December 25, 2025 • 12 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Seventeen, a catastrophe. Scarcely six weeks passed before I had
lost every feeling but dislike and abhorrence for this infamous
experiment of morose. My one idea was to get away
from these horrible caricatures of my maker's image, back to
the sweet and wholesome intercourse of men. My fellow creatures
(00:24):
from whom I was thus separated, began to assume my
dilic virtue and beauty. In my memory, my first friendship
with Montgomery did not increase. His long separation from humanity,
his secret vice of drunkenness, his evident sympathy with the
beast people tainted in to me. Several times I let
him go alone among them. I avoided intercourse with them
(00:47):
in every possible way. I spent an increasing proportion of
my time upon the beach looking for some liberating sail
that never appeared, until one day there fell upon us
an appalling disaster which put an altogether different aspect upon
my strange surroundings. It was about seven or eight weeks
(01:08):
after my landing. Rather more, I think, though I had
not troubled to keep account of the time when this
catastrophe occurred, it happened in the early morning, I should
think about six. I had risen and breakfasted early, having
been aroused by the noise of three beast men carrying
wood into the enclosure. After breakfast, I went to the
(01:32):
open gateway of the enclosure and stood there, smoking a
cigarette and enjoying the freshness of the early morning. Moreau
presently came round the corner of the enclosure and greeted me.
He passed by me, and I heard him behind me
in lock and into his laboratory. So indurated was I
(01:52):
at that time to the abomination of the place that
I heard, without a touch of emotion, the puma victim
begin another day of torture. It met its persecutor with
a shriek, almost exactly like that of an angry virago.
Then suddenly something happened. I do not know what to
this day. I heard a short, sharp cry behind me,
(02:16):
a fall, and turning saw an awful face rushing upon me,
not human, not animal, but hellish, brown, seamed with red
branching scars, red drops starting out upon it, and the
lidless eyes ablaze. I threw up my arm to defend
myself from the blow that flung me headlong with a
(02:39):
broken forearm, and the great monster, swathed in lint and
with red stained bandages fluttering about. It leaped over me
and passed. I rolled over and over down the beach,
tried to sit up, and collapsed upon my broken arm.
Then Moreau appeared, his massive white face, all the more
(03:02):
terrible for the blood that trickled from his forehead. He
carried a revolver in one hand. He scarcely glanced at me,
but rushed off at once in pursuit of the puma.
I tried the other arm and sat up. The muffled
figure in front ran in great striding leaps along the beach,
(03:23):
and Moreau followed her. She turned her head and saw him, then, doubling, abruptly,
made for the bushes. She gained upon him at every stride.
I saw her plunge into them, and Moreau, running slantingly
to intercept her, fired and missed as she disappeared. Then
he too vanished in the green confusion. I stared after them,
(03:48):
and then the pain in my arm flamed up, and
with a groan, I staggered to my feet. Montgomery appeared
in the doorway, dressed and with his revolver in his hand.
Great God, prendick, he said, not noticing that I was hurt.
That bruth Luth tore the fetter out of the wall.
(04:11):
Have you seen them? Then? Sharply seeing I gripped my arm.
What's the matter? I was standing in the doorway, said I.
He came forward and took my arm. Blood on the leave,
said he, and rolled back the flannel. He pocketed his weapon,
(04:34):
felt my arm about painfully, and led me inside. Your
arm is broken, he said, And then tell me exactly
how it happened. What happened? I told him what I
had seen, told him in broken sentences, with gasps of
pain between them, and very dexterously and swiftly he bound
(04:57):
my arm. Meanwhile, he slap it from my shoulder, stood
back and looked at me. You'll do, he said, And
now he thought. Then he went out and locked the
gates of the enclosure. He was absent some time. I
was chiefly concerned about my arm. The incident seen merely
(05:21):
one more of many horrible things. I sat down in
the deck chair, and I must admit, swore heartily at
the island. The first all feeling of injury in my
arm had already given way to a burning pain. When
Montgomery reappeared, his face was rather pale, and he showed
more of his lower gums than ever. I can neither
(05:44):
thiegh nor hear anything of him, he said, I've been
thinking he may want my help. He stared at me
with his expressionless eyes. That was a strong brute, he said,
simply wrenched its fetter out of the wall. He went
to the window, then to the door, and there turned
(06:06):
to me. I shall go after him. He said that
another revolver I can leave with you to tell you
the truth. I feel anxious somehow. He obtained the weapon
and put it ready to my hand on the table,
then went out, leaving a restless contagion in the air.
