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Chapter 1 The Creature in the Shop |
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My name is Dr Frederick Treves. |
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I am a doctor at the London Hospital. One day in 1884, |
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I saw a picture in the window of a shop near the hospital. |
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I stopped in front of the shop and looked at the picture. |
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At first I felt interested, then I felt angry, |
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then afraid. It was a horrible, ugly picture. |
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There was a man in the picture, |
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but he did not look like you and me. |
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He did not look like a man. |
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He looked like an elephant. |
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I read the writing under the picture. It said: |
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Come in and see the Elephant Man. 2 pence. |
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I opened the door and went in. |
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There was a man in the shop. |
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He was a dirty man in an old coat with a cigarette in his mouth. |
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' What do you want?' he asked. |
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' I' d like to see the elephant man, please, ' I said. |
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The man looked at me angrily. |
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' Well, you can' t, ' he said. |
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' The shop' s closing now. |
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You can come back tomorrow. ' |
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' I' m sorry, ' I said. ' |
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But I would like to see him now. |
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I have no time tomorrow |
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I have a lot of work to do. |
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But I can give you more than 2 pence. ' |
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The man looked at me carefully. |
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Then he took the cigarette out of his mouth |
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and smiled with his yellow teeth. |
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' All right, sir, ' he said. |
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' Give me twelve pence then. ' |
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I gave him the money and he opened a door at the back of the shop. |
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We went into a little room. |
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The room was cold and dark, |
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and there was a horrible smell in it. |
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A creature sat on a chair behind a table. |
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I say a creature, because it was not a man |
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or a woman, like you or me. |
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The creature did not move or look at us. |
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It sat very quietly on the chair in the cold, |
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dark, dirty room, and looked at the table. |
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The creature had a cloth over its head, |
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because of the cold. |
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On the table in front of it, |
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there was a dead flower. |
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' Stand up! ' said the shopkeeper, loudly. |
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The creature stood up slowly. |
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It took the old cloth off its head, |
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and put it on the chair. |
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I looked at the creature and felt sad. |
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I am a doctor, so I know a lot about accidents and ill people. |
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I see horrible, ugly things every day. |
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But this creature, this thing, |
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was the worst of all. |
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There were no men or women in the hospital like him. |
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He wore some old trousers, |
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but no shirt, coat, or shoes, |
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so I could see his body very well. |
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His head was the most interesting thing. |
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It was very, very big |
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like an enormous bag with a lot of books in it. |
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The head did not have much hair, |
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and there was another bag of brown, |
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dirty skin at the back of it. |
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This skin came down below his neck. |
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I could not see one of his eyes very well, |
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because a lot of skin came down in front of his face, too. |
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An enormous red tooth came out of his mouth, |
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under his nose. |
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It looked like an elephant' s tooth. |
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The mouth and nose were like holes in the face. |
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The face could not smile or laugh or look angry or sad, |
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because the skin could not move. |
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It was dead, like an elephant' s face. |
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There were more bags of dirty skin on the front |
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and back of the creature' s body. |
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These bags came down to his legs. |
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The right arm was enormous, |
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and there were bags of skin on it, too. |
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The right hand was like a man' s foot. |
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But the left hand the left arm |
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and the left hand were beautiful! |
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The left arm had wonderful skin, |
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and the fingers of the left hand were long |
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and beautiful. |
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It was like a young woman' s hand! |
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' Walk, Merrick! ' said the shopkeeper angrily. |
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' Come on, quickly, move! ' |
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He hit the creature with his hand. |
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Slowly, the creature walked across the room. |
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But he could not walk well. |
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His legs were very big and fat, |
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and he had a bad back. |
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He could not walk far without a stick. |
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' All right, thank you, ' I said. |
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' Let him sit down. |
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I don' t want to see any more. |
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' I felt ill, and the smell in the room was very bad. |
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' Yes, sir, ' said the shopkeeper. ' Sit down, Merrick. ' |
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We went out of the room |
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and closed the door. |
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The shopkeeper smiled at me with his yellow teeth. |
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' Wonderful, sir, isn' t it?' |
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he said. ' The best Elephant Man in England! |
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Hundreds of people come to see him, |
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you know, hundreds! |
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I take him all over the country, I do! ' |
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' Yes, very interesting, ' |
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I said. ' Can I sit down?' |
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' Yes, sir, of course. Here' s a chair. |
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' He looked at me, smiling. |
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' Would you like a glass of water, sir?' |
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' Yes, please, ' I said. |
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Then I looked at the things in the dirty shop. |
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There were two or three bad apples |
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and some old black bananas: |
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that was all. |
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' Er, no no, thank you. I' m all right, ' |
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I said. ' Did you did you call the creature Merrick?' |
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' That' s right, sir. Joseph Merrick. |
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The best ElephantMan in England! |
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I take him all over the country, you know. |
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Lots of people want to see him. ' |
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' Yes, I see. Do you get a lot of money?' |
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' Well, sometimes we do, sir, yes. |
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But it' s difficult, you see, sir, |
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because of the police. |
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The police don' t like us, you see, sir. |
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So we can' t stay in a town very long. |
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We usually move every week. ' |
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' Yes, I see. Well, anyway, Mr er?' |
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' Silcock, sir. Simon Silcock. ' |
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' Yes, well, Mr Silcock, |
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I' m a doctor at the London Hospital. |
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My name is Dr Treves. |
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I think this er this man Joseph Merrick is very interesting, |
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and I would like to see him at the hospital. |
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I want to look at him more carefully, you see. |
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' Yes sir, I see. But how can he get to the hospital? |
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It' s going to be difficult. ' |
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' Why, man? The hospital' s not far from here. ' |
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' Well, yes, sir. I know. But, you see, |
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Merrick can' t walk very well. He needs help. ' |
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' You can come with him. |
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Do you want more money? Is that it?' |
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' Well, yes, sir, I do. But, you see, |
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people are afraid of him too |
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In the road, little boys always run after him and hit him. |
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Then the police get angry because people are afraid. |
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Sometimes they take us to prison. ' |
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' I see, ' I said. ' Well, how can he come to the hospital, then?' |
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' Bring a cab, sir, ' said Silcock. |
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' You can take him to the hospital in a cab. ' |