Chapter 6 6. Outside the hospital

Merrick had many friends now, and he was like a big boy who read and learned a lot and told his visitors about it.But he couldn't go outside the hospital alone. After Christmas, he wanted to go to the theater.It was difficult because I didn't want people in the theater to see him.A kind Mrs. Kanndal at the theater helped us book a side box in the theatre.We entered through the back door of the theatre, in a cab with closed windows.No one sees us. The three nurses sat at the front of the box, and Merrick and I sat in the dark behind them.No one in the theater could see us, so we could concentrate on the show.

It was a children's Christmas play, and Merrick liked to watch it.This is a wonderful and exciting story.He often laughed out loud, and sometimes he wanted to sing like the children in the play, and like a child, everything in the story seemed to him to be true. In the play, there was a bad man holding a knife angrily. He was frightened at one point and wanted to leave the theater, but I stopped him.He was so angry with the bad man that he beat the chair and stood up and cursed the bad man, but no one heard him.Merrick laughed happily when the bad man was thrown in jail. He thought the pretty young girl in the play was so cute that he wanted to talk to her.At the end of the play he was happy because she married a very nice young man.

He did not forget the play for a long time, and he told many things about the people in it.He asked me, "What happened to them when we left? Where did that young man and that girl live? What are they doing now?" I said, "I don't know, maybe they live in the country." Merrick thought about this for a long time.Then he asked me: "Dr. Treves, can I go into the country? I've seen the country on the train, but I've never been there. I've read about the country Beautiful, isn't it? I want to see it. " It is difficult to go to the theater, but it is easier said than done to go to the countryside.A new friend of his helped again.She had a little house in the country where she said Merrick could spend the summer.

I took Merrick out into the country on a train with blacked-out windows, and no one saw us.Then we took a cab to the country house. There are many trees near the house, but no one lives near it.Except for a villager who brought food here every day, no one else came. I stayed with him that night.It was dark at night, but very quiet, and many birds were singing in the trees in the morning.The outside of the house is verdant.Merrick walked under the tree, happily admiring everything here, singing his strange song. I went back to London, and Merrick was there for another six weeks, and he was very happy.Every week he writes me a letter:

Dear Dr. Trevis: I had a great time again today, the weather was very warm, I walked under the trees, sat by the stream, and the water flowed like a beautiful piece of music, which I have been listening to for more than two hours here. Many small birds flew to my side, one bird had a red body and a brown back.I feed it bread and it stands on my hand.These birds have become my friends. I also saw fish in the stream.It's amazing how fast they swim, being there and then gone.I waited quietly, and they kept swimming back and forth.I put my hands in the water, but I can't touch them. Yesterday I met a big dog, it barked loudly, but I was not afraid.

I sat and watched it quietly, and it came to smell my hand.I saw him again today and gave him some bread and now he likes me. I am going to pick some flowers from the countryside and send them to you in a letter. There are hundreds of kinds of flowers here.I like this little blue flower best.Of course, all the flowers here are beautiful, I picked many and put them in the house, I water these flowers every morning, these flowers are very thirsty! Doctor, I am very happy here, but I also want to see you as soon as possible. Very dear to your friend Joseph Merrick Appletree Manor, Harmon, Westwick, Berkshire 21st July 1889 He returned to London at the end of the summer.He is very healthy and his skin looks much better.He told a lot about the country, but he was also glad to see many friends and books again.