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Hello and welcome to Storytime for Grown Ups. I'm Faith Moore and this season we're reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Each episode I'll read a few chapters from the book, pausing from time to time to give brief explanations so it's easier to follow along. It's like an audiobook with built in notes. So brew a pot of tea, find a cozy chair and settle in. It's story time. Hello. Welcome back. Thank you for being here. I hope you enjoyed our intro episode. It's time now to get into the book. This is it. We're going to start Frankenstein today. If you haven't done this already, please make sure that you are subscribed to the show. If you're not, you'll have to come looking for the episodes and you might find them out of order and it might get confusing, but if you're subscribed, they will drop right into your podcast feed automatically every Monday and Thursday in order in the order that we're reading them. Because we are really going to read this entire book together through the months of September and October starting today and then every Monday and Thursday. Also, I'm going to start taking questions from you guys. I have a lot of comments that I want to read to you at the start of this episode in the place where I normally read your questions and have a little discussion. But ordinarily we would begin with your questions and comments about the chapters that we read last time. So of course we haven't read anything yet. That's why I don't have any questions and comments about the chapters this time. But I do want to let you know how to get in touch with me. It's faithkmoore.com and then you click on Contact. There's a form there and you fill it out and it goes right to my email and I will get it. And I feature one or two of those questions and comments at the start of every episode. And that's our way of discussing the book together. And this is a really juicy book. We're going to have a lot of deep dives. I know it already. So we want to get those questions and comments in so you can write to me at any time. Again, faith k.moore.com Click on Contact. There's also a link to that contact page in the show notes of this episode and every episode. The show notes are just the description of this episode. So when you click on the episode to listen to it, if you scroll down, you'll see a bunch of text. Some of it is just telling you that we are storytime grownups, we're reading Frankenstein, et cetera, et cetera. But there are also a bunch of links. One of those links is the contact page, and you can find it that way as well. And I always say this, you're never bothering me. This really is an interactive podcast. I think you'll see as we go along. So please, if you have something that you're not understanding, something you'd like more clarity about, or something that really interests you, something that sparks your curiosity, then you can send that my way. And I might use it in the show to help us to dive more deeply into the book. So please do get in touch that way. Also, in the show notes, as I said, there are other links, so you can explore those. You can find our merch store, you can find our online community. You can find all kinds of things there. I won't go into it all now because I'm too excited to start this book with you. But you can check out those links if you're interested. And if you enjoy the show, please tap the five stars. Please leave a positive review wherever you're listening. That really helps the show to show up magically somehow in some algorithm that I don't understand in people's podcast players. So if you could do that, that would be amazing. And tell your friends. Tell me. Tell all your friends. I know some of you are doing that. Many of you are doing that. And I'm getting all kinds of lovely emails and stories from you guys about how you're telling people that you're meeting on the street and in coffee shops and things. And I love it. Thank you. And I love it that you're listening together in real life. That's the best. I think it's amazing. So thank you for all the ways that you support the show. Thank you for all the ways that you listen. It's amazing. So what I would like to do is begin with your reactions to. To the fact that we are reading Frankenstein. I've saved these since I started getting them right after the trailer, and they keep coming in and they're fantastic. And the reason I've started doing this, reading the letters, the reactions at the start of the new book, is because this show has really become a community. I did not know that was going to happen when I started this show. But the way that we have these discussions back and forth via your emails, it's made it into much more than just me talking into a microphone somewhere. This is a conversation, and I want you guys to be able to experience What I get to experience every day, which is your comments, your questions, your thoughts, your giddy and excited reactions. I want you to be able to experience those too. They're not just for me. They're for everyone. And so I would like to share those with you now at the top of this episode. So here we go. I'm going to share a bunch. They're all short. Then I will talk just a tiny bit more and then we'll get into the book. So this first reaction comment comes from Brooke Presca. She writes, oh my gosh, I am so excited about this season's book. It's been on my TBR list, meaning my to be read list, for a while now, and I planned to read it this fall. The podcast will make the experience so much better. Thank you. This next one is from Rachel Clevenger. She writes Frankenstein for season four. Yay. I'm so excited. Then we've got Laura. Laura writes. Just heard the new book. Oh no, no, no, no. I trusted you through A Woman in White, but I'm scared. Oh dear. I think I'm channeling Piglet. I may not make it through this one, but I'll try. I had to take a several week break after that chapter where Fosco ends the journal entries. She's talking about the Woman in White, which we read last time. I get super spooked by literary jump scares. Oh, no. Okay, I'm including this one. To just say one more time that this book is not, not horror the way you think about it. There