merrick had a lo of friends now, but he was more like a child than a man. he could read about things, and talk to his visitors, but he could not go out of the hospital by himself. he thought and played like a child.
after christmas, he wanted to go to the theatre. this was very difficult, because i did not want the people in the theatre to see him. but a kind lady from the theatre—mrs kendal—helped us. we bought tickets for a box at the side of the theatre we went to the theatre in a cab with dark windows, and we went into the theatre by a door at the back—the queen's door. nobody saw us.
three nurses sat at the front of the box, and merrick and i sat in the dark behind them. nobody in the theatre could see us, but we could see the play.
it was a children's christmas play. merrick loved it. it was a most wonderful, exciting story. often he laughed, and sometimes he tried to sing like the children in the theatre. he was like a child. for him, everything in the story was true.
once he was very afraid, because the bad man in the play was angry and had a knife. at first merrick wanted to leave the theatre, but i stopped him. then he was very angry with this bad man in the play. he hit his hand on his chair, and stood up and talked to the man. but nobody heard him. when 42the bad man went to prison, merrick laughed.
merrick thought the beautiful young lady in the play was wonderful. he wanted to talk to her too. at the end of the play he was very happy because she married a good young man.
he remembered this play for a long time, and he talked a lot about the people in it. ‘what do you think they did after we left？’he asked me. ‘where do the young lady and the young man live？ what are they doing now？’
‘i don't know, i said. ‘perhaps they live in the country. ’
merrick thought about this for a long time. then he said：‘dr treves, can i go to the country, please？i saw the country once from a train, but i never went there. i often read about it in books. it's very beautiful, isn't it？i would like to see it. ’
the visit to the theatre was difficult but a visit to the country was more difficult. but again, one of his new friends helped us. she had a small house in the country, and merrick could stay in it for the summer, she said.
i took merrick to the country in a train with dark windows, so nobody could see him. then we went in a cab to the country house.
there were a lot of trees near the house, but no people lived near it. a countryman brought food to the house everyday, but no people came near it.
i stayed with him that night. at night, it was very dark 44and quiet. in the morning, hundreds of birds sang in the trees, and everything outside the house was green. merrick walked under the big trees, looking at things happily, and singing his strange song.
i went back to london, but merrick stayed there for six weeks. he was wonderfully happy. every week, he wrote me a letter.
apple tree house,
west wickham,
berkshire.
21st july 1889
dear dr treves,
i had a wonderful day again today, it was very warm, so i walked under the trees and sat by a stream. the water in the stream made a beautiful noise, like singing. did you know that？i listened to it for two hours.
lots of little birds came near me . one had a red body in front, and a brown back. i gave it some bread, and it sat on my hand. a lot of birds are my friends, now.
i watched the fish in the stream, too. they were very exciting, because they move very fast. one minute they were there, and the next minute i couldn't see them. but i waited quietly, and they always came back. i put my hand in the water, but i couldn't touch them.
i met a big dog yesterday. it made a very loud noise, but i was not afraid. i sat down quietly and looked it, and it came and smelt my hand. i saw it again today, and gave it some bread. it likes me now.
i am going to put some flowers from the country in this letter. there are hundreds of flowers here. did you know that？i like the little blue ones best, but they are all beautiful. i have lots of them in my room. i give them water every morning. little flowers are very thirsty, you know!
i am very happy here, doctor, but i want to see you again soon, too.
with love from your friend,
joseph merrick
at the end of the summer he came back to london. he was very well, and his skin looked much better. he talked about the country a lot, but he was happy to see his friends and his books again, too.
现在麦里克有了许多朋友，他像个大男孩，他能通过阅读了解到许多事情，并将这些事告诉他的来访者们。但他不能一个人去到医院以外的地方。
圣诞节后，他想去看戏。这是件很难办的事，因为我不愿剧院里的人们看到他。剧院有一位好心肠的凯恩德尔夫人帮助了我们，给订了一个剧院里靠边上的包厢。我们乘坐窗户闭光的出租马车，从剧院后门进去。没有人看到我们。
三个护士坐在包厢的前方，我和麦里克坐在她们后面的暗处。剧院里无人能看到我们，这样我们可以专心看演出了。
这是一部儿童圣诞剧，麦里克喜欢看。这是一个极精彩并令人激动的故事。他常常笑出声来，有时他也想像剧中的孩子们一样歌唱，他像个孩子似的，在他看来，故事里的每件事都是真实的。
剧中有个坏男人生气地拿着刀，他一度害怕起来，要离开剧院，我拉住了他。他非常生那个坏男人的气，击打着椅子，站起来骂那个坏男人，但无人听见。当那个坏男人被投进监狱时，麦里克高兴地大笑起来。
他觉得剧中那个漂亮的年轻姑娘非常可爱，他想和她讲话。剧终时他很高兴，因为她与一个很好的年轻人结了婚。
他好长时间都没有忘记这出戏，他叙述了许多有关剧中人的事。他问我：“我们离开以后他们怎么办？那个年轻人和那个姑娘在哪儿生活？现在他们在干什么？”我说：“不知道，或许他们住在乡下。”
这件事麦里克想了很久。后来他问我：“特里维斯博士，我可以到乡下去吗？我坐火车时曾看到过乡间，但我从来没去过那里。我在书上读到过有关乡间的事，很美，是不是？我想去看看。”
到剧场都难，去乡间谈何容易。他的一位新朋友又一次给予了帮助。她在乡间有一间小屋子，她说麦里克可以在那儿避暑。
我带着麦里克乘一列窗户不透光的火车来到乡下，没有人看见我们。然后我们又换乘一辆出租马车来到这幢乡间小屋。
房子附近有许多树，但无人住在附近。除了一个村夫每天送食物到这儿，没有其他人来。
那天晚上我与他待在一起。晚上天很黑，但很安静，清晨许多小鸟在树上歌唱。屋子外面一片翠绿。麦里克在树下散步，开心地欣赏着这里的一切，唱着他那奇怪的歌。
我回到了伦敦，麦里克在那儿又待了六个星期，他快活极了。每星期他都给我写一封信：
亲爱的特里维斯博士：
今天我又过得愉快极了，天气非常暖和，我在树下散步，坐在溪旁，溪水流动，就像一曲美妙的音乐，我在这里已听了两个多小时。
许多小鸟儿飞到我的身旁，有一只鸟长着红身褐背。我给它吃面包，它站在我的手上。这些鸟已成了我的朋友。
我还看到溪水中的鱼。真令人惊奇，它们游得快极了，一会在那儿，一会又不见了。我静静地等着，它们总是不停地来回游着。我把手伸进水里，可我摸不着它们。
昨天我碰见一只大狗，它大声地叫着，可我并不害怕。我坐下来静静地朝它看着，它走过来闻闻我的手。今天我又见到了它，还给它吃些面包，现在它很喜欢我。
我准备把乡下的花采摘一些放在信里寄给你，这里有好几百种花。我最喜欢这种小蓝花。当然，这儿所有的花都很好看，我摘了许多放在屋子里，我每天早上给这些花浇水，这些花很渴！
大夫，我在这儿很愉快，但我也想尽快见到你。
非常热爱你的朋友
约瑟夫.麦里克
1889年7月21日于波克郡西维克
哈蒙苹果树庄园
夏季结束时他回到了伦敦。他非常健康，皮肤看上去也好多了。他讲了许多有关乡间的事情，但他也很高兴又见到了许多朋友和书。
