December 11, 2023 • 15 mins
Story of the Door (chapter 1) of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, read by Anna Butterworth
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The story of the Door. MisterUtterson, the lawyer was a man of
a rugged countenance that was never lightedby a smile, cold, scanty,
and embarrassed in discourse, backward insentiment, lean, long, dusty,
dreary, and yet somehow lovable atfriendly meetings, and when the wine was
(00:21):
to his taste, something eminently humanbeaconed from his eye, something indeed,
which never found its way into histalk, but which spoke not only in
these silent symbols of the after dinnerface, but more often and loudly in
the acts of his life. Hewas austere with himself, drank gin when
he was alone to mortify a tastefor vintages, and though he enjoyed the
(00:45):
theater, had not crossed the doorsof one for twenty years. But he
had an approved tolerance for others,sometimes wondering almost with envy at the high
pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds, and in any extremity, inclined to
help rather than to reprove. Iinclined, to Caine's hearsay, he used
(01:07):
to say, quaintly, I letmy brother go to the devil in his
own way. In this character,it was frequently his fortune to be the
last reputable acquaintance and the last goodinfluence in the lives of down gooing men.
And to such as these, aslong as they came about his chambers,
he never marked a shade of changein his demeanor. No doubt,
(01:30):
the feat was easy for mister Utterson, for he was undemonstrative at the best,
and even his friendship seemed to befounded in a similar catholicity of good
nature. It is the mark ofa modest man to accept his friendly circle
ready made from the hands of opportunity, and that was the lawyer's way.
(01:52):
His friends were those of his ownblood, or those whom he had known
the longest. His affections, likeivy, were the growth of time.
They implied no aptness in the object. Hence, no doubt the bond that
united him to mister Richard Enfield,his distant kinsman, the well known man
about town. It was a nutto crack for many what these two could
(02:15):
see in each other, or whatsubject they could find in common. It
was reported by those who encountered themin their Sunday walks that they said nothing
looked singularly dull, and would hailwith obvious relief the appearance of a friend.
For all that the two men putthe greatest store by these excursions,
(02:36):
counted them the chief jewel of eachweek, and not only set aside occasions
of pleasure, but even resisted thecalls of business, that they might enjoy
them uninterrupted. It chanced on oneof these rambles that their way led them
down a bye street in a busyquarter of London. The street was small
and what is called quiet, butit drove a thriving trade on the week
(03:00):
days. The inhabitants were all doingwell, it seemed, and all emulously
hoping to do better still, andlaying out the surplice of their grains in
coquetry, so that the shop frontstood along that thoroughfare with an air of
invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even on Sunday, when it veiled
(03:21):
its more florid charms and lay comparativelyempty of passage, the street shone out
in contrast to its dingy neighborhood,like a fire in a forest, and
with its freshly painted shutters, wellpolished brasses, and general cleanliness and gayety
of note, instantly caught and pleasedthe eye of the passenger. Two doors
(03:43):
from one corner on the left hand, going east, the line was broken
by the entry of a court,and just at that point a certain sinister
block of building thrust forward its gableon the street. It was two stories
high, showed no window, nothingbut a door on the lower story,
and a blind forehead of discolored wallon the upper, and bore on every
(04:05):
feature the marks of prolonged and sordidnegligence. The door, which was equipped
with neither bell nor knocker, wasblistered and disdained. Tramps slouched into the
recess and struck matches on the panels. Children kept shop upon the steps.
The schoolboy had tried his knife onthe moldings, and for close on a
(04:27):
generation no one had appeared to driveaway these random visitors or to repair their
ravages. Mister Enfield and the lawyerwere on the other side of the by
street, But when they came abreastof the entry, the former lifted up
his cane and pointed, do youever remark that door? He asked,
And when his companion had replied inthe affirmative, it is connected in my
(04:53):
mind, added he, with avery odd story. Indeed, said mister
Utterson, with a slight change ofvoice, and what was that? Well,
it was this way, returned,mister Enfield. I was coming home
from some place at the end ofthe world, about three o'clock of a
(05:14):
black winter morning, and my waylay through a part of town where there
was literally nothing to be seen butlamps, street after street, and all
the folks asleep, street after street, all lighted up as if for a
procession, and all as empty asa church. Till at last I got
into that state of mind when aman listens and listens and begins to long
(05:36):
for the sight of a policeman.All at once I saw two figures,
one a little man who was stumpingalong eastward at a good walk, and
the other a girl of maybe eightor ten, who was running as hard
as she was able down across street. Well, sir, the two ran
into one another naturally enough at thecorner, and then came the horrible part
(05:59):
of the thing, For the mantrampled calmly over the child's body and left
her screaming on the ground. Itsounds nothing to hear, but it was
hellish to see. It wasn't likea man, It was like some damned
juggernaut. I gave a few halloa, took to my heels, collared my
gentleman, and brought him back towhere there was already quite a group about
(06:20):
the screaming child. He was perfectlycool and made no resistance, but gave
me one look so ugly that itbrought out the sweat on me like running.