are no jump scares. And I really think that Laura and everyone else who's worried about this is going to be okay. So stick with me. I thank you for your trust and I think we're going to be all right. So let's keep going. This one's from Paula Fernandez. Wow. I am so excited for the fall 25 selection. This was the novel that I hoped you were going to select. I've never read Frankenstein before. This is from Cassie Tatum Hart. She writes thank you for choosing Frankenstein. That's a book my daughter is reading this semester, so we'll be tuning in for sure. You just took one teaching assignment off my plate. This is from Tricia Shufti. Yes. As soon as you said four friends, I knew it was Frankenstein and I started celebrating. I love this book. I haven't read it in many years, so it's about time I read it again. This one's from Rebecca Holman. She says called it the way I screamed when you said Frankenstein. I am so excited about this novel. I lost my paper copy to actually read, but I think I prefer listening with Storytime for Grown Ups. Way more from Meg Longley. Ooh, Frankenstein. I'm so excited. I have never read it. I've watched the original black and white movie, at least one sequel, and of course Young Frankenstein. Really looking forward to diving into this and being back to two episodes per week. Thanks for all you do. Thank you. Thank you for being here. All right, this is from Ursula Poli. She says yes. I squealed and did a high kick when you announced our next book. I cannot wait to start Frankenstein from Becky Season 4. So excited to revisit Frankenstein. This is the first time I've read the book we will be reading together. Can't wait to enjoy this book again. I also love Spooky Season. Great pick from Kayla Anderson. I cannot wait for this book. I read Frankenstein years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I know I'm going to love it even more reading it with story time and your notes along the way. I've been wanting to reread it anyway, so I'm thrilled that I no longer have to decide whether to reread that or pick up a different book. Now I can pick up a different book and reread it via your podcast. This is absolutely perfect. Thanks for all your hard work. Thank you for listening. You're amazing. Okay. Melissa Hollinger she says okay, so I love this choice. It is so out of my normal wheelhouse, which makes it all the better. I was also thinking we've done the original rom com and an early detective novel, so of course we need the original horror novel. The trailer was so spooky. So perfect. You're amazing and I'm excited to step out of the fairy tale realm and buckle up for a monstrous fall. This next one's from Hannah R. She says, faith, my husband and I are so excited for season four. We listened to the Woman in White together and it was a great bonding experience for us. We both have not read Frankenstein and my husband guessed that it might be Frankenstein so he is extra happy. I just have to say I love it when you guys listen with people or you know someone else who's listening and then you call them up and talk about the book. I think that's fantastic. We need way more in person interactions about great literature. I really believe that that's going to change. So we need that. So if you know someone who already listens to this show or you know someone who might like it, then tell them about it and then talk to them about this book. So you don't have to listen together. Although that's fun and people do it, but you don't have to listen together. You just listen and then you call each other up or you text each other or whatever it is and you say, hey, what did you think of that chapter? Oh, my gosh, can you believe this just happened in the book? But of course, if you don't have anyone to talk about it with or listen with, that's okay, too, because we are the people. All of these people whose letters I've just been reading, we are all out here together. We are a community reading this book together. And this is where you can talk about the book. And honestly, I could talk about this book forever. So I would be happy to be that person for you talking about this book with you. And you can always go over to our online community, the drawing room, and talk to people over there and make a new friend. And that's another way that you can talk about the book. The link to that is in the show notes. It's one of those links I was talking about before. Okay, I have one last reaction that I would like to read to you. It's from Meredith Kane. Meredith writes, I have been anxiously awaiting the announcement of the next book, and you did not disappoint. I am so excited. My boys, ages 9, 7, and 5, and I spent the summer listening to fairy tales and catching up on the Woman in White. They loved the story so much that they named our new puppies Chew Toys Percival and Fosco. I love that my husband felt left out, so now he's reading the book. Your podcast has brought our family so much joy. Keep up the great work. Well, you bring me so much joy, and this podcast brings me joy. And I know I'm gushing, but I really do feel this way, so I think I get to say it. I am so happy to be reading with you. This podcast is the most amazing thing to me. It's bliss. So thank you for being a part of it and being here. I want to read you one final thing. This is a question that I got, and I think this is probably worth clarifying, particularly for those of you who like to read along in a hard copy. I know that's not everyone, and if you're new, that is not at all mandatory. You can just listen. You don't need to read along, but I know some of you like to read along and you get your own copies and everything. And I think this question is particularly pertinent for that but also, it's just good to know. It comes from Ariana Mortimer. She says. Hi, Faith. Thank you for creating this great podcast. I have a question about the upcoming season on Frankenstein. I was going to buy a copy to read along, and my search led me to Discover there are two versions, one from 1818 and one from 1831. Which one will you be reading? Thank you again. Okay, so there are two versions. The 1818 version is the one that was published anonymously. I talked about this in the