so next day, at seven o’clock, i came to the shop in a cab. there were not very many people in the road, be－cause it was early in the morning. in november it is dark at seven o’clock in the morning, and i could not see the shop very well. i waited five minutes. a postman walked past. then the door of the shop opened, and the creature, merrick , came out.

i could not see his face or his body. he had an enormous black hat on his head, like a big box. a grey cloth came down from the hat, in front of his face. there was a hole in the cloth in front of his eyes. he could see out of the hole but i could not see in. he wore a long black coat, too. the coat began at his neck, and ended at his feet, so i could not see his arms, his body, or his legs. on his feet he wore big shoes, like old bags.

he had a stick in his left hand, and he walked very slowly. i opened the door of the cab, and got out.

‘good morning, mr merrick, ’i said. ‘can you get in？’

‘elpmyupasteps, ’he said.

‘i'm sorry, ’i said. ‘i don't understand. ’

for a minute he stood by the door of the cab and said nothing. then he hit the cab with his stick.

‘steps! ’he said loudly. ‘help me up the steps! ’

then i understood. there were three steps up into the cab, and he could not get up them.

‘yes, i see. i'm sorry, ’i said. ‘let me help you. ’

i took his left hand and began to help him. my right hand was behind his back. i felt very strange. his left hand was like a young woman's, but his back under the coat, was horrible. i could feel the bags of old skin on his back under the coat.

he put one enormous foot on the first step, and then he stopped. after a minute, he moved his second foot slowly. then he stopped and waited again.

‘hello, sir. can i help you？’

i looked behind me. it was the postman. and behind him, i could see three young boys. one of the boys laughed.

the postman smiled. ‘is the gentleman ill？’he asked.

i thought quickly. ‘yes. but this is a lady, not a gentle-man. i'm a doctor, and she's ill. take her hand, so i can help her better. ’

the postman took merrick's left hand, and i helped him with two hands from behind. slowly, very slowly, merrick went up the steps and into the cab.

one boy was very near the cab. he called to his friends.

‘come and see this, boys! a fat lady in a black coat! and look at that enormous hat! ’

the boys laughed. they were very near the cab too, now. i closed the door quickly.

‘thank you, ’i said to the postman.

‘that's all right, sir, ’he said. ‘she's a strange lady, sir, isn't she？’

‘she's ill, that's all, ’i said quickly. ‘we're going to the hospital. goodbye, and thank you. ’

the cab drove down the road to the hospital. i locked at merrick. ‘that was difficult, wasn't it？’i said.

at first he said nothing, but then he spoke. his voice was very strange, but i listened to him carefully, and i could understand him.

‘the steps were very difficult, ’he said. ‘but most things are difficult for me. ’

‘yes, ’i said. ‘ nothing is easy for you, is it？’

‘no, ’he said. he was very quiet for a minute. then he said, ‘who are you, sir？’

‘who am i？oh, i'm sorry, my name is dr treves. here, this is my card. ’

i gave him a card with my name on. then i thought, ‘that was no good. this man can't read. ’but merrick took the card and looked at it very carefully. then he put it in his trousers pocket.

i did not talk to him very much at the hospital. i looked at his head and arms and legs and body very carefully. then i wrote the important things about him in a little book. a nurse helped me. merrick looked at her sometimes, but she did not smile at him or talk to him. i think she was afraid of him. i think merrick was afraid too, because he was very quiet.

at four o’clock i took him back to the shop in a cab. the next day i looked in the shop window again, but the picture was not there.

第二天七点钟，我乘着马车来到这家商店。天刚刚亮，路上没有多少人。十一月份的早上七点钟天还是黑的，商店还看不太清楚。我等了五分钟，一个邮递员恰好经过，后来商店门开了，那个怪物——麦里克出来了。

我看不见他的脸和身体，他头上戴着一顶大黑帽子，就像顶着一个大盒子。帽子上搭着一块灰色的布一直遮着脸，眼睛前面的布上有个洞，他可以从洞里朝外看，可我却看不见里面。他还穿了一件黑色的长外套，外套从颈子上一直拖到脚下，所以我看不见他的手臂、身体和腿。他脚上穿着一双大鞋，就像两条旧口袋。

他左手拿着一根拐杖，走得很慢，我打开车门，走了出来。

“早上好，麦里克先生，”我说，“你能上去吗？”“elpmyupasteps.他说。

“对不起，”我说，“我听不懂。”

他在车门边站了一会儿，什么话也没有说。后来他用拐杖敲了敲车子。

“上车。”他大声地说，“帮我上车。”

后来，我明白了，马车上有三级台阶，他迈不上去。

“噢，对不起，”我说，“我来帮你。”

我左手拉着他的左手，右手扶着他的背帮助他上车。我觉得很奇怪，他的左手就像年轻女人的手，而他外套里面的背部却是很可怕。我可以摸到外套里面背上那些老皮囊肿。他一只大脚先迈上了头一个台阶，就停下了。过了一会儿，又慢慢地挪动另外一只脚，然后又停了下来再次等着。

“喂，先生，要我帮忙吗？”

我朝身后一看，是那位邮递员，在他的身后还有三个小男孩，其中有一个在大声笑着。

这位邮递员微笑着问：“这位先生病了吗？”我灵机一动：“对，但这是位女士，不是先生。我是医生，她病了，拉着她的手，这样我能更好地帮助她。”

邮递员拉着麦里克的左手，我用双手从后面推他。麦里克慢慢地移动步子，走进马车。一个小男孩离马车很近，他对着他的伙伴们大声地喊着：“过来看，一个穿黑外套的胖女人！瞧那顶大帽子！”

孩们们哄笑着走到马车旁，我迅速地关上车门转身对邮递员说：“谢谢你。”他说：“不用谢，先生。这位女士长得很怪呀！”我很快地回答：“她是病人。我们要去医院，谢谢你，再见。”

马车沿着去医院的路驶去。我看了看麦里克说：“很不容易，是吧？”

他先是什么都不说，可后来他开口了，他的嗓音很怪，可我还是认真地听着，我能听懂他讲的意思。

“上台阶很困难。”他说，“大多数事情对于我都很困难。”

“对您来说没有容易的事，对吧？”

“对。”他沉默了一会儿，然后问道：“您是谁，先生？”

“我是谁？哦，对不起，我是特里维斯博士。瞧，这是我的名片。”

我递给了他一张上面有我名字的名片。但转念一想，这没什么用，他不识字。麦里克拿着名片认真地看了看，然后就收进裤子口袋里。

在医院里我和他谈得不多，我很仔细地看过他的头、手臂、腿和身子，然后我将有关他的重要情况记在了一个小笔记本里。一位护士来协助我工作。麦里克时不时地朝她看看，可她既不朝他微笑也不与他说话。我想她是怕他，麦里克可能也怕她，因为他一直很安静。

四点钟时，我用马车将他送回那个商店。第二天我又朝小店橱窗里看了看，可那张照片已不见了。