第24章 生死折磨

Mary Shelley

“我”亲手制造的怪物杀害了“我”的亲人，它为什么不直接对“我”下手呢？

I decided to leave Geneva forever. I took all the money that I needed， and left the town. Before I left， I went to visit the place where William， Elizabeth， and my father lay at rest. I stood there and promised them that I would stay alive until I killed the monster.

A loud， evil laugh rang out through the silent night. Then I heard the monster's voice， “It pleases me that you have decided to live， because that is just what I want.”

I ran towards the voice， but I could not catch the monster. I saw him running away， but he ran faster than any man could go—too fast for me to catch. But I followed him， and I had been following him since that day. I would stay alive until I could catch him. He wanted me to live as long as possible. He wanted me to feel， day after day， the pain and misery that he had given me. He left messages to tell me where he was. He knew that I shall follow him.

I was only happy when I fell asleep.I dreamed that I was with my family，Elizabeth and Henry. When I was awake，I looked forward to my death， and to the day when I shall be with them.

In his last message， the monster told me that he was going north. He wanted to take me where the cold would hurt me and make me more miserable. I followed him to the cold lands of the north， and bought dogs and a sledge. Until now， he has always left me further and further behind when I chase him. But the dogs were very fast and I was getting closer and closer to him. Soon he was only one day's journey in front of me. He was going towards the sea， and I hoped to catch him before he reached it. The chase over the ice continued for about three weeks. The pain from the cold was very great， and I began to lose hope. I thought I would never catch him. My dogs could not run much further， and one of them died. Then I saw something on the ice in front of me.It was the monster and his sledge. Suddenly I was full of hope again， and I gave a great shout of happiness.

Reading Check

Why didn't the monster kill me instead of allowing me to live on?

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