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| Fragmento 1.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. El capitán Robert Walton
escribe a su hermana Margaret Saville para comunicarle que no ha
sucedido nada malo durante el comienzo de la empresa que va a desempeñar.
De esta forma pretende tranquilizarla pues ella opina que tal empresa es
muy peligrosa. Le comunica que está a salvo y que tiene fe en que
tendrá éxito.
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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. |
| Fragmento 2.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton anhela hacer algo grande, desea la gloria.
Busca el apoyo y consentimiento de
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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 |
| Fragmento 3.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton muestra un gran afecto por su hermana. Margaret es un apoyo moral y emocional. |
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 |
| Fragmento 4.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton se siente terriblemente solo. No tiene ningún
amigo y desea tener a alguien a su lado
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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. |
| Fragmento 5.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton describe su propio carácter como refinado
y sensible. Esto lo atribuye al hecho de que
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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. |
| Fragmento 6.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. La persona a la que Walton conoce en el barco es
un hombre noble, pero inculto y silencioso.
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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. 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." 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 labour -- but besides this there is a love for the marvellous, 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.
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| .Fragmento 7.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton le dice a su hermana que no se preocupe por su seguridad
pues no hará nada que le
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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!
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| Fragmento 8.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Un extraño incidente a sucedido. Cuenta a Margaret que tal vez esté de regreso en Inglaterra antes de que le llegue la carta en la que se lo cuenta (ver siguiente fragmento). |
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. |
| Fragmento 9.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton expresa su sorpresa ante la actitud de un hombre (Victor
Frankenstein) que a subido a
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Before I come on board your vessel,said he, will you have the kindness to inform me whither you are bound?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 can afford. 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. |
| Fragmento 10.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton dice que en Victor a encontrado al amigo que buscaba. Observa que el espíritu del recién llegado está hundido en la miseria. |
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. |
| Fragmento 11.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton se refiere a Victor como un hombre extraordinario y maravilloso. Expresa aprecio y admiración por él |
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 youare therefore somewhat fastidious; but this only renders you the more fit to appreciate the extraordinary merits of this wonderful man. |
| Fragmento
12.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Victor se dispone a contar su historia. Es una historia llena de infortunios y dolor. Walton siente mucha curiosidad y está impaciente por escucharla. |
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. 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. |
| Fragmento 13.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor dice que la filosofía natural ha regido su destino. Explica
que lo que provocó su
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Natural philosophy is the genius that has regulated my fate; I desire, therefore, in this narration, to state those facts which led to my predilection for that science. When I was thirteen years of age we all went on a party of pleasure to the baths near Thonon; the inclemency of the weather obliged us to remain a day confined to the inn. In this house I chanced to find a volume of the works of Cornelius Agrippa. I opened it with apathy; the theory which he attempts to demonstrate and the wonderful facts which he relates soon changed this feeling into enthusiasm. |
| Fragmento 14.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. La afición de Victor por la filosofía
natural se disipó. Empezó a dedicarse a otras ciencias. Este
cambio de mentalidad lo atribuye a la inconsistencia de la juventud. Piensa
que el estudio de estas otras ciencias tal vez puede llevarle a un conocimiento
más real.
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All that had so long engaged my attention suddenly
grew despicable. By one of those caprices of the mind which we are
perhaps most subject to in early youth, I at once gave up my former occupations,
set down natural history and all its progeny as a deformed and abortive
creation, and entertained the greatest disdain for a would be science which
could never even step within the threshold of real knowledge. In this mood
of mind I betook myself to the mathematics and the branches of study appertaining
to that science as being built upon secure foundations, and so worthy of
my consideration.
Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by such slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity or ruin |
| Fragmento 15.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor ha estado apartado de su familia y amigos durante
dos años. Estaba enfrascado en
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Two years passed in this manner, during which I paid no visit to Geneva, but was engaged, heart and soul, in the pursuit of some discoveries which I hoped to make. None but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science. In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know; but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder. |
| Fragmento 16.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. La labor de Victor habría sido extremadamente desagradable y casi intolerable de no ser por su casi sobrenatural entusiasmo en las investigaciones que estaba haciendo. Estas investigaciones tenían que ver con las causas de la vida, y dice que para examinar estas causas se había de recurrir a la muerte. Eso le impulsó ha estudiar anatomía y los procesos de putrefacción del cuerpo humano tras la muerte. |
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. |
| Fragmento 17.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor recalca que no está loco y asegura
que lo que afirma es cierto: tras innumerables fatigas y trabajo descubrió
la causa de la generación y la vida, y fue capaz de dar vida a un
ser que no la
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Remember, I am not recording the vision of a madman. The sun does not more certainly shine in the heavens than that which I now affirm is true. Some miracle might have produced it, yet the stages of the discovery were distinct and probable. 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 bestowing animation upon lifeless matter. |
| Fragmento 18.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor hace una pausa en la narración. Observa
que Walton está intranquilo, impaciente,
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I see by your eagerness and the wonder and hope which your eyes express, my friend, that you expect to be informed of the secret with which I am acquainted; that cannot be;listen patiently until the end of my story, and you will easily perceive why I am reserved upon that subject. I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I then was, to your destruction and infallible misery. Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow. |
| Fragmento 19.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor experimenta muchos y diferentes sentimientos ante los primeros indicios de un posible éxito en su intento de dar la vida a un ser que no la tiene. |
No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success. |
| Fragmento 20.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Son inconcebibles los horrores que Victor cometió para llevar a cabo su empresa. Esto tiene que ver con la manipulación de cadáveres y sus visitas a cementerios en busca de "materia prima" para la creación de vida. |
Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay? |
| Fragmento 21.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor hace otra pausa en la narración.
Continúa al ver la impaciencia de Walton. Sin embargo,
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If the study to which you apply yourself has
a tendency to weaken
your affections and to destroy your
taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then
that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human
mind. If this rule were always observed; if no man allowed any pursuit
whatsoever to interfere with the tranquillity of his domestic affections,
Greece had not been enslaved, Caesar would have spared his country, America
would have been discovered more gradually, and the empires of Mexico and
Peru had not been destroyed.
But I forget that I am moralizing in the most interesting part of my tale, and your looks remind me to proceed. |
| Fragmento 22.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor da vida a un ser que resulta ser monstruoso. |
It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered
dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by
the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of
the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its
limbs.
How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips |
| Fragmento 23.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. El rostro de la criatura produce un horror en Victor como el que ningún otro mortal podría soportar. Ni siquiera Dante podría haber concebido una criatura tan horrenda. |
Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not he so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then, but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived. |
| Fragmento 24.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Pensar en la criatura tortura a Victor y casi le
hace perder la cabeza. Todo lo acontecido le
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I imagined that the monster seized me; I struggled
furiously and fell down in a fit.
Poor Clerval! What must have been his feelings? A meeting, which he anticipated with such joy, so strangely turned to bitterness. But I was not the witness of his grief, for I was lifeless and did not recover my senses for a long, long time. This was the commencement of a nervous fever which confined me for several months. During all that time Henry was my only nurse. |
| Fragmento 25.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. Victor estuvo muy enfermo. Su hermanastra Elizabeth y el resto de su familia desean recibir noticias suyas escritas con su propia mano, pues quieren calmar la preocupación que sienten por él. Elizabeth le anima a que se mejore y a que vuelva a casa donde encontrará felicidad, afecto y tranquilidad. |
My dearest Cousin,
You have been ill, very ill, and even the constant letters of dear kind Henry are not sufficient to reassure me on your account. You are forbidden to write -- to hold a pen; yet one word from you, dear Victor, is necessary to calm our apprehensions. For a long time I have thought that each post would bring this line, and my persuasions have restrained my uncle from undertaking a journey to Ingolstadt. I have prevented his encountering the inconveniences and perhaps dangers of so long a journey, yet how often have I regretted not being able to perform it myself! I figure to myself that the task of attending on your sickbed has devolved on some mercenary old nurse, who could never guess your wishes nor minister to them with the care and affection of your poor cousin. Yet that is over now: Clerval writes that indeed you are getting better. I eagerly hope that you will confirm this intelligence soon in your own handwriting. Get well -- and return to us. You will find a happy, cheerful home and friends who love you dearly. Your father's health is vigorous, and he asks but to see you, but to be assured that you are well; and not a care will ever cloud his benevolent countenance. How pleased you would be to remark the improvement of our Ernest! He is now sixteen and full of activity and spirit. |
