Elizabeth and me to go to her room she held our hands and said my children I am very happy because you love each other and because one day you will get married everyone in the family loves you Elizabeth will you take my place in the family my dear I can die happy if you will look after them when I have gone my mother died and we were very sad because we loved her dearly Elizabeth was brave and helped us her sweet smile gave us some happiness in the unhappy days after my mother's death the time came for me to go to university I did not want to leave my sad family but we all knew that I should go it was hard to leave too because the parents of my good friend Henry Clerval would not let him go to university with me and so I had to go alone on my first day at the University I met my teacher professor Waldman who was one of the greatest scientists in the world he gave a wonderful talk to all the students who were starting at the University he ended his talk by saying some of you will become the great scientists of tomorrow you must study hard and discover everything that you can that is why God made you intelligent to help other people after the talk I thought very carefully I remembered the storm when I was 15 I remembered how the Lightning had destroyed the tree I wanted to use electricity to help people and I wanted to discover the secrets of life I decided to work on these two things I did not know then that my work would destroy me and the people that I loved I started work the next day I worked very hard and soon professor Waldman and I realized that I could learn to be a very good scientist the professor helped me very much and other important scientists who were his friends helped me too I was interested in my work and I did not take one day's holiday during the next two years I did not go home and my letters to my family were very short after two years I had discovered many things and I built a scientific machine that was better than anything in the university my machine would help me answer the most important question of all how does life begin is it possible to put life into dead things to answer these questions about life I had to learn first about death I had to watch bodies from the moment when they died and the warm life left them in the hospital and in the university I watched the dying and the dead day after day month after month I followed death it was a dark and terrible time then one day the answer came to me suddenly I was sure that I knew the secret of I knew that I could put life into a body that was not alive I worked harder and harder now I slept for only a short time each night and I did not eat much food I wrote to my family less often but they loved me and did not stop writing to me they said they understood how busy I was they did not want me to stop work to write or to see them they would wait until I had more time they hoped to see me very soon the professors realized that I was doing very important work and so they gave me my own laboratory there was a small flat above the laboratory where I lived and sometimes I stayed inside the building for a week and did not go out above the laboratory I built a very tall mast it was 150 meters high and higher than the tallest building in the city the mast could catch lightning and could send the electricity down to my machine in the laboratory I had never forgotten the lightning that had destroyed the tree there had been so much power in the electricity of that lightning I believed I could use that electricity to give life to things that were dead I will say no more than that the secret of my machine must die with me I was a very clever scientist but I did not realize then what a terrible mistake I was making chapter four in my laboratory I made a body I bought or stole all the pieces of human body that I needed and slowly and carefully I put them all together I did not let anybody enter my laboratory or my flat while I was doing this awful work I was afraid to tell anybody my terrible secret I had wanted to make a beautiful man but the face of the creature was horrible its skin was thin and yellow and its eyes were as yellow as its skin its long black hair and white teeth were almost beautiful but the rest of the face was very ugly its legs and arms were the right shape but they were huge I had to use big pieces because it was too difficult to join small pieces together my creature was two and a half metres tall for a year I had worked to make this creature but now it looked terrible and frightening I almost decided to destroy it but I could not I had to know if I could put life into it I joined the body to the wires from my machine more wires joined the machine to the mast I was sure that my machine could use electricity from lightning to give life to the body I watched and waited two days later I saw dark clouds in the sky and I knew that a storm was coming at about one o'clock in the morning the lightning came my Mars began to do its work immediately and the electricity from the Lightning traveled down the mast to my machine would the machine work at first nothing happened but after a few minutes I saw the creatures body begin to move slowly terribly the body came alive its arms and legs began to move and slowly it sat up the dead body had been an ugly thing but alive it was much more horrible suddenly I wanted to escape from it