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I am Victor Frankenstein. For many years,my family was one of the most respected in the city of Geneva, Switzerland. My life as a child was very happy. My parents treated me and my two young brothers, William and Ernest, with great care and love.
One year, my father met a noble Italian couple named Lavenza, and became friends with them.When the Lavenzas died, he decided that our family would care for their daughter, Elizabeth Lavenza.Soon young Elizabeth came to Geneva to live with our happy family.
Elizabeth was a year younger than I. Although we called her my cousin, Elizabeth was like a sister to me. We spent many happy hours together when we were young. Elizabeth loved to explore the mountains and lakes near Geneva. She loved nature, and did not ask questions about it. But I was interested in science : studying why things happened in nature. I felt that the earth and sky hid great and wonderful secrets from me, and I wanted to discover them.
When I was young my best friend in the world was a boy named Henry Clerval. I felt that he would be my friend for life. Henry was a happy boy who enjoyed writing stories of brave soldiers. I always enjoyed listening to these adventures.
Yes, what a happy childhood I had! It was too good to last forever. I had kind parents, a dear sister and friend, two happy little brothers, and the best friend in the world, Henry. I had everything in life… and then I destroyed it all! You see, Walton,my interest in science was too strong. I decided to find out the greatest secrets of nature. No one had ever studied these things before. But when I was thirteen years old, my only interest in science was very good. I wanted to find a way to cure sicknesses forever. I only wanted to help people, and stop them from dying. These childhood dreams of mine were so good and brave!
When I was fifteen, something happened that made me become even more interested in the world of nature. There was a terrible storm in Geneva,and suddenly lightning hit an old tree near our house. In moments, the tree was on fire, and after an hour there were only small pieces of wood on the ground. I had never before seen anything destroyed so quickly. That night, I began to think about the amazing powers of electricity. As the years went by,I began to wonder if there were other, even more amazing ways I could use electricity.
When I was seventeen years old, I was getting ready to leave my home in Geneva to go to college.I was going to study at the University of Ingolstadt,a small school in Germany. All my ideas about electricity, nature, and science were still in my head. I was excited to learn more about them all.But then, the first tragedy of my life happened.Elizabeth had become seriously sick with a fever,and her life was in danger. My mother wanted to care for Elizabeth herself, although we told her it was not safe to do this. Within a few days, my mother also had the fever, and on the fourth day she was almost dead. As she lay in her bed, she asked all the family to come to her. She placed Elizabeth's hand in mine and said, “Elizabeth and Victor, take care of your father and your brothers.I can die peacefully if I know that one day you two will get married. Promise me this.” Elizabeth and I looked at each other, and I promised to marry her in front of my mother. After my mother died,I didn't want to leave my family, but after a few weeks my father told me that I should go. Henry came to say goodbye to me. I was very sad to leave him. He wanted to go to college with me, but his father wouldn't allow it. He wanted Henry to stay in Geneva, and join his business.
As I told Henry and my family goodbye, I knew that for the first time in my life, I was going out to see the world—alone.
be interested in sth. 对某物有兴趣
cure /kjuə/ vt. 治愈。例如：cure sb. of sth.治好某人的病
lightning / ˈ l a ɪtnɪŋ/ n. 闪电。例如：Lightning never strikes in the same place for twice.相同的事不会再次发生。
wonder / ˈ w ʌ ndə/ vt. 想知道。wonder about sth.想知道某事；对某事好奇。例如：I wonder about his identity.我想知道他的身份。
allow /ə ˈ l a ʊ/ vt. 允许；许可