|
`
`
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus `
`
by Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) Shelley `
`
`
`
`
`
Letter 1 `
`
`
`
`
`
TO Mrs. Saville, England `
`
`
`
St. Petersburgh, Dec. 11th, 17-- `
`
`
`
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 my undertaking. `
`
`
`
I am already far north of London, and as I walk in the streets of `
`
Petersburgh, 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 travelled from the regions towards `
`
which I am advancing, gives me a foretaste of those icy climes. `
`
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, the sun is forever `
`
visible, its broad disk just skirting the horizon and diffusing a `
`
perpetual splendour. 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. 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 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. `
`
`
`
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 favourite dream of my early years. I `
`
have read with ardour 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. 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. `
`
`
`
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. `
`
`
`
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 `
`
under-mate 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. 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. `
`
`
`
This is the most favourable period for travelling 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 stagecoach. 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. Petersburgh and `
`
Archangel. 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. 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. Saville, England `
`
`
`
Archangel, 28th March, 17-- `
`
`
`
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; 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 endeavour to sustain me in dejection. 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 fourteen years of my life I ran wild `
`
on a common and read nothing but our Uncle Thomas' 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. Now I am twenty-eight and am in reality more `
`
illiterate than many schoolboys of fifteen. 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 endeavour to regulate my mind. Well, these `
`
are useless complaints; I shall certainly find no friend on the wide `
`
ocean, nor even here in Archangel, among merchants and seamen. Yet `
`
some feelings, unallied to the dross of human nature, beat even in `
`
these rugged bosoms. 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. 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 `
`
suppliant, 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. 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 `
`
|