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[00:35.59]Chapter 1 The Creature in the Shop
[00:41.21]My name is Dr Frederick Treves.
[00:45.01]I am a doctor at the London Hospital. One day in 1884,
[00:51.45]I saw a picture in the window of a shop near the hospital.
[00:56.27]I stopped in front of the shop and looked at the picture.
[01:01.00]At first I felt interested, then I felt angry,
[01:06.09]then afraid. It was a horrible, ugly picture.
[01:11.95]There was a man in the picture,
[01:14.57]but he did not look like you and me.
[01:17.27]He did not look like a man.
[01:19.93]He looked like an elephant.
[01:23.17]I read the writing under the picture. It said：
[01:27.74]Come in and see the Elephant Man. 2 pence.
[01:32.46]I opened the door and went in.
[01:36.06]There was a man in the shop.
[01:38.53]He was a dirty man in an old coat with a cigarette in his mouth.
[01:44.53]'What do you want?'he asked.
[01:48.12]'I'd like to see the elephant man, please, 'I said.
[01:53.22]The man looked at me angrily.
[01:56.16]'Well, you can't, ' he said.
[01:59.15]'The shop's closing now.
[02:01.79]You can come back tomorrow. '
[02:04.67]'I'm sorry, 'I said. '
[02:07.25]But I would like to see him now.
[02:09.95]I have no time tomorrow-
[02:12.32]I have a lot of work to do.
[02:14.92]But I can give you more than 2 pence. '
[02:18.76]The man looked at me carefully.
[02:22.14]Then he took the cigarette out of his mouth
[02:24.76]and smiled with his yellow teeth.
[02:28.60]'All right, sir, 'he said.
[02:31.87]'Give me twelve pence then. '
[02:35.67]I gave him the money and he opened a door at the back of the shop.
[02:41.33]We went into a little room.
[02:44.13]The room was cold and dark,
[02:46.82]and there was a horrible smell in it.
[02:50.35]A creature sat on a chair behind a table.
[02:54.73]I say a creature, because it was not a man
[02:58.26]or a woman, like you or me.
[03:02.27]The creature did not move or look at us.
[03:06.51]It sat very quietly on the chair in the cold,
[03:10.57]dark, dirty room, and looked at the table.
[03:16.61]The creature had a cloth over its head,
[03:19.91]because of the cold.
[03:22.49]On the table in front of it,
[03:24.66]there was a dead flower.
[03:27.18]'Stand up! 'said the shopkeeper, loudly.
[03:31.99]The creature stood up slowly.
[03:35.35]It took the old cloth off its head,
[03:38.21]and put it on the chair.
[03:41.76]I looked at the creature and felt sad.
[03:46.23]I am a doctor, so I know a lot about accidents and ill people.
[03:52.14]I see horrible, ugly things every day.
[03:56.45]But this creature, this thing,
[03:59.99]was the worst of all.
[04:02.54]There were no men or women in the hospital like him.
[04:07.89]He wore some old trousers,
[04:10.26]but no shirt, coat, or shoes,
[04:14.27]so I could see his body very well.
[04:17.71]His head was the most interesting thing.
[04:20.61]It was very, very big-
[04:23.19]like an enormous bag with a lot of books in it.
[04:27.85]The head did not have much hair,
[04:31.13]and there was another bag of brown,
[04:33.90]dirty skin at the back of it.
[04:36.99]This skin came down below his neck.
[04:41.57]I could not see one of his eyes very well,
[04:45.49]because a lot of skin came down in front of his face, too.
[04:51.04]An enormous red tooth came out of his mouth,
[04:55.21]under his nose.
[04:57.40]It looked like an elephant's tooth.
[05:01.09]The mouth and nose were like holes in the face.
[05:05.30]The face could not smile or laugh or look angry or sad,
[05:10.68]because the skin could not move.
[05:13.80]It was dead, like an elephant's face.
[05:19.00]There were more bags of dirty skin on the front
[05:22.20]and back of the creature's body.
[05:25.04]These bags came down to his legs.
[05:28.70]The right arm was enormous,
[05:31.31]and there were bags of skin on it, too.