intro episode. It's the one that was published right after Mary Shelley wrote it, after conceiving of it in that whole summer situation with Lord Byron and everybody by Lake Geneva. So that's the one that came out right then and there. And then in 1831, she came out with another version that had some changes. She had edited it basically, and added a new introduction and things like that. So the answer to this question is we are going to be reading from the 1831 version. So that second version, it's the most popular version. It's the one that is most widely read. If you were to pick up a copy of Frankenstein kind of randomly at the bookstore, it's probably going to be the 1831 version. All the changes that were made from the 1818 version were made by Mary Shelley herself, and the changes were are pretty minimal. So this seemed like the best version to choose for our purposes here. This version also includes an introduction from Mary Shelley, like I just said, where she talks about creating this story and what happened at that house with Lord Byron and everything. And I won't be reading that to you today because it's not actually part of the story. It's just an introduction. But I will bring that up in future episodes and read some of it to you if it seems relevant to what we're talking about. You can also find a copy on your own and take a look at that introduction right away, if you're interested. But I did want to just clarify which version we'll be reading before we begin, because there are some changes. As I say, they are minimal, but they are different. And so if you're reading along with me, that might be confusing if you happen to have picked up the 1818 instead of the 1831. Okay, it's time. Let's get started. Don't forget to write to me after this episode, faithkmoor.com and click on Contact or scroll into the show Notes and click on the link. So don't forget to write in about your thoughts and questions. And then we will be back on Thursday and we will continue reading the book. Oh, I did want to say, you probably noticed this episode is called Four Letters, and you may be wondering what that means. This book starts. The story starts with four letters. They're fictional letters that are part of the story. This book is not an epistolary novel, which is the kind of novel that is written completely in letters back and forth to people. It is not that at all. And on Thursday we're going to start in with chapter one, but the book begins with these four letters, so that's what we're reading today, and we will continue from there. All right, let's get started with Four Letters from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It's story time. Letter one to Mrs. Seville, England, St. Petersburg, December 11th. 17 blank. So 17 blank means that this is happening sometime in the 1700s. We're not being told exactly when. You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday, and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare and increasing confidence in the success of. Of my undertaking. So the person writing this letter is writing to his sister, Mrs. Seville, and he's saying that even though she was worried about him going on this journey, everything is going really well. I am already far north of London, and as I walk in the streets of Petersburg, I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves and fills me with delight. Do you understand this feeling? This breeze which has traveled from the regions towards which I am advancing, gives me a foretaste of those icy climbs. Climbs is like climate. So he's in Russia, but he's looking forward to going somewhere even colder. Inspirited by this wind of promise, my daydreams become more fervent and vivid. I try in vain to be persuaded that the Pole is the seat of frost and desolation. It ever presents itself to my imagination as the region of beauty and delight. There, Margaret. There being the North Pole, the sun is forever visible, its broad disc just skirting the horizon and diffusing a perpetual splendor there. For with your leave, my sister, I will put some trust in preceding navigators. There snow and frost are banished, and sailing over a calm sea, we may be wafted to a land surpassing in wonders and in beauty every region hitherto discovered on the habitable globe. Its productions and features may be without example, as the phenomena of the heavenly bodies undoubtedly are in those undiscovered Solitudes. What may not be expected in a country of eternal light. I may there discover the wondrous power which attracts the needle. And may regulate a thousand celestial observations. That require only this voyage to render their seeming eccentricities consistent forever. I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited. And may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man. Okay, so he's about to set off on a journey to the North Pole. And hopes to see places no one has seen before. And make scientific discoveries that no one has made before. These are my enticements, and they are sufficient to conquer all fear of danger or death. And to induce me to commence this laborious voyage. With the joy a child feels. Feels when he embarks in a little boat with his holiday mates. On an expedition of discovery up his native river. But supposing all these conjectures to be false. You cannot contest the inestimable benefit Which I shall confer on all mankind to the last generation. By discovering a passage near the Pole. To those countries to reach which at present so many months are requisite. Or by ascertaining the secret of the magnet. Which, if at all possible, can only be effected by an undertaking such as mine. So he's saying that even if he dies in the attempt, it'll be worth it if he discovers a new passage or makes new scientific discoveries. These reflections have dispelled the agitation with which I began my letter. And I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven. For nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose. A point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. This expedition has been the favorite dream of my early years. I have read with ardor the accounts of the various voyages which have been made in the prospect of arriving