[00:01.07] Chapter seven.
[00:02.80] Frankenstein's story.
[00:04.51] The new task.
[00:06.71] The monster stopped speaking.
[00:08.93] He was staring at me out of haunted eyes, waiting to hear my response.
[00:12.92] But I was shocked by his request.
[00:16.22] He wanted me to make him a mate.
[00:18.80] He was the cause of misery and death, and he expected me to bring another such creature into the world.
[00:25.65] I could not, would not do it.
[00:30.63] No, I said firmly, it is impossible.
[00:35.06] Do what you like to me, I will never agree to it.
[00:39.62] He raged, as I expected him to, but then turned his troubled face to me again and reasoned with me.
[00:48.37] It is because I am alone and hated that I have done these things.
[00:52.94] He said in a low voice, if one single soul treated me with kindness, I would repay them with kindness.
[01:00.91] I would repay them over and over, and I would be at peace with the whole world.
[01:08.55] I know I can do great good, but not if I remain alone.
[01:14.89] Then I can only cause more and more destruction.
[01:20.69] Create a companion for me, Frankenstein, and you can prevent that.
[01:28.29] This argument made me pause and reconsider.
[01:32.29] It was true.
[01:34.88] I had created him, and I was therefore responsible for his agony and suffering.
[01:41.86] If I took up my work again and made a second creature, perhaps I could save countless other people from torment.
[01:51.60] Oh, my creator, make me happy.
[01:56.81] He added pitifully, will you be that single soul who shows me kindness?
[02:03.85] Do not refuse me, master.
[02:07.13] Make me a companion.
[02:09.77] Then we shall go away together and be happy with each other, and neither you nor anyone else will ever see us again.
[02:20.06] Very well then, I said.
[02:24.48] I shall do as you ask, but you must swear to keep your part of the bargain.
[02:32.59] If I create a mate for you, you will leave this place forever and never trouble humankind again.
[02:41.43] I swear it, he cried.
[02:45.36] By the sun and by the blue sky of heaven, and by the fire of love that burns in my heart.
[02:52.86] Go home now and start your work.
[02:56.34] You will not see me again until it is finished.
[03:01.82] And with that, he was gone.
[03:07.52] I returned to Geneva immediately.
[03:12.07] At first, I was determined to do all in my power to comply with the fiend's demands.
[03:18.69] But once I was back with my family, I found it almost impossible to start.
[03:25.62] I feared the anger of the monster if I failed him, but the thought that I was to create another like him, as wild and as dangerous he was, weakened my resolve.
[03:39.02] So I put off the task, and whenever I was able to force the monster out of my mind, my heart was lighter and my health improved.
[03:50.07] Then, after several weeks of inactivity, my father took me aside and said he had something which he wished to ask me.
[03:59.28] There was anxiety in his face when he spoke, and I feared that he had learned the truth and was about to speak of the monster.
[04:08.74] You know I always hoped that you and Elizabeth would marry.
[04:13.71] He said, looking steadily at me.
[04:17.64] Your own dear mother wished it, and I thought that you did too.
[04:25.24] Of course I did, Father, I told him.
[04:30.45] But you have said no more about it.
[04:34.77] I can see how sad you are, Victor.
[04:39.89] Tell me, does this mean you have changed your mind?
[04:44.55] Is there someone else?
[04:49.19] No, I declared.
[04:52.90] How could there be?
[04:56.32] I can think of nothing that would please me more than marrying Elizabeth.
[05:02.99] And it was true.
[05:04.86] I was never more sure of anything.
[05:09.80] Then why have you not asked her?
[05:13.47] He said simply.
[05:16.63] The reason was clear enough to me.
[05:21.12] I could not marry Elizabeth while the threat of the monster remained hanging over me.
[05:29.38] I also knew that what I had to do could not be done in my father's house.
[05:36.37] Of course, I could not tell him this.
[05:39.92] Instead, I said I had certain things I must attend to first, that I had to travel abroad again, to England this time.
[05:49.29] And then I would return and marry Elizabeth.
[05:54.34] On the morning I left, Elizabeth came to say goodbye.
