本书讲述了一个人造生命的故事，弗兰肯斯坦是位科学家，他通过实验创造了一个怪物，怪物本来心地善良，乐于助人，但是因为相貌丑陋，不为人类社会所容，没有人愿意接受他的好意，所有人都拒绝他、驱赶他，他向往爱情和幸福，但得到的却是诺言和追捕，他请求科学家再给他造一个同类，却遭到了拒绝，他的一生悲惨胜过快乐，他不顾一切地向人类复仇，最后与他的创造者一起同归于尽。本书是英文简写本。

《弗兰肯斯坦》是世界上最早科学幻想小说之一，情节离奇。主人公弗兰肯斯坦是一位从事人的生命科学研究的学者，他力图用人工创造出生命。在他的实验室里，通过无数次的探索，他创造了一个面目可憎，奇丑无比的怪物。开始时，这人造的怪物秉性善良，对人充满了善意和感恩之情。他要求他的创造者和人们给予他人生的种种权利，甚至要求为他创造一个配偶。但是，当他处处受到他的创造者和人们的嫌恶和歧视时，他感到非常失望。他憎恨一切，他想毁灭一切。他杀害了弗兰肯斯坦的弟弟威廉，他又企图谋害弗兰肯斯坦的未婚妻伊丽莎白。弗兰肯斯坦怀着满腔怒火追捕他所创造的恶魔般的怪物。最后，在搏斗中，弗兰肯斯坦和怪物同归于尽。

本书揭示了作者的哲学观点。她认为人具有双重性格——善与恶。长期受人嫌恶、歧视和迫害会使人变得邪恶而干出种种坏事，甚至发展到不可收拾的地步。

本书是简写本，语言生动、简炼，全书约有1200个基本词汇，适合大学一年级学生及同等水平的社会读者阅读欣赏。

Chapter one

Chapter two

Chapter three

Chapter four

Chapter five

Chapter six

Chapter seven

Chapter eight

Chapter nine

Chapter ten

Chapter eleven

Chapter twelve

Chapter thirteen

Chapter fourteen

Chapter fifteen

Chapter sixteen

Chapter seventeen

Chapter eighteen

Afterwards

I do not know whether this story ought to be told．In some Ways，I think it should not．It iS so strange thatsome readers may not believe it；and to them，at least,it can do not harm．But it is just possible that a few willbelieve it,and might be drawn into the dark and secret waysthat my friend followed．And I do not wish to be the causeofsuch an evil．To anyone who chooses tO get mixed upin such matters，and hopes to escape the pain and horror that my friend suffered,I can only say this：you havebeen warned!

The truth is that I am an old man now,and of thefour who once knew the whole unhappy story I am theonly one still alive．I do not wish the story to die withme．For mixea with the horror is the story of the life and deathof a great man-and this should not be forgotten．

But it iS time to say something about myself．Myname is Henri Glerval，and I was born in the city of Genevain the year 1775，the son of a cloth merchant．I was anonly child．and this for me was the cause of much unhappiness．If I had had a brother he might have learned my father"strade，and in the end have taken over my father"s business．Asit was,I was expected to do this．From my earliest yearsthis was what my father planned for me．But I was notinterested in the business—or，indeed，in any business．I tried．I wanted to please him．But the shop was for me like a desert．I took my pleasure not in getting money but from reading books；and as I grew older we quarrelled．My mother had died when I was very young,and there was no one to make peace between us．Thuslife at home became unhappy，and would have becomeimpossible if I had not had Victor Frankenstein as afriend．

The Frankensteins were also a merchant family，but richer and more important than US Clervals．They had been active in the government of the city for a hundredyears．Because they were rich they did not have to giveall their time to trade：they were interested in the artsand in science—most of all science．They wgre restlesspeople with restless,questioning minds．Like most of hisfamily，my friend’s father had travelled widely,and aftermaking a late marriage had lived some years in Italy．

P2-3