World classic, retold in simple Mandarin
Frankenstein
弗兰肯斯坦
Frankenstein (弗兰肯斯坦, Fúlánkěnsītǎn) is a classic by Mary Shelley, retold in simple Mandarin as a 6-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 3 (Intermediate).
Retold from Mary Shelley's 1818 novel: a young scientist gives life to a lonely creature, then runs away from what he has made. A haunting story about responsibility and the price of a dream.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — A warm, calm storyteller who sets the scene like a grandfather by the fire.
- Captain Walton · 沃尔顿 — A brave, dreamy sea captain who writes letters to his sister and longs to reach the North Pole.
- First Mate · 大副 — Walton's gruff, dry-witted second-in-command, who worries about bread and ice.
- Victor Frankenstein · 维克多 — A brilliant young scientist whose secret work brings life to something he cannot bear to face.
- Elizabeth · 伊丽莎白 — Victor's kind, warm-hearted adopted sister and the person he loves most.
- The Creature · 无名人 — A very tall, lonely being who has no name; he learns language by listening, speaks beautifully, and only wants a friend.
- Old De Lacey · 德莱西 — A kind, blind old man who is the first person to welcome the creature.
- Felix · 费利克斯 — The old man's hardworking, protective son.
- Agatha · 阿加莎 — The old man's gentle, easily frightened daughter.
- Safie · 萨菲 — A young visitor who speaks little French at first; the creature learns words beside her.
6 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Man on the Ice
冰上的人
A ship stuck in Arctic ice, a dream of the North Pole, and a half-frozen stranger who knows exactly who the giant on the sled is.
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Chapter 2: The Winter in Ingolstadt
秘密的冬天
Victor leaves home with a promise, hides away in an attic to solve the secret of life, and on one rainy night something stirs.
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Chapter 3: Alone in the Woods
森林里的朋友
Left alone in the world, the creature hides beside a cottage, learns to speak by listening, and dreams of one kind word from a friend.
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Chapter 4: The Cottage Door
小屋的门
The creature finds the courage to knock, and for a few minutes a kind old man gives him everything he has ever wanted. Then the door opens.
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Chapter 5: The Sea of Ice
冰海上的话
On a glacier high in the Alps, the creature asks his maker for one thing: a friend. Victor says yes, and then everything changes.
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Chapter 6: The Farewell in the Ice
冰里的再见
A wedding night, a chase to the top of the world, and one last conversation in a ship's cabin, where a lonely creature finally hears a kind word.
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Key words in Frankenstein
Behind the story
Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley, who began it at eighteen during a rainy summer in 1816 beside Lake Geneva. Friends stuck indoors held a contest to write ghost stories, and hers grew into one of the first great science-fiction novels, published in 1818.
Chinese readers know the book as “弗兰肯斯坦”, and in Taiwan and Hong Kong also as “科学怪人”. Its question is easy to feel in any language: if you make something, are you responsible for it?
Did you know?
- Frankenstein is the name of the scientist, Victor. In the novel the creature has no name at all.
- The book's second title is “The Modern Prometheus,” after the Greek hero who gave fire to humans and was punished for it.
- The summer of 1816 was so cold and dark that people called it “the year without a summer,” which helped set the mood of the story.