I ran out of the laboratory and locked the door I was filled with fear at what I had done for hours I walked up and down in my flat at last I lay down in my bed and fell asleep but my sleep was full of terrible dreams and I woke up suddenly the horrible thing that I had created was standing by my bed it's yellow eyes were looking at me its mouth opened and it made strange sounds at me on its yellow face there was an awful smile one of its huge hands reached towards me before it could touch me I jumped off the bed and ran downstairs into the garden I stayed there all night but I could not think clearly I was afraid and when morning came I went out into the town and began to walk about I did not notice where I was walking but soon I came to the station a train from Geneva had just arrived and the passengers were leaving the station one of them ran towards me when he saw me it was my dear friend Henrique Laval he was very pleased to see me he took my hand and shook it warmly my dear Victor he said what a lucky chance that you are here at this station your father and Elizabeth and the others are very worried about you because you have not visited them for a long time they asked me to make sure that you are well and I have very good news my father has agreed to let me study at the University so we shall be able to spend a lot of time together I was very happy to hear this news and for a moment I forgot my fears I took Henry back to my flat and asked him to wait outside while I went in to look I was afraid that the creature was still there but it had disappeared at that time I did not think of other people and what the creature could do to them I took Henry into the flat and cooked a meal for us but Henry noticed how thin I was and that I was laughing too much and could not sit still suddenly he said My dear Victor what is the matter with you Are you ill as something awful happened don't ask me that I cried I put my hands over my eyes I thought I could see the horrible creature there in front of me I pointed wildly across the room and shouted he can tell you save me save me I tried to fight the creature but there was nothing there then I fainted and fell to the floor poor Henry I do not know what he thought he called the doctor and they put me to bed I was very ill for two months and Henry stayed and looked after me his loving care saved me from death I wanted to go home and see my family as soon as possible when I was well enough I packed my clothes and books all my luggage was ready and I was feeling very happy when the postman arrived with some letters one of the letters ended my short time of happiness Chapter five the letter was from my father in Geneva and this is what he wrote my dear Victor I want you to know before you arrived home that an awful thing has happened your dear youngest brother William is dead he was murdered it happened last Thursday evening when Elizabeth and I and your two brothers Ernest and William went for a walk outside the city William and Ernest were playing William had hidden from Ernest and Ernest asked Elizabeth and me to help find William we all began to search for him but we couldn't find him we searched all night at 5:00 in the morning I found him he was lying on the grass white and still I could see the marks of fingers on his neck the murderer had strangled him Elizabeth had let him wear a gold chain of hers round his neck on the chain was a very small picture of your mother we all think that someone murdered William to steal the gold chain poor Elizabeth is terribly unhappy at Williams death she thinks she died because she let him wear the chain hurry home my dear Victor you are the only one who can help Elizabeth and we all need you with all our love your father Henry helped me too the train the journey seemed very long and he was late at night before the train reached Geneva I decided to spend the night in a village outside the town and go home early in the morning I wanted to see the place where William had died as I started my walk a storm broke and lightning lit the sky the police had put posts around the place where the murderer had strangled William so I found it easily I cried sadly as I stood there my poor brother had been a kind and happy boy and we had all loved him again the Lightning lit the sky and I saw a huge figure standing in the rain when I saw it I knew at once what it was it was the creature that I had made what was he doing there but although I asked myself the question I knew the answer he had murdered my brother I was sure that I was right I decided to try and catch him but as I moved he ran towards the mountains he ran much faster than any man he climbed the mountain easily reached the top and disappeared I stood there in the dark and the rain and knew that I had created a monster and he had murdered my brother Chapter six at first I decided to tell the police my story but would they believe me I had been very ill when the police learned about my illness they would think the monster was just one of my bad dreams I decided that I could not tell anybody I went home to my family and they were very pleased to see me then they told me that the police had found the murderer perhaps you will think that this was good news but I have not told you who the police had arrested as I went into the house I noticed that one person did not come to meet me