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[00:01.56]Chapter 2 The Card
[00:06.40]So next day, at seven o'clock,
[00:10.15]I came to the shop in a cab.
[00:13.44]There were not very many people in the road,
[00:16.33]because it was early in the morning.
[00:19.19]In November it is dark at seven o'clock in the morning,
[00:23.24]and I could not see the shop very well.
[00:26.29]I waited five minutes. A postman walked past.
[00:31.22]Then the door of the shop opened,
[00:33.55]and the creature, Merrick , came out.
[00:37.56]I could not see his face or his body.
[00:40.90]He had an enormous black hat on his head, like a big box.
[00:46.07]A grey cloth came down from the hat, in front of his face.
[00:51.77]There was a hole in the cloth in front of his eyes.
[00:56.24]He could see out of the hole but I could not see in.
[01:01.17]He wore a long black coat, too.
[01:04.56]The coat began at his neck, and ended at his feet,
[01:08.67]so I could not see his arms, his body, or his legs.
[01:13.66]On his feet he wore big shoes, like old bags.
[01:18.68]He had a stick in his left hand,
[01:20.91]and he walked very slowly.
[01:23.97]I opened the door of the cab, and got out.
[01:27.88]'Good morning, Mr Merrick, 'I said. 'Can you get in?'
[01:33.37]'Elpmyupasteps, 'he said.
[01:37.76]'I'm sorry, 'I said. 'I don't understand. '
[01:43.18]For a minute he stood by the door of the cab and said nothing.
[01:48.68]Then he hit the cab with his stick.
[01:51.69]'STEPS! 'he said loudly. 'Help me up the steps! '
[01:59.55]Then I understood.
[02:02.60]There were three steps up into the cab,
[02:05.78]and he could not get up them.
[02:08.32]'Yes, I see. I'm sorry, 'I said. 'Let me help you. '
[02:16.14]I took his left hand and began to help him.
[02:20.16]My right hand was behind his back.
[02:23.84]I felt very strange.
[02:26.54]His left hand was like a young woman's,
[02:29.93]but his back under the coat, was horrible.
[02:33.89]I could feel the bags of old skin on his back under the coat.
[02:39.64]He put one enormous foot on the first step,
[02:43.25]and then he stopped.
[02:45.66]After a minute, he moved his second foot slowly.
[02:50.04]Then he stopped and waited again.
[02:53.91]'Hello, sir. Can I help you?'
[02:58.18]I looked behind me. It was the postman.
[03:02.08]And behind him, I could see three young boys.
[03:06.66]One of the boys laughed.
[03:09.45]The postman smiled. 'Is the gentleman ill?'he asked.
[03:16.09]I thought quickly. 'Yes. But this is a lady, not a gentleman.
[03:23.50]I'm a doctor, and she's ill.
[03:26.76]Take her hand, so I can help her better. '
[03:31.14]The postman took Merrick's left hand,
[03:35.55]and I helped him with two hands from behind.
[03:39.42]Slowly, very slowly, Merrick went up the steps and into the cab.
[03:47.43]One boy was very near the cab.
[03:50.66]He called to his friends.
[03:53.70]'Come and see this, boys! A fat lady in a black coat!
[03:59.15]And look at that enormous hat! '
[04:02.11]The boys laughed.
[04:04.39]They were very near the cab too, now.
[04:07.74]I closed the door quickly.
[04:10.63]'Thank you, 'I said to the postman.
[04:13.87]'That's all right, sir, 'he said. 'She's a strange lady, sir, isn't she?'
[04:20.77]'She's ill, that's all, 'I said quickly.
[04:25.08]'We're going to the hospital.
[04:27.17]Goodbye, and thank you. '
[04:31.37]The cab drove down the road to the hospital.
[04:35.89]I locked at Merrick. 'That was difficult, wasn't it?'I said.
[04:42.47]At first he said nothing, but then he spoke.
[04:47.29]His voice was very strange,
[04:50.07]but I listened to him carefully,
[04:52.25]and I could understand him.
[04:55.30]'The steps were very difficult, 'he said.
[05:00.80]'But most things are difficult for me. '
[05:05.73]'Yes, 'I said. ' Nothing is easy for you, is it?'
[05:11.23]'No, 'he said. He was very quiet for a minute.
[05:18.04]Then he said, 'Who are you, sir?'
[05:23.87]'Who am I?Oh, I'm sorry, My name is Dr Treves. Here, this is my card. '
[05:36.54]I gave him a card with my name on.
[05:40.25]Then I thought, 'That was no good.
[05:44.00]This man can't read. '
[05:46.69]But Merrick took the card and looked at it very carefully.
[05:52.66]Then he put it in his trousers pocket.
[05:57.63]I did not talk to him very much at the hospital.
[06:01.43]I looked at his head and arms and legs and body very carefully.
[06:08.68]Then I wrote the important things about him in a little book.
[06:13.52]A nurse helped me.
[06:16.56]Merrick looked at her sometimes,
[06:19.55]but she did not smile at him or talk to him.
[06:23.51]I think she was afraid of him.
[06:26.31]I think Merrick was afraid too,
[06:29.15]because he was very quiet.
[06:32.90]At four o'clock I took him back to the shop in a cab.
[06:38.26]The next day I looked in the shop window again,
[06:42.42]but the picture was not there.