Tale Teller Book Club™

Volume 1 Chapter 5 Frankenstein Mary Shelley Free Download Adult Audio Book Public Domain

section 10 of frankenstein by mary shelley this librivox recording is in the public domain volume 1 chapter 5

clerval then put the following letter into my hands to v frankenstein my dear cousin i cannot describe to you the uneasiness we have all felt concerning your health we cannot help imagining that your friend clerval conceals the extent of your disorder for it is now several months since we have seen your handwriting and all this time you have been obliged to dictate your letters to henry surely victor you must have been exceedingly ill and this makes us all very wretched as much so nearly as after the death of your dear mother my uncle was almost persuaded that you were indeed dangerously ill and could hardly be restrained from undertaking a journey to engelstadt clerval always writes that you are getting better i eagerly hope that you will confirm this intelligence soon in your own handwriting for indeed indeed victor we are all very miserable in this account relieve us from this fear and we shall be the happiest creatures in the world your father's health is now so vigorous that he appears 10 years younger since last winter ernest also is so much improved that you would hardly know him he is now nearly 16 and has lost that sickly appearance which he had some years ago he's grown quite robust and active my uncle and i conversed a long time last night about what profession ernest should follow his constant illness when young has deprived him of the habits of application and now that he enjoys good health he is continually in the open air climbing the hills or rowing on the lake i therefore proposed that he should be a farmer which you know cousin is a favorite scheme of mine a farmer's is a very healthy happy life and the least hurtful or rather the most beneficial profession of any my uncle had an idea of his being educated as an advocate that through his interest he might become a judge but besides that he is not at all fitted for such an occupation it is certainly more credible to cultivate the earth for the sustenance of man than to be the confidant and sometimes the accomplice of his vices which is the profession of a lawyer i said that the employments for prosperous farmer if they were not a more honourable they were at least a happier species of occupation than that of a judge whose misfortune it was always to meddle with the dark side of human nature my uncle smiled and said that i ought to be an advocate myself which put an end to the conversation on that subject and now i must tell you a little story that will please and perhaps amuse you do you not remember justine moritz probably you do not i will relate her history therefore in a few words madame moritz her mother was a widow with four children of whom justine was the third this girl had always been the favorite of her father but through a strange perversity her mother could not endure her and after the death of monsieur moritz treated her very ill my aunt observed this and when justine was 12 years of age prevailed on her mother to allow her to live at her house the republican institutions of our country have produced simpler and happier manners than those which prevail in the great monarchies that surround it hence there is less distinction between the several classes of its inhabitants and the lower orders being neither so poor nor so despised their manners are more refined and moral a servant in geneva does not mean the same thing as a servant in france and england justine thus received in our family learned the duties of a servant a condition which in our fortunate country does not include the idea of ignorance and a sacrifice of the dignity of a human being after what i have said i dare say you well remember the heroine of my little tale for justine was a great favorite of yours and i recollect you once remarked that if you were in an...

Volume 1 Chapter 4 Frankenstein Mary Shelley Free Download Adult Audio Book Public Domain

section 9 of frankenstein by mary shelley this librifox recording is in the public domain volume 1 chapter 4 it was on a dreary night of november that i beheld the accomplishment of my toils 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 dismally against the pains and my candle was nearly burnt out when by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light i saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open it breathed hard and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs how can i describe my emotions at this catastrophe or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and cares i had endeavoured to form his limbs were in proportion and i had selected his features as beautiful beautiful good god his yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath his hair was of a lustrous black and flowing his teeth of a pearly whiteness but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes that seemed almost of the same color as the done white sockets in which they were set his shriveled complexion 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 ardor that far exceeded moderation but now that i had finished the beauty of the dream vanished and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart unable to endure the aspect of the being i had created i rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed chamber unable to compose my mind to sleep at length lassitude succeeded to the tumult i had before endured and i threw myself on the bed in my clothes endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness but it was in vain i slept indeed but i was disturbed by the wildest dreams i thought i saw elizabeth in the bloom of health walking in the streets of ingolstadt delighted and surprised i embraced her but as i imprinted the first kiss on her lips they became livid with the hue of death her features appeared to change and i thought that i held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms a shroud enveloped her form and i saw the grave worms crawling in the folds of the flannel i started from my sleep with horror a cold dew covered my forehead my teeth chattered and every limb became convulsed when by the dim and yellow light of the moon as it forced its way through the window shutters i beheld the wretch the miserable monster whom i had created he held up the curtain of the bed and his eyes if eyes they may be called were fixed on me his jaws opened and he muttered some inarticulate sounds while a grin wrinkled his cheeks he might have spoken but i did not hear one hand was stretched out seemingly to detain me but i escaped and rushed downstairs i took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which i inhabited where i remained during the rest of the night walking up and down in the greatest agitation listening attentively catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demonical corpse to which i had so miserably given life oh no mortal could support the horror of that countenance a mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch i had gazed on him while unfinished he was ugly then but when those muscles and joints were rendered capable of motion it became a thing such as even dante could not have conceived

