I was born in the year 18-． I inherited a large fortune，a strong healthy body and an excellent mind． I wasnaturally hard－working and soon I was extremely successful inmy chosen work as a scientist．Although I was still young，important people came to me for advice．At an age when mostyoung men are going out and having fun， I was behaving like agrey－haired old man．

This was not easy for me．The outside world saw a serious，hard－working doctor． Behind this quiet character， however，was an active， fun-loving young man-about-town． This， ofcourse， was nothing to be ashamed of， but I did not realizethat at the time． I was ashamed， and I soon learned to keepmy two lives separate．

I was not dishonest in any way．Both these people were me．The serious， successful young doctor was me， and the wild，fun-loving，irresponsible young man was me too．I thought about this for a long time and slowly I realized that I was notextraordinary in this． Every man has two sides to hischaracter． He is two people．They live together-often uncomfortably in the same body．

‘How fantastic，’I thought， if I could separate these twocharacters and give my fun－loving side his freedom． Then hecould go out and enjoy himself unashamedly and leave serious，studious Doctor Jekyll to get on with his important， life-savingwork．’

‘Was it possible，’ I wondered，‘to find a drug that couldgive each side of my characier its own separate face and body？’

After much thought and careful study I believed I had foundthe answer．I had read many scientific books and spent manyhours in my laboratory，searching for the right mixture ofchemicals to make my drug．At last I had everything I neededexcept a special kind of salt． I bought some from a chemist，and then I was ready．

I hesitated for a long time before I began my experiment．Only a small mistake in the mixture of the drug could meanimmediate death．But in the end，my wish to know wasstronger than my fear．And so， late one disastrous night， Imixed everything together and prepared my drug．I watchedthe smoke rising from the liquid as it changed colour from redto purple and at last to green．Then， bravely，I drank everybitter drop．

I felt a violent sickness in my stomach and a terrible pain inall my bones．The room seemed to turn round and round and Itrembled with fear．Then the fear and pain disappeared and astrange， sweet feeling took its place． Wild thoughts dancedthrough my mind． They were not good，serious thoughtsThey were the wild passions of an evil and cruel stranger． Butinside myself I felt younger， lighter， more carefree than everbefore．‘If this is pure evil，’I thought，‘I like it．’

I stood there． enjoying these strange new thoughts and passions-and suddenly realized that I was shorter．At that timethere was no mirror in my stidy． Later I put one on the wallof my study so that I could watch these changes in my appearance Now，however，it was three o’clock in the morning andall the servants were asleep．I decided it was safe to go to mybedroom in my new body and take a look at myself in the mirror there．I crossed the garden and entered my house like astranger． As I came into my room， I saw Edward Hyde forthe first time．

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