Utterson's Testament
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This narrative is from a collection of papers found in the library of my great-grandfather. During the allocation of his estate I was given the unenviable task of sorting through his extensive library, and this is where I chanced upon it. The letter was quite unheralded and, having been separated at some point from the rest of his journal, lay DPRQJ LQYRLFHV DQG WKH OLNH DW WKH ERWWRP RI D GUDZHU $OWKRXJK KLV ZLOO PDGH QR VSHFLĂ€F UHIHUHQFHV WR WKH WH[W , felt it was worthy of publication. William Fraser, Glasgow, 2006. __________________________________________________________________________________
Many years ago I took a trip to the countries of the Mediterranean. The trip, made in order to catalogue the movements of various creatures in their natural habitat, was at the behest of my department and, although the work was at times lonely and tedious, I was afforded the opportunity to sample some of the world’s finest wines in the local tavernas during my stay. What is held as the countryside of these lands is in fact no countryside at all, not in the traditional sense. There are no rolling pastures, no lush oceans of grass pleasantly speckled by herbivores. There are only barren landscapes populated by such ghastly, alien creatures as to make a man long for sheep. Spending several days alone among the undulating sandhills, one began to wonder whether the voice heard by Christ was the devil’s, or his own. I sought solace from solitude in whisky. There is no pride in that, it is true; but the laughing desert looked softer when viewed through the amber prism of a bottle. It was during an evening of drink in the least salubrious den imaginable that the man approached me. He was accompanied by a quite beautiful young girl, and I must confess it was she who first aroused my interest; I had been some time from my wife’s side, God rest her soul. Ignoring my solicitous stares the man sat, clutched my forearm and whispered hurriedly of a message. Alcohol sadly fogs the memory of his exact words, but I can remember clearly the fervour in his eyes, a spark of crimson dancing in the centre of each gaping pupil. He pressed a crumpled parchment into my fingers and stood suddenly, took the girl about the waist and was gone. The silence after the door had closed behind him seemed to wake me from a reverie. I looked at the scribbled text he had forced on me with trepidation, for I had no desire to ferry messages on behalf of criminals. I feel wrong now for my assumptions on this matter, the only mitigation I can offer is that the man had the most criminal bearing I have ever encountered; a furtive, hunted look that suggested he had committed an act worthy of disapproval. His text demonstrated that this was not the case. When I received it, the narrative was in badly fractured Portuguese (though we were in Greece), and my limited knowledge of that language enabled only a surface reading. But this was enough to convince me that some greater truth lay on the page, and I have endeavoured to translate the piece since my return. I present it now, with the modest hope that it will enlighten readers to the nature of what we consider as fiction, and prevent further acts of what could be considered literary piracy. H. Fraser Fraser Bros. Publishing Glasgow 1900 __________________________________________________________________________________
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There now follows a passage in which I have committed to substantially rewriting part of the original text of The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 7KH QRYHOOD ÀUVW DSSHDUHG LQ WKH HDUO\ SDUW RI VRPH years following the events on which it was so loosely based, and the damage done since to both myself and my associates is without comparison. I have chosen the passage I feel has been most damaging to the hitherto unblemished reputation of my associate and friend, although it should be stated from the outset that this section alone does not encompass the full extent of the author’s treachery; for to plainly and consistently state throughout that Edward Hyde is possessed of a marked deformity is an outrageous and aggressively xenophobic suggestion. It is true that his face is not the shape of most men, it being broader in all senses, particularly so in the mouth and nose; but his physical DSSHDUDQFH LV QR PRUH DEQRUPDO WKDQ WKDW RI DQ\ 1HJUR DQG WR GHVFULEH KLP DV œDSH OLNH¡ DQG ÀFWLRQDOO\ UHQGHU his skin white is offensive to both his race and our own. Further to this, it may well be that the nature of the relationship between himself and the most noble Dr Henry Jekyll does not please the palate of society’s majority, but speaking as one of the few who know and love them both I can attest that their union is as pure as any we could wish for ourselves. Of their personal habits and vices I will make no comment, save to say that they are ERWK ÀQH XSVWDQGLQJ PHQ SURDFWLYH LQ WKHLU SKLODQWKURS\ DQG FDUH IRU ERWK WKHLU FRPPXQLW\ DQG LWV LQKDELWDQWV I once met the man with whom responsibility for this slanderous publication lies. There was something displeasing, ay, downright detestable about his person; he instantly gave one the feeling of not having bathed for a number of days, of having a thick layer of grease or scum seeping from one’s pores. Physically he himself looked unclean, somehow crunched and malformed, and gave the impression that he had been worried by insects in the night for many years. More I cannot say, except to add that in all my life if I ever read Satan’s signature upon a face, it was on the face of that man. Over the ensuing period I sought revenge, petty revenge, against the estate