it was just een the young woman who had looked after the children and who was like a sister to us and it was just éand that the police had arrested a few days after the murder the police had searched the house and had found the gold chain in Justine's coat pocket everyone in the family knew that justine had not murdered William I knew who the murderer was but I could not tell anyone we were sure that Justine would be free after the trial because nobody could believe that she was a murderer but we were wrong the trial did not go well for Justine there were a number of strange facts that were difficult to explain and the judge decided that she was the murderer the punishment for murder was death we argued and cried we said she could not murder anyone but nothing could change the judge's order so I got up early and went to the judges house and told him about the monster he did not believe me he thought I was lying in order to save Justine's life in the prison Justine waited quietly for death we spent many hours with her and she spoke calmly and kindly to us she was happy because we believed that she had not killed William and she was almost looking forward to death because then she would be with William and our dear mother in a place of peace her love and gentleness added to my great unhappiness I knew she was going to die because of me I knew my brother had died because of me I had brought nothing but sadness and misery to my family I took a boat and went out on Lake Geneva why didn't I end my life then two things stopped me my father was old and another death would probably kill him and I had to stay alive to keep my family safe from the monster fear for my family and hate for my monster were with me day and night I became ill again and Elizabeth's love could not help me I needed to escape for a while to leave my unhappiness behind me so I went to walk alone in the Alps I hoped the while the beauty of the mountains would help me slowly I became karma among the beautiful mountains I'd learned to sleep again and for days I did not see anybody then one morning I saw a figure coming towards me faster than any man could go it jumped easily over the rocks and I saw with horror the monster that I had created on his face was a look of deep sadness but also of evil at first I could not speak because I hated him so much but at last I said you are an evil creature I shall kill you if I can because you have killed two people that I love the monsters yellow eyes looked at me I am the unhappiest creature in the world but I shall fight for my life he said I am bigger and stronger than you but I will not start the fight I shall always be gentle to you because you are my king and creator you made me and you should love me and be kind to me like a father William and Justine died because you did not love me why did you create me if you were not ready to love me we are enemies I said leave me now or let us fight until one of us is dead you are a murderer how can I be kind to you you say I am a murderer the munster said but you want to kill your own creature isn't that wrong - I asked you to do one thing for me listen come with me to a warmer place and listen to my story then you can decide I thought carefully about what he had said it was true that I had given him life but I had not given him love I decided to go with him and listen to his story he took me to a mountain hut where he lit a fire we sat down by the fire and he began to tell me his story Chapter seven The Munsters story after I left the laboratory I escaped into the country outside the town I soon felt hungry and thirsty and my first food was fruit which I found on some trees near a river I drank from the river and then laid down and went to sleep at first my eyes and ears did not work very well but after a while I began to see and hear clearly one day snow began to fall of course I had never walked in snow before and I found that it made my feet very cold I realized that I needed food and a place to get warm soon I saw a small hut where an old man was cooking his breakfast over a fire when the old man saw me he shouted loudly and ran away as fast as he could I did not understand what the man was doing but I wanted to be near the fire so I sat down in the warm and ate the man's breakfast then I walked across empty fields for some hours until I reached a village I went into one of the houses but there were children inside they began to scream when they saw me and that mother fainted the whole village came to see what was the trouble some of the people ran away when they saw me but the others shouted and threw stones at me they wanted to kill me I was badly hurt but I escaped and ran into the open country later I found an empty Hut which was built against the wall of a small house I was afraid to go into the house after what had happened in the village so I hid in the Hut there I was safe and could escape from the cold and hide from people who wish to hurt me and then I found that there was a small hole in the wall between the hut and the house through this hole I could see into the room next to the hut three people lived in the house a beautiful girl an old man and a young man day after day I watched the three people I saw how kind they were to each other I wanted so much to go into the house and be with them but I knew I must stay in the hut I could not forget