at the North Pacific Ocean. Through the seas which surround the Pole. You may remember that a history of all the voyages made for purposes of discovery. Composed the whole of our good Uncle Thomas library. So he's asking his sister to remember that as children they had access to books about exploration. My education was neglected, yet I was passionately fond of reading. These volumes were my study day and night. And my familiarity with them increased that regret which I had felt as a child. On learning that my father's dying injunction. Had forbidden my uncle to allow me to embark in a seafaring life. So his father is dead, but on his deathbed he said that his son should be forbidden to become a sailor. These visions faded When I perused for the first time those poets whose effusions entranced my soul and lifted it to heaven. I also became a poet and for one year lived in a paradise of my own creation. I imagined that I also might obtain a niche in the temple. Where the names of Homer and Shakespeare are consecrated. You are well acquainted with my failure and how heavily I bore the disappointment. But just at that time, I inherited the fortune of my cousin. And my thoughts were turned into the channel of their earlier bent. Okay, so he first wanted to be an explorer, but his father said no. So then he wanted to be a poet, but he wasn't successful. And then he inherited money from a cousin, and he's now using that to try to be an explorer after all. Six years have passed since I resolved on my present undertaking. I can even now remember the hour from which I dedicated myself to this great enterprise. I commenced by inuring my body to hardship. I accompanied the whale fishers on several expeditions to the North Sea. I voluntarily endured cold, famine, thirst and want of sleep. I often worked harder than the common sailors during the day. And devoted my nights to the study of mathematics, the theory of medicine and those branches of physical science. From which a naval adventurer might derive the greatest practical advantage. Twice I actually hired myself as an undermate in a Greenland whaler. And acquitted myself to admiration. I must own I felt a little proud when my captain offered me the second dignity in the vessel. And entreated me to remain with the greatest earnestness so valuable did he consider my services. So even though he originally had no experience or training for exploration, he went out and got some, and after six years was as good as anyone else. And now, dear Margaret, do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose? My life might have been passed in ease and luxury, but I preferred glory to every enticement. That wealth placed in my path. Oh, that some encouraging voice would answer in the affirmative. My courage and my resolution is firm. But my hopes fluctuate and my spirits are often depressed. I am about to proceed on a long and difficult voyage. The emergencies of which will demand all my fortitude. I am required not only to raise the spirits of others. But sometimes to sustain my own when theirs are failing. So he sees that he's going to have to be the leader. And set the tone for his men on this journey. This is the most favorable period for traveling in Russia. They fly quickly over the snow in their sledges. The motion is pleasant and, in my opinion, far more agreeable than that of an English stage coach. The cold is not excessive if you are wrapped in furs. A dress which I have already adopted, for there is a great difference between walking the deck and remaining seated motionless for hours when no exercise prevents the blood from actually freezing in your veins. I have no ambition to lose my life on the post road between St. Petersburg and Archangel. Meaning he doesn't want to die of cold in a totally mundane place like the road between two civilized towns. I shall depart for the latter town in a fortnight or three weeks, and my intention is to hire a ship there, which can easily be done by paying the insurance for the owner, and to engage as many sailors as I think necessary among those who are accustomed to the whale fishing. So his plan is to find a ship he can rent and find enough sailors to man it from the whale fishermen that he finds on the dock. I do not intend to sail until the month of June. And when shall I return? Ah, dear sister, how can I answer this question? If I succeed, many, many months, perhaps years will pass before you and I may meet. If I fail, you will see me again soon or never. Farewell, my dear, excellent Margaret. Heaven shower down blessings on you and save me that I may again and again testify my gratitude for all your love and kindness. Your affectionate brother, r. Walton. Letter 2 to Mrs. Seville, England, Archangel, 28.3.17 blank. How slowly the time passes. Here encompassed as I am by frost and snow, Yet a second step is taken towards my enterprise. I have hired a vessel and am occupied in collecting my sailors. So he's now got the ship, and he's working on assembling his crew. Those whom I have already engaged appear to be men on whom I can depend, and are certainly possessed of dauntless courage. But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy, and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil. I have no friend, Margaret. When I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy. If I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavor to sustain me in dejection. Okay, so he's got all these sailors to come with him. But there's no one who's his equal. There's no one he can talk to. I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is true, but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me, whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me. Gentle, yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind. Whose tastes are like my own to approve or amend my plans. How would such a friend repair the faults of your poor brother? I am too ardent in execution and too impatient of difficulties. But it is a still greater evil to me that I am self educated. For the first 14 years of my life I ran wild on a common. And read nothing but our Uncle Thomas's books of voyages. At that age, I became acquainted with the celebrated poets of our