[05:35.19]The right hand was like a man's foot.
[05:39.52]But the left hand the left arm
[05:46.04]and the left hand were beautiful!
[05:48.43]The left arm had wonderful skin,
[05:51.73]and the fingers of the left hand were long
[05:54.52]and beautiful.
[05:56.76]It was like a young woman's hand!
[06:00.41]'Walk, Merrick! ' said the shopkeeper angrily.
[06:04.62]'Come on, quickly, move! '
[06:08.04]He hit the creature with his hand.
[06:11.01]Slowly, the creature walked across the room.
[06:15.13]But he could not walk well.
[06:17.32]His legs were very big and fat,
[06:20.14]and he had a bad back.
[06:22.32]He could not walk far without a stick.
[06:25.95]'All right, thank you, 'I said.
[06:29.66]'Let him sit down.
[06:31.32]I don't want to see any more.
[06:34.26]'I felt ill, and the smell in the room was very bad.
[06:38.99]'Yes, sir, 'said the shopkeeper. 'Sit down, Merrick. '
[06:45.50]We went out of the room
[06:46.73]and closed the door.
[06:48.71]The shopkeeper smiled at me with his yellow teeth.
[06:52.62]'Wonderful, sir, isn't it?'
[06:55.28]he said. 'The best Elephant Man in England!
[06:59.72]Hundreds of people come to see him,
[07:01.93]you know, hundreds!
[07:04.06]I take him all over the country, I do! '
[07:07.57]'Yes, very interesting, '
[07:10.51]I said. 'Can I sit down?'
[07:13.61]'Yes, sir, of course. Here's a chair.
[07:18.63]'He looked at me, smiling.
[07:21.33]'Would you like a glass of water, sir?'
[07:24.08]'Yes, please, 'I said.
[07:27.99]Then I looked at the things in the dirty shop.
[07:31.74]There were two or three bad apples
[07:34.14]and some old black bananas：
[07:37.01]that was all.
[07:38.70]'Er, no…no, thank you. I'm all right, '
[07:43.11]I said. 'Did you…did you call the creature Merrick?'
[07:49.84]'That's right, sir. Joseph Merrick.
[07:53.46]The best ElephantMan in England!
[07:56.87]I take him all over the country, you know.
[07:59.77]Lots of people want to see him. '
[08:02.44]'Yes, I see. Do you get a lot of money?'
[08:08.14]'Well, sometimes we do, sir, yes.
[08:12.57]But it's difficult, you see, sir,
[08:15.03]because of the police.
[08:17.27]The police don't like us, you see, sir.
[08:20.50]So we can't stay in a town very long.
[08:24.50]We usually move every week. '
[08:27.53]'Yes, I see. Well, anyway, Mr…er?'
[08:34.03]'Silcock, sir. Simon Silcock. '
[08:38.03]'Yes, well, Mr Silcock,
[08:40.96]I'm a doctor at the London Hospital.
[08:44.16]My name is Dr Treves.
[08:46.97]I think this…er… this man Joseph Merrick is very interesting,
[08:54.18]and I would like to see him at the hospital.
[08:57.80]I want to look at him more carefully, you see.
[09:01.33]'Yes sir, I see. But how can he get to the hospital?
[09:07.89]It's going to be difficult. '
[09:10.42]'Why, man? The hospital's not far from here. '
[09:15.05]'Well, yes, sir. I know. But, you see,
[09:20.32]Merrick can't walk very well. He needs help. '
[09:25.96]'You can come with him.
[09:28.49]Do you want more money?Is that it?'
[09:31.78]'Well, yes, sir, I do. But, you see,
[09:36.44]people are afraid of him too…
[09:39.43]In the road, little boys always run after him and hit him.
[09:45.15]Then the police get angry because people are afraid.
[09:49.86]Sometimes they take us to prison. '
[09:53.35]'I see, 'I said. 'Well, how can he come to the hospital, then?'
[09:59.22]'Bring a cab, sir, 'said Silcock.
[10:02.35]'You can take him to the hospital in a cab. '