Chapter 7 A letter from my father 第7章 父親的來信

Mary Shelley

父親的來信打破了“我”短暫的寧靜。在信中，父親究竟說了什么，讓“我”惴惴不安？

The letter was from my father in Geneva，and this is what he wrote：

My dear Victor，

I want you to know before you arrive home that an awful thing has happened. Your dear youngest brother， William， was dead. He was murdered. It happened last Thursday evening when Elizabeth and I and your two brothers， Ernest and William， went for a walk outside the city. William and Ernest were playing. William had hidden from Ernest， and Ernest asked Elizabeth and me to help find William. We all began to search for him， but we couldn't find him. We searched all night. At five in the morning I found him. He was lying on the grass， white and still. I could see the marks of fingers on his neck.

Elizabeth had let him wear a gold chain of hers round his neck. On the chain was a very small picture of your mother. We all think that someone murdered William to steal the gold chain. Poor Elizabeth is terribly unhappy at William's death. She thinks he died because she let him wear the chain. Hurry home， my dear Victor. You are the only one who can help Elizabeth， and we all need you.

With all our love，

Your father

Henry helped me to catch the train. The journey seemed very long， and it was late at night before the train reached Geneva. I decided to spend the night in a village outside the town and go home early in the morning. I wanted to see the place where William had died.

As I started my walk， a storm broke and lightning lit the sky. The police had put posts round the place where the murderer had killed William， so I found it easily. I cried sadly as I stood there. My poor brother had been a kind and happy boy， and we had all loved him.

Again the lightning lit the sky， and I saw a huge figure standing in the rain. When I saw it， I knew at once what it was. It was the creature that I had made.

What was he doing there？ Although I asked myself the question， I knew the answer. He had murdered my brother. I was sure that I was right.

I decided to try and catch him. But as I moved， he ran towards the mountains. He ran much faster than any man. He climbed the mountain easily， reached the top， and disappeared.

I stood there in the dark and the rain， and knew that I had created a monster. And he had murdered my brother.

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What shocking news did my father tell me in the letter？