own country. But it was only when it had ceased to be in my power to derive its most important benefits from such a conviction. That I perceived the necessity of becoming acquainted with more languages than that of my native country. So he's saying that it was only when he was already past the age of school. That he realized how important schooling would have been to him. Now I am 28 and am, in reality more illiterate than many schoolboys of 15. It is true that I have thought more and that my daydreams are more extended and magnificent. But they want, as the painters call it, keeping. And I greatly need a friend who would have sense enough not to despise me as romantic. And affection enough for me to endeavor to regulate my mind. Well, these are useless complaints. I shall certainly find no friend on the wide ocean, nor even here an archangel among merchants and seamen. Yet some feelings, unallied to the dross of human nature. Beat even in these rugged bosoms. So he's not going to find an equal among his crew. But he's saying that some of them are good men nonetheless. My lieutenant, for instance, is a man of wonderful courage and enterprise. He is madly desirous of glory, or rather, to word my phrase, more characteristically, of advancement in his profession. He is an Englishman. And in the midst of national and professional prejudices, unsoftened by cultivation, retains some of the noblest endowments of humanity. I first became acquainted with him on board a whale vessel. Finding that he was unemployed in this city, I easily engaged him to assist in my enterprise. The master is a person of an excellent disposition. And is remarkable in the ship for his gentleness and the mildness of his discipline. This circumstance, added to his well known integrity and dauntless courage, made me very desirous to engage him. A youth passed in solitude. My best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage. Has so refined the groundwork of my character. That I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality exercised on board ship. I have never Believed it to be necessary. And when I heard of a mariner equally noted for his kindliness of heart and the respect and obedience paid to him by his crew, I felt myself peculiarly fortunate in being able to secure his services. So he doesn't like seeing the crew beaten. So he's chosen a master, which means the guy in charge of the sailor's discipline. He's chosen someone who is kind and earns the respect from his men. I heard of him first, in rather a romantic manner, from a lady who owes to him the happiness of her life. This, briefly, is his story. Some years ago he loved a young Russian lady of moderate fortune, and having amassed a considerable sum in prize money, the father of the girl consented to the match. He saw his mistress once before the destined ceremony, but she was bathed in tears and, throwing herself at his feet, entreated him to spare her, confessing at the same time that she loved another, but that he was poor and that her father would never consent to the union. My generous friend reassured the supplicant and, on being informed of the name of her lover, instantly abandoned his pursuit. He had already bought a farm with his money, on which he had designed to pass the remainder of his life. But he bestowed the whole on his rival, together with the remains of his prize money to purchase stock. And then himself solicited the young woman's father to consent to her marriage with her lover. Okay, so this master that he's hired gave all his money to a poor man so that the woman he himself was supposed to marry could marry the poor man because she actually loved him. But the old man decidedly refused, thinking himself bound in honour to my friend, who, when he found the father inexorable, quitted his country, nor returned until he heard that his former mistress was married according to her inclinations. What a noble fellow. You will exclaim he is so, but then he is wholly uneducated. He is as silent as a Turk, and a kind of ignorant carelessness attends him, which, while it renders his conduct the more astonishing, detracts from the interest and sympathy which otherwise he would command. Yet do not suppose, because I complain a little or because I can conceive a consolation for my toils which I may never know, that I am wavering in my resolutions. Those are as fixed as fate. And my voyage is only now delayed until the weather shall permit my embarkation. The winter has been dreadfully severe, but the spring promises well, and it is considered as a remarkably early season, so that perhaps I may sail sooner than I expected. I shall do nothing rashly. You know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and considerateness whenever the safety of others is committed to my care. So when he has others to look after, he's always careful. I cannot describe to you my sensations on the near prospect of my undertaking. It is impossible to communicate to you a conception of the trembling sensation, half pleasurable and half fearful, with which I am preparing to depart. I am going to unexplored regions, to the land of mist and snow, but I shall kill no albatross. Therefore do not be alarmed for my safety, or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the Ancient Mariner. So the rhyme of the Ancient Mariner is a poem by Coleridge, who is another one of the Romantic poets. You will smile at my allusion, but I will disclose a secret. I have often attributed my attachment to my passionate enthusiasm for the dangerous mysteries of ocean, to that production of the most imaginative of modern poets. There is something at work in my soul which I do not understand. I am practically industrious, painstaking, a workman to execute with perseverance and labor. But besides this, there is a love for the marvelous, a belief in the marvellous intertwined in all my projects, which hurries me out of the common pathways of men, even to the wild sea and unvisited regions I am about to explore. But to return to dearer considerations, shall I meet you again after having traversed immense seas and returned by the most southern cape of Africa or America? I dare not expect such success. Yet I cannot bear to look on the