[05:59.93] Seeing her there made me even more determined to put an end to this ugly business once and for all.
[06:07.98] Our happiness together was impossible until I had kept my dreadful promise to the monster.
[06:16.95] My old friend, Henry Cville came with me.
[06:21.33] Henry was full of life and energy, and the idea of travel excited him.
[06:29.07] I took no pleasure in our journey, but he saw it as a wild adventure, a chance to see for himself places he had only read about.
[06:39.12] He did not know that I had chosen England because there was a scientist there who could help me with my appalling task.
[06:48.79] We made our way to London.
[06:51.84] While Henry set off cheerfully to explore the city, I went to see this scientist, and we talked about biology and anatomy.
[07:03.32] Naturally, I told him nothing about what I was planning to do, but I learned what I needed to know.
[07:12.51] At night, I went out alone to collect the dreadful things I needed for my work.
[07:19.29] When all was ready, we set off on our travels again.
[07:23.93] We journeyd north and crossed the border into Scotland.
[07:28.86] We took lodgings in Edinburgh, and it was here that I finally told Henry that the last part of my journey had to be made alone.
[07:39.31] I am afraid I have some important work to do, I told him, and I can put it off no longer.
[07:48.18] I need to find some remote island, some place where I know I will not be disturbed.
[07:54.98] Ah, well, my friend, said Henry, if you must, you must.
[08:00.93] You go to your island and labor away in solitude, but I intend to make the best of our stay by touring this beautiful country.
[08:11.84] Yes, good, I said.
[08:14.58] And when this tiresome work is done, we shall meet again, and then, I promise, I will be a much happier companion for you.
[08:25.77] So Henry set off, and I found my island in the distant Orknees and arranged to transport all my boxes and equipment there by boat.
[08:35.52] The place was remote indeed.
[08:38.89] Barren and stony, it was no more than three ramshackle huts on it, but it was well suited to the dreadful task ahead of me.
[08:48.45] I made one of these huts my laboratory, and its simple table my workbench, and set to work on my terrible assignment.
[08:58.07] Once started, I worked hard, anxious to finish as soon as I could.
[09:04.47] I labored throughout the hours of daylight, but I confess I was sickened and revolted by what I was doing.
[09:13.35] When evening came, I used to walk alone along the rocky shore and think of my home in Switzerland, and especially of Elizabeth.
[09:24.58] I had seen nothing of the monster since that day in the Alps.
[09:28.71] Was he still there, in Geneva, hiding in shadows and watching her.
[09:36.13] These thoughts, and the foul work I was engaged on, made me uneasy.
[09:41.80] He would be with me, he said, when my work was done.
[09:47.09] Had he followed me to this remote island, I wondered?
[09:52.32] Was he lurking close at hand and watching me even now?
[10:01.89] The work progressed in spite of these feelings, and gradually a second monster began to take shape.
[10:10.43] One evening, when the sun had set and a silver moon had risen above the sea, and it was too gloomy to continue, I sat deep in thought at the makeshift bench in my little hut.
[10:24.47] I was thinking about the promise I had made to the monster, and to the promise he had made to me.
[10:30.85] He said he would trouble me no more, and perhaps he intended to keep his word.
[10:38.17] But this new, still lifeless creature had made no such promise.
[10:45.16] I could not know what she would be like.
[10:50.07] Perhaps she would be a thousand times more vile than him, and delight in murder and wretchedness.
[11:01.06] As these thoughts turned over and over in my mind, I glanced up at the window and saw there a dark shape, silvered by moonlight.
[11:11.40] It was the demon himself, staring in at me and grinning with malice.
[11:21.55] Shock and fear ran through my body at the sight.
[11:25.71] He had followed me, as close and secret as a shadow.
[11:32.18] And now he was waiting for me to put the final touch of life into another like himself.
[11:40.33] Another like himself.
[11:43.40] I saw evil in his hideous face, and the very idea disgusted me.
[11:50.33] Surely it was madness to create another malignant thing like him.
[11:57.78] Immediately, I jumped to my feet and began to destroy my new creation.
[12:03.81] In a frenzy, I tore it apart while the monster watched.
[12:08.03] I saw him lift his head and heard him howl with rage.