how the village people had hurt me when I tried to go into the house there each night after the people in the house had gone to bed I stole some of their food for myself but soon I realized that the old man was blind and I realized too that often the three of them did not have enough to eat I saw the two young people put extra food on the blind man's plate although they were hungry themselves when I saw that I stopped stealing their food their life was already hard enough so I went back to the wild fruit in the woods I tried to help them in other ways too during the night I cut firewood for them and added it quickly to the wood which the young man had cut during the day I was very happy to see how much this pleased the young man after a while I began to understand some of the noises that the people made to each other the first words that I understood were words like fire and bread I also learned that the three people called each other by names the girl was Agatha the young man was Felix and the old man was called father I tried to make the noises that they made and slowly I began to speak the two young people were very beautiful one day I saw my own face in the water of the river it was a terrible face I understood why people were frightened why they shouted and threw stones I knew then that I could not let these beautiful people see me they would be frightened by my horrible face and body summer was coming and I continued to watch and learn I also continued to help the two people and their father and did many jobs for them in the night they were always surprised in the morning when they saw what I had done I heard them talk about the good creature who did these wonderful things but the family were often said and I wished I could make them happy I looked forward to the time when I could speak well enough to talk to them and I was happy because I was sure I would soon have three good friends Chapter eight one day in summer a lady on horseback rode up to the house and knocked on the door she had dark hair and was very beautiful the family were all very pleased to see her I soon learned that her name was Sophie she could not speak the family's language and each evening Felix taught us some words this was a very great help to me because I was able to learn the meaning of many words that I had not been able to understand before Felix taught Sophie from books about what had happened in the world in the past so I learned about the Greeks and Romans and about Christ and about the first white men in America and the sad story of the Indians I could not understand why men who knew all about good and evil could hate and kill each other I learned other things too I learned that people think it is very important to have money and to come from a good family I learnt of the love between mother and father and child and I realized that I had no family the more I learned the more I thought and the more unhappy I became soon I discovered who Sofie was the two families had met in France after Sophie and her father arrived there from Turkey their own country Sophie's father was put in prison by the French but Felix and his father had helped him to escape and leave France when the French discovered this Felix and his family lost all their lands and money and had to leave France forever now I knew why they were so sad and why they were poor but that was not all Sophie and Felix loved each other and Sophie's father had promised that they could marry then when he learned that Felix had lost all his money he broke his promise but Sophie loved Felix very much so she took some money and escaped from her father to search for Felix I had learned to love these good people and I could not wait another day to introduce myself I decided to speak first to the father because he was blind and would not be frightened by my terrible face and body one day the three young people went for a walk while the old man rested when they had gone I went to the door of the house and knocked on it the old man told me to enter and to sit down thank you I said I am a traveler and I'm tired and sad I have no family or friends the people that I want to have as my friends have never seeing me if they don't take me into their home I should be alone in the world don't be so sad the old man said you will find that the hearts of men are full of love if these friends are good people they will welcome you they are kind and the best people in the world I said but when they meet me they may not see a kind creature who has helped them instead they may see a monster and they will hate me that mustn't happen the old man said my family and I have had our difficult times and will help you you are a very good man I said and if you help me I shall be able to live with my friends and enjoy their love at that moment I heard the young people returning from their walk I caught the old man's hand and cried now is the time save me and help me you and your family are the friends that I am talking about then the door opened and in came Felix Sophie and Agatha their faces were filled with horror and fear when they saw me Agatha fainted and Sophie ran out of the house Felix ran forward and pulled me away from his father he threw me to the ground and hit me again and again with his heavy stick I did not lift a hand against him I did not want to hurt him or any of them my heart