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1"Every conversation of the cottagers now opened new wonders to me. While I listened to the instructions which Felix
2bestowed upon the Arabian, the strange system of human society was explained to me. I heard of the division of property,
3of immense wealth and squalid poverty, of rank, descent, and noble blood. "The words induced me to turn towards myself.
4I learned that the possessions most esteemed by your fellow creatures were high and unsullied descent united with
5riches. A man might be respected with only one of these advantages, but without either he was considered, except in very
6rare instances, as a vagabond and a slave, doomed to waste his powers for the profits of the chosen few! And what was I?
7Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of
8property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as
9man. I was more agile than they and could subsist upon coarser diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less
10injury to my frame; my stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a
11monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned? "I cannot describe to you the agony
12that these reflections inflicted upon me; I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I
13had for ever remained in my native wood, nor known nor felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat! "Of what
14a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on the rock. I wished
15sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling, but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of
16pain, and that was death--a state which I feared yet did not understand. I admired virtue and good feelings and loved
17the gentle manners and amiable qualities of my cottagers, but I was shut out from intercourse with them, except through
18means which I obtained by stealth, when I was unseen and unknown, and which rather increased than satisfied the desire I
19had of becoming one among my fellows. The gentle words of Agatha and the animated smiles of the charming Arabian were
20not for me. The mild exhortations of the old man and the lively conversation of the loved Felix were not for me.
21Miserable, unhappy wretch! "Other lessons were impressed upon me even more deeply. I heard of the difference of sexes,
22and the birth and growth of children, how the father doted on the smiles of the infant, and the lively sallies of the
23older child, how all the life and cares of the mother were wrapped up in the precious charge, how the mind of youth
24expanded and gained knowledge, of brother, sister, and all the various relationships which bind one human being to
25another in mutual bonds. "But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had
26blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I
27distinguished nothing. From my earliest remembrance I had been as I then was in height and proportion. I had never yet
28seen a being resembling me or who claimed any intercourse with me. What was I? The question again recurred, to be
29answered only with groans. "I will soon explain to what these feelings tended, but allow me now to return to the
30cottagers, whose story excited in me such various feelings of indignation, delight, and wonder, but which all terminated
31in additional love and reverence for my protectors (for so I loved, in an innocent, half-painful self-deceit, to call
32them)." Chapter 14 "Some time elapsed before I learned the history of my friends. It was one which could not fail to
33impress itself deeply on my mind, unfolding as it did a number of circumstances, each interesting and wonderful to one
34so utterly inexperienced as I was. "The name of the old man was De Lacey. He was descended from a good family in France,
35where he had lived for many years in affluence, respected by his superiors and beloved by his equals. His son was bred
36in the service of his country, and Agatha had ranked with ladies of the highest distinction. A few months before my
37arrival they had lived in a large and luxurious city called Paris, surrounded by friends and possessed of every
38enjoyment which virtue, refinement of intellect, or taste, accompanied by a moderate fortune, could afford. "The father
39of Safie had been the cause of their ruin. He was a Turkish merchant and had inhabited Paris for many years, when, for
40some reason which I could not learn, he became obnoxious to the government. He was seized and cast into prison the very
41day that Safie arrived from Constantinople to join him. He was tried and condemned to death. The injustice of his
42sentence was very flagrant; all Paris was indignant; and it was judged that his religion and wealth rather than the
43crime alleged against him had been the cause of his condemnation. "Felix had accidentally been present at the trial; his
44horror and indignation were uncontrollable when he heard the decision of the court. He made, at that moment, a solemn
45vow to deliver him and then looked around for the means. After many fruitless attempts to gain admittance to the prison,
46he found a strongly grated window in an unguarded part of the building, which lighted the dungeon of the unfortunate
47Muhammadan, who, loaded with chains, waited in despair the execution of the barbarous sentence. Felix visited the grate
48at night and made known to the prisoner his intentions in his favour. The Turk, amazed and delighted, endeavoured to
49kindle the zeal of his deliverer by promises of reward and wealth. Felix rejected his offers with contempt, yet when he
50saw the lovely Safie, who was allowed to visit her father and who by her gestures expressed her lively gratitude, the
51youth could not help owning to his own mind that the captive possessed a treasure which would fully reward his toil and
52hazard. "The Turk quickly perceived the impression that his daughter had made on the heart of Felix and endeavoured to
53secure him more entirely in his interests by the promise of her hand in marriage so soon as he should be conveyed to a
54place of safety. Felix was too delicate to accept this offer, yet he looked forward to the probability of the event as
55to the consummation of his happiness. "During the ensuing days, while the preparations were going forward for the escape
56of the merchant, the zeal of Felix was warmed by several letters that he received from this lovely girl, who found means
57to express her thoughts in the language of her lover by the aid of an old man, a servant of her father who understood
58French. She thanked him in the most ardent terms for his intended services towards her parent, and at the same time she
59gently deplored her own fate. "I have copies of these letters, for I found means, during my residence in the hovel, to
60procure the implements of writing; and the letters were often in the hands of Felix or Agatha. Before I depart I will
61give them to you; they will prove the truth of my tale; but at present, as the sun is already far declined, I shall only
62have time to repeat the substance of them to you. "Safie related that her mother was a Christian Arab, seized and made a
63slave by the Turks; recommended by her beauty, she had won the heart of the father of Safie, who married her. The young
64girl spoke in high and enthusiastic terms of her mother, who, born in freedom, spurned the bondage to which she was now
65reduced. She instructed her daughter in the tenets of her religion and taught her to aspire to higher powers of
66intellect and an independence of spirit forbidden to the female followers of Muhammad. This lady died, but her lessons
67were indelibly impressed on the mind of Safie, who sickened at the prospect of again returning to Asia and being immured
68within the walls of a harem, allowed only to occupy herself with infantile amusements, ill-suited to the temper of her
69soul, now accustomed to grand ideas and a noble emulation for virtue. The prospect of marrying a Christian and remaining
70in a country where women were allowed to take a rank in society was enchanting to her.
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