(06:28):
I did not sit long after he left, but took
the revolver in hand and went to the doorway. The
morning was as still as death. Not a whisper of
wind was stirring. The sea was like polished glass, the
sky empty, the beach desolate. In my half excited, half
feverish state, this stillness of things oppressed me. I tried
(06:53):
to whistle, and the tune died away. I swore again
the second time that morning. Then I went to the
corner of the enclosure and stared inland at the green
bush that had swallowed up Moreau and Montgomery. When would
they return? And howl? Then, far away up the beach,
(07:15):
a little gray beast man appeared, ran down to the
water's edge and began splashing about. I strolled back to
the doorway, then to the corner again, and so began
pacing to and fro, like a sentinel upon duty. Once
I was arrested by the distant voice of Montgomery, bawling
(07:36):
Couie Moreau. My arm became less painful but very hot.
I got feverish and thirsty. My shadow grew shorter. I
watched the distant figure until it went away again. Would
Moreau and Montgomery never return? Three sea birds began fighting
(08:01):
for some stranded treasure. Then, from far away behind the enclosure,
I heard a pistol shot, a long silence, and then
came another, Then a yelling cry nearer, and another dismal
gap of silence. My unfortunate imagination set to work to
torment me. Then suddenly a shot close by. I went
(08:25):
to the corner, startled, and saw Montgomery, his face scarlet,
his hair disordered, and the knee of his trousers torn,
his face expressed profound consternation. Behind him slouched the beast man,
imbling and round imling's jaws were some queer dark stains.
(08:48):
Hath he come? Said Montgomery. Moreau said, I no, my god.
The man was panting, almost sobbing. Go back in, he said,
taking my arm. They're mad, They're all rushling about mad.
What can have happened? I don't know. I'll tell you
(09:10):
when my breath comes. Where thumb brandy. Montgomery limped before
me into the room and sat down in the deck chair.
Emlin flung himself down just outside the doorway and began
panting like a dog. I got Montgomery some brandy and water.
He sat staring in front of him at nothing, recovering
(09:32):
his breath. After some minutes he began to tell me
what had happened. He had followed their track for some way.
It was plain enough at first, on account of the
crushed and broken bushes, white rags torn from the puma's bandages,
and occasional smears of blood on the leaves of the
shrubs and undergrowth. He lost track, However, on the stony
(09:54):
ground beyond the stream, where I had seen the beast
man drinking and went wandering aimlessly westward, shouting Moreau's name.
Then Imling had come to him carrying a light hatchet.
Imling had seen nothing of the puma affair, had been
felling wood and heard him calling. They went on shouting together.
(10:17):
Two beast men came, crouching and peering at them through
the undergrowth, with gestures and a furtive carriage that alarmed
Montgomery by their strangeness. He hailed them, and they fled guiltily.
He stopped shouting after that, and, after wandering some time
farther in an undecided way, determined to visit the huts.
(10:39):
He found the ravine deserted, growing more alarmed every minute,
he began to retrace his steps. Then it was he
encountered the two swine men I had seen dancing on
the night of my arrival. Blood Stained, they were about
the mouth and intensely excited. They came rashing through the
(11:00):
ferns and stopped with fierce faces when they saw him.
He cracked his whip in some trepidation, and forthwith they
rushed at him. Never before had a beast man dared
to do that. One he shot through the head. Imling
flung himself upon the other, and the two rolled grappling.
(11:24):
Imling got his brute under and with his teeth in
its throat, and Montgomery shot that too, as it struggled
in Imling's grip. He had some difficulty in inducing Imling
to come on with him. Thence they had hurried back
to me. On the way, Imling had suddenly rushed into
(11:44):
a thicket and driven out an undersized ocelot man, also
blood stained and lame through a wound in the foot.
This brute had run a little way and then turned
savagely at Bay and Montgomery with a certain wantonness I
thought had shot him. What does it all mean? Said I.
(12:10):
He shook his head and turned once more to the brandy.