reverse of the picture. Continue for the present to write to me by every opportunity. I may receive your letters on some occasions, when I need them most to support my spirits. I love you very tenderly. Remember me with affection should you never hear from me again. Your affectionate brother, Robert Walton. Letter 3. To Mrs. Saville, England, 7-7-17 blank. My dear sister, I write a few lines in haste to say that I am safe and well advanced on my voyage. This letter will reach England by a merchantman, now on its homeward voyage from Archangel. More fortunate than I, who may not see my native land, perhaps for many years. I am, however, in good spirits. My men are bold and apparently firm of purpose. Nor do the floating sheets of ice that continually pass us, indicating the dangers of the region towards which we are advancing, appear to dismay them. We have already reached a very high latitude. But it is the height of summer, and, although not so warm as in England, the southern gales which blow us speedily towards those shores which I so ardently desire to attain breathe a degree of renovating warmth which I had not expected. No incidents have hitherto befallen us that would make a figure in a letter, meaning nothing super momentous has happened. One or two stiff gales and the springing of a leak are accidents which experienced navigators scarcely remember to record. And I shall be well content if nothing worse happens to us during our voyage. Adieu, My dear Margaret. Be assured that for my own sake as well as yours, I will not rashly encounter danger. I will be cool, persevering and prudent. But success shall crown my endeavours. Wherefore not thus far I have gone, tracing a secure way over the pathless seas, the very stars themselves being witnesses and testimonies of my triumph. Why not still proceed over the untamed yet obedient element? What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man? My swelling heart involuntarily pours itself out thus. But I must finish. Heaven bless my beloved sister. R.W. letter 4. To Mrs. Saville, England, 8-5-17. Blank. So strange an accident has happened to us that I cannot forbear recording it, although it is very probable that you will see me before these papers can come into your possession. Last Monday, July 31, we were nearly surrounded by ice which closed in the ship on all sides, scarcely leaving her the sea room in which she floated. Our situation was somewhat dangerous, especially as we were compassed round by a very thick fog. We accordingly lay to meaning. They turned ship so that it was stationary, hoping that some change would take place in the atmosphere and weather. About 2 o' clock the mist cleared away and we beheld, stretched out in every direction, vast and irregular plains of ice which seemed to have no end. Some of my comrades groaned and my own mind began to grow watchful with anxious thoughts, when a strange sight suddenly attracted our attention and diverted our solicitude from our own situation. We perceived a low carriage fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north at the distance of half a mile. A being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge and guided the dogs. We watched the rapid progress of the traveler with our telescopes until he was lost among the distant inequalities of the ice. So an apparently giant man in a sled, pulled by dogs, just rushed by them out on the ice. This appearance excited our unqualified wonder. We were, as we believed, many hundred miles from any land. But this apparition seemed to Denote that it was not, in reality so distant as we had supposed. Shut in, however, by ice. It was impossible to follow his track, which we had observed with the greatest attention. So they can't follow him because they're in a boat and the boat is surrounded by ice. About two hours after this occurrence, we heard the ground sea, meaning they heard large waves. And before night the ice broke and freed our ship. We, however, lay to until the morning, Fearing to encounter in the dark those large loose masses which float about after the breaking up of the ice. I profited of this time to rest for a few hours. In the morning, however, as soon as it was light, I went upon deck. And found all the sailors busy on one side of the vessel, apparently talking to someone in the sea. It was, in fact a sledge like that we had seen before. Which had drifted toward us in the night on a large fragment of ice. Only one dog remained alive, but there was a human being within it Whom the sailors were persuading to enter the vessel. He was not, as the other traveler seemed to be. A savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but a European. So this isn't the giant man they saw before. It's somebody else. When I appeared on deck, the master said, here is our captain, and he will not allow you to perish on the open sea. On perceiving me, the stranger addressed me in English, although with a foreign accent. Before I come on board your vessel, said he, will you have the kindness to inform me whither you are bound? So he wants to know where they're going. You may conceive my astonishment on hearing such a question addressed to me From a man on the brink of destruction. And to whom I should have supposed that my vessel would have been a resource. Which he would not have exchanged for the most precious wealth the earth could afford. Meaning he's surprised. The man wants to know where they're going. Since he's being rescued from freezing to death in the sea. So what does it matter where they're going? I replied, however, that we were on a voyage of discovery towards the northern pole. Upon hearing this, he appeared satisfied and consented to come on board. Good God, Margaret. If you had seen the man who thus capitulated for his safety, your surprise would have been boundless. His limbs were nearly frozen and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering. I never saw a man in so wretched a condition. We attempted to carry him into the cabin, but as soon as he had quitted the fresh air, he fainted. We accordingly brought him back to the deck and restored him to animation by rubbing him with brandy and forcing him to swallow a small quantity. As soon as he showed