was heavy and all hope left me I ran out of the house and later returned silently to my Hut nobody saw me chapter nine i sat in my dark Hut and felt both angry and sad one half of me wanted to hurt the people who had hurt me the other half of me still loved them in the end I decided to try and speak to the old man again I fell into an unhappy sleep but when I woke in the morning the family had gone they had left the house during the night I knew the name of only one other person although I had seen you Frankenstein for only a few moments I knew that I belonged to you when I had left your house I picked up a small bag there was a book in the bag and I could now read it from it I learnt my creator's name and address you had made me but why had you not looked after me and saved me from this pain and unhappiness I decided to go to Geneva to find you one day as I was travelling I saw a young girl running along the side of a river suddenly she fell into the water I jumped into the river fought against the fast-moving water and brought her back to land while I was doing this the girl's father who was looking for her reached us he was carrying a gun and when he saw me he fired the bullet my arm and broke it I fell to the ground in great pain and to the man and the girl ran into the woods as fast as they could and left me the bullet was deep in my arm and I lost a lot of blood after some days my arm began to get better but I became sadder and angrier than before I had saved the girl's life and how did they thank me with a bullet in the arm I began to realize that there was no happiness for me in life hate grew stronger in me every day hate for you my Creator who had made me two months later I reached Geneva that evening I hid among some trees outside the town and went to sleep but I woke when a little boy ran into my hiding place I thought I would catch the child and make him my friend before he was old enough to be frightened of my terrible face I caught the little boy but when the child saw me he covered his eyes with his hands and screamed loudly let me go you monster the child shouted let me go or I will tell my father mr. Frankenstein he will call the police and they'll punish you Frankenstein I shouted you belonged to my enemy the man that I want to hurt the child fought and screamed and I put my hand round his neck to stop him shouting in a moment the child lay dead at my feet I look down at his body and was pleased with what I had done I knew that the death of this child would hurt you Victor Frankenstein my Creator then I saw something bright round the child's neck it was a gold chain and on the end of it was a picture of a very beautiful woman I knew that a beautiful woman would never smile at me and I wanted to run into Geneva and kill as many people as I could but I stopped myself and went to look for another hiding place soon I found a hut which seemed to be empty but when I entered I saw a pretty young woman asleep on the floor I hated her because she was pretty so I put the gold chain into one of her pockets and then before she could wake up I ran away I knew the police would think that she had killed the little boy chapter 10 Victor Frankenstein continues his story the monster finished telling me his story and then he said I am alone and miserable only someone as ugly as I am could love me you must make another creature like me a woman monster to be my wife I shall never make another creature like you I shouted you have done enough evil on your own if you don't help me I shall make you more miserable than you have ever been in your life you will wish you were dead the monster said but if you make another monster to be my friend we won't hurt anyone be kind to me now and I will learn to love and be kind I thought long and hard about the monsters words I felt sorry for him he was so miserable perhaps I should help him I shall do what do you ask I told him but you must promise to live somewhere in the world where nobody lives you must promise to stay away from other people I promise I promise he cried please start your work I shall watch you and when you are ready you can be sure I will come back he turned and left me and ran down the mountain I went back to Geneva immediately my family were very worried when they saw me I was pale my eyes were wild I could not forget my promise to the monster and the awful work that waited for me but I had to do it it was the only way to keep my family safe safe from his murdering hands around their necks I needed to study for several months to make a woman monster successfully I heard that an English scientist had done some useful work so I decided to go to England before I went my father asked me are you going to marry Elizabeth or do you love another woman is this why you are so unhappy no father I replied I have always loved Elizabeth and I want to marry her but I must do one more piece of scientific work before we can marry I must go to England to do the work and I want to marry Elizabeth when I returned my father and Elizabeth did not want me to go to England alone because I had been so ill they spoke to my old friend Henry Clerval and he was very happy to travel with me I was pleased that he could come although I did not want him to discover anything about my horrible work Henry and I reached London in early October and stayed there for a few months I