英文经典：弗兰肯斯坦-Frankenstein

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Chapter 5 (an excerpt)

It was on a dreary¹ night of November that I beheld² the accomplishment³ of my toils⁴. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally⁵ against the panes⁶, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer⁷ of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated⁸ its limbs.

 

How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe⁹, or how delineate the wretch¹⁰ 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 arteries¹¹ beneath; his hair was of a lustrous¹² black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid¹³ contrast with his watery¹⁴ eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets¹⁵ in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion¹⁶ and straight black lips.

 

The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.

 

WordChecker

toils (noun): a situation you can’t escape from

infuse (verb): to create; to inspire

half-extinguished (adjective): partly burnt out

convulsive (adjective): quick and uncontrollable

delineate (verb): properly describe

lustrous (adjective): shiny

dun (adjective): dull; greyish brown

ardour (noun): desire; eagerness

inanimate (adjective): not living

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