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Chapter 17 The being finished speaking and fixed his looks upon me in the expectation of a reply . But I was bewildered , perplexed , and unable to arrange my ideas sufficiently to understand the full extent of his proposition . He continued , “ You must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being . This you alone can do , and I demand it of you as a right which you must not refuse to concede . ” The latter part of his tale had kindled anew in me the anger that had died away while he narrated his peaceful life among the cottagers , and as he said this I could no longer suppress the rage that burned within me . “ I do refuse it , ” I replied ; “ and no torture shall ever extort a consent from me . You may render me the most miserable of men , but you shall never make me base in my own eyes . Shall I create another like yourself , whose joint wickedness might desolate the world . Begone ! I have answered you ; you may torture me , but I will never consent . ” “ You are in the wrong , ” replied the fiend ; “ and instead of threatening , I am content to reason with you . I am malicious because I am miserable . Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind ? You , my creator , would tear me to pieces and triumph ; remember that , and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me ? You would not call it murder if you could precipitate me into one of those ice - rifts and destroy my frame , the work of your own hands . Shall I respect man when he condemns me ? Let him live with me in the interchange of kindness , and instead of injury I would bestow every benefit upon him with tears of gratitude at his acceptance . But that cannot be ; the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union . Yet mine shall not be the submission of abject slavery . I will revenge my injuries ; if I cannot inspire love , I will cause fear , and chiefly towards you my arch - enemy , because my creator , do I swear inextinguishable hatred . Have a care ; I will work at your destruction , nor finish until I desolate your heart , so that you shall curse the hour of your birth . ” A fiendish rage animated him as he said this ; his face was wrinkled into contortions too horrible for human eyes to behold ; but presently he calmed himself and proceeded — “ I intended to reason . This passion is detrimental to me , for you do not reflect that you are the cause of its excess . If any being felt emotions of benevolence towards me , I should return them a hundred and a hundredfold ; for that one creature’s sake I would make peace with the whole kind ! But I now indulge in dreams of bliss that cannot be realised . What I ask of you is reasonable and moderate ; I demand a creature of another sex , but as hideous as myself ; the gratification is small , but it is all that I can receive , and it shall content me . It is true , we shall be monsters , cut off from all the world ; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another . Our lives will not be happy , but they will be harmless and free from the misery I now feel . Oh ! My creator , make me happy ; let me feel gratitude towards you for one benefit ! Let me see that I excite the sympathy of some existing thing ; do not deny me my request ! ”
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