met and talked with English scientists and learned many useful things from them then Henry was invited to visit some friends in Scotland I plan to travel with him but I told him that I wanted to go walking in the mountains alone Henry was not happy with my plan but in the end he agreed I bought all that I needed for a laboratory and sent everything to Scotland Henry and I travelled to Edinburgh together and then I went further north to find a good place for my laboratory at last I found the right place on an island off the north coast it was a wild and lonely place only five people lived on the island so I could work alone and nobody would discover my awful secret there was a large empty hut on the island and I brought builders from Scotland to make the hut into a laboratory for me I showed them how to build my mast and soon everything was ready for me to start work on the woman monster chapter 11 evening two months later I was sitting in my laboratory most of my work was done and I could finish the woman monster that night but I wondered if I should finish the work was I making a monster more evil than the first creature perhaps a thousand times more evil how could I know perhaps the woman monster will be another murderer she had not promised to stay away from other people perhaps the two monsters would hate each other and would kill and murder and destroy without end as I thought these things I looked up at the window suddenly in the moonlight I saw the monsters awful face looking at me and in his yellow eyes I could see only hate and evil I knew he would not keep his promise I went over to the laboratory table where the new creature was lying I pulled off the wires the jointer to my machine I took a sharp knife and cut through the body that I had joined together so carefully through the window the monster saw me destroy his woman with a loud and miserable scream of sadness and lost hope he ran into the laboratory you have destroyed all my hopes of happiness he cried you have left me with one feeling hate and with one wish to destroy your happiness you will be sorry that you were ever born remember this I shall be with you on your wedding night he ran quickly out of the laboratory and I watched him as he left the island in his boat and sailed away across the sea i sat and cried as I thought of the danger to Elizabeth but I knew that the monster would not visit us until our wedding night I would not die easily and I would try to kill him before he could kill me the next morning I received a letter from Henry he told me that he was waiting for me to return I decided to clear the laboratory and to leave the island on the following day so I returned to the laboratory where the pieces of the woman monsters body still lay on the floor I put them all in a large bag with some heavy stones then I took the bag to my boat and sailed out to sea I threw the bag into deep water and watched it disappear I was happier that I had felt for months I knew I had done the right thing and now there would be no second monster to follow the first I was very tired and I went to sleep in the boat I do not know how long I slept but when I woke up I was in the middle of a storm the wind was driving me further out to sea and my boat began to fill with water I knew I was in great danger after some hours the storm passed and I saw land to the south soon I could see the beach and a crowd of people standing and watching me the faces were cold and unfriendly as I landed four of the men came towards me and took me by the arms we are take new to mr. Cohen the judge he wants to ask you some questions about the murder of a man here last night one of the men told me I was sad to hear of the murder but I did not worry about it I had been far away at the time and knew nothing about any murder it would be easy to explain that so I went with the men to the large house where judge Cohen lived chapter 12 the judge was an old kind man but his face was very serious as he looked at me he asked a number of men to tell me what they had seen and found the night before the first man told his story he and his son were coming home from a long day's fishing it was a dark night and on the beach they had fallen over the dead body of a man they had carried the body to the nearest house and found that it was a good-looking young man about twenty-five years old there were the marks of fingers round his neck when they spoke of the marks of fingers I remembered the murder of my brother and I felt a terrible fear the son then told his story he had seen a boat with a man in it not far from the beach he thought it was my boat a woman had also seen a man in a boat sailing away from the beach she thought I was the man then I was taken to the room where the dead body lay how can I tell you what I felt when I saw the body I put my arms round it and cried what have I done my friend my dear friend the body was Henrique lavalle's and so now I had destroyed another person this the death was too much for me I fell down in a kind of madness and they had to carry me from the room for two months I was very ill and wished only to die but slowly my madness left me and my health began to return at last I was able to speak to judge Cohen and I asked for news of my family there is someone here who can answer your question better than I can he said your father arrived a few minutes