The Modern Prometheus modern design twist on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | Page 22

R. Walton

be upon deck to watch for the sledge which had before appeared;
but I have persuaded him to remain in the cabin, for he is far too
weak to sustain the rawness of the atmosphere. I have promised
that someone should watch for him and give him instant notice if
any new object should appear in sight.
Such is my journal of what relates to this strange occurrence up
to the present day. The stranger has gradually improved in health
but is very silent and appears uneasy when anyone except myself
enters his cabin. Yet his manners are so conciliating and gentle
that the sailors are all interested in him, although they have had
very little communication with him. For my own part, I begin to
love him as a brother, and his constant and deep grief fills me with
sympathy and compassion. He must have been a noble creature in
his better days, being even now in wreck so attractive and amiable.
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.
I shall continue my journal concerning the stranger at intervals,
should I have any fresh incidents to record.
August 13th, 17My affection for my guest increases every day. He excites at once
my admiration and my pity to an astonishing degree. How can I
see so noble a creature destroyed by misery without feeling the
most poignant grief? He is so gentle, yet so wise; his mind is so
cultivated, and when he speaks, although his words are culled
with the choicest art, yet they flow with rapidity and unparalleled
eloquence. He is now much recovered from his illness and is
continually on the deck, apparently watching for the sledge that
preceded his own. Yet, although unhappy, he is not so utterly
occupied by his own misery but that he interests himself deeply
in the projects of others. He has frequently conversed with me on
mine, which I have communicated to him without disguise. He
entered attentively into all my arguments in favour of my eventual