| Fragmento 26.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. Elizabeth cuenta a Victor que sus hermanos han crecido mucho, que todo es felicidad allí en su hogar, y que poco ha cambiado en casa desde que se marchó. Le habla sobre cuando Justine Moritz entró en la familia como sirvienta. |
Little alteration, except the growth of our dear children, has taken place since you left us. The blue lake and snow-clad mountains -- they never change; and I think our placid home and our contented hearts are regulated by the same immutable laws. My trifling occupations take up my time and amuse me, and I am rewarded for any exertions by seeing none but happy, kind faces around me. Since you left us, but one change has taken place in our little household. Do you remember on what occasion Justine Moritz entered our family? Probably you do not; |
| Fragmento 27.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. .Justine es una sirvienta pero se la trata como si fuera una más de la familia. Victor sentía un gran afecto hacia ella. |
A servant in Geneva does not mean the same thing as a servant in France and England. Justine, thus received in our family, learned the duties of a servant, a condition which, in our fortunate country, does not include the idea of ignorance and a sacrifice of the dignity of a human being., you may remember, was a great favourite of yours; and I recollect you once remarked that if you were in an ill humour, one glance from Justine could dissipate it, for the same reason that Ariosto gives concerning the beauty of Angelica -- she looked so frank-hearted and happy. |
| Fragmento 28.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. Elizabeth también sentía un gran aprecio por Justine. Le habla a Victor sobre William, su hermano pequeño. Le ofrece una imagen suya tierna y encantadora. Luego le cuenta lo que ha ocurrido en la ciudad para ponerle al día, ya que ha estado fuera de casa durante mucho tiempo. |
Justine has returned to us, and I assure you
I love her tenderly. She is very clever and gentle and extremely pretty;
as I mentioned before, her mien and her expressions continually remind
me of my dear aunt.
I must say also a few words to you, my dear cousin, of little darling William. I wish you could see him; he is very tall of his age, with sweet laughing blue eyes, dark eyelashes, and curling hair. When he smiles, two little dimples appear on each cheek, which are rosy with health. He has already had one or two little wives, but Louisa Biron is his favourite, a pretty little girl of five years of age. Now, dear Victor, I dare say you wish to be indulged in a little gossip concerning the good people of Geneva. |
| Fragmento 29.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. Elizabeth pide a Victor que escriba, además de que se cuide. Habla del agradecimiento que siente por la bondad y afecto que Clerval ha mostrado hacia Victor y al cuidarle y al haber mantenido a la familia al corriente de su estado de salud. |
I have written myself into better spirits, dear cousin;
but my anxiety returns upon me as I conclude. Write, dearest Victor
-- one line -- one word will be a blessing to us. Ten thousand thanks to
Henry for his kindness, his affection, and his many letters; we are sincerely
grateful. Adieu! My cousin, take care of yourself, and, I
entreat you,
write!
Elizabeth Lavenza |
| Fragmento 30.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Alaban a Victor por su increíble progreso en el conocimiento de las ciencias. Sin embargo, se siente disgustado porque hablar sobre ese tema le recordaba todo lo relacionado con la criatura que había creado. |
M. Waldman inflicted torture when he praised, with kindness and warmth, the astonishing progress I had made in the sciences. He soon perceived that I disliked the subject, but not guessing the real cause, he attributed my feelings to modesty and changed the subject from my improvement to the science itself, with a desire, as I evidently saw, of drawing me out. What could I do? He meant to please, and he tormented me. I felt as if he had placed carefully, one by one, in my view those instruments which were to be afterwards used in putting me to a slow and cruel death. I writhed under his words yet dared not exhibit the pain I felt. |
| Fragmento
31.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. El padre de Victor le informa de que han asesinado al pequeño William. |
My dear Victor,
You have probably waited impatiently for a letter to fix the date of your return to us, and I was at first tempted to write only a few lines, merely mentioning the day on which I should expect you. But that would be a cruel kindness, and I dare not do it. What would be your surprise, my son, when you expected a happy and glad welcome, to behold, on the contrary, tears and wretchedness? And how, Victor, can I relate our misfortune? Absence cannot have rendered you callous to our joys and griefs, and how shall I inflict pain on my long-absent son? I wish to prepare you for the woeful news, but I know it is impossible; even now your eye skims over the page to seek the words which are to convey to you the horrible tidings. William is dead! That sweet child, whose smiles delighted and warmed my heart, who was so gentle, yet so gay! Victor, he is murdered! I will not attempt to console you, but will simply relate the circumstances of the transaction. |
| Fragmento 32.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. El padre de Victor le pide que regrese a casa con la familia en tan tristes momentos causados por el asesinato de William. Dice que sólo él puede consolar a Elizabeth que por alguna razón se siente culpable por la muerte del pequeño. Le pide que vuelva no con odio y sed de venganza por la muerte de su hermano pequeño, sino con amor y afecto por los suyos. |
Come, dearest Victor; you alone
can console Elizabeth. She weeps continually and accuses herself unjustly
as the cause of his death; her words pierce my heart. We are all unhappy,
but will not that be an additional motive for you, my son,
to return and be our comforter? Your dear mother! Alas, Victor!