ago and is waiting to see you for the first time since Henry's death I felt some happiness I held up my hands to my father as he came into the room and he took me in his arms he gave me the good news that Elizabeth and Ernest were safe and well I was really too ill to travel but I asked my father to take me home immediately the police had found somebody who'd seen me on my island at the time the murder and so the judge let me go free my father looked after me on the long journey home and sat with me for every minute night after night while I was asleep I shouted that I was the murderer of William Justine and Henry my father asked me why I said these awful things I wanted to answer his question but I could not tell him my terrible secret he thought that I was still a little mad we stayed for a few days in Paris on the way home and Elizabeth wrote to me at our hotel this is what her letter said my dearest Victor I am so happy to know that you will soon be home but I am afraid that Henry's death is not the only reason for your sadness do you still want to marry me or do you love another woman you must tell me I love you Victor and I dream of the day when I shall be your wife but I do not want you to marry me just because your parents wanted it I can only be happy if you are happy do not answer this letter wait until you arrive before you give me your answer but if you are well and if I can make you smile I need nothing more to make me happy with all my love Elizabeth I replied immediately I told her that I loved her very much and wanted to marry her I remembered the Munsters promised to be with me on the night of my wedding let him come we would fight to the death on that night and after that fight I would either be dead and at peace or alive and free free to be happy with Elizabeth we are in Geneva soon after my letter had reached Elizabeth it was wonderful to see her again she ran into my arms and I held her close she cried when she saw how thin and old I looked she too was thinner because she had worried about me so much but her gentleness and her love made her as beautiful as ever we agreed that the wedding would be in ten days time as the day came nearer I became more and more afraid I tried to hide my fear and laughed and smiled as often as I could Elizabeth knew that I was unhappy but she was sure she could give me happiness she looked forward to our wedding I began to carry a gun and a knife with me everywhere I went chapter 13 after the wedding a large number of our friends came to a party at our house when the party had started Elizabeth and I said goodbye and left for our honeymoon we traveled first by boat and planned to spend the night at a hotel on the other side of the lake the mountains and the lake were calm and beautiful and at last Elizabeth and I were together for the first time for months and for the last time ever I enjoyed the feeling of happiness in the evening the wind became stronger and soon a great storm broke above us every noise frightened me and I kept my hand on my gun under my coat I saw the monster in every shadow suddenly I realized how terrible the fight would be for Elizabeth I asked her to go to bed and I decided to search for the monster I planned to join her when I was sure he was not in or around the hotel Elizabeth left me and I searched every corner of the hotel every dark doorway and staircase I could not find him and I began to hope that he had not followed us to the hotel but suddenly I heard a loud and terrible scream it came from our room then too late I understood the monster had promised to be with me on my wedding night but he had not planned to kill me The Scream came again and I ran to our room why did I not die there and then on the bed Elizabeth lay still in the cold sleep of death I took her in my arms and saw the marks of the murderous fingers on her neck other people in the hotel had heard the screams and came into our room I sent one of them to call the police the others left me alone with my misery I held Elizabeth close and as I held her I saw the monster watching me through the open window of the room there was an evil laugh on his face I pulled my gun from my coat and fired him I missed and he ran from the window and jumped into the lake the other people heard the noise of the shot and came back into the room I showed them the place where the monster had jumped into the lake we searched the edge of the lake but we could not find him I returned to our room and lay on the bed next to my dear wife suddenly I had another terrible thought at this very moment perhaps my father was fighting the monster with earnest dead at his feet I left the hotel and returned to Geneva as fast as I could my father and Ernest were safe but the awful news of Elizabeth's death killed my father he he had loved Elizabeth dearly he became ill and after a few days he died in my arms so the evil monster had brought unhappiness and death to a dear old man who had never hurt anybody I do not know what happened next I think I left the real world and entered a dangerous world of dreams and madness later I found that they had put me in prison because of my madness after many months they let me free I had only one wish to find and kill the monster chapter 14 I decided to leave Geneva forever I took all the money that I needed and left the town before I left I went to visit