Chapter 3

I did not see Merrick again for two years. Then, one day, the police found him. He had my card in his hand, so they brought him to the London Hospital. He was very tired, hungry, and dirty, so I put him to bed in a quiet little room. But he could not stay at the hospital. He was not ill, and of course the beds in the hospital are for ill people. We have no beds for hungry people, or ugly people.

I told the Hospital Chairman¹, Mr Cars Gomm, about Merrick. He listened carefully, and then he wrote a letter to the editor² of The Times newspaper.

 

From The Times, December 4th, 1886

A Letter to the Editor.

 

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you about a man in our hospital. He needs your help. His name is Joseph Merrick, and he is 27 years old. He is not ill, but he cannot go out of the hospital because he is very, very ugly. Nobody likes to look at him, and some people are afraid him. We call him ‘The Elephant Man’.

Two years ago, Merrick lived in a shop near the London Hospital. For two pence³, people could see him and laugh at him. One day Dr⁴ Frederick Treves—a hospital doctor——sawMerrick, brought him to this hospital, and looked at him carefully. Dr Treves could not help Merrick, but he gave him his card.

Then the shopkeeper⁵, Silcock, took merrick to Belgium. A lot of people in Belgium wanted to see him, and so after a year Merrick had ￡50. But then Silcock took Merrick's ￡50, left Merrick in Belgium, and went back to London.

Merrick came back to London by himself. Everyone on the train and the ship looked at him, and laughed at him. In London, the police put him in prison⁶. But then they saw DrTreves's card, and brought Merrick to the London Hospital.

This man has no money, and he cannot work. His face and body are very, very ugly, so of course many people are afraid of him. But he is a very interesting man. He can read and write, and he thinks a lot. He is a good, quiet man. Sometimes he makes things with his hands and gives them to the nurses, because they are kind to him.

He remembers his mother, and he has a picture of her. She was beautiful and kind, he says. But he never sees her now. She gave him to Silcock a long time ago.

Can the readers of The Times help us？ This man is not ill, but he needs a home. We can give him a room at the hospital, but we need some money. Please write to me at the London Hospital.

 

Yours faithfully⁷,

F. C. Carr Gomm.

Chairman of the London Hospital

 

The readers of The Times are very kind people. They gave us a lot of money. After one week, we had ￡50, 000, so Merrick could live in the Hospital for all his life. We could give him a home.

我有二年未见到麦里克了。后来有一天，警察发现了他，他手里有我的名片，所以警察就将他带到伦敦医院。他很疲劳、饥饿、肮脏，我就把他安置在一间很安静的小房间里休息。因为他没有生病，他不能呆在医院里，医院里的床当然是给病人用的。我们不能给饥饿的人或丑陋的人提供床铺使用。

我将麦里克的情况告诉了院长卡尔.戈蒙先生。他听得很仔细，并给《泰晤士报》的编辑写了一封信。

 

摘自1886年12月 4日的《泰晤士报》

 

亲爱的先生：

我写信给你是告诉你一个在我们医院里的人的情况，他需要得到你的帮助。他名叫约瑟夫.麦里克，现年27岁。他没有生病，但是他不能走出医院，因为他长得很丑很丑，没有人愿意看他一眼，一些人害怕他，我们叫他“象人”。

两年前，麦里克住在伦敦医院附近的一家商店里，花二个便士，人们就可以看到他、嘲笑他。有一天，医院医生弗雷德里克.特里维斯博士见到了麦里克，将他带到我们医院里，并给他仔细检查。由于特里维斯博士无法帮助麦里克，只好给了他一张名片。

后来店老板西尔库克将他带到比利时，在那儿许多人都想看他，所以，一年后，麦里克得到了50英镑钞票。但是后来西尔库克拿走了麦里克的50英镑，将他留在比利时，而自己回到了伦敦。

麦里克是独自一人回到伦敦的，火车上、轮船上的每个人都看着他、嘲笑他。在伦敦，警察把他关进监狱。后来，他们看到特里维斯博士的名片，就把麦里克带到了伦敦医院。

他没有钱，又不能工作，他的脸和身体都非常丑陋，当然许多人都害怕他。但是，他是一个很有趣的人，他能读书写字，会思考，他是一个安份的好人。有时他用自己的双手做些玩意儿送给护士们，因为她们对他很和善。

他记得他的母亲，他有他母亲的一张照片。他说他的母亲很漂亮、温柔。但是，现在他再也没有见过她。她在很久以前就将他给了西尔库克。

《泰晤士报》的读者们能否帮助我们？这个人没有生病，他需要有一个家，我们在医院里可以给他一间房子，但我们需要钱，请给我回信到伦敦医院来。

你的忠实的

F.C.卡尔.戈蒙

伦敦医院院长

1886年12月4日

《泰晤士报》的读者们都很仁慈，他们给了我们很多钱。一星期后，我们收到了五万英镑，足够让麦里克在医院里住一辈子。我们可以给他安个家。

1 chairman   

n.主席，会长，议长；董事长

参考例句：

• The chairman asked us to vote on the plan.主席要我们对计划进行表决。
• He acted as chairman of the meeting.他担任大会主席。

2 editor   

n.编者，编辑，主笔；v.编辑器

参考例句：

• He's the editor of the Riverdale paper.他是Riverdale报的编辑。
• He got a job as an editor of a newspaper.他在一家报社找到了一份编辑工作。

3 pence   

n.便士；名词penny的复数形式

参考例句：

• She counted out fifteen pence and passed it to the salesgirl.她数出15个便士交给女店员。
• These apples are selling at 40 pence a kilo.这些苹果售价每公斤40便士。

4 Dr   

n.医生，大夫；博士(缩)（= Doctor）

参考例句：

• Dr.Williams instructs us in botany.威廉博士教我们植物学。
• The ward of the hospital is in the charge of Dr.Green.医院的这间病房由格林医生负责。

5 shopkeeper   

n.店主，零售商人

参考例句：

• Tom's father is a shopkeeper.汤姆的父亲是店主。
• The man in gray pants is the shopkeeper.那穿灰色长裤的男人是店老板。

6 prison   

n.监狱(禁)；拘留所

参考例句：

• They put him in a prison.他们将他逮捕入狱。
• If you go on like this you will be put into prison. 你这样下去会进监狱的。

7 faithfully   

adv.忠诚地，如实地，切实遵守地

参考例句：

• He has served the farm faithfully for 20 years.他为这个农场忠心耿耿地操劳了20年。
• They attended faithfully to their duties.他们忠于职守。