The Only Unquiet Thing

I. {The monster comes to life}

I saw grave-worms crawling in the folds of flannel But I was disturbed by the wildest dreams Delighted and surprised when at morning’s dawn, a new light seemed to dawn upon my mind Chord after chord was sounded I had been buried with the dead and found a passage to life I became dizzy with the immensity

II. {The monster meets his creator}

My eyeballs were starting from their sockets When, by the dim and yellow light, he held up the curtain of the bed His jaws opened A grin wrinkled his cheeks Beautiful!

He asked me several questions I felt my flesh tingle with excess of sensitiveness and my pulse beat He saw a wildness in my eyes for which he could not account I did not speak I saw plainly that he was surprised He rushed out of the room What must have been his feelings? A meeting, which he anticipated with such joy, so strangely turned

But I was in reality very ill Although I loved him with a mixture of affection and reverence that knew no bounds

I was now alone Being of a gigantic stature, about eight feet in height and proportionately large, I threw the door forcibly open But nothing appeared

I was left to struggle with a child’s blindness

III. {The monster steps outside}

A serene sky and verdant fields warmed my senses Young buds were shooting forth from the trees The flowers of spring bloomed in the hedges My gloom disappeared I became cheerful The most grateful creature in the world I bounded along

Life appeared to consist of a warm sun and a garden of roses And the fire that consumes your own heart The peasants were dancing

IV. {People react}

Turned with disgust

Sobbed audibly

Trembled from head to foot

Cursed

Expressed a mixture of curiosity and anger

Expressed hellish rage and gnashing of teeth

Grew feverish

Worked mischief

Shrieked loudly

Wept bitterly

Gasped for breath

Uttered a shrill scream

Eyes became enflamed

Ran across the fields

Fainted

Fled

Attacked

Aimed a gun at my body and fired

V. {The monster reinvents his history}

The world was a secret which I desired Gladness akin to rapture

In my education The greatest precautions that my mind should be impressed with no horrors I do not ever remember to have trembled Darkness had no effect and a churchyard was to me merely the receptacle of bodies

We possessed a house in Geneva The eastern shore of the lake We passed a fortnight My health and spirits had long been restored Gained strength from the salubrious air I breathed in, the brightness of a beloved eye, and the sound of a voice so familiar My progress was rapid My ardor was indeed the astonishment

We sat late Excellent friend! How sincerely did you love me and endeavor to elevate my mind until it was level with your own? Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by such slight ligaments are we bound

No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself

Caesar would have spared his country Empires not been destroyed

VI. {The monster goes to the mountains}

The change was so rapid I suddenly left my home I was new to sorrow Bending my steps toward the near Alpine valleys Immense glaciers approached the road The abrupt sides of vast mountains were before me The path intersected by ravines of snow My repulsive countenance The form of the monster forever Thus ended a day

The fall of a leaf startled me As if I had been guilty of a crime At the wreck I perceived I had become On the first approach of cold weather This whole winter How shall I

And how shall I inflict pain More, far more, will I achieve, and unfold to the world

VII. {The monster dreams of Frankenstein}

I soon felt the rain coming slowly in large drops The road ran by the side of the lake I wept like a child of gigantic stature, more hideous than belongs to humanity Did anyone indeed exist, except I I the only unquiet thing except some bat, or the frogs

In the morning my lips and throat were parched I was alive

I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at some distance, advancing toward me Do you think that I do not suffer also No one could love a child more than I loved you