of that man; for the opulence in which he now reclined had been bought with our reputation. I offer no penitence for my period of unscrupulous behaviour, save to state that if I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also, and to make plain that I have always, for my part, enjoyed the ministrations of an approving conscience, and that I did the kindness I believed was right for my friends. These past years have been sorely trying on both my character and my sanity, for the revulsion to which we have been subjected should be administered only to the rapist and the traitor. And as to the law! What a lesson I have had! The law truly favours those boasting of wealth and renown; for though I may be, have been, a noted and UHVSHFWHG ODZ\HU RI QRW LQVXEVWDQWLDO PHDQV VXFK DWWULEXWHV ZHUH FOHDUO\ LQVXIÀFLHQW IRU ERUURZLQJ D MXGLFLDO HDU Our pleas are as yet unheard, and it is to this end that I now dictate this narrative, as a means of presenting the truth for the unbiased delectation of the Great British public. 1HDUO\ D \HDU ODWHU LQ WKH PRQWK RI 2FWREHU (GLQEXUJK ZDV VWDUWOHG E\ a crime of singular ferocity and rendered all the more notable by the high and exalted social position of the victim. The details were numerous, and startling. A maid servant living alone in a house not far from the river, had gone upstairs WR EHG DURXQG $OWKRXJK D IRJ UROOHG RYHU WKH FLW\ LQ WKH ZHH KRXUV RI WKH morning, the early part of the night was cloudless, Edinburgh having shed the haar in the late afternoon like an adder leaving his skin. As a result, the cobbled lane of the old town, which the maid’s window overlooked, was brilliantly lit by the full moon. It seems she was romantically given, for she sat down upon her box, which stood immediately under the window, and fell into a dream of musing. 1HYHU VKH XVHG WR VFUHDP WKURXJK ULYHUV RI WHDUV DQG à RRGV RI PXFXV ZKHQHYHU she torturously related that horrid, ghastly and soul destroying experience) never had she felt more at peace with all men or though more kindly of the world. And as she so sat she became aware of a strong and virile young Negro with curled black hair and whirlpool brown eyes, drawing near along the lane; and advancing WR PHHW KLP DQRWKHU DQG YHU\ VPDOO JHQWOHPDQ WR ZKRP DW ÀUVW VKH SDLG OHVV attention, for his bearing bore no worth of scrutiny, his blackened soul was almost visible through his dark eyes, and it was clear he was capable of the most putrid of falsehoods. When the two had come within speaking distance of one another, for they were two separate men, the Negro bowed and accosted the other with a very pretty manner of politeness, and in this act alone the purity of his soul was evident to the maid, for it occurred right under her eyes. It did not seem as if the
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subject of his address was of any great importance (and neither for that matter, his addressee), for by the manner of his pointing it seemed at times as though he was only inquiring after his way; but the moon shone on his face as he spoke, and the girl was pleased to watch it, it seemed to breathe such a kindness and old world disposition, yet with something high too, as of a well founded discontent. Presently her eye wandered to the other, and she was surprised to recognise in him a Mr Stevenson, who had once visited her master and for whom she had instantly conceived an understandable dislike. He had in his hand a heavy cane, ZLWK ZKLFK KH ZDV WULĂ LQJ EXW KH QHYHU DQVZHUHG D ZRUG DQG VHHPHG WR OLVWHQ with a ill-tamed impatience, doubtless storing the information for the purposes of misrepresentation at some point in the near future. And then all of a sudden he EURNH RXW LQ D JUHDW Ă DPH RI DQJHU VWDPSLQJ ZLWK KLV IRRW DQG FDUU\LQJ RQ DV WKH PDLG GHVFULEHG LW WKURXJK ULYHUV RI WHDUV DQG Ă RRGV RI VFUHDPLQJ PXFXV OLNH D PDGPDQ 7KH 1HJUR WRRN D VWHS EDFN D WULĂ H KXUW DQG ZLWK WKH DLU YHU\ PXFK RI one taken completely by surprise, having placed his trust in another human being. At that Mr Stevenson broke out of all bounds and clubbed him to the earth. And next moment with APE-LIKE fury, he was trampling his victims underfoot, and hailing down a storm of blows, under which the bones were audibly shattered and the bodies jumped upon the roadway. At the horror of these sights and sounds the maid fainted. It was two o’clock when she came to herself and called for the police. The murderer was gone long ago, but there lay his victim in the middle of the lane, incredibly mangled, blood splattered the surroundings like so much ink. The implement with which the deed had been done, although it was of some rare and heavy material, had been broken at the nib under the stress of this insensate cruelty; and one splintered section rolled away in the neighbouring gutter, where it belonged. The other part, without doubt, had been carried away by the murderer, that he might wield its evil power against the innocent once more. 7KH FDOO IRU LGHQWLĂ€FDWLRQ IRXQG WKH QRWHG DQG UHVSHFWHG ODZ\HU RI QRW insubstantial means, Mr Utterson, who told the visiting law: ‘I shall say nothing till I have seen the body, this may be very serious. In all likelihood a gentleman’s character has been assassinated, and his life is now forfeit. That is why he had to die, these are the kindnesses true friends bring.’ As soon as Mr Utterson entered the cell containing the body, he nodded. ‘I am sorry to say that is this is Dr Henry Jekyll. He that you seek goes by the name of Stevenson, the responsibility is his and his alone. Clap me in irons if you must, but know that the responsibility is his and his alone.’ J. G. Utterson, H.M.P Strangeways, 7/11/1888
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