Dracula
Bram Stoker

Count Dracula's Castle
Chapter One

• Chapter 1 Count Dracula's Castle Jonathan Harker's diary, the 3rd of May, bestrits.

• I left Munich at 8.35 in the evening on the 1st of May, and I arrived early the next morning.

• My train was an hour late, so I didn't have a lot of time to visit Budapest, but it's a lovely place.

• The west meets the east here.

• Some of the places in the town are almost Turkish.

• The bridges over the river Danube are beautiful.

• The following morning we left on time.

• We arrived in Klausenburg late in the evening.

• I stayed the night at the hotel royal.

• I had an excellent dinner, chicken with hot red pepper.

• I asked the waiter about it.

• It's a national dish called Paprika Handel.

• I must ask for the recipe.

• I want to give it to Mina.

• I'm going to meet an important man.

• He lives in Castle Dracula.

• He's a Count.

• The Castle is in the east of the country.

• It's between Transylvania, Moldavia and Bukhulvina.

• It's in the middle of the Carpathian Mountains.

• I'm going to his castle tomorrow.

• The Count wants to buy a house in England.

• Mr. Hawkins, my employer, has sent me here.

• We found a large house for the Count.

• It's in the village of Carfax.

• I have some drawings to show the Count.

• I also took some photographs with my Kodak.

• It's quite an old house, but Mr. Hawkins says it's perfect for the Count.

• I hope Count Dracula likes it.

• I didn't sleep very well after my dinner.

• My bed was comfortable, but I had a lot of strange dreams.

• A dog was howling under my window.

• It howled for a lot of the night.

• I was also very thirsty, perhaps because of the Paprika.

• I had more Paprika for breakfast in a dish called Implitata.

• It was also very good.

• