| He has managed to get a sparrow, and has already... 719 |
[Jan. 29th, 2010|07:31 am] |
He has managed to get a sparrow, and has already partially tamed itHis means of taming is simple, for already the spiders have diminishedThose that do remain, however, are well fed, for he still brings in the flies by tempting them with his food
19 July--We are progressingMy friend has now a whole colony of sparrows, and his flies and spiders are almost obliteratedWhen I came in he ran to me and said he wanted to ask me a great favour, a very, very great favourAnd as he spoke, he fawned on me like a dog
I asked him what it was, and he said, with a sort of rapture in his voice and bearing, "A kitten, a nice, little, sleek playful kitten, that I can play with, and teach, and feed, and feed, and feed!"
I was not unprepared for this request, for I had noticed how his pets went on increasing in size and vivacity, but I did not care that his pretty family of tame sparrows should be wiped out in the same manner as the flies and spidersSo I said I would see about it, and asked him if he would not rather have a cat than a kitten
His eagerness betrayed him as he answered, "Oh, yes, I would like a cat! I only asked for a kitten lest you should refuse me a catNo one would refuse me a kitten, would they?"
I shook my head, and said that at present I feared it would not be possible, but that I would see about itHis face fell, and I could see a warning of danger in it, for there was a sudden fierce, sidelong look which meant killingThe man is an undeveloped homicidal maniacI shall test him with his present craving and see how it will work out, then I shall know more-I have visited him again and found him sitting in a corner broodingWhen I came in he threw himself on his knees before me and implored me to let him have a cat, that his salvation depended upon it
I was firm, however, and told him that he could not have it, whereupon he went without a word, and sat down, gnawing his fingers, in the corner where I had found himI shall see him in the morning early-Visited Renfield very early, before attendant went his roundsFound him up and humming a tuneHe was spreading out his sugar, which he had saved, in the window, and was manifestly beginning his fly catching again, and beginning it cheerfully and with a good grace
I looked around for his birds, and not seeing them, asked him where they wereHe replied, without turning round, that they had all flown awayThere were a few feathers about the room and on his pillow a drop of bloodI said nothing, but went and told the keeper to report to me if there were anything odd about him during the day-The attendant has just been to see me to say that Renfield has been very sick and has disgorged a whole lot of feathers"My belief is, doctor," he said, "that he has eaten his birds, and that he just took and ate them raw!"
11 pm-I gave Renfield a strong opiate tonight, enough to make even him sleep, and took away his pocketbook to look at itThe thought that has been buzzing about my brain lately is complete, and the theory proved
My homicidal maniac is of a peculiar kindI shall have to invent a new classification for him, and call him a zoophagous (life-eating) maniacWhat he desires is to absorb as many lives as he can, and he has laid himself out to achieve it in a cumulative wayHe gave many flies to one spider and many spiders to one bird, and then wanted a cat to eat the many birdsWhat would have been his later steps?
It would almost be worth while to complete the experimentIt might be done if there were only a sufficient causeMen sneered at vivisection, and yet look at its results today! Why not advance science in its most difficult and vital aspect, the knowledge of the brain?
Had I even the secret of one such mind, did I hold the key to the fancy of even one lunatic, I might advance my own branch of science to a pitch compared with which Burdon-Sanderson's physiology or Ferrier's brain knowledge would be as nothingIf only there were a sufficient cause! I must not think too much of this, or I may be temptedA good cause might turn the scale with me, for may not I too be of an exceptional brain, congenitally?
How well the man reasonedLunatics always do within their own scopeI wonder at how many lives he values a man, or if at only |
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