we gave merrick two rooms at the back of the hospital. one room was a bathroom, so he could have a bath every day. soon his skin was much better, and there was no horrible smell.

the second room had a bed, table , and chairs. i visited him every day, and talked to him. he loved reading, and talking about books. at first he did not know many books：the bible, and one or two newspapers, that's all. but i gave him some books of love stories, and he liked them very much. he read them again and again, and talked about them often. for him, the men and women in these books were alive, like you and me. he was very happy.

but sometimes it was difficult for him. at first, one or two people in the hospital laughed at merrick because he was ugly. sometimes, they brought their friends to look at him. one day a new nurse came to the hospital, and nobody told her about merrick. she took his food to his room, and opened the door. then she saw him. she screamed, dropped the food on the floor, and ran out of the room.

i was very angry with the nurse, and went to see merrick. he was not happy about it, but he was not very angry. i think he felt sorry for the girl.

‘people don't like looking at me. i know that, dr 26treves, ’he said. ‘they usually laugh or scream. ’

‘well, i don't want nurses to laugh at you, joseph, ’ i said angrily. ‘i want them to help you. ’

‘thank you, doctor, ’he said, in his strange slow voice. ‘but it's not important. everyone laughs at me. i understand that. ’

i looked at him sadly. in his one good hand, his left hand, he had the little picture of his mother. he looked at the picture for a minute, and then put it by a flower on the table. a tear ran out of his eye and down the skin of his enormous, ugly face.

‘dr treves, ’he said, slowly. ‘you and the nurses arevery kind, and i'm very happy here. thank you very much. but…i know i can't stay here long, and…i would like to live in a lighthouse, after the hospital, please. a lighthouse, or a home for blind people. i think those are the best places for me.

‘what do you mean？’i ashed. ‘why？’

he did not look at me. he put the flower on the picture and looked at it carefully.

‘lighthouses have sea all round them, don't they？ ’he said. ‘ nobody could look at me in a lighthouse, so i would be happy there. and blind people can see nothing, so they couldn't see me, could they？’

‘but joseph, ’i said. ‘this is your home. you live here now. you aren't going to leave the hospital. ’ 28‘not todsy, perhaps, ’he said. but soon. you are a kind man, dr treves. but i can't stay here very long. i have no money. ’

i smiled. ‘joseph, i said. ‘this is your home now. don't you understand？you can stay here all your life. ’ very carefully, i told him about the letter to the times, and the money.

i don't think he understood at first, so i told him again. he was very quiet for a minute. then he stood up, and walked up and down the room very quickly. a strange sound came from him, like laughing.

我们将医院后面的两个房间给了麦里克，一间是浴室，供他每天洗澡。于是他的皮肤好多了，再也没有难闻的气味。另一间里面有床、桌子和椅子。我每天都去看他，陪他说话。他喜欢看书，也喜欢谈论书里的内容。起初，他并不知道多少书，只知道《圣经》和一两份报纸而已。后来我给了他几本爱情小说，他非常喜欢，读了一遍又一遍，并经常谈论其中的故事。对他来说，书中的男女就像你我一样，都是活着的，他非常高兴。

对他来说，有时也很难。开始时，医院里有一两个人嘲笑他，说他长得丑陋，有时他们把自己的朋友带来参观他。有一天，一个护士新来到医院，没有人把麦里克的情况告诉她，她给麦里克送饭，当她打开门，见到他时，尖叫一声，将饭扔在地上跑了出去。

我去看望麦里克，我很生这个护士的气。他对此事不高兴但没生气，我想他感到自己对不起这个姑娘，他说：“人们不喜欢朝我看，他们经常对我嘲笑、尖叫，我知道为什么，特里维斯博士。”

我气愤地说：“约瑟夫，我不希望护士们嘲笑你，我要她们来帮助你。”“谢谢你，大夫。”他用奇怪的声音慢慢说着：“每个人都在嘲笑我，我理解，这并不重要。”

我忧伤地看着他。他的那只好手——左手——拿着一张他母亲的小照片，他仔细地看了一会儿，然后将照片放在桌上的一束花旁，一滴泪水顺着那张丑陋的大脸滚下来。

“特里维斯博士，您和这些护士们都是非常善良的，我在这儿很幸福。非常感谢您。可是……我知道我不能长期待在这儿，我想要住到医院后面的那座灯塔里。一座灯塔或是一间供盲人住的房子，我想那对我来说是最好的地方。”他慢慢地说完了这些。我问：“你这是什么意思？为什么？”他不看我，他把那束花放在那张照片上，仔细地看着。他说：“灯塔四周是大海，对不对？在那里没有人朝我看，所以在那里我会幸福的。盲人什么也看不见，所以他们也看不见我，是不是？”我说：“约瑟夫，这就是你的家，现在你就住在这儿，你不要离开医院。”

他说：“不可能是今天，但很快。您是一个好人，特里维斯博士。我不能在这儿呆很长时间，我没有钱。”我笑着说：“约瑟夫，现在这儿就是你的家。你难道还不知道你可以在这儿呆一辈子吗？”于是我把如何为了他与《泰晤士报》联系的那封信及有关钱的来历详详细细地告诉了他。

开始我担心他不能理解此事，所以就又说了一遍。他沉默了片刻，然后站起来在房间里很快地来回走动着，并发出一种奇怪的声音，像是在大笑。