The people who had turned out werethe girl's own family, and pretty
soon the doctor for whom she hadbeen sent put in his appearance. Well,
(06:41):
the child was not much the worse, more frightened, according to the
saw Bones, And there, youmight have supposed, would be an end
to it. But there was onecurious circumstance. I had taken a loathing
to my gentleman at first sight.So had the child's family, which was
only natural. But the doctor's casewas what struck me. He was the
(07:01):
usual cut in dry apothecary, ofno particular age and color, with a
strong Edinburgh accent, and was aboutas emotional as a bagpipe. Well,
sir, he was like the restof us. Every time he looked at
my prisoner, I saw that sawBones turned sick and white with desire to
kill him. I knew what wasin his mind, just as he knew
(07:25):
what was in mine, and killingbeing out of the question, we did
the next best. We told theman we could and would make such a
scandal out of this as should makehis name stink from one end of London
to the other. If he hadany friends or any credit, we undertook
that he should lose them. Andall the time as we were pitching it
(07:46):
in red hot, we were keepingthe women off him as best we could,
for they were as wild as harpies. I never saw a circle of
such hateful faces, and there wasthe man in the middle with a kind
of black sneering coolness. Frightened too, I could see that. But carrying
it off, sir, really likeSatan. If you choose to make capital
(08:09):
out of this accident, said he. I am naturally helpless, no gentleman,
but wishes to avoid a scene,says he name your figure. Well,
we screwed him up to a hundredpounds for the child's family. He
would have clearly liked to stick out, but there was something about the lot
(08:31):
of us that meant mischief, andat last he struck. The next thing
was to get the money, Andwhere do you think he carried us?
But to that place, with thedoor whipped out. A key went in
and presently came back with a matterof ten pounds in gold and a check
for the balance on couts drawn,payable to bear, and sign with the
name that I can't mention, thoughit's one of the points of my story,
(08:56):
but it was a name at leastvery well known, and often prince.
The figure was stiff, but thesignature was good for more than that,
if it was only genuine. Itook the liberty of pointing out to
my gentlemen that the whole business lookedapocryphal, and that a man does not
in real life walk into a cellardoor at four in the morning and come
(09:18):
out with another man's check for closeupon a hundred pounds. But he was
quite easy and sneering. Set yourmind at rest, says he. I
will stay with you till the banksopen, and cash the check myself.
So we all set off, thedoctor and the child's father, and our
friend and myself, and passed therest of the night in my chambers.
(09:43):
And the next day, when wehad breakfasted, it went in a body
to the bank. I gave himthe check myself, and said I had
every reason to believe it was aforgery, not a bit of it.
The check was genuine. Tut tut, said mister ut I see you feel
as I do, said mister Enfield. Yes, it's a bad story.
(10:07):
For my man was a fellow thatnobody could have to do with, a
really damnable man. And the personthat drew the check is the very pink
of the proprieties celebrated too. Andwhat makes it worse one of your fellows
who do what they call good blackmail. I suppose an honest man paying through
the nose for some of the capersof his youth. Blackmail house is what
(10:31):
I call the place with the door. In consequence, though even that,
you know, is far from explainingall he added, and with the words
fell into a vein of musing.From this, he was recalled by mister
Utterson, asking rather suddenly, andyou don't know if the drawer of the
check lives there A likely place,isn't it, returned mister Enfield. But
(10:56):
I happen to have noticed his address, and he lives in some square or
other. And you never asked aboutthe place with the door, said mister
Otherson. No, sir, Ihad a delicacy was the reply. I
feel very strongly about putting questions.It partakes too much of the style of
(11:18):
the day of judgment. You starta question, and it's like starting a
stone. You sit quietly on thetop of a hill, and away the
stone goes, starting others, andpresently some bland old bird, the last
you would have thought of, isknocked on the head in his own back
garden, and the family have tochange their name. No, sir,
(11:39):
I make it a rule of mine. The more it looks like Queer Street,
the less I ask. A verygood rule too, said the lawyer.