I now say, thank God she did not live to witness the cruel, miserable death
of her youngest darling! Come, Victor; not brooding thoughts of
vengeance against the assassin, but with feelings of peace and gentleness,
that will heal, instead of festering, the wounds of our minds. Enter
the house of mourning, my friend, but with kindness and affection
for those who love you, and not with hatred for your enemies.
Your affectionate and afflicted father, Alphonse Frankenstein |
| Fragmento 33.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor hace otra pausa en la narración. Se ha entretenido expresando el placer y felicidad que sentía al regresar a su tierra y a su hogar. |
I fear, my friend, that I shall render myself tedious by dwelling on these preliminary circumstances, but they were days of comparative happiness, and I think of them with pleasure. My country, my beloved country! Who but a native can tell the delight I took in again beholding thy streams, thy mountains, and more than all, thy lovely lake! |
| Fragmento
34.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor ve a la criatura y se convence de que fue él quien mató al pequeño William. Describe a la criatura como poseedora de una fuerza y agilidad sobrenaturales, pues fue capaz de escalar con gran rapidez la casi perpendicular ascensión del Mont Saléve y desaparecer al alcanzar la cima. |
A flash of lightning illuminated the object and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly armed me that it was the wretch, the filthy demon to whom I had given life. What did he there? Could he be (I shuddered at the conception) the murderer of my brother? No sooner did that idea cross my imagination than I became convinced of its truth; my teeth chattered, and I was forced to lean against a tree for support. The figure passed me quickly, and I lost it in the gloom. Nothing in human shape could have destroyed that fair child. He was the murderer! I could not doubt it. The mere presence of the idea was an irresistible proof of the fact. I thought of pursuing the devil, but it would have been in vain, for another flash discovered him to me hanging among the rocks of the nearly perpendicular ascent of Mont Salêve, a hill that bounds Plainpalais on the south. He soon reached the summit and disappeared. |
| Fragmento 35.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Han pasado dos años desde que dio vida a la criatura. Siente que ha soltado en el mundo a un monstruo asesino y sufre una gran angustia al pensar que la criatura mató a su pequeño hermano William. |
Two years had now nearly elapsed since the night on
which he first received life, and
was this his first crime? Alas!
I had turned loose into the world a depraved wretch whose delight was in
carnage and misery; had he not murdered my brother?
