# ■ Chapter 5 An Important Visitor

I did not want Merrick to live by himself, like a man in a lighthouse. He read his books, and talked to me, but I wanted him to talk to more people. And I wanted him to talk to women.

Merrick read about women in his books, but he did not often talk to women. He met the nurses every day, but they did not talk to him very much. For them, he was always a creature, not a man.

One day, one of my friends, a beautiful young woman, came to the hospital. I told her about Merrick, and took her to his room. She opened the door, and smiled at him.

Good morning, Mr Merrick, 'she said. Then she shook his hand.

Merrick looked at her for a minute with his mouth open. Then he sat down on his bed, with his head in his hand, and cried. He cried for nearly five minutes. The tears ran down his face, between his fingers, and onto the floor.

My friend sat on the bed beside him and put her hand on his arm. She said nothing, but she smiled at him and shookhis hand again before she left.

Dr Treves, 'he said to me that night. 'That lady was wonderful! My mother smiled at me once, many years ago, but no women smile at me now. But this lady smiled at me too, and she shook my hand! A beautiful lady smiled at me and shook my hand! '

My young lady friend came again the next week, and talked to Merrick for half an hour. The week after that, she came again with a friend. They gave him some books, and had a cup of tea with him. It was wonderful for him. For the first time in his life, he had some friends. He was a very happy man. He sat in his room, and read his books, and said no more about living on a lighthouse.

People began to read about Merrick in the newspapers, sohe had a lot of visitors. Everybody wanted to see him. A lot of important ladies and gentlemen visited him. They smiled at him, shook his hand, and gave him books. Merrick liked talk-ing to these people, and he began to forget about his uglybody. His visitors never laughed at him. He began to feel like a man, not a creature.

One wonderful day, a very important lady came to the hospital to visit him. I met the lady, and took her to his room. Then I opened the door, and smiled at him.

Good morning, Joseph, 'I said. 'There is a new visitor to see you today. A very famous lady. '

Merrick stood up beside his table. He did not smile, because his face could not smile, but his eyes looked happy.

That's good, 'he said. 'Who is it？'

I moved away from the door, and the visitor walked in. 'Your Majesty, this is Joseph Merrick, 'I said. 'Joseph, this is Her Majesty, Queen Alexandra, the Queen of England. '

Queen Alexandra smiled at him. 'How do you do, Mr Merrick, 'She said. 'I'm very pleased to meet you. 'Then she shook his hand.

Merrick did not move. For nearly half a minute he stood and looked at her with his mouth open. Then he spoke, in his strange, slow voice.

How… how do you do, Your Majesty, 'he said. But I don't think the Queen understood him, because he tried to get down on his knees at the same time. It was very difficult for him, because of his enormous legs.

No, please, Mr Merrick, do get up, 'said the Queen. 'I would like to talk to you. Can we sit at your table？'

Yes…yes, of course, 'he said. They sat at the table. She took his left hand, the good hand, in hers. She looked at the hand carefully, and then smiled at Merrick again.

I often read about you in the newspapers, 'she said. 'You are a very interesting man, Mr Merrick. You have a very difficult life, but people say you're happy. Is it true？ Are you happy now？'

Oh, yes, Your Majesty, yes! 'said Merrick. 'I'm a very happy man! I have a home here now, and friends, and my books. I'm happy every hour of the day! '

What a wonderful story! 'she said. 'I'm very pleasedto hear it Now, tell me about your reading. I see you have a lot of books here. '

Oh, yes, Your Majesty. I love my books, 'said Merrick. And for nearly half an hour they sat and talked about books. The Queen gave him a little book, and some red flowers, before she left.

After her visit, Merrick began to sing. He could not sing easily, of course, because of his mouth, but all that day there was a strange, happy noise in his room. He looked at the flowers carefully, and put them on his table.

He had many visits from the Queen, and at Christmas she sent him a Christmas card.

Windsor Castle

20th December 1888

Dear Joseph,

Here is a small Christmas present for you. I think it looks like me, doesn't it？I do like visiting you very much, and I am going to come to the hospital again in the New Year.

Happy Christmas!

Your friend

Alexandra

The present was a picture of Queen Alexandra, with her name on it. Merrick cried over it, and put it carefully by the bed in his room. Then he sat down and wrote a letter to the Queen. It was the first letter of his life.

The London Hospital

23rd December 1888

My dear Queen,

Thank you very, very, much for your wonderful card and the beautiful picture. It is the best thing in my room, the very best, the most beautiful thing I have. This is the first Christmas in my life, and my first Christmas present. Perhaps I had a Christmas with my mother once, but I do not remember it. I have my mother's picture too, and she is beautiful, like you. But now I know many famous ladies and kind people like Dr Treves, and I am a very happy man. I am happy too because I am going to see you in the New Year.