signs of life, we wrapped him up in blankets and placed him near the chimney of the kitchen stove. By slow degrees he recovered and ate a little soup, which restored him wonderfully. Two days passed in this manner before he was able to speak, and I often feared that his sufferings had deprived him of understanding. Meaning he's worried that the man has lost his mind. When he had in some measure recovered, I removed him to my own cabin and attended on him as much as my duty would permit. I never saw a more interesting creature. His eyes have generally an expression of wildness and even madness. But there are moments when, if anyone performs an act of kindness towards him or does him any the most trifling service, his whole countenance is lighted up, up, as it were, with a beam of benevolence and sweetness that I never saw equalled. But he is generally melancholy and despairing, and sometimes he gnashes his teeth as if impatient of the weight of woes that oppresses him. When my guest was a little recovered, I had great trouble to keep off the men who wished to ask him a thousand questions. But I would not allow him to be tormented by their idle curiosity in a state of body and mind whose restoration evidently depended upon entire repose. Once, however, the lieutenant asked why he had come so far upon the ice in so strange a vehicle. His countenance instantly assumed an aspect of the deepest gloom, and he replied, to seek one who has fled from me. And did the man whom you pursued travel in the same fashion? Yes. Then I fancy we have seen him. For the day before we picked you up, we saw some dogs drawing a sledge with a man in it across the ice. This aroused the stranger's attention, and he asked a multitude of questions concerning the root which the demon, as he called him, had pursued. Soon after, when he was alone with me, he I have doubtless excited your curiosity as well as that of these good people, but you are too considerate to make inquiries. Certainly. It would indeed be very impertinent and inhuman in me to trouble you with any inquisitiveness of mind. And yet you rescued me from a strange and perilous situation. You have benevolently restored me to life. Soon after this, he inquired if I thought that the breaking up of the ice had destroyed the other sledge. I replied that I could not answer with any degree of certainty, for the ice had not Broken until near midnight, and the traveller might have arrived at a place of safety before that time. But of this I could not judge. From this time a new spirit of life animated the decaying frame of the stranger. He manifested the greatest eagerness to be upon deck to watch for the sledge which had before appeared. But I have persuaded him to remain in the cabin, for he is far too weak to sustain the rawness of the atmosphere. I have promised that someone should watch for him and give him instant notice if any new object should appear in sight. Such is my journal of what relates to this strange occurrence. Up to the present day, the stranger has gradually improved in health, but is very silent, and appears uneasy when anyone except myself enters his cabin. Yet his manners are so conciliating and gentle that the sailors are all interested in him, although they have had very little communication with him. For my own part, I begin to love him as a brother, and his constant and deep grief fills me with sympathy and compassion. He must have been a noble creature in his better days, being even now in wreck, so attractive and amiable. I said in one of my letters, my dear Margaret, that I should find no friend on the wide ocean. Yet I have found a man who, before his spirit had been broken by misery, I should have been happy to have possessed as the brother of my heart. So he's saying that this man has become his friend. I shall continue my journal concerning the stranger at intervals, should I have any fresh incidents to record. 8-13-17, blank. My affection for my guest increases every day. He excites at once my admiration and my pity to an astonishing degree. How can I see so noble a creature destroyed by misery without feeling the most poignant grief? He is so gentle, yet so wise. His mind is so cultivated and when he speaks, although his words are culled with the choicest art, yet they flow with rapidity and unparalleled eloquence. He is now much recovered from his illness and is continually on the deck, apparently watching for the sledge that preceded his own. Yet, although unhappy, he is not so utterly occupied by his own misery, but that he interests himself deeply in the projects of others, meaning he's not so consumed with his own problems that he can't pay attention to other people. He has frequently conversed with me on mine, which I have communicated to him without disguise. He entered attentively into all my arguments in favour of my eventual success, and into every minute detail of the measures I had taken to secure it. I was easily led by the sympathy which he evinced to use the language of my heart, to give utterance to the burning ardor of my soul, and to say with all the fervor that warned me how gladly I would sacrifice my fortune, my existence, my every hope to the furtherance of my enterprise. One man's life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought, for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race. So he's saying, what does it matter if he dies so long as he can achieve great things for mankind? As I spoke, a dark gloom spread over my listener's countenance. At first I perceived that he tried to suppress his emotion. He placed his hands before his eyes and my voice quivered and failed me as I beheld tears trickle fast from between his fingers. A groan burst from his heaving breast. I paused at length. He spoke in broken accents. Unhappy man, do you share my madness? Have you drunk also of the intoxicating draught? Hear me. Let me reveal my tale and you will dash the cup from your lips. Such words, you may imagine, strongly excited my curiosity. But the paroxysm of grief that had seized the stranger overcame his weakened powers, and many hours of repose and tranquil conversation were necessary to restore his composure. Having conquered the violence of his feelings, he