chapter one the creature in the shop my name is Dr Frederick treves I am a doctor at the London Hospital one day in 1884 I saw a picture in the window of a shop near the hospital I stopped in front of the shop and looked at the picture At first I felt interested then I felt angry then afraid it was a horrible ugly picture there was a man in the picture but he did not look like you and me he did not look like a man he looked like an elephant I read the writing under the picture it said come in and see the Elephant Man two pence I opened the door and went in there was a man in the shop he was a dirty man in an old coat with a cigarette in his mouth what do you want he asked I'd like to see The Elephant Man please I said the man looked at me angrily well you can't he said the shops closing now you can come back tomorrow I'm sorry I said but I would like to see him now I have no time tomorrow I have a lot of work to do but I can give you more than two pence the man looked at me carefully then he took the cigarette out of his mouth and smiled with his yellow teeth all right sir he said give me 12 Pence then I gave him the money and he opened a door at the back of the shop we went into a little room the room was cold and dark and there was a horrible smell in it a creature sat on a chair behind a table I say a creature because it was not a man or a woman like you or me the creature did not move or look at us it sat very quietly on the chair in the cold dark dirty rum and looked at the table the creature had a cloth over its head because of the cold on the table in front of it there was a dead flower stand up said the shopkeeper loudly the creature stood up slowly it took the old cloth off its head and put it on the chair I looked at the creature and felt sad I am a doctor so I know a lot about accidents and ill people I see horrible ugly things every day but this creature this thing was the worst of all there were no men or women in the hospital like him he wore some old trousers but no shut coat or shoes so I could see his body very well his head was the most interesting thing it was very very big like an enormous bag with a lot of books in it the head did not have much hair and there was another bag of brown dirty skin at the back of it this skin came down below his neck I could not see one of his eyes very well because a lot of skin came down in front of his face too an enormous red tooth came out of his mouth under his nose it looked like an elephant's tooth the mouth and nose were like holes in the face the face could not smile or laugh or look angry or sad because the skin could not move it was dead like an elephant's face there were more bags of dirty skin on the front and back of the creature's body these bags came down to his legs the right arm was enormous and there were bags of skin on it too the right hand was like a man's foot but the left hand the left arm and the left hand were beautiful the left arm had wonderful skin and the fingers of the left hand were long and beautiful it was like a young woman's hand walk Merrick said the shopkeeper angrily come on quickly move he hit the creature with his hand slowly the creature walked across the room but he could not walk well his legs were very big and fat and he had a bad back he could not walk far without a stick all right thank you I said let him sit down I don't want to see any more I felt ill and the smell in the room was very bad yes sir said the shopkeeper sit down Merrick we went out of the room and closed the door the shopkeeper smiled at me with his yellow teeth wonderful sir isn't it he said the best Elephant Man in England hundreds of people come to see him you know hundreds I take him all over the country I do yes very interesting I said can I sit down yes sir of course here's a chair he looked at me smiling would you like a glass of water sir yes please I said then I looked at the things in the dirty shop there were two or three bad apples and some old black bananas that was all uh no no thank you I'm all right I said did you did you call the creature Merrick that's right sir Joseph Merrick the best Elephant Man in England I take him all over the country you know lots of people want to see him yes I see do you get a lot of money well sometimes we do sir yes but it's difficult you see sir because of the police the police don't like us you see sir so we can't stay in a town very long we usually move every week yes I see well anyway Mr uh silcoxa Simon silcock yes well Mr silcog I'm a doctor at the London Hospital my name is Dr treves I think this uh this man Joseph Merrick is very interesting and I would like to see him at the hospital I want to look at him more carefully you see yes sir I see but how can he get to the hospital it's going to be difficult why man the hospital's not far from here well yes sir I know but you see Merrick can't walk very well he needs help you can come with him do you want more money is that it well yes sir I do but you see people are afraid of him too in the road little boys always run after him and hit him then the police get angry because people are afraid sometimes they take us to prison I see I said well how can he come to the hospital then bring a cab sir said silkock you can take him to the hospital in a cab chapter 2 the card so next day at seven o'clock I came to the shop in a cab there were not very many people in the road because 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 gray 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 my upper steps 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 derps 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 gentleman I'm a doctor and she's ill take her hand so I can help her better the postman took medic'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 looked 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 trouser's 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 chapter 3. a letter to the times I did not see Merrick again for two years then one day the police found him he had my card in his hand so they brought him to the London Hospital he was very tired hungry and dirty so I put him to bed in a quiet little room but he could not stay at the hospital he was not ill and of course the beds in the hospital offer ill people we have no beds for Hungry people or ugly people I told the hospital chairman Mr cargom about Merrick he listened carefully and then he wrote a letter to the editor of the Times newspaper from the times December the 4th 1886. a letter to the editor dear sir I am writing to you about a man in our Hospital he needs your help his name is Joseph Merrick and he is 27 years old he is not ill but he cannot go out of the hospital because he is very very ugly nobody likes to look at him and some people are afraid of him we call him the Elephant Man two years ago Merrick lived in a shop near the London Hospital for two pence people could see him and laugh at him one day Dr Frederick treves a hospital doctor saw Merrick brought him to this Hospital and looked at him carefully Dr treves could not help Merrick but he gave him his card then the shopkeeper silcock took Merrick to Belgium a lot of people in Belgium wanted to see him and so after a year Merrick had 50 pounds but then silcock took Medics 50 pounds left Merrick in Belgium and went back to London medic came back to London by himself everyone on the train and the ship looked at him and laughed at him in London the police put him in prison but then they saw Dr treves's card and brought medic to the London Hospital this man has no money and he cannot work his face and body are very very ugly so of course many people are afraid of him but he is a very interesting man he can read and write and he thinks a lot he is a good Quiet Man sometimes he makes things with his hands and gives