i passed the night wretchedly sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly that i felt the palpitation of every artery at others i nearly sank to the ground through langer and extreme weakness mingled with this horror i...

Volume 1 Chapter 3 Frankenstein Mary Shelley Free Download Adult Audio Book Public Domain.

section 8 of frankenstein by mary shelley this librivox recording is in the public domain volume 1 chapter 3

from this day natural philosophy and particularly chemistry in the most comprehensive sense of the term became nearly my sole occupation i read with arda those works so full of genius and discrimination which modern inquirers have written on these subjects i attended the lectures and cultivated the acquaintance of the men of science of the university and i found even in monsieur cramp a great deal of sound sense and real information combined it is true with repulsive physiology and manners but not on that account the less valuable in monsieur waldman i found a true friend his gentleness was never tinged by dogmatism and his instructions were given with an air of frankness and good nature that banished every idea of pedantry it was perhaps the amiable character of this man that inclined me more to that branch of natural philosophy which he professed than an intrinsic love for the science itself but this state of mind had placed only in the first steps towards knowledge the more fully i entered into the science the more exclusively i pursued it for its own sake that application which at first had been a matter of duty and resolution now became so ardent and eager that the stars often disappeared in the light of the morning whilst i was yet engaged in my laboratory as i applied so closely it may be easily conceived that i improved rapidly my order was indeed the astonishment of the students and my proficiency that of the masters professor krempe often asked me with a sly smile how cornelius agrippa went on whilst monsieur waldman expressed the most heartfelt exultation in my progress two years passed in this manner during which i paid no visit to geneva but was engaged heart and soul in the pursuit of some discoveries which i hoped to make none but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science in other studies you go as far as others have gone before you and there is nothing more to know but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder a mind of moderate capacity which closely pursues one study must infallibly arrive at great proficiency in that study and i who continually sought the attainment of one object of pursuit and was solely wrapped up in this improved so rapidly that at the end of two years i made some discoveries in the improvement of some chemical instruments which procured me great esteem and admiration at the university when i had arrived at this point and had become as well acquainted with the theory and practice of natural philosophy as dependent on the lessons of any of the professors at inglestadt my residence there being no longer conducive to my improvements i thought of returning to my friends and my native town when an incident happened that protracted my stay one of the phenomena which had peculiarly attracted my attention was the structure of the human frame and indeed any animal endued with life whence i often asked myself did the principle of life proceed it was a bold question and one which has ever been considered as a mystery yet with how many things are we on the brink of becoming acquainted if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries i revolved these circumstances in my mind and determined thenceforth to apply myself more particularly to those branches of natural philosophy which relate to physiology unless i had been animated by an almost supernatural enthusiasm my application to this study would have been irksome and almost intolerable to examine the causes of life we must first have recourse to death i became acquainted with the science of anatomy but this was not sufficient i must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body in my education my father had taken the greatest...

Volume 1 Chapter 2 Frankenstein Mary Shelley Free Download Adult Audio Book Public Domain.

