Volume I第一卷
Letters 1–4: A Voyage North第 1–4 封信：北行的航程
這課一眼看
Summary情節摘要
- Frame narrative: A story inside another story; Walton's letters frame Victor's tale.
- Epistolary novel: A novel written in the form of letters.
1Summary情節摘要
注意
Before you read:
- Why do explorers risk their lives to reach unknown places?
- What does it feel like to have no one who truly understands you?
閱讀前：
- 探險家為什麼願意冒生命危險前往未知的地方？
- 沒有人真正理解你，是什麼感覺？
At a glance:
- Robert Walton writes letters to his sister while sailing toward the North Pole.
- His crew sees a giant figure on a dog sled crossing the ice.
- They rescue a sick, exhausted stranger, who agrees to tell Walton his story.
本章重點：
- 羅伯特·沃頓在駛向北極的途中寫信給他姊姊。
- 他的船員看到一個巨大的身影坐著狗拉雪橇越過冰原。
- 他們救起一個生病又精疲力盡的陌生人，他答應把自己的故事告訴沃頓。
The novel opens with letters from Robert Walton, an English explorer, to his sister, Margaret Saville. Walton has dreamed since childhood of sailing to the North Pole and discovering something no one has seen. He hires a ship and crew in Russia and heads north. He writes that he is lonely: he longs for a friend who shares his ambition and can understand him. When the ship is trapped by ice, the crew sees a huge figure, shaped like a man but enormous, driving a dog sled across the ice. The next morning they find another sled on a piece of ice with a nearly frozen man. He refuses to come aboard until he learns the ship is going north. Once aboard, the stranger slowly recovers. Walton admires his intelligence and gentle manners and feels he has found the friend he wanted. When Walton describes his ambition, the stranger warns him that the desire for knowledge can be dangerous. He decides to tell Walton his own story as a cautionary tale, and Walton begins to write it down.小說以英國探險家羅伯特·沃頓寫給姊姊瑪格麗特·薩維爾的信開場。沃頓從小就夢想航向北極，發現前人從未見過的東西。他在俄羅斯僱了船和船員，向北出發。他在信中說自己很孤單：他渴望一個和他有相同抱負、能理解他的朋友。船被冰困住時，船員看到一個巨大的身影，外形像人卻大得驚人，駕著狗拉雪橇越過冰原。隔天早上，他們在一塊浮冰上發現另一輛雪橇，上面有個幾乎凍僵的男人。他得知船是往北開之後才肯上船。上船後，陌生人慢慢恢復。沃頓欣賞他的聰明和溫和的舉止，覺得自己找到了渴望的朋友。沃頓說起自己的抱負時，陌生人警告他，對知識的渴望可能很危險。他決定把自己的故事告訴沃頓，作為警世的故事，沃頓便開始把它寫下來。
2Characters本章人物
- Robert Walton: an ambitious explorer; lonely and eager for glory.
- Margaret Saville: Walton's sister in England, who receives the letters.
- The stranger: weak and suffering, but educated and kind; he is chasing something across the ice.
- 羅伯特·沃頓：充滿抱負的探險家；孤單，渴望榮耀。
- 瑪格麗特·薩維爾：沃頓在英國的姊姊，信是寫給她的。
- 陌生人：虛弱又痛苦，卻有教養又溫和；他正在冰原上追趕某樣東西。
3Themes & symbols主題與象徵
- Ambition and knowledge: Walton's dream of discovery mirrors the stranger's past.
- Loneliness and friendship: Walton longs for a companion who understands him.
- Nature: the frozen Arctic is beautiful, powerful, and deadly.
- 抱負與知識：沃頓發現新事物的夢想，和陌生人的過去互相呼應。
- 孤獨與友誼：沃頓渴望一個理解他的同伴。
- 大自然：冰封的北極既美麗、又強大、又致命。
4Author's craft文學手法
Frankenstein is a frame narrative: Walton's letters form the outer frame, the stranger's story sits inside it, and later another story will sit inside that. Letters were a popular form in the 1700s and 1800s; this epistolary opening makes the story feel like a true account.《科學怪人》是框架敘事：沃頓的信是外框，陌生人的故事在框裡，之後還會有另一個故事嵌在裡面。書信體在 1700 和 1800 年代很流行；這個用書信開場的寫法，讓故事讀起來像真實的紀錄。
5Think about it想一想
自我檢查
How is Walton similar to the stranger?沃頓和陌生人有什麼相似之處？
看答案
Both are driven by ambition and a desire to discover what no one else has. Both are willing to take great risks for knowledge.兩人都受抱負驅使，想發現別人沒發現的東西。兩人都願意為了知識冒極大的風險。
自我檢查
Why might the author begin with letters instead of with the stranger's story?作者為什麼可能先用信開場，而不是直接講陌生人的故事？
看答案
The letters build mystery, make the story seem real, and give us a listener who can learn from it, just as readers can.這些信營造懸疑、讓故事顯得真實，也給了我們一個能從中學到教訓的聽眾，就像讀者一樣。