Chapter 12

• “for the present I would remain quietly in my hovel, watching, and endeavouring to discover the motives which influenced their actions.”
• “Nothing could exceed the love and respect which the young cottagers exhibited towards their vulnerable companion.”
• “I saw no reason for their unhappiness, but I was deeply affected by it.”
• If such lovely creature were miserable, it was less strange that I, an imperfect and solitary being, should be wretched.
• “They possessed a delightful house (for which it was in my eyes) and every luxury [...]still more, they enjoyed one another’s company”
• I was first unable to solve these questions; but perpetual attention and time explained to me many appearances which were first enigmatic.
• “it was poverty; and they suffered that evil in a very distressing degree”
• “several times they placed food before the old man when they reserved none for themselves.”
• This trait of kindness moved me sensibly.
• steal a part of their store for my own consumption, but when I found that in doing this I inflicted pain on the cottagers, I abstained and satisfied myself
• “I discovered another means through which I was enabled to assist their labours” [...] “I observed, with pleasure, that he did not go to the forest that day,”
• “I found that these people possessed a method of communicating their experience and feelings to one another by articulate sounds. I perceived that the words they spoke sometimes produced pleasure or pain, smiles or sadness, in the minds and countenances of the hearers.”
• “This was indeed a godlike science, and I ardently desired to become acquainted with it.”
• “The gentle manners and beauty of the cottagers greatly endeared them to me; when they were unhappy, I felt depressed; when they rejoiced, I sympathised in their joys.”
• I was unable to discover any clue by which I could unravel the mystery of their reference
• I cannot describe the delight I felt when I learned the ideas appropriated to each of these sounds, and was able to pronounce them.
• reading had puzzled me extremely at first; but, by degrees, I discovered that he uttered many of the same sounds when he read, as when he talked.
• I ardently longed to comprehend these also
• I applied my whole mind to the endeavour
• “until I had first become master of their language, which knowledge might enable me to make them overlook the deformity of my figure, for with this also the contrast perpetually presented to my eyes had made me acquainted.”
• "I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers — their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions; but how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool!”
• “when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification”
• “My mode of life in my hovel was uniform. During the morning I attended the motions of the cottagers, and when they were dispersed in various occupations, I slept; the remainder of the day was spent in observing my friends”
• I afterwards found that these labours, performed by an invisible hand, greatly astonished them [...] utter the words "good spirit", "wonderful"; but I did not know then the significance of these terms.
• “I looked upon them as superior beings who would be the arbiters of my future destiny”
• I thought (foolish wretch!) that it might be in my power to restore happiness to these deserving people
• I formed in my imagination a thousand pictures of presenting myself to them, and their reception of me. [...] I should first win their favour, and afterwards their love.
• “The birds sang in more cheerful notes, and the leaves began to bud forth on the trees. Happy, happy earth!”
• “My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil, and the future gilded by bright rays of hope and anticipations of joy."