section 7 of frankenstein by mary shelley this librivox recording is in the public domain volume 1 chapter 2 when i had attained the age of 17 my parents resolved that i should become a student at the university of ingolstadt i heard hitherto attended the schools of geneva but my father thought it necessary for the completion of my education that i should be made acquainted with other customs than those of my native country my departure was therefore fixed at an early date but before the day resolved upon could arrive the first misfortune of my life occurred an omen as it were of my future misery elizabeth had caught the scarlet fever but her illness was not severe and she quickly recovered during her confinement many arguments had been urged to persuade my mother to refrain from attending upon her she had at first yielded to our entreaties but when she heard that her favorite was recovering she could no longer debar herself from her company and entered her chamber long before the danger of infection was passed the consequences of this imprudence were fatal on the third day my mother sickened her fever was very malignant and the looks of her attendance prognosticated the worst event on her deathbed the fortitude and benignity of this admirable woman did not desert her she joined the hands of elizabeth and myself my children she said my firmest hopes of future happiness were placed on the prospect of your union this expectation will now be the consolation of your father elizabeth my love you must supply my place to your younger cousins alas i regret that i am taken from you and happy and beloved as i have been is it not hard to quit you all but these are not thoughts befitting me i will endeavor to resign myself cheerfully to death and will indulge your hope of meeting you in another world

she died calmly and her countenance expressed affection even in death i need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil the void that presents itself to the soul and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance it is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she whom we saw every day and whose very existence appeared a part of our own can have departed forever that the brightness of a beloved eye can have been extinguished and the sound of a voice so familiar and dear to the ear can be hushed never more to be heard these are the reflections of the first days but when the lapse of time proves the reality of the evil then the actual bitterness of grief commences yet from whom has not that rude hand rent away some dear connection and why should i describe a sorrow which all have felt and must feel the time at length arrives when grief is rather an indulgence than a necessity and the smile that plays upon the lips though it may be deemed a sacrilege is not banished my mother was dead but we still had duties which we ought to perform we must continue our course with the rest and learn to think ourselves fortunate whilst one remains whom the spoiler has not seized my journey to ingolstadt which had been deferred by these events was now again determined upon i obtained from my father a respite of some weeks this period was spent sadly my mother's death and my speedy departure depressed our spirits but elizabeth endeavoured to renew the spirit of cheerfulness in our little society since the death of her aunt her mind had acquired new firmness and vigor she determined to fulfill her duties with the greatest exactness and she felt that that most imperious duty of rendering her uncle and cousins happy had devolved upon her she consoled me amused her uncle instructed my brothers and i never beheld her so enchanting as at this time when she was continually endeavoring to contribute to the happiness of others entirely forgetful of herself the day of my departure at length arrived i...

Volume 1 Chapter 1 Frankenstein Mary Shelley Free Download Adult Audio Book Public Domain.

section six of frankenstein by mary shelley this librivox recording is in the public domain volume one chapter one

i am by birth a genevieve and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic my ancestors had been for many years counsellors and syndics and my father had filled several public situations with honor and reputation he was respected by all who knew him for his integrity and indefatigable attention to public business he passed his younger days perpetually occupied by the affairs of his country and it was not until the decline of life that he thought of marrying and bestowing on the state sons who might carry his virtues and his name down to posterity as the circumstances of his marriage illustrate his character i cannot refrain from relating them one of his most intimate friends was a merchant who from a flourishing state fell through numerous mischances into poverty this man whose name was beaufort was of a proud and unbending disposition and could not bear to live in poverty and oblivion in the same country where he had formally been distinguished for his rank and magnificence having paid his debts therefore in the most honorable manner he retreated with his daughter to the town of lucerne where he lived unknown and in wretchedness my father loved beaufort with the truest friendship and was deeply grieved by his retreat in these unfortunate circumstances he grieved also for the loss of his society and resolved to seek him out and endeavor to persuade him to begin the world again through his credit and assistance beaufort had taken effectual measures to conceal himself and it was ten months before my father discovered his abode overjoyed at this discovery he hastened to the house which was situated on a mean street near the royce but when he entered misery and despair alone welcomed him beaufort had saved but a very small sum of money from the wreck of his fortunes sufficient to provide him with sustenance for some months and in the meantime he hoped to procure some respectable employment in a merchant's house the interval was consequently spent in inaction his grief only became more deep and rankling when he had leisure for reflection and at length it took so fast hold of his mind that at the end of three months he lay on a bed of sickness incapable of any exertion his daughter attended him with the greatest tenderness but she saw with despair that their little fund was rapidly decreasing and that there was no other prospect of support but caroline beaufort possessed a mind of an uncommon mold and her courage rose to support her in her adversity she procured plain work she planted straw and by various means contrived to earn a pittance scarcely sufficient to support life several months passed in this manner her father grew worse her time was more entirely occupied in attending him her means of subsistence decreased and in the tenth month her father died in her arms leaving her an orphan and a beggar this last blow overcame her and she knelt by beaufort's coffin weeping bitterly when my father entered the chamber he came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl who committed herself to his care and after the internment of his friend he conducted her to geneva and placed her under the protection of a relation two years after this event caroline became his wife

when my father became a husband and a parent he found his time so occupied by the duties of his new situation that he relinquished many of his public employments and devoted himself to the education of his children of these i was the eldest and the destined successor to all his labors and utility no creature could have more tender parents than mine my improvement and health were their constant care especially as i remained for several years their only child but before i continue my narrative i must record an incident...

