Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus — Page 2

她也可能对他感到厌恶，转而倾心于外貌更为出众的人类男性；她可能会离弃他，而他又将再度孤身一人，因被同类所抛弃而愈加激愤。

She also might turn with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man; she might quit him, and he be again alone, exasperated by the fresh provocation of being deserted by one of his own species.

即便他们离开欧洲，前往新大陆的荒野定居，那恶魔所渴望的那份情感所带来的最初结果之一，便是生育子女，一族魔鬼将在大地上繁衍蔓延，或许会使人类的存续变得岌岌可危、充满恐惧。

Even if they were to leave Europe and inhabit the deserts of the new world, yet one of the first results of those sympathies for which the dæmon thirsted would be children, and a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth who might make the very existence of the species of man a condition precarious and full of terror.

我有权利为了自身的利益，将这诅咒强加于世世代代之上吗？

Had I right, for my own benefit, to inflict this curse upon everlasting generations?

我曾被那被我所造之物的诡辩之词所打动，曾被他那恶魔般的威胁吓得失去理智；但如今，我第一次清醒地意识到我那承诺的罪恶本质。

I had before been moved by the sophisms of the being I had created; I had been struck senseless by his fiendish threats; but now, for the first time, the wickedness of my promise burst upon me;

我不寒而栗，一想到后世子孙可能会咒骂我是他们的祸害——一个为了换取自身的安宁，不惜以整个人类的存亡为代价的自私之人，我便惶恐万分。

I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest, whose selfishness had not hesitated to buy its own peace at the price, perhaps, of the existence of the whole human race.

我浑身颤抖，心神俱失，抬头望去，借着月光，我看见那恶魔正伫立于窗口。

I trembled and my heart failed within me, when, on looking up, I saw by the light of the moon the dæmon at the casement.

他凝视着我——我正坐在那里完成他交付给我的任务——嘴角绽开一丝令人毛骨悚然的狞笑，皱纹因此爬上了他的双唇。

A ghastly grin wrinkled his lips as he gazed on me, where I sat fulfilling the task which he had allotted to me.