Happy Christmas to you, my dear friend,

With all my love,

Joseph Merrick

■ 5 一位重要的來訪者

我不願麥裡克獨自居住，就像一個燈塔守望人那樣。他看書，也和我聊天，但我卻想讓他與更多的人甚至婦女們交談。麥裡克在書中讀到過有關婦女的事，可他不常與婦女們說話。他每天都與護士接觸，可她們不常與他說話，在她們的眼裡，他始終是一個怪物而不是一個男人。

有一天，我的一位朋友，一位年輕漂亮的女子來到了醫院，我告訴她有關麥裡克的全部情況，並把她領到他的房間。她朝他微笑著問候：“早上好，麥裡克先生。”她走上前握住他的手。麥裡克張著嘴朝她看著，然後坐到床上捂著頭哭了起來。他哭了近五分鐘時間，淚水從指縫裡滾落到地上。

我的這位朋友靠近他坐在他的床上，把手放在他的手臂上，什麼也沒說，只是朝他微笑，離開前又與他握手道別。

那天晚上他對我說：“特里維斯博士，那位女士漂亮極了，我的母親曾經朝我微笑過，那是很多年以前的事了。直到現在沒有一個女人朝我笑過，可是這位女士朝我微笑，還握了我的手！一個漂亮的女士朝我微笑，握著我的手！”

第二個星期，我的那位年輕的朋友又來了，與麥裡克談了半個小時。在這個星期以後她又與另一個朋友一道來，她們送給他一些書，和他一起喝了茶。對他來說這比什麼都好，人生中第一次有了一些朋友。他很高興，坐在屋子裡看書，再也不提諸如生活在燈塔裡之類的事了。

人們開始從報紙上看到有關麥裡克的報道，所以他有許多來訪者。每個人都想去看他，許多有身份的女士和紳士們訪問了他，他們朝他微笑，和他握手，送給他許多書。麥裡克喜歡與這些人交談，漸漸忘了自己那醜陋的樣子。他的來訪者從不嘲笑他，他開始覺得自己像個男人了。

一天，天氣非常宜人，一位很有身份的女士來到醫院拜訪他。我遇到這位女士，把她帶到他的房間。我打開門，衝他笑著說：“約瑟夫，早上好！今天有一位新客人來拜訪你，是一位名人！”

麥裡克從桌子旁站了起來。他沒有笑，因為他的臉不會笑，但從他的眼睛裡能看出他很高興。他說：“太好了，是誰？”我將來訪者引進來給他們介紹說：“陛下，這是約瑟夫·麥裡克。約瑟夫，這是陛下，亞歷山德拉王后，當今英國女王。”

亞歷山德拉王后與他握著手，朝他笑著說：“麥裡克先生，你好。見到你非常高興。”

麥裡克沒有移動，站在那裡張著嘴朝她看了約半分鐘之久，然後用一種奇怪的聲音緩緩說道：“噢……陛下，您好！”也不知王后是否聽清了他的話，因為與此同時他想要跪下，給王后請安，但由於他那兩條腿太粗了，他很難跪下。

王后說：“麥裡克先生，請不必這樣，起來吧。我想與你說說話，我們可以在你的桌旁坐坐嗎？”他回答著：“好的，當然可以。”他們都在桌子旁坐下，她拉著他的左手——那隻好手放在她的手裡。她仔細看了看他的手後又朝麥裡克笑笑說：“我常在報紙上看到有關你的情況，你是一個很有趣的人，你生活雖難以自理，但人們說你很幸福，是真的嗎？你現在很幸福嗎？”麥裡克回答說：“嗯，陛下，是的，我是一個很幸福的人，現在我有一個家，有許多朋友，還有許多書。我每時每刻都很愉快。”

她說：“多麼精彩的故事，我非常想聽，請把你讀到的講給我聽，我發現你這兒有許多書。”

他說：“哦，陛下，是的，我喜歡這些書。”他們在那兒就書上的事談了近半個小時。王后離開時送給了他一本小書和一些紅花。

在她來訪以後，麥裡克開始唱歌。儘管他的嘴不能自如地歌唱，但那些日子裡他的房間裡總是迴盪著一種奇怪、幸福的歌聲。他仔細看了看這些花，將它們擺在桌子上。

王后多次拜訪他，聖誕節那天她送給他一張聖誕卡片：

親愛的約瑟夫：

給你一個小小的聖誕禮物，我想你見到這就如同見到我一樣，是嗎？我很喜歡拜訪你，我將在新年那天去醫院看你。

祝聖誕快樂！

你的朋友 亞歷山德拉

1888年12月 20日於溫莎城堡

這份禮物是亞歷山德拉王后的一張照片，上面有她的名字。麥裡克喜不自禁，把它放在房間裡他的床邊，然後坐下來給王后寫信。這是他有生以來寫的第一封信：

親愛的王后：

您好！

非常感謝您給我精美的卡片和漂亮的照片，這是我房間裡最好的東西，也是我所擁有的最好最漂亮的東西。我有生以來過第一個聖誕節，這是我的第一個聖誕節禮物。也許我曾與母親一起度過一個聖誕節，但我已記不住了。我也有一張母親的照片，她很漂亮，像你一樣。現在我認識許多有名望的女士和好心腸的人們，他們都像特里維斯博士一樣，我是一個很幸福的人。我很高興將在新年裡再次見到你。

祝我親愛的朋友聖誕節愉快！

你的朋友 約瑟夫·麥裡克

1888年12月 23日於倫敦醫院