them to the nurses because they are kind to him he remembers his mother and he has a picture of her she was beautiful and kind he says but he never sees her now she gave him to silcock a long time ago can the readers of the times help us this man is not ill but he needs a home we can give him a room at the hospital but we need some money please write to me at the London Hospital Yours Faithfully FC car Gom chairman of the London Hospital the readers of the times are very kind people they gave us a lot of money after one week we had 50 000 pounds so Merrick could live in the hospital for all his life we could give him a hope chapter four Merrick's first home 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 treves 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 dreves he said slowly you and the nurses are very 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 asked why he did not look at me he put the flower on the picture and looked at it carefully lighthouses have sea all around 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 not today 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 and 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 chapter five 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 medic 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 shook his 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 so he 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 talking to these people and he began to forget about his ugly body 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 pleased to 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 the 20th of 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 of 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 chapter six outside the hospital Merrick had a lot of friends now but he was more like a child than a man he could read about things and talk to his visitors but he could not go out of the hospital by himself he thought and played like a child after Christmas he wanted to go to the theater this was very difficult because I did not want the people in the theater to see him but a kind lady from the theater Mrs Kendall helped us we bought tickets for a box at the side of the theater we went to the theater in a cab with dark windows and we went into the theater by a door at the back the Queen's door nobody saw us three nurses sat at the front of the box and Merrick and I sat in the dark behind them nobody in the theater could see us but we could see the play it was a children's Christmas play Merrick loved it it was a most wonderful exciting story often he laughed and sometimes he tried to sing like the children in the theater he was like a child for him everything in the story was true once he was very afraid because the bad man in the play was angry and had a knife at first Merrick wanted to leave the theater but I stopped him then he was very angry with this bad man in the play he hit his hand on his chair and stood up and talked to the man but nobody heard him when the bad man went to prison Merrick laughed Merrick thought the beautiful young lady in the play was wonderful he wanted to talk to her too at the end of the play he was very happy because she married a good young man he remembered this play for a long time and he talked a lot about the people in it what do you think they did after we left he asked me where do the young lady and the young man live what are they doing now I don't know I said perhaps they live in the country Merrick thought about this for a long time then he said Dr treves can I go to the country please I saw the country once from a train but I never went there I often read about it in books it's very beautiful isn't it I would like to see it the visit to the theater was difficult but a visit to the country was more difficult but again one of his new friends helped us she had a small house in the country and Merrick could stay in it for the Summer She said I took medic to the country in a train with dark windows so nobody could see him then we went in a cab to the Country House there were a lot of trees near the house but no people lived near it a countryman brought food to the house every day but no people came near it I stayed with him that night at night it was very dark and quiet in the morning hundreds of Birds Sang in the trees and everything outside the house was Green Merrick walked under the big trees looking at things happily and singing his strange song I went back to London but Merrick stayed there for six weeks he was wonderfully happy every week he wrote me a letter apple tree house West Wickham Berkshire the 21st of July 1889. dear Dr treves I had a wonderful day again today it was very warm so I walked under the trees and sat by a stream the water in the Stream made a beautiful noise like singing did you know that I listened to it for two hours lots of little birds came near me one had a red body in front and a brown back I gave it some bread and it sat on my hand a lot of birds are my friends now I watched the fish in the Stream too they were very exciting because they moved very fast one minute they were there and the next minute I couldn't see them but I waited quietly and they always came back I put my hand in the water but I couldn't touch them I met a big dog yesterday it made a very loud noise but I was not afraid I sat down quietly and looked at it and it came and smelt my hand I saw it again today and gave it some bread it likes me now I am going to put some flowers from the country in this letter there are hundreds of flowers here did you know that I like the little blue ones best but they are all beautiful I have lots of them in my room I give them water every morning little flowers are very thirsty you know I am very happy here doctor but I want to see you again soon too with love from your friend Joseph Merrick at the end of the summer he came back to London he was very well and his skin looked much better he talked about the country a lot but he was happy to see his friends and his books again too chapter 7. the last letter six months later in April 1890 I found him dead in bed he was on his back in bed so at first I thought he was asleep I talked to him but he did not move then I saw that the skin on his face was blue so I knew he was dead he did not usually sleep on his back his enormous head was very heavy so he usually sat up in bed with his arms around his legs and his head on his knees he could sleep well like this but he wanted to sleep on his back like you and me he tried to sleep on his back that night but his heavy head came off the bed and he broke his neck he died very quickly next day the chairman of the London Hospital Mr cargom wrote to the editor of the times again the times April the 16th 1890. dear sir three and a half years ago I wrote to you about a man called Joseph medic this man was called The Elephant Man because he was born with a very ugly body Merrick was not ill but he could not work and he had no money the readers of the times felt sorry for him and they gave me a lot of money for Merrick because of this money we could give America home in the London Hospital it was his first good home and for three and a half years he lived here happily the doctors and nurses of the hospital helped him and many important people visited him he read many books he went to the theater and in the summer he stayed in the country for six weeks because of your reader's money we could give him a happy life last night Joseph Merrick died quietly in his bed he was a man with a very ugly body but he was a good kind man and he had a lot of friends we like to talk to him and we are all very sorry because he is dead a lot of people are going to remember him for a long time there is some money left so I am going to give it to the hospital thank you sir for your help