No one can conceive the anguish I suffered during the remainder of the night, which I spent, cold and wet, in the open air. |
| Fragmento 36.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor quiere perseguir a la criatura, pero lo considera muy difícil habiendo comprobado su fuerza sobrenatural al verle escalar el Mont Saléve. |
And then of what use would be pursuit? Who could arrest a creature capable of scaling the overhanging sides of Mont Salêve? |
| Fragmento 37.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor piensa que si lo contara nadie creería la existencia de la criatura y califica su creación como producto de la presunción y de una ignorancia imprudente. |
Did anyone indeed exist, except I, the creator, who would believe, unless his senses convinced him, in the existence of the living monument of presumption and rash ignorance which I had let loose upon the world? |
| Fragmento 38.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Han acusado a Justine del asesinato de William. Victor cree que, de alguna manera la criatura ha hecho que las pruebas la acusen, por lo que siente un terrible remordimiento y angustia. |
A murmur of approbation followed Elizabeth's simple and powerful appeal, but it was excited by her generous interference, and not in favour of poor Justine, on whom the public indignation was turned with renewed violence, charging her with the blackest ingratitude. She herself wept as Elizabeth spoke, but she did not answer. My own agitation and anguish was extreme during the whole trial. I believed in her innocence; I knew it. Could the demon who had (I did not for a minute doubt) murdered my brother also in his hellish sport have betrayed the innocent to death and ignominy? I could not sustain the horror of my situation, and when I perceived that the popular voice and the countenances of the judges had already condemned my unhappy victim, I rushed out of the court in agony. The tortures of the accused did not equal mine; she was sustained by innocence, but the fangs of remorse tore my bosom and would not forgo their hold. |
| Fragmento 39.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Alguien le dice a Victor que Justine se ha confesado culpable del asesinato de William. Eso hace que Victor se plantee su cordura. (En otro momento de la narración sabemos que Justine confesó bajo presión. En cualquier caso, la acabarán ejecutando por un crimen que no ha cometido). |
The person to whom I addressed myself added that Justine
had already confessed her guilt.
That evidence,he observed, was hardly required in so glaring a case, but I am glad of it; and, indeed, none of our judges like to condemn a criminal upon circumstantial evidence, be it ever so decisive.This was strange and unexpected intelligence; what could it mean? Had my eyes deceived me? And was I really as mad as the whole world would believe me to be if I disclosed the object of my suspicions? |
| Fragmento 40.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Las intenciones de Victor al hacer sus investigaciones científicas eran ayudar a los demás, pero ahora el remordimiento y el sentimiento de culpabilidad le torturan de una manera indescriptible. |
I had begun life with benevolent intentions and thirsted for the moment when I should put them in practice and make myself useful to my fellow beings. Now all was blasted; instead of that serenity of conscience which allowed me to look back upon the past with self-satisfaction, and from thence to gather promise of new hopes, I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures such as no language can describe. |
| Fragmento 41.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor teme que la criatura mate al resto de su familia. Siente que debe hacer algo al respecto. |
But I was restrained, when I thought of the heroic and suffering Elizabeth, whom I tenderly loved, and whose existence was bound up in mine. I thought also of my father and surviving brother; should I by my base desertion leave them exposed and unprotected to the malice of the fiend whom I had let loose among them? |
| Fragmento 42.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor dice que Elizabeth notó la desesperación y la rabia de Victor y le incitó a dejar esos sentimientos recordándole su amor por él. Le habla sobre la felicidad que les espera (pues piensan casarse). Sin embargo, Victor sabe que esa felicidad es imposible mientras la criatura esté viva, así que toma la determinación darle caza y matarla. |
My dearest friend, you must calm yourself.
These events have affected me, God knows how deeply; but I am not so wretched
as you are. There is an expression of despair, and sometimes of revenge,
in your countenance that makes me tremble. Dear Victor, banish these dark
passions. Remember the friends around you, who centre all their hopes in
you. Have we lost the power of rendering you happy? Ah! While we love,
while we are true to each other, here in this land of peace and beauty,
your native country, we may reap every tranquil blessing -- what can disturb
our peace?
And could not such words from her whom I fondly prized before every other gift of fortune suffice to chase away the fiend that lurked in my heart? Even as she spoke I drew near to her, as if in terror, lest at that very moment the destroyer had been near to rob me of her. |
| Fragmento 43.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein.