Seventeen, a catastrophe. Scarcely six weeks passed before I had
lost every feeling but dislike and abhorrence for this infamous
experiment of morose. My one idea was to get away
from these horrible caricatures of my maker's image, back to
the sweet and wholesome intercourse of men. My fellow creatures
(00:24):
from whom I was thus separated, began to assume my
dilic virtue and beauty. In my memory, my first friendship
with Montgomery did not increase. His long separation from humanity,
his secret vice of drunkenness, his evident sympathy with the
beast people tainted in to me. Several times I let
him go alone among them. I avoided intercourse with them
(00:47):
in every possible way. I spent an increasing proportion of
my time upon the beach looking for some liberating sail
that never appeared, until one day there fell upon us
an appalling disaster which put an altogether different aspect upon
my strange surroundings. It was about seven or eight weeks
(01:08):
after my landing. Rather more, I think, though I had
not troubled to keep account of the time when this
catastrophe occurred, it happened in the early morning, I should
think about six. I had risen and breakfasted early, having
been aroused by the noise of three beast men carrying
wood into the enclosure. After breakfast, I went to the
(01:32):
open gateway of the enclosure and stood there, smoking a
cigarette and enjoying the freshness of the early morning. Moreau
presently came round the corner of the enclosure and greeted me.
He passed by me, and I heard him behind me
in lock and into his laboratory. So indurated was I
(01:52):
at that time to the abomination of the place that
I heard, without a touch of emotion, the puma victim
begin another day of torture. It met its persecutor with
a shriek, almost exactly like that of an angry virago.
Then suddenly something happened. I do not know what to
this day. I heard a short, sharp cry behind me,
(02:16):
a fall, and turning saw an awful face rushing upon me,
not human, not animal, but hellish, brown, seamed with red
branching scars, red drops starting out upon it, and the
lidless eyes ablaze. I threw up my arm to defend
myself from the blow that flung me headlong with a
(02:39):
broken forearm, and the great monster, swathed in lint and
with red stained bandages fluttering about. It leaped over me
and passed. I rolled over and over down the beach,
tried to sit up, and collapsed upon my broken arm.
Then Moreau appeared, his massive white face, all the more
(03:02):
terrible for the blood that trickled from his forehead. He
carried a revolver in one hand. He scarcely glanced at me,
but rushed off at once in pursuit of the puma.
I tried the other arm and sat up. The muffled
figure in front ran in great striding leaps along the beach,
(03:23):
and Moreau followed her. She turned her head and saw him, then, doubling, abruptly,
made for the bushes. She gained upon him at every stride.
I saw her plunge into them, and Moreau, running slantingly
to intercept her, fired and missed as she disappeared. Then
he too vanished in the green confusion. I stared after them,
(03:48):
and then the pain in my arm flamed up, and
with a groan, I staggered to my feet. Montgomery appeared
in the doorway, dressed and with his revolver in his hand.
Great God, prendick, he said, not noticing that I was hurt.
That bruth Luth tore the fetter out of the wall.
(04:11):
Have you seen them? Then? Sharply seeing I gripped my arm.
What's the matter? I was standing in the doorway, said I.
He came forward and took my arm. Blood on the leave,
said he, and rolled back the flannel. He pocketed his weapon,
(04:34):
felt my arm about painfully, and led me inside. Your
arm is broken, he said, And then tell me exactly
how it happened. What happened? I told him what I
had seen, told him in broken sentences, with gasps of
pain between them, and very dexterously and swiftly he bound
(04:57):
my arm. Meanwhile, he slap it from my shoulder, stood
back and looked at me. You'll do, he said, And
now he thought. Then he went out and locked the
gates of the enclosure. He was absent some time. I
was chiefly concerned about my arm. The incident seen merely
(05:21):
one more of many horrible things. I sat down in
the deck chair, and I must admit, swore heartily at
the island. The first all feeling of injury in my
arm had already given way to a burning pain. When
Montgomery reappeared, his face was rather pale, and he showed
more of his lower gums than ever. I can neither
(05:44):
thiegh nor hear anything of him, he said, I've been
thinking he may want my help. He stared at me
with his expressionless eyes. That was a strong brute, he said,
simply wrenched its fetter out of the wall. He went
to the window, then to the door, and there turned
(06:06):
to me. I shall go after him. He said that
another revolver I can leave with you to tell you
the truth. I feel anxious somehow. He obtained the weapon
and put it ready to my hand on the table,
then went out, leaving a restless contagion in the air.
