[00:00.24] Frankenstein.
[00:01.37] Chapter one.
[00:02.86] Captain Walton's story.
[00:04.62] Figures on the ice.
[00:08.37] We were journeying through the frozen waters of the north, in search of the pole,
[00:14.55] when my ship became stuck fast in the ice.
[00:20.47] So there was nothing we could do but wait.
[00:24.65] I did not mind.
[00:26.49] I had always wanted to explore that strange, wild place of ice and mist.
[00:34.50] It seemed to me not just remote and lonely, but also very beautiful.
[00:44.24] It was easy to imagine we were the only living creatures that close to the North Pole.
[00:50.49] So I was astonished one bleak afternoon to make out a tiny speck moving across the icy plane.
[01:00.63] The crew and I watched it closely, and, as it drew nearer to the ship,
[01:08.00] we saw that it was a sledge pulled by dogs and guided by a huge figure.
[01:16.03] At first, I supposed this figure to be human.
[01:20.17] What else could it be?
[01:24.91] 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.
[01:34.83] We watched him plow on, northwards at incredible speed,
[01:41.61] until he vanished from sight.
[01:45.61] Who he was, or where he was going, we had no idea.
[01:54.36] About two hours after this, the ice began to groan and crack, and our ship was freed.
[02:03.00] Some of the crew wanted to sail at once, but I was afraid we would be crushed by loose masses of floating ice.
[02:13.84] I ordered us to wait one night longer, and took the chance to get some sleep.
[02:22.67] At first light, I heard shouting on deck, and went up to find the crew gathered at the ship's side.
[02:30.63] They were peering down at a man huddled against a sledge on a large raft of ice.
[02:38.79] This man was of ordinary size, and quite clearly not the figure we had seen only hours before.
[02:48.58] How strange, I thought, to come across two souls within a few hours of each other, and in such a deserted place.
[03:01.14] We hauled the stranger aboard, half dead with cold and hunger.
[03:08.55] I told the men to wrap him in blankets, and warm him by the ship's stove.
[03:17.19] They were curious to know what he was doing alone in that desolate place.
[03:25.27] I was too.
[03:28.39] But he was in no state to answer questions, so he rested there, barely able to move or speak,
[03:39.18] and two days passed before he was strong enough to respond.
[03:45.38] Then he told me his name, Victor Frankenstein, and said he was a scientist.
[03:57.49] When I asked if his studies had brought him to the frozen north, he looked at me with a deep sadness.
[04:07.99] I have been searching, he said slowly.
[04:15.94] Someone is trying to escape me, but he must be found.
[04:23.86] Someone in a sledge like yours?
[04:28.54] Yes.
[04:31.93] Then I think we've seen him, a day before we picked you up.
[04:40.38] On hearing this, he became agitated and struggled to sit up.
[04:47.56] What is it?
[04:49.41] I said, holding him by the shoulders.
[04:53.54] What's troubling you?
[04:59.69] At first, he would not answer.
[05:04.78] He said his story was terrible, too terrible to hear.
[05:12.43] He said I would not believe him.
[05:16.92] But I could see that there was something desperate about him, that he wanted to tell me.
[05:26.28] Eventually, he calmed himself and began to speak.