|
`Felix,' `brother,'or `son.'I cannot describe the delight I felt when I learned the ideas appropriated to each of these sounds, and was able to pronounce them. I distinguished several other words without being able as yet to understand or apply them, such as `good,' `dearest,' `unhappy.' |
| Fragmento 44.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. La criatura se dió cuenta de que no había nadie que fuera como él. Conforme iba siendo más consciente de su condición, más angustia sentía de ser un monstruo a los ojos de los demás porque todos le huían y le despreciaban, y se veía condenado al ostracismo. |
When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned? "I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me; I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge. |
| Fragmento 45.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. La criatura aprendió a escribir copiando unas cartas. Le cuenta a Victor el contenido de estas cartas. |
"I have copies of these letters, for I found means, during my residence in the hovel, to procure the implements of writing; and the letters were often in the hands of Felix or Agatha. Before I depart I will give them to you; they will prove the truth of my tale; but at present, as the sun is already far declined, I shall only have time to repeat the substance of them to you. |
| Fragmento 46.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. La criatura sabe que a pesar de su ardiente deseo de convivir con los humanos, nunca podrá hacerlo porque cuando le ven experimenta el rechazo y disgusto que sienten por él. Eso le produce angustia y pesar, pero también furia y rabia. |
I remembered that I was forever deprived of the delights that such beautiful creatures could bestow and that she whose resemblance I contemplated would, in regarding me, have changed that air of divine benignity to one expressive of disgust and affright. "Can you wonder that such thoughts transported me with rage? I only wonder that at that moment, instead of venting my sensations in exclamations and agony, I did not rush among mankind and perish in the attempt to destroy them. |
| Fragmento 47.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor hace una pausa en la narración. Se disculpa por un acceso de tristeza que le ha embargado al recordar a su amigo Clerval (más adelante sabremos que la criatura también le mató). Continua con su historia. |
Pardon this gush of sorrow; these ineffectual words are but a slight tribute to the unexampled worth of Henry, but they soothe my heart, overflowing with the anguish which his remembrance creates. I will proceed with my tale. |
| Fragmento 48.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Otra pausa en la narración. Victor se toma un momento de descanso antes de poder relatar los horribles sucesos que se dispone a narrar. |
I must pause here, for it requires all my fortitude to recall the memory of the frightful events which I am about to relate, in proper detail, to my recollection. |
| Fragmento 49.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Clerval fue asesinado y Victor vio su cadáver. sintió desesperación y dolor por la muerte de su amigo, más aun porque se sintió responsable de ella ya que fue la criatura que él creó quien lo mató. |
I entered the room where the corpse lay and was led
up to the coffin. How can I describe my sensations on beholding it?
I feel yet parched with horror, nor can I reflect on that terrible moment
without shuddering and agony. The examination, the presence of the magistrate
and witnesses, passed like a dream from my memory when I saw the lifeless
form of Henry Clerval stretched before me. I gasped for breath, and throwing
myself on the body, I exclaimed,
Have my murderous machinations deprived you also, my dearest Henry, of life? Two I have already destroyed; other victims await their destiny; but you, Clerval, my friend, my benefactor -- |
| Fragmento 50.
Lector-narrado: Victor Frankenstein. Victor pronto regresaría a casa. Este
fue un segundo regreso, pues tras el primero volvió a marcharse.
Elizabeth estaba preocupada por su salud y temía que
su estado de ánimo estuviera todavía menoscabado.
|
"My dear Friend,
"It gave me the greatest pleasure to receive a letter from my uncle dated at Paris; you are no longer at a formidable distance, and I may hope to see you in less than a fortnight. My poor cousin, how much you must have suffered! I expect to see you looking even more ill than when you quitted Geneva. This winter has been passed most miserably, tortured as I have been by anxious suspense; yet I hope to see peace in your countenance and to find that your heart is not totally void of comfort and tranquillity. "Yet I fear that the same feelings now exist that made you so miserable a year ago, even perhaps augmented by time, I would not disturb you at this period, when so many misfortunes weigh upon you, but a conversation that I had with my uncle previous to his departure renders some explanation necessary before we meet. "Explanation! You may possibly say, What can Elizabeth have to explain? If you really say this, my questions are answered and all my doubts satisfied. But you are distant from me, and it is possible that you may dread and yet be pleased with this explanation; and in a probability of this being the case, I dare not any longer postpone writing what, during your absence, I have often wished to express to you but have never had the courage to begin. "You well know, Victor, that our union had been the favourite plan of your parents ever since our infancy. We were told this when young, and taught to look forward to it as an event that would certainly take place. We were affectionate playfellows during childhood, and, I believe, dear and valued friends to one another as we grew older. But as brother and sister often entertain a lively affection towards each other without desiring a more intimate union, may not such also be our case? Tell me, dearest Victor. Answer me, I conjure you, by our mutual happiness, with simple truth -- Do you not love another? "You have travelled; you have spent several years of your life at Ingolstadt; and I confess to you, my friend, that when I saw