‘Captain！ Something is moving on the ice．Look over there！’

The sailor stood at the top of the mast， high above the Captain． His hand pointed² away from the ship， across the miles of ice that covered the sea．

The Captain looked to the north， where the sailor was pointing． He saw something coming fast towards the ship across the ice． He put his telescope³ to his eye， and through it he could see the shapes of ten dogs pulling a sledge⁴ over the ice． He could also see the driver of the sledge—a huge figure，much bigger than a man．

The sledge came nearer and nearer to the sea． Soon it was only a quarter of a mile from the ship．No one needed a telescope now to see the huge figure of the driver．

Suddenly the sledge went behind a mountain of ice and disappeared． At that moment another sledge appeared． It， too，was moving fast， and was clearly chasing⁵ the first sledge． This driver was a smaller figure， more like an ordinary man．Faster and faster the dogs ran；then the second sledge also disappeared behind the mountain of ice．

Two hours passed． The sledges⁶ did not appear again． Nothing moved on the ice． Soon night came， and in the night there was a storm． In the morning，the sailors saw that great pieces of ice were floating round the ship．Suddenly the sailor on the mast¹ shouted again：

‘Captain， I can see a man on the ice．’

The sailor was pointing to a piece of ice that was floating near the ship． A man was sitting on the ice， and near him was a broken sledge． The man was nearly dead from cold and could not walk． The sailors carried him carefully onto the ship， and took him to the Captain， who said：

‘Welcome to my ship．I am the Captain and my name is Robert Walton．’

‘Thank you， Captain Walton，’ the man said．‘My name is Frankenstein， Victor Frankenstein．’

Then he fainted⁷ and said no more．

Two days passed before the man was strong enough to talk and then the Captain asked him to tell his story．

‘I am trying to catch someone，’ said Frankenstein．‘That is why I have come so far north on the ice．’

‘We saw you following someone，’ the Captain said．‘He was huge， much bigger than a man． We saw his sledge just in front of you on the night before the storm．’

‘I am pleased you all saw that huge figure，’ Frankenstein said．‘Perhaps that will help you to believe my story．’

During the days， while the Captain worked on the ship，Frankenstein wrote down his story， and each evening he read what he had written to the Captain．

Here is Victor Frankenstein's story．

“船长，有东西在冰面上移动！瞧那儿？”

那个船员高高地站在船长头顶的桅杆顶上。他的手指着离船数英里以外覆盖着大海的冰面。

船长朝那个船员指示的北方望去。他看见有个东西正穿过冰面、快速地朝船靠近。他把单筒望远镜凑近眼前并透过它看见有十只狗在冰面上拉着一只雪橇。他还看到驾驶雪橇的那个人——那是一个巨大的身躯，比常人要大得多。

雪橇离水面越来越近，很快它便离船只有1／4英里之遥。现在已不需借助望远镜便可看见那个乘雪橇的人的庞大的身躯了。

突然那个雪橇驶到一个冰山的后面消失了。就在那时，另一辆雪橇出现在眼前。它也在急驰着，并且显然是在追逐那第一辆雪橇。驾驶这辆雪橇的人身形小些，更像个普通人。狗跑得越来越快，接着第二辆雪橇也消失在了冰山的后面。

两小时过去了，雪橇再也没有出现过。再没有东西在冰上移动。不久夜晚降临了，晚上起了一场风暴。早上，船员们看到轮船的周围都漂浮着巨大的冰块。突然，桅杆上的船员又喊了起来：

“船长，我看见冰上有一个人。”

那个船员正指着漂近轮船的一块浮冰。有个人正坐在冰上，他的身旁有一辆坏了的雪橇。那个人快要冻死了并且走不了路。船员们小心地把他扶上了船，并把他带到船长跟前。船长说道：

“欢迎您到我的船上来。我是船长，叫罗伯特·沃尔顿。”

“谢谢您，沃尔顿船长。”那个人说道，“我的名字叫弗兰肯斯坦，维克多·弗兰肯斯坦。”

然后他就昏过去，不再说什么了。

两天后，这个男人方才恢复过来能够谈话了，这时船长让他讲讲自己的故事。

“我要尽力抓一个人，”弗兰肯斯坦说道，“这就是我为什么要到这么远的北方的冰面上来的原因。”

“我们看见了你在追赶什么人。”船长说道，“他很大，比常人要大很多。我们在风暴的前夜看见他的雪橇就在你的前面。”

“我很高兴你们都见到了那个庞然大物，”弗兰肯斯坦说道，“那也许能帮助你们相信我的故事。”

白天，船长在船上工作时，弗兰肯斯坦写起了他的故事；晚上他便把写的东西念给船长听。

下面就是弗兰肯斯坦的故事。