But I have studied the place formyself, continued mister Enfield. It
seems scarcely a house. There isno other door, and nobody goes in
(12:01):
or out of that one, butonce in a great while, the gentleman
of my adventure. There are threewindows looking on the court on the first
floor, none below. The windowsare always shut, but they're clean.
And then there's a chimney which isgenerally smoking, so somebody must live there.
And yet it's not so sure,for the buildings are so packed together
(12:24):
about the court that it's hard tosay where one ends and another begins.
The pair walked on again for awhile in silence, and then Enfield said,
mister Utterson, that's a good ruleof yours. Yes, I think
it is returned Enfield. But forall that, continued the lawyer, there's
(12:48):
one point I want to ask.I want to ask the name of that
man who walked over the child.Well, said mister Enfield. I can't
see what arm it would do.It was a man of the name of
Hyde. Hum said mister Utherson.What sort of man is he? To
see? He is not easy todescribe. There's something wrong with his appearance,
(13:15):
something displeasing, something downright detestable.I never saw a man I so
disliked, and yet I scarce knowwhy. He must be deformed somewhere.
He gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point.
He's an extraordinary looking man, andyet I really can name nothing out of
(13:37):
the way. No, Sir,I can make no hand of it.
I can't describe him, and it'snot want of memory, for I declare
I can see him this moment.Mister Utterson again walked some way in silence,
and obviously under a weight of consideration, you are sure he used a
key, he inquired at last,My dear sir, began Enfield, surprised
(14:03):
out of himself. Yes, Iknow, said Utterson. I know it
must seem strange. The fact is, if I do not ask you the
name of the other party, itis because I know it already. You
see, Richard, your tale hasgone home. If you have been inexact
in any point, you had bettercorrect it. I think you might have
(14:28):
warned me, returned the other witha touch of sullenness. But I have
been pedantically exact, as you callit. The fellow had a key,
and what's more, he has itstill. I saw him use it not
a week ago. Mister Utterson sigheddeeply, but said never a word,
(14:48):
and the young man presently resumed.Here is another lesson to say nothing,
said he. I am ashamed ofmy long tongue. Let us make a
bargain never to refer to this again. With all my heart, said the
lawyer, I shake hands on that, Richard,
The story of the Door. MisterUtterson, the lawyer was a man of
a rugged countenance that was never lightedby a smile, cold, scanty,
and embarrassed in discourse, backward insentiment, lean, long, dusty,
dreary, and yet somehow lovable atfriendly meetings, and when the wine was
(00:21):
to his taste, something eminently humanbeaconed from his eye, something indeed,
which never found its way into histalk, but which spoke not only in
these silent symbols of the after dinnerface, but more often and loudly in
the acts of his life. Hewas austere with himself, drank gin when
he was alone to mortify a tastefor vintages, and though he enjoyed the
(00:45):
theater, had not crossed the doorsof one for twenty years. But he
had an approved tolerance for others,sometimes wondering almost with envy at the high
pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds, and in any extremity, inclined to
help rather than to reprove. Iinclined, to Caine's hearsay, he used
(01:07):
to say, quaintly, I letmy brother go to the devil in his
own way. In this character,it was frequently his fortune to be the
last reputable acquaintance and the last goodinfluence in the lives of down gooing men.
And to such as these, aslong as they came about his chambers,
he never marked a shade of changein his demeanor. No doubt,
(01:30):
the feat was easy for mister Utterson, for he was undemonstrative at the best,
and even his friendship seemed to befounded in a similar catholicity of good
nature. It is the mark ofa modest man to accept his friendly circle
ready made from the hands of opportunity, and that was the lawyer's way.
(01:52):
His friends were those of his ownblood, or those whom he had known
the longest. His affections, likeivy, were the growth of time.
They implied no aptness in the object. Hence, no doubt the bond that
united him to mister Richard Enfield,his distant kinsman, the well known man
about town. It was a nutto crack for many what these two could
(02:15):
see in each other, or whatsubject they could find in common. It
was reported by those who encountered themin their Sunday walks that they said nothing
looked singularly dull, and would hailwith obvious relief the appearance of a friend.