appeared to despise himself for being the slave of passion and quelling the dark tyranny of despair. He led me again to converse concerning myself personally. He asked me the history of my earlier years. The tale was quickly told, but it awakened various trains of reflection. I spoke of my desire of finding a friend, of my thirst for a more intimate sympathy with a fellow mind than had ever fallen to my lot, and expressed my conviction that a man could boast of little happiness who did not enjoy this blessing. I agree with you, replied the stranger. We are unfashioned creatures, but half made up. If one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves, such a friend ought to be. Do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures. So he's saying we're all weak and broken and we need help to be better than we are. I once had a friend, the most noble of human creatures, and am entitled therefore to judge respecting friendship. You have hope and the world before you and have no cause for despair. But I. I have lost everything and cannot begin life anew. As he said this, his countenance became expressive of a calm, settled grief that touched me to the heart. But he was silent and presently retired to his cabin. Even broken in Spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does. The beauties of nature, the starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions seem still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. Such a man has a double existence. He may suffer misery and be overwhelmed by disappointment, yet when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures. Will you smile at the enthusiasm I express concerning this divine wanderer? You would not if you saw him. You have been tutored and refined by books and retirement from the world, and you are therefore somewhat fastidious. Fastidious means concerned with accuracy and details. But this only renders you the more fit to appreciate the extraordinary merits of this wonderful man. Sometimes I have endeavoured to discover what quality it is which he possesses that elevates him so immeasurably above any other person I ever knew. I believe it to be an intuitive discernment, a quick but never failing power of judgment, a penetration into the causes of things unequalled for clearness and precision. Add to this a facility of expression and a voice whose varied intonations are soul subduing music. So he's saying he likes his new friend because he seems to judge things accurately and well, and because he speaks eloquently and beautifully. 8.19.17. Blank. Yesterday the stranger said to me, you may easily perceive, Captain Walton, that I have suffered great and unparalleled misfortunes. I had determined at one time that the memory of these evils should die with me. But you have won me to alter my determination, saying that at first he thought that he would never tell the story of his troubles. But now he's changed his mind. You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did. And I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you as mine has been. I do not know that the revelation of my disasters will be useful to you. Yet when I reflect that you are pursuing the same course, exposing yourself to the same dangers which have rendered me what I am, I imagine that you may deduce an apt moral from my tale, one that may direct you, if you succeed in your undertaking, and console you in case of failure. So he's saying he's going to tell Walton his story because he's worried that Walton is on the same track that he was. And maybe hearing what happened him will help Walton not to suffer the same fate. Prepare to hear of the occurrences which are usually deemed marvellousmarvelous, meaning here impossible or supernatural. Were we among the tamer scenes of nature, I might fear to encounter your unbelief, perhaps your ridicule. But many things will appear possible in these wild and mysterious regions which would provoke the laughter of those unacquainted with the ever varied powers of nature. Nor can I doubt but that my tale conveys in its series internal evidence of the truth of the events of which it is composed. So he's going to tell a story which might seem unbelievable, but he's got evidence to prove it's true. And out here in this strange wilderness, maybe it won't seem so odd. You may easily imagine that I was much gratified by the offered communication, Yet I could not endure that he should renew his grief by a recital of his misfortunes. So Walton is happy that he wants to share his story, but worried about him becoming upset by telling it. I felt the greatest eagerness to hear the promised narrative, partly from curiosity and partly from a strong desire to ameliorate his fate if it were in my power. Meaning he wants to help him if he can. I expressed these feelings in my answer. I thank you, he replied, for your sympathy, but it is useless. My fate is nearly fulfilled. I wait but for one event, and then I shall repose in peace. I understand your feeling, continued he, perceiving that I wished to interrupt him. But you are mistaken, my friend. If thus you will allow me to name you, nothing can alter my destiny. Listen to my history, and you will perceive how irrevocably it is determined. He then told me that he would commence his narrative the next day, when I should be at leisure. This promise drew from me the warmest thanks I have resolved every night, when I am not imperatively occupied by my duties, to record as nearly as possible in his own words what he has related during the day. If I should be engaged, I will at least make notes. This manuscript will doubtless afford you the greatest pleasure. But to me, who know him, and who hear it from his own lips, with what interest and sympathy shall I read it in some future day? Even now, as I commence my task, his full toned voice swells in my ears. His lustrous eyes dwell on me with all their melancholy sweetness. I see his thin hand raised in animation, while the lineaments of his face are irradiated by the soul within. Strange and harrowing must be his story. Frightful the storm which embraced the gallant vessel on its course and wrecked it thus. 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