Volume 1 letter lV (4) Frankenstein Mary Shelley Free Download Audio Book Public Domain.

section 5 of frankenstein by mary shelley this librivox recording is in the public domain

volume 1 letter 4 to mrs saville england august 5th 17 blank blank so strange an accident has happened to us that i cannot forebear recording it although it is very probable that you will see me before these papers can come into your possession last monday july 31st we were nearly surrounded by ice which closed in the ship on all sides scarcely leaving her the sea room in which she floated our situation was somewhat dangerous especially as we were compassed round by a very thick fog we accordingly lay two hoping that some change would take place in the atmosphere and weather about two o'clock the mist cleared away and we beheld stretched out in every direction vast and irregular planes of ice which seemed to have no end some of my comrades groaned and my own mind began to grow watchful with anxious thoughts when a strange sight suddenly attracted our attention and diverted our solicitude from our own situation we perceived a low carriage fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs pass on towards the north at the distance of half a mile a being which had the shape of a man but apparently of gigantic stature sat in the sledge and guided the dogs we watched the rapid progress of the traveller with our telescopes until he was last among the distant inequalities of the ice this appearance excited our unqualified wonder we were as we believed many hundred miles from any land but this apparition seemed to denote that it was not in reality so distant as we had supposed shut in however by ice it was impossible to follow his track which we had observed with the greatest attention about two hours after this occurrence we heard the ground sea and before night the ice broke and freed our ship we however lay too until the morning fearing to encounter in the dark those large loose masses which float about after the breaking up of the ice i profited of this time to rest for a few hours in the morning however as soon as it was light i went up on deck and found all the sailors busy on one side of the vessel apparently talking to someone in the sea it was in fact a sledge like that we had seen before which had drifted towards us in the night on a large fragment of ice only one dog remained alive but there was a human being within it whom the sailors were persuading to enter the vessel he was not as the other traveller seemed to be a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island but a european when i appeared on deck the master said here is our captain and he will not allow you to perish on the open sea perceiving me the stranger addressed me in english although with a foreign accent before i come on board your vessel said he will you have the kindness to inform me whether you are bound you may conceive my astonishment on hearing such a question addressed to me from a man on the brink of destruction and to whom i should have supposed to that my vessel would have been a resource which he would not have exchanged for the most precious wealth the earth can afford i replied however that we were on a voyage of discovery towards the north pole upon hearing this he appeared satisfied and consented to come on board good god margaret if you had seen the man who thus capitulated for his safety your surprise would have been boundless his limbs were nearly frozen and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering i never saw a man in so wretched a condition we attempted to carry him into the cabin but as soon as he had quitted the fresh air he fainted we accordingly brought him back to the deck and restored him to animation by rubbing him with brandy and forcing him to swallow a small quantity as soon as he showed signs of life we wrapped him up in blankets and placed him near the chimney of the kitchen stove by slow degrees he recovered and ate a little...

Volume 1 letter lll (3) Frankenstein Mary Shelley Free Download Audio Book Public Domain.

Follow my blog to catch up with all my awesome podcasts sarniadelamare.blogspot.com

section 4 of frankenstein by mary shelley the slipper fox recording is in the public domain volume 1 letter 3 to mrs saville england july 7th 17 blank blank my dear sister i write a few lines in haste to say that i am safe and well advanced on my voyage this letter will reach england by a merchantman now on its homewood voyage from archangel more fortunate than i who may not see my native land perhaps for many years i am however in good spirits my men are bold and apparently firm of purpose nor do the floating sheets of ice that continually pass passes indicating the dangers of the region towards which we are advancing appear to dismay them we have already reached a very high latitude but it is the height of summer and although not so warm as in england the southern gales which blow us speedily towards those shores which i so ardently desire to attain breathe a degree of renovating warmth which i had not expected no incidents have hitherto befallerness that would make a figure in a letter one or two stiff gales and the breaking of a mast are accidents which experienced navigators scarcely remember to record and i should be well content if nothing worse happened to us during our voyage at you my dear margaret be assured that for my own sake as well as yours i will not rashly encounter danger i will be cool persevering and prudent remember me to all my english friends most affectionately yours rw end of section four

