One of the
phenomena which had peculiarly attracted my attention was the structure of the
human frame, and, indeed, any animal invested with life. From where, I often
asked myself, did the principle of life proceed? It was a bold question, and
one which has ever been considered as a mystery; yet with how many things are
we upon the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not
restrain our inquiries. I revolved these circumstances in my mind and
determined thenceforth to apply myself more particularly to those branches of
natural philosophy which relate to physiology. Unless I had been animated by an
almost supernatural enthusiasm, my application to this study would have been
irksome and almost intolerable. To examine the causes of life, we must first
have recourse to death. I became acquainted with the science of anatomy, but
this was not sufficient; I must also observe the natural decay and corruption
of the human body. In my education my father had taken the greatest precautions
that my mind should be impressed with no supernatural horrors. I do not ever
remember to have trembled at a tale of superstition or to have feared the
apparition of a spirit.
Darkness had no effect upon my fancy, and a churchyard
was to me merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life, which, from being
the seat of beauty and strength, had become food for the worm. Now I was led to
examine the cause and progress of this decay and forced to spend days and
nights in vaults and charnel-houses.
My attention was fixed upon every object the most insupportable to the delicacy
of the human feelings. I saw how the fine form of man was degraded and wasted;
I beheld the corruption of death succeed to the blooming cheek of life; I saw
how the worm inherited the wonders of the eye and brain. I paused, examining
and analysing all the details of causation, as exemplified in the change from
life to death, and death to life, until from the midst of this darkness a
sudden light broke in upon me—a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple,
that while I became dizzy with the immensity of the prospect which it
illustrated, I was surprised that among so many men of genius who had directed
their inquiries towards the same science, that I alone should be reserved to
discover so astonishing a secret…
After days and
nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause
of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of giving animation
upon lifeless matter.
The astonishment
which I had at first experienced on this discovery soon gave place to delight
and rapture. After so much time spent in painful labour, to arrive at once at
the summit of my desires was the most gratifying consummation of my toils. But
this discovery was so great and overwhelming that all the steps by which I had
been progressively led to it were forgotten, and I beheld only the result. What
had been the study and desire of the wisest men since the creation of the world
was now within my grasp. Not that, like a magic scene, it all opened upon me at
once: the information I had obtained was of a nature rather to direct my
endeavours so soon as I should point them towards the object of my search than
to exhibit that object already accomplished. I was like the Arabian who had
been buried with the dead and found a passage to life, aided only by one
glimmering and seemingly ineffectual light…
When I found so
astonishing a power placed within my hands, I hesitated a long time concerning
the manner in which I should employ it. Although I possessed the capacity of giving
animation, yet to prepare a frame for the reception of it, with all its
intricacies of fibres, muscles, and veins, still remained a work of
inconceivable difficulty and labour. I doubted at first whether I should
attempt the creation of a being like myself, or one of simpler organization;
but my imagination was too much exalted by my first success to permit me to
doubt of my ability to give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as man.
The materials at present within my command hardly appeared adequate to so
arduous an undertaking, but I doubted not that I should ultimately succeed. I
prepared myself for a multitude of reverses; my operations might be incessantly
confused, and at last my work be imperfect, yet when I considered the
improvement which every day takes place in science and mechanics, I was
encouraged to hope my present attempts would at least lay the foundations of
future success. Nor could I consider the magnitude and complexity of my plan as
any argument of its impracticability. It was with these feelings that I began
the creation of a human being. As the minuteness of the parts formed a great barrier
to my speed, I resolved, contrary to my first intention, to make the being of a
gigantic stature, that is to say, about eight feet in height, and
proportionably large. After having formed this determination and having spent
some months in successfully collecting and arranging my materials, I began.
(from chapter 4, Frankenstein, in easier English)
Vocabulary
Charnel-house: a
vault where human skeletal remains are stored
Resources
in internet
What´s
frankenstein doing when we first meet him?
Why does
Frankenstein tell his story to Walton?, etc. ...
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