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[00:01.45]Chapter 5 An Important Visitor
[00:06.52]I did not want Merrick to live by himself,
[00:09.96]like a man in a lighthouse.
[00:13.08]He read his books, and talked to me,
[00:16.50]but I wanted him to talk to more people.
[00:19.90]And I wanted him to talk to women.
[00:24.21]Merrick read about women in his books,
[00:28.21]but he did not often talk to women.
[00:31.60]He met the nurses every day,
[00:34.33]but they did not talk to him very much.
[00:37.48]For them, he was always a creature, not a man.
[00:43.11]One day, one of my friends,
[00:46.88]a beautiful young woman, came to the hospital.
[00:51.39]I told her about Merrick, and took her to his room.
[00:56.68]She opened the door, and smiled at him.
[01:01.53]'Good morning, Mr Merrick, 'she said.
[01:05.11]Then she shook his hand.
[01:08.05]Merrick looked at her for a minute with his mouth open.
[01:13.36]Then he sat down on his bed,
[01:15.90]with his head in his hand, and cried.
[01:20.36]He cried for nearly five minutes.
[01:23.72]The tears ran down his face,
[01:26.73]between his fingers, and onto the floor.
[01:31.10]My friend sat on the bed beside him
[01:34.71]and put her hand on his arm.
[01:37.86]She said nothing, but she smiled at him
[01:42.19]and shookhis hand again before she left.
[01:46.85]'Dr Treves, 'he said to me that night.
[01:52.62]'That lady was wonderful!
[01:57.08]My mother smiled at me once,
[02:00.74]many years ago, but no women smile at me now.
[02:08.28]But this lady smiled at me too,
[02:12.93]and she shook my hand!
[02:16.57]A beautiful lady smiled at me and shook my hand! '
[02:24.99]My young lady friend came again the next week,
[02:29.68]and talked to Merrick for half an hour.
[02:34.34]The week after that, she came again with a friend.
[02:40.10]They gave him some books, and had a cup of tea with him.
[02:45.39]It was wonderful for him.
[02:48.20]For the first time in his life,
[02:50.49]he had some friends. He was a very happy man.
[02:55.99]He sat in his room, and read his books,
[02:59.53]and said no more about living on a lighthouse.
[03:05.60]People began to read about Merrick in the newspapers,
[03:09.69]So he had a lot of visitors.
[03:12.74]Everybody wanted to see him.
[03:16.00]A lot of important ladies and gentlemen visited him.
[03:20.51]They smiled at him, shook his hand, and gave him books.
[03:26.63]Merrick liked talking to these people,
[03:29.98]and he began to forget about his ugly body.
[03:34.01]His visitors never laughed at him.
[03:37.61]He began to feel like a man, not a creature.
[03:43.18]One wonderful day,
[03:45.25]a very important lady came to the hospital to visit him.
[03:51.15]I met the lady, and took her to his room.
[03:55.38]Then I opened the door, and smiled at him.
[04:00.68]'Good morning, Joseph, 'I said.
[04:04.56]'There is a new visitor to see you today.
[04:07.96]A very famous lady. '
[04:11.58]Merrick stood up beside his table.
[04:15.33]He did not smile, because his face could not smile,
[04:19.82]but his eyes looked happy.
[04:22.84]'That's good, 'he said. 'Who is it?'
[04:29.55]I moved away from the door,
[04:32.11]and the visitor walked in.
[04:35.32]'Your Majesty, this is Joseph Merrick, 'I said.
[04:41.17]'Joseph, this is Her Majesty, Queen Alexandra, the Queen of England. '
[04:50.04]Queen Alexandra smiled at him.
[04:54.52]'How do you do, Mr Merrick, 'She said.
[04:58.52]'I'm very pleased to meet you. '
[05:01.73]Then she shook his hand.
[05:04.92]Merrick did not move.
[05:08.35]For nearly half a minute he stood
[05:11.30]and looked at her with his mouth open.
[05:14.86]Then he spoke, in his strange, slow voice.
[05:20.14]'How… how do you do, Your Majesty, 'he said.
[05:30.14]But I don't think the Queen understood him,
[05:33.45]because he tried to get down on his knees at the same time.
[05:38.81]It was very difficult for him,
[05:41.42]because of his enormous legs.
[05:45.17]'No, please, Mr Merrick, do get up, 'said the Queen.
[05:50.70]'I would like to talk to you.
[05:54.17]Can we sit at your table?'
[05:57.56]'Yes…yes, of course, 'he said.
[06:03.81]They sat at the table.
[06:06.80]She took his left hand, the good hand, in hers.
[06:11.97]She looked at the hand carefully,
[06:14.74]and then smiled at Merrick again.
[06:19.21]'I often read about you in the newspapers, '
[06:22.49]she said. 'You are a very interesting man,
[06:26.79]Mr Merrick. You have a very difficult life,
[06:31.76]but people say you're happy. Is it true?
[06:36.63]Are you happy now?'
[06:39.52]'Oh, yes, Your Majesty, yes! 'said Merrick.
[06:46.10]'I'm a very happy man!
[06:49.92]I have a home here now, and friends, and my books.
[06:57.08]I'm happy every hour of the day! '
[07:03.26]'What a wonderful story! 'she said.
[07:07.42]'I'm very pleasedto hear it Now, tell me about your reading.
[07:14.92]I see you have a lot of books here. '
[07:18.43]'Oh, yes, Your Majesty. I love my books, 'said Merrick.
[07:28.32]And for nearly half an hour they sat and talked about books.
[07:35.23]The Queen gave him a little book,
[07:40.57]and some red flowers, before she left.
[07:45.61]After her visit, Merrick began to sing.
[07:50.98]He could not sing easily,
[07:52.70]of course, because of his mouth,
[07:55.56]but all that day there was a strange,
[07:59.23]happy noise in his room.
[08:03.19]He looked at the flowers carefully,
[08:06.18]and put them on his table.
[08:10.11]He had many visits from the Queen,
[08:13.27]and at Christmas she sent him a Christmas card.
[08:19.42]Windsor Castle
[08:21.65]20th December 1888
[08:26.78]Dear Joseph,
[08:29.32]Here is a small Christmas present for you.
[08:33.85]I think it looks like me, doesn't it?
[08:37.69]I do like visiting you very much,
[08:41.79]and I am going to come to the hospital again in the New Year.
[08:47.08]Happy Christmas!
[08:49.16]Your friend
[08:50.78]Alexandra
[08:54.41]The present was a picture of Queen Alexandra,
[08:57.85]with her name on it.
[09:00.30]Merrick cried over it,
[09:02.97]and put it carefully by the bed in his room.
[09:07.85]Then he sat down and wrote a letter to the Queen.
[09:12.77]It was the first letter of his life.
[09:18.51]The London Hospital
[09:21.11]23rd December 1888
[09:26.99]My dear Queen,
[09:30.07]Thank you very, very, much for your wonderful card
[09:35.54]and the beautiful picture.
[09:39.15]It is the best thing in my room, the very best,
[09:44.37]the most beautiful thing I have.
[09:49.10]This is the first Christmas in my life,
[09:53.41]and my first Christmas present.
[09:57.62]Perhaps I had a Christmas with my mother once,
[10:02.21]but I do not remember it.
[10:06.18]I have my mother's picture too,
[10:09.93]and she is beautiful, like you.
[10:14.23]But now I know many famous ladies and kind people like Dr Treves,
[10:21.47]and I am a very happy man.
[10:25.84]I am happy too because I am going to see you in the New Year.
[10:33.80]Happy Christmas to you, my dear friend,
[10:39.43]With all my love,
[10:42.71]Joseph Merrick