you last autumn so unhappy, flying to solitude from the society of every creature, I could not help supposing that you might regret our connection and believe yourself bound in honour to fulfil the wishes of your parents, although they opposed themselves to your inclinations. But this is false reasoning. I confess to you, my friend, that I love you and that in my airy dreams of futurity you have been my constant friend and companion. But it is your happiness I desire as well as my own when I declare to you that our marriage would render me eternally miserable unless it were the dictate of your own free choice. Even now I weep to think that, borne down as you are by the cruellest misfortunes, you may stifle, by the word honour, all hope of that love and happiness which would alone restore you to yourself. I, who have so disinterested an affection for you, may increase your miseries tenfold by being an obstacle to your wishes. Ah! Victor, be assured that your cousin and playmate has too sincere a love for you not to be made miserable by this supposition. Be happy, my friend;and if you obey me in this one request, remain satisfied that nothing on earth will have the power to interrupt my tranquillity. "Do not let this letter disturb you; do not answer tomorrow, or the next day, or even until you come, if it will give you pain. My uncle will send me news of your health, and if I see but one smile on your lips when we meet, occasioned by this or any other exertion of mine, I shall need no other happiness. "Elizabeth Lavenza. |
| Fragmento
51.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. La criatura arrebató a Victor de toda esperanza de futura felicidad, y se encontró inmerso en una miseria extrema. Su historia había estado plagada de horrores. Uno por uno, había ido perdiendo a sus seres queridos y estaba desolado. Se siente exhausto, pero quiere contar lo que queda de su historia. |
A fiend had snatched from me every hope of future happiness; no creature had ever been so miserable as I was; so frightful an event is single in the history of man. But why should I dwell upon the incidents that followed this last overwhelming event? Mine has been a tale of horrors; I have reached their acme, and what I must now relate can but be tedious to you. Know that, one by one, my friends were snatched away; I was left desolate. My own strength is exhausted, and I must tell, in a few words, what remains of my hideous narration. |
| Fragmento 52.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Los sentimientos de Victor son tan amargos como nadie podría imaginar. |
To you first entering on life, to whom care is new and agony unknown, how can you understand what I have felt and still feel? |
| Fragmento 53.
Lector-narrado: Robert Walton. Victor vio el barco de Walton cuando estaba a punto de desfallecer
por su intensa persecución a la criatura. Se dirigió al barco
en busca de auxilio, pero no antes de saber si se dirigía hacia
el norte, que era hacia donde se dirigía la criatura. Como
el barco seguía ese rumbo, subió a bordo.
|
In this manner many appalling hours passed; several
of my dogs died, and I myself was about to sink under the accumulation
of distress when I saw your vessel riding at anchor and holding
forth to me hopes of succour and life. I had no conception that vessels
ever came so far north and was astounded at the sight. I quickly destroyed
part of my sledge to construct oars, and by these means was enabled, with
infinite fatigue, to move my ice raft in the direction of your ship.
I had determined, if you were going southwards, still to trust myself to
the mercy of the seas rather than abandon my purpose. I hoped to induce
you
to grant me a boat with which I could pursue my enemy.
But your direction was northwards. You took me on board when my vigour was exhausted, and I should soon have sunk under my multiplied hardships into a death which I still dread, for my task is unfulfilled. Oh! When will my guiding spirit, in conducting me to the demon, allow me the rest I so much desire; or must I die, and he yet live?If I do, swear to me, Walton, that he shall not escape, that you will seek him and satisfy my vengeance in his death. And do I dare to ask of you to undertake my pilgrimage, to endure the hardships that I have undergone? No; I am not so selfish. Yet, when I am dead, if he should appear, if the ministers of vengeance should conduct him to you, swear that he shall not live -- swear that he shall not triumph over my accumulated woes and survive to add to the list of his dark crimes. He is eloquent and persuasive, and once his words had even power over my heart; but trust him not. His soul is as hellish as his form, full of treachery and fiendlike malice. Hear him not; call on the names of William, Justine, Clerval, Elizabeth, my father, and of the wretched Victor, and thrust your sword into his heart. I will hover near and direct the steel aright. |
| Fragmento 54.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton pregunta a su hermana si su sangre no se ha congelado de horror tras haber leído esta historia. |
You have read this strange and terrific story, Margaret;and do you not feel your blood congeal with horror, like that which even now curdles mine? |
| Fragmento 55.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton asegura a Margaret que la historia es cierta. Le dice que la prueba está en las cartas de las que la criatura habló a Victor (de las que había aprendido a escribir) y en el hecho de que antes de que Victor subiera a bordo de su barco, el mismo había visto una figura extrañísima en la nieve, la figura de la criatura. |
His tale is connected and told with an appearance of the simplest truth, yet I own to you that the letters of Felix and Safie, which he showed me, and the apparition of the monster seen from our ship, brought to me a greater conviction of the truth of his narrative than his asseverations, however earnest and connected. Such a monster has, then, really existence! |
| Fragmento 56.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Después de que el barco se libere del hielo, Walton continúa con su viaje, pero está pasando por muchos peligros y teme no volver a casa.