[12:12.99] I looked down at the work I had ruined, and when I turned to the window again, he had gone.
[12:23.38] Then I was alone.
[12:26.69] Darkness descended, and I sat in that bleak hut, staring out at the sea.
[12:34.27] There was nothing I could do but wait and tremble and dread the monster's return.
[12:40.99] And I was certain that he would return.
[12:47.57] I do not know how long I sat there helplessly waiting, but eventually I heard the door flung open as he rushed into the hut.
[12:58.51] Why?
[13:00.73] I heard him say in a voice low with menace.
[13:07.49] Why did you destroy what you created?
[13:12.68] Why did you break your promise?
[13:18.11] I had no choice, I answered shakily.
[13:24.64] I refuse to bring more misery into the world.
[13:32.76] All men may have a wife, he said.
[13:39.15] All beasts may have a mate.
[13:43.22] Why must I be alone?
[13:48.37] Do you think I can be content to see you happy, while I am miserable because of you?
[13:57.14] No.
[13:59.85] I shall have my revenge on you, Frankenstein.
[14:07.76] Leave me alone, I cried.
[14:14.91] Yes, I will go now, but remember this.
[14:20.61] I shall be with you on your wedding night.
[14:28.90] On hearing this, I made a grab at him, but he escaped me with ease, and moments later, I saw his boat surge across the sea with unnatural speed.
[14:39.79] I stood on the stony beach, and his words rang through my head.
[14:44.75] I shall be with you on your wedding night.
[14:52.62] So, he had chosen the hour of my death.
[14:59.11] Part of me did not care.
[15:02.80] By this time, I was so sickened by the whole business that I would have been glad to be rid of it all, to find peace at last, even through death.
[15:17.78] It was only when I thought of the distress this would cause Elizabeth that I determined to live.
[15:26.19] And not only to live, I would make myself ready for the monster and fight him until he had wrung the last breath from my body.
[15:39.07] When morning came, I decided to leave the island for good, to meet with Henry again, and then return to Geneva.
[15:49.25] Before doing so, however, I had one final task to perform.
[15:57.97] I packed up all my instruments and the remains of the female monster in baskets and loaded them into my little skiff.
[16:09.25] Then I rode away from the island across a flat sea and under a placid sky.
[16:19.65] When I felt I was as far from human eyes as I could get, I dropped the baskets over the side.
[16:28.04] As they gurgled and sank out of sight, a feeling of weariness and great relief came over me.
[16:36.53] I stretched out in the bottom of the boat and fell into a deep sleep.
[16:44.53] I woke hours later with the sun low in the sky, the little boat tossing on angry waves, and the island no longer in sight.
[16:55.06] I was shocked to see that I had been swept into the wide Atlantic Ocean.
[17:00.63] No sign of land, no sign of help, and that the wind was still forcing me on.
[17:08.37] There was nothing I could do but drive before this wind and hope to find land before I died of hunger and thirst.
[17:19.17] Darkness came and went, and the wind eased to a fresh breeze, but by then I was sick and weary with hardly strength enough to hold onto the oars.
[17:34.55] Then a line of cliffs appeared on the distant horizon, and I dared to hope that I might be saved.
[17:41.90] Slowly, slowly, I drew closer, and eventually I made out first a tiny cluster of buildings, and then a stony beach.
[17:53.85] A group of people had gathered on the beach to watch me steer my boat in, but not one of them lifted a finger to help me, even when I fell as I tried to pull the boat onto the beach.
[18:05.98] This and the way they huddled together and whispered seemed strange.
[18:14.65] My friends, I said.
[18:17.99] Will you tell me the name of this place and where I can find shelter?
[18:24.58] There was a moment's silence, and then one of them stepped forward and spoke in a rough voice.
[18:35.59] This is Ireland, sir, he said.
[18:40.87] And as to shelter, we have a jail in the town that will hold you fast enough.
[18:49.20] A jail?
[18:51.73] But why?
[18:54.68] He gave me a look of the deepest suspicion.
[18:59.93] A man was found murdered here the night before last, he said.
[19:07.12] And you must tell the magistrate what you know about it.