Frankenstein

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) by Mary Shelley tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who discovers how to create life, and the creature he brings to life and then abandons. It is often called the first science fiction novel and is one of the most famous works of Gothic literature.《科學怪人：現代普羅米修斯》（1818）是瑪麗·雪萊的作品，講述年輕科學家維克多·法蘭肯斯坦發現了創造生命的方法，造出一個生物後又拋棄它的故事。它常被稱為第一部科幻小說，也是哥德文學最有名的作品之一。

Structure and editions: the 1818 edition has three volumes, and each volume starts its chapter numbers again. The 1831 revised edition numbers the chapters 1–24 straight through. Each lesson title shows both numbers, so you can use these notes with either edition.結構與版本：1818 年版分成三卷，每卷的章號重新起算。1831 年的修訂版則從第 1 章連續編到第 24 章。每課標題都列出兩種章號，不管你用哪個版本都可以對照這份筆記。

The story is told in layers. Robert Walton writes letters to his sister; inside his letters, Victor Frankenstein tells his life story; inside Victor's story, the creature tells its own. Ask yourself whose voice you are hearing in each section, and whether you trust them.這個故事是一層一層說的。羅伯特·沃頓寫信給他姊姊；在他的信裡，維克多·法蘭肯斯坦講述自己的人生；在維克多的故事裡，那個生物又講述它自己的故事。每一段都問問自己：你聽到的是誰的聲音？你相信他嗎？

Mary Shelley (1797–1851) was the daughter of two famous writers, Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. She began Frankenstein at eighteen, during a stormy summer in Switzerland in 1816, when the poet Lord Byron challenged his friends to write ghost stories. She was married to the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.瑪麗·雪萊（1797–1851）的父母是兩位知名作家：瑪麗·沃斯通克拉夫特和威廉·戈德溫。她十八歲時開始寫《科學怪人》，那是 1816 年在瑞士一個暴風雨不斷的夏天，詩人拜倫邀朋友們比賽寫鬼故事。她的丈夫是詩人珀西·比希·雪萊。

Mary Shelley also wrote The Last Man, an early story about a plague that wipes out humanity, as well as other novels, short stories, and travel writing.瑪麗·雪萊還寫了《最後一個人》，一部描寫瘟疫毀滅人類的早期作品，另外也寫了其他小說、短篇故事和遊記。