Volume 1 letter 11 (2) Frankenstein Mary Shelley Free Download Audio Book Public Domain.

section 3 of frankenstein by mary shelley this librivox recording is in the public domain volume 1 letter 2 to mrs savile england archangel 28th of march 17 blank blank how slowly the time passes here encompassed as i am by frost and snow yet a second step is taken towards my enterprise i have hired a vessel and am occupied in collecting my sailors those whom i have already engaged appear to be men on whom i can depend and are certainly possessed of dauntless courage but i have one want which i have never yet been able to satisfy and the absence of the object of which i now feel as a most severe evil i have no friend margaret when i am glowing with the enthusiasm of success there will be none to participate my joy if i'm assailed by disappointment no one will endeavor to sustain me in dejection i shall commit my thoughts to paper it is true but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling i desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me whose eyes would reply to mine you may deem me romantic my dear sister but i bitterly feel the want of a friend i have no one near me gentle yet courageous possessed for cultivated as well as of a capacious mind whose tastes are like my own to approve or amend my plans how would such a friend repair the faults of your poor brother i'm too ardent in execution and too impatient of difficulties but it is a still greater evil to me that i am self-educated for the first 14 years of my life i ran wild on a common and read nothing but our uncle thomas's books of at that age i became acquainted with the celebrated poets of our own country but it was only when it had ceased to be in my power to derive its most important benefits from such a conviction that i perceived the necessity of becoming acquainted with more languages than that of my native country now i am 28 and am in reality more illiterate than many schoolboys of fifteen it is true that i have thought more and that my daydreams are more extended and magnificent but they want as the painters call it keeping and i greatly need a friend who would have sense enough not to despise me as romantic and affectionate enough for me to endeavor to regulate my mind well these are useless complaints i shall certainly find no friend on the wide ocean nor even hear an archangel among merchants and semen yet some feelings unallied to the dress of human nature beat even in these rugged bosoms my lieutenant for instance is a man of wonderful courage and enterprise he is madly desirous of glory he is an englishman and in the midst of national and professional prejudices unsoftened by cultivation retains some of the noblest endowments of humanity i first became acquainted with him onboard a whale vessel finding that he was unemployed in this city i easily engaged him to assist in my enterprise the master is a person of an excellent disposition and is remarkable in the ship for his gentleness and the mildness of his discipline he is indeed of so amiable in nature that he will not hunt a favorite and almost the only amusement here because he cannot endure to spill blood he is moreover heroically generous some years ago he loved a young russian lady of moderate fortune and having amassed a considerable sum in prize money the father of the girl consented to the match he saw his mistress once before the destined ceremony but she was bathed in tears and throwing herself at his feet and treated him to spare her confessing at the same time that she loved another but that he was poor and that her father would never consent to the union my generous friend reassured the suppliant and on being informed of the name of her lover instantly abandoned his pursuit he had already bought a farm with his money on which he had designed to pass the remainder of his life but he bestowed the hole on his rival together with the remains of his prize money to purchase...

The first part of the Raven....part 2 tomorrow.

The Raven
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—
This it is and nothing more.”

poetry by the Tale Teller

The Lover Dead





I cast my lovers net
upon his manly tools

and we made love

upon the sand dunes



Cherry blossom petals

and fairy dust

fell from heaven

as he thrust



Then the devil cupid

blew his trumpet loud

he screamed

'This folly, Witch,

is simply not allowed'



And with a puff

of rancid smoke

my love went blue

began to choke



The devil cupid

laughed out loud,

hands on hips

and looking proud



'Witch,' he said

'Let's not pretend

You have the guile

For earthly men'



The lover dead

upon the floor

would be the last

forevermore



The Devil cupid

took my hand

'Now Witch be gone

to rule the lands.'



© 2021 Sarnia de la Maré FRSA

The Tale Teller