(06:28):
I did not sit long after he left, but took
the revolver in hand and went to the doorway. The
morning was as still as death. Not a whisper of
wind was stirring. The sea was like polished glass, the
sky empty, the beach desolate. In my half excited, half
feverish state, this stillness of things oppressed me. I tried
(06:53):
to whistle, and the tune died away. I swore again
the second time that morning. Then I went to the
corner of the enclosure and stared inland at the green
bush that had swallowed up Moreau and Montgomery. When would
they return? And howl? Then, far away up the beach,
(07:15):
a little gray beast man appeared, ran down to the
water's edge and began splashing about. I strolled back to
the doorway, then to the corner again, and so began
pacing to and fro, like a sentinel upon duty. Once
I was arrested by the distant voice of Montgomery, bawling
(07:36):
Couie Moreau. My arm became less painful but very hot.
I got feverish and thirsty. My shadow grew shorter. I
watched the distant figure until it went away again. Would
Moreau and Montgomery never return? Three sea birds began fighting
(08:01):
for some stranded treasure. Then, from far away behind the enclosure,
I heard a pistol shot, a long silence, and then
came another, Then a yelling cry nearer, and another dismal
gap of silence. My unfortunate imagination set to work to
torment me. Then suddenly a shot close by. I went
(08:25):
to the corner, startled, and saw Montgomery, his face scarlet,
his hair disordered, and the knee of his trousers torn,
his face expressed profound consternation. Behind him slouched the beast man,
imbling and round imling's jaws were some queer dark stains.
(08:48):
Hath he come? Said Montgomery. Moreau said, I no, my god.
The man was panting, almost sobbing. Go back in, he said,
taking my arm. They're mad, They're all rushling about mad.
What can have happened? I don't know. I'll tell you
(09:10):
when my breath comes. Where thumb brandy. Montgomery limped before
me into the room and sat down in the deck chair.
Emlin flung himself down just outside the doorway and began
panting like a dog. I got Montgomery some brandy and water.
He sat staring in front of him at nothing, recovering
(09:32):
his breath. After some minutes he began to tell me
what had happened. He had followed their track for some way.
It was plain enough at first, on account of the
crushed and broken bushes, white rags torn from the puma's bandages,
and occasional smears of blood on the leaves of the
shrubs and undergrowth. He lost track, However, on the stony
(09:54):
ground beyond the stream, where I had seen the beast
man drinking and went wandering aimlessly westward, shouting Moreau's name.
Then Imling had come to him carrying a light hatchet.
Imling had seen nothing of the puma affair, had been
felling wood and heard him calling. They went on shouting together.
(10:17):
Two beast men came, crouching and peering at them through
the undergrowth, with gestures and a furtive carriage that alarmed
Montgomery by their strangeness. He hailed them, and they fled guiltily.
He stopped shouting after that, and, after wandering some time
farther in an undecided way, determined to visit the huts.
(10:39):
He found the ravine deserted, growing more alarmed every minute,
he began to retrace his steps. Then it was he
encountered the two swine men I had seen dancing on
the night of my arrival. Blood Stained, they were about
the mouth and intensely excited. They came rashing through the
(11:00):
ferns and stopped with fierce faces when they saw him.
He cracked his whip in some trepidation, and forthwith they
rushed at him. Never before had a beast man dared
to do that. One he shot through the head. Imling
flung himself upon the other, and the two rolled grappling.
(11:24):
Imling got his brute under and with his teeth in
its throat, and Montgomery shot that too, as it struggled
in Imling's grip. He had some difficulty in inducing Imling
to come on with him. Thence they had hurried back
to me. On the way, Imling had suddenly rushed into
(11:44):
a thicket and driven out an undersized ocelot man, also
blood stained and lame through a wound in the foot.
This brute had run a little way and then turned
savagely at Bay and Montgomery with a certain wantonness I
thought had shot him. What does it all mean? Said I.
(12:10):
He shook his head and turned once more to the brandy.
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