|
My beloved Sister,
I write to you, encompassed by peril and ignorant whether I am ever doomed to see again dear England and the dearer friends that inhabit it. I am surrounded by mountains of ice which admit of no escape and threaten every moment to crush my vessel. The brave fellows whom I have persuaded to be my companions look towards me for aid, but I have none to bestow. There is something terribly appalling in our situation, yet my courage and hopes do not desert me. Yet it is terrible to reflectthat the lives of all these men are endangered through me. If we are lost, my mad schemes are the cause. And what, Margaret, will be the state of your mind? You will not hear of my destruction, and you will anxiously await my return. Years will pass, and you will have visitings of despair and yet be tortured by hope. Oh! My beloved sister, the sickening failing of your heart-felt expectations is, in prospect, more terrible to me than my own death. But you have a husband and lovely children; you may be happy. Heaven bless you and make you so! |
| Fragmento 57.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. La situación de Walton y su tripulación
es grave. Walton parece mostrar más preocupación por el dolor
de su hermana ante sus infortunios que por su propia posible muerte. Bendice
a su hermana y le dice que al menos tendrá el consuelo de su marido
e hijos. Es una despedida.
|
A scene has just passed of such uncommon interest that, although it is highly probable that these papers may never reach you, yet I cannot forbear recording it. |
| Fragmento 58.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville Victor evita un motín, pero Walton tiene
que decidir si continuar el viaje hacia el polo o abandonar la empresa
y volver a casa.
Fragmento 59. Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton abandona su aventura y vuelve a Inglaterra. Victor ha muerto. |
He spoke this with a voice so modulated to the different
feelings expressed in his speech, with an eye so full of lofty design and
heroism, that can you wonder that these men were moved? They looked
at one another and were unable to reply. I spoke; I told them to retire
and consider of what had been said, that I would not lead them farther
north if they strenuously desired the contrary, but that I hoped that,
with reflection, their courage would return.
It is past; I am returning to England. I have lost my hopes of utility and glory; I have lost my friend. But I will endeavour to detail these bitter circumstances to you, my dear sister; and while I am wafted towards England and towards you, I will not despond.
|
| Fragmento
60.
Lector-narrado: Margaret Saville. Walton está terriblemente triste y decepcionado por el fracaso de su empresa, pero espera encontrar consuelo en su hogar. Algo le interrumpe mientras escribe a su hermana. Ha oído ruidos en el camarote del difunto Victor, donde todavía está su cadáver. Escucha una voz humana pero más ronca. (Resultará ser la criatura. Walton hablará con ella y al final ella se llevará el cadáver de Victor, con el consentimiento de Walton, para sepultarlo en el hielo y después suicidarse). |
Margaret, what comment can I make on the untimely
extinction of this glorious spirit? What can I say that will enable
you
to understand the depth of my sorrow? All that I should express would be
inadequate and feeble. My tears flow; my mind is overshadowed by a cloud
of disappointment. But I journey towards England, and I may there find
consolation.
I am interrupted. What do these sounds portend? It is midnight; the breeze blows fairly, and the watch on deck scarcely stir. Again there is a sound as of a human voice, but hoarser; it comes from the cabin where the remains of Frankenstein still lie. I must arise and examine. Good night, my sister. |
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