For all that the two men putthe greatest store by these excursions,
(02:36):
counted them the chief jewel of eachweek, and not only set aside occasions
of pleasure, but even resisted thecalls of business, that they might enjoy
them uninterrupted. It chanced on oneof these rambles that their way led them
down a bye street in a busyquarter of London. The street was small
and what is called quiet, butit drove a thriving trade on the week
(03:00):
days. The inhabitants were all doingwell, it seemed, and all emulously
hoping to do better still, andlaying out the surplice of their grains in
coquetry, so that the shop frontstood along that thoroughfare with an air of
invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even on Sunday, when it veiled
(03:21):
its more florid charms and lay comparativelyempty of passage, the street shone out
in contrast to its dingy neighborhood,like a fire in a forest, and
with its freshly painted shutters, wellpolished brasses, and general cleanliness and gayety
of note, instantly caught and pleasedthe eye of the passenger. Two doors
(03:43):
from one corner on the left hand, going east, the line was broken
by the entry of a court,and just at that point a certain sinister
block of building thrust forward its gableon the street. It was two stories
high, showed no window, nothingbut a door on the lower story,
and a blind forehead of discolored wallon the upper, and bore on every
(04:05):
feature the marks of prolonged and sordidnegligence. The door, which was equipped
with neither bell nor knocker, wasblistered and disdained. Tramps slouched into the
recess and struck matches on the panels. Children kept shop upon the steps.
The schoolboy had tried his knife onthe moldings, and for close on a
(04:27):
generation no one had appeared to driveaway these random visitors or to repair their
ravages. Mister Enfield and the lawyerwere on the other side of the by
street, But when they came abreastof the entry, the former lifted up
his cane and pointed, do youever remark that door? He asked,
And when his companion had replied inthe affirmative, it is connected in my
(04:53):
mind, added he, with avery odd story. Indeed, said mister
Utterson, with a slight change ofvoice, and what was that? Well,
it was this way, returned,mister Enfield. I was coming home
from some place at the end ofthe world, about three o'clock of a
(05:14):
black winter morning, and my waylay through a part of town where there
was literally nothing to be seen butlamps, street after street, and all
the folks asleep, street after street, all lighted up as if for a
procession, and all as empty asa church. Till at last I got
into that state of mind when aman listens and listens and begins to long
(05:36):
for the sight of a policeman.All at once I saw two figures,
one a little man who was stumpingalong eastward at a good walk, and
the other a girl of maybe eightor ten, who was running as hard
as she was able down across street. Well, sir, the two ran
into one another naturally enough at thecorner, and then came the horrible part
(05:59):
of the thing, For the mantrampled calmly over the child's body and left
her screaming on the ground. Itsounds nothing to hear, but it was
hellish to see. It wasn't likea man, It was like some damned
juggernaut. I gave a few halloa, took to my heels, collared my
gentleman, and brought him back towhere there was already quite a group about
(06:20):
the screaming child. He was perfectlycool and made no resistance, but gave
me one look so ugly that itbrought out the sweat on me like running.
The people who had turned out werethe girl's own family, and pretty
soon the doctor for whom she hadbeen sent put in his appearance. Well,
(06:41):
the child was not much the worse, more frightened, according to the
saw Bones, And there, youmight have supposed, would be an end
to it. But there was onecurious circumstance. I had taken a loathing
to my gentleman at first sight.So had the child's family, which was
only natural. But the doctor's casewas what struck me. He was the
(07:01):
usual cut in dry apothecary, ofno particular age and color, with a
strong Edinburgh accent, and was aboutas emotional as a bagpipe. Well,
sir, he was like the restof us. Every time he looked at
my prisoner, I saw that sawBones turned sick and white with desire to
kill him. I knew what wasin his mind, just as he knew
(07:25):
what was in mine, and killingbeing out of the question, we did
the next best. We told theman we could and would make such a
scandal out of this as should makehis name stink from one end of London
to the other. If he hadany friends or any credit, we undertook
that he should lose them. Andall the time as we were pitching it
(07:46):
in red hot, we were keepingthe women off him as best we could,
for they were as wild as harpies. I never saw a circle of
such hateful faces, and there wasthe man in the middle with a kind
of black sneering coolness. Frightened too, I could see that. But carrying
it off, sir, really likeSatan. If you choose to make capital
(08:09):
out of this accident, said he. I am naturally helpless, no gentleman,
but wishes to avoid a scene,says he name your figure. Well,
we screwed him up to a hundredpounds for the child's family. He
would have clearly liked to stick out, but there was something about the lot
(08:31):
of us that meant mischief, andat last he struck. The next thing
was to get the money, Andwhere do you think he carried us?