the place where William Elizabeth and my father lay at rest I stood there and promised them that I would stay alive until I had killed the monster aloud evil laugh rang out through the silent night then I heard the monsters voice it pleases me that you have decided to live because that is just what I want I ran towards the voice but I could not catch the monster I saw him running away but he ran faster than any man could go too fast for me to catch but I followed him and I have been following him since that day I shall stay alive until I can catch him he wants me to live as long as possible he wants me to feel day after day the pain and misery that he has given me he leaves messages to tell me where he is he knows that I shall follow him I am only happy when I am asleep I dream that I am with my family and Elizabeth and Henry when I am awake I look forward to my death to the day when I shall be with them in his last message the monster told me that he was going north he wanted to take me where the cold would hurt me and make me more miserable I followed to the cold lands of the north and bought dogs and a sledge until now he has always left me further and further behind when I chased him but the dogs were very fast and I was getting closer and closer to him soon he was only one day's journey in front of me he was going towards the sea and I hope to catch him before he reached it the chase over the ice continued for about three weeks the pain from the cold was very great and I began to lose hope I thought I would never catch him my dogs could not run much further and one of them died then I saw something on the ice in front of me it was the monster and his sledge suddenly I was full of hope again and I gave a great shout of happiness I got closer and closer to him then a great storm started the ice began to break and the sea carried him away from me my sledge was broken and I lost my dogs I was left on a piece of ice that was becoming smaller all the time many hours went by and then I saw your ship the rest you know I asked you captain Walton to chase the monster and kill him do not listen to what he says he knows how to argue and perhaps you will feel sorry for him but remember that he is evil remember deaths of William Justine Henrique Laval Elizabeth my father and remember me Victor Frankenstein there is no more for me to say except to thank you captain Walton for your help and kindness thank you also for listening to my story I want you to tell the world that the monster is a danger to everyone I know that I have only a few hours left to live but I can feel my loved ones near me and I welcome death goodbye this is the end of Victor Frankenstein's story chapter 15 captain Waltons note aye captain Robert Walton have added this final note to the story when you have read it you will know that Victor Frankenstein's story was true Victor Frankenstein died a few hours after he had written his last word I was sad to see him die because he had become a good friend but he will not be unhappy or in pain anymore and I am happy for him we laid his body in a cabin near my own later I heard a voice coming from the cabin I went into the cabin and saw a huge shape standing over the dead body I knew that the horrible creature which was standing there was Frankenstein's monster so I have killed you too the monster said to Frankenstein's body Oh Frankenstein forgive me how I wish you could answer me I went towards him and said it is too late for Frankenstein to forgive you he is dead his pain is ended you do not know how much pain and unhappiness I have felt said the monster I knew that I was doing evil things but I could not stop myself do you think I enjoyed killing people my heart was made for love like a man's heart after I killed Henry Clerval I hated myself but I could not stop myself from more murder Frankenstein would not give me a wife but he hoped to find happiness with a wife of his own he was not fair to me but now it is ended Frankenstein is the last person I shall kill I have done all those evil things but am I the only person who has done wrong I wanted love and friendship think about Felix and his family who hated me after I had given them love think about the man who shot me after I had saved his little girl from the river but I know that I have done evil and I hate myself more than you hate me my own death is near I shall leave this ship and don't know across the ice I shall build a great fire and lie down on it to die I shall welcome the pain of the fire because it will help me to forget the pain in my heart I have felt more pain than Frankenstein and when the fire has died down I shall be at peace the monster jump from the cabin window as he said this he got into the small boat in which he had reached the ship the sea soon carried him away and he was lost in the darkness

Channel: Luella Bibby

Views: 573,866

Rating: 4.7789574 out of 5

Keywords: level, dreamland, dreamland stories, learn english through story, stories in english, frankenstein, fairy tales, english fairy tales, graded reader level 3, english, english story, english stories, animated story, animated stories, motivational stories, short stories, moral stories, story animated, graded reader, graded reader level, learn english

Id: y97YMSYh8Ew

Length: 83min 35sec (5015 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 25 2018