07.Chapter 7

　　After I had left the laboratory， I escaped into the country outside the town． I soon felt hungry and thirsty，and my first food was fruit which I found on some trees near a river． I drank from the river and then lay down and went to sleep．

　　At first my eyes and ears did not work very well，but after a while I began to see and hear clearly．

　　One day， snow began to fall． Of course， I had never walked in snow before， and I found that it made my feet very cold． I realized that I needed food and a place to get warm．Soon I saw a small hut where an old man was cooking his breakfast over a fire． When the old man saw me， he shouted loudly and ran away as fast as he could． I did not understand what the man was doing， but I wanted to be near the fire． So I sat down in the warm， and ate the man's breakfast． Then I walked across empty fields for some hours until I reached a village． I went into one of the houses， but there were children inside． They began to scream when they saw me， and their mother fainted． The whole village came to see what was the trouble． Some of the people ran away when they saw me， but the others shouted and threw stones at me．They wanted to kill me． I was badly hurt， but I escaped and ran into the open country．

　　Later， I found an empty hut， which was built against the wall of a small house． I was afraid to go into the house after what had happened in the village， so I hid in the hut． There I was safe， and could escape from the cold， and hide from people who wished to hurt me．

　　And then I found that there was a small hole in the wall between the hut and the house．Through this hole I could see in－to the room next to the hut． Three people lived in the house—a beautiful girl， an old man， and a young man．

　　Day after day I watched the three people．I saw how kind they were to each other． I wanted so much to go into the house and be with them， but I knew I must stay in the hut． I could not forget how the village people had hurt me when I tried to go into the house there．

　　Each night， after the people in the house had gone to bed，I stole some of their food for myself． But soon I realized that the old man was blind． And I realized too that often the three of them did not have enough to eat．I saw the two young people put extra food on the blind man's plate， although they were hungry themselves．

　　When I saw that，I stopped stealing their food．Their life was already hard enough， so I went back to the wild fruit in the woods． I tried to help them in other ways， too．During the night I cut firewood for them， and added it secretly to the wood which the young man had cut during the day． I was very happy to see how much this pleased the young man．

　　After a while I began to understand some of the noises that the people made to each other． The first words that I under－stood were words like ‘fire’， and‘bread’． I also learnt that the three people called each other by names． The girl was Agatha， the young man was Felix， and the old man was called Father． I tried to make the noises that they made， and slowly I began to speak．

　　The two young people were very beautiful． One day I saw my own face in the water of the river． It was a terrible face．I understood why people were frightened， why they shouted and threw stones． I knew then that I could not let these beautiful people see me． They would be frightened by my horrible face and body．

　　Summer was coming， and I continued to watch and learn． I also continued to help the two people and their father， and did many jobs for them in the night． They were always surprised in the morning when they saw what I had done． I heard them talk about the ‘good creature’ who did these‘wonderful’things．

　　But the family were often sad， and I wished I could make them happy．I looked forward to the time when I could speak well enough to talk to them． And I was happy because I was sure I would soon have three good friends．