But to that place, with thedoor whipped out. A key went in
and presently came back with a matterof ten pounds in gold and a check
for the balance on couts drawn,payable to bear, and sign with the
name that I can't mention, thoughit's one of the points of my story,
(08:56):
but it was a name at leastvery well known, and often prince.
The figure was stiff, but thesignature was good for more than that,
if it was only genuine. Itook the liberty of pointing out to
my gentlemen that the whole business lookedapocryphal, and that a man does not
in real life walk into a cellardoor at four in the morning and come
(09:18):
out with another man's check for closeupon a hundred pounds. But he was
quite easy and sneering. Set yourmind at rest, says he. I
will stay with you till the banksopen, and cash the check myself.
So we all set off, thedoctor and the child's father, and our
friend and myself, and passed therest of the night in my chambers.
(09:43):
And the next day, when wehad breakfasted, it went in a body
to the bank. I gave himthe check myself, and said I had
every reason to believe it was aforgery, not a bit of it.
The check was genuine. Tut tut, said mister ut I see you feel
as I do, said mister Enfield. Yes, it's a bad story.
(10:07):
For my man was a fellow thatnobody could have to do with, a
really damnable man. And the personthat drew the check is the very pink
of the proprieties celebrated too. Andwhat makes it worse one of your fellows
who do what they call good blackmail. I suppose an honest man paying through
the nose for some of the capersof his youth. Blackmail house is what
(10:31):
I call the place with the door. In consequence, though even that,
you know, is far from explainingall he added, and with the words
fell into a vein of musing.From this, he was recalled by mister
Utterson, asking rather suddenly, andyou don't know if the drawer of the
check lives there A likely place,isn't it, returned mister Enfield. But
(10:56):
I happen to have noticed his address, and he lives in some square or
other. And you never asked aboutthe place with the door, said mister
Otherson. No, sir, Ihad a delicacy was the reply. I
feel very strongly about putting questions.It partakes too much of the style of
(11:18):
the day of judgment. You starta question, and it's like starting a
stone. You sit quietly on thetop of a hill, and away the
stone goes, starting others, andpresently some bland old bird, the last
you would have thought of, isknocked on the head in his own back
garden, and the family have tochange their name. No, sir,
(11:39):
I make it a rule of mine. The more it looks like Queer Street,
the less I ask. A verygood rule too, said the lawyer.
But I have studied the place formyself, continued mister Enfield. It
seems scarcely a house. There isno other door, and nobody goes in
(12:01):
or out of that one, butonce in a great while, the gentleman
of my adventure. There are threewindows looking on the court on the first
floor, none below. The windowsare always shut, but they're clean.
And then there's a chimney which isgenerally smoking, so somebody must live there.
And yet it's not so sure,for the buildings are so packed together
(12:24):
about the court that it's hard tosay where one ends and another begins.
The pair walked on again for awhile in silence, and then Enfield said,
mister Utterson, that's a good ruleof yours. Yes, I think
it is returned Enfield. But forall that, continued the lawyer, there's
(12:48):
one point I want to ask.I want to ask the name of that
man who walked over the child.Well, said mister Enfield. I can't
see what arm it would do.It was a man of the name of
Hyde. Hum said mister Utherson.What sort of man is he? To
see? He is not easy todescribe. There's something wrong with his appearance,
(13:15):
something displeasing, something downright detestable.I never saw a man I so
disliked, and yet I scarce knowwhy. He must be deformed somewhere.
He gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point.
He's an extraordinary looking man, andyet I really can name nothing out of
(13:37):
the way. No, Sir,I can make no hand of it.
I can't describe him, and it'snot want of memory, for I declare
I can see him this moment.Mister Utterson again walked some way in silence,
and obviously under a weight of consideration, you are sure he used a
key, he inquired at last,My dear sir, began Enfield, surprised
(14:03):
out of himself. Yes, Iknow, said Utterson. I know it
must seem strange. The fact is, if I do not ask you the
name of the other party, itis because I know it already. You
see, Richard, your tale hasgone home. If you have been inexact
in any point, you had bettercorrect it. I think you might have
(14:28):
warned me, returned the other witha touch of sullenness. But I have
been pedantically exact, as you callit. The fellow had a key,
and what's more, he has itstill. I saw him use it not
a week ago. Mister Utterson sigheddeeply, but said never a word,
(14:48):
and the young man presently resumed.Here is another lesson to say nothing,
said he. I am ashamed ofmy long tongue. Let us make a
bargain never to refer to this again. With all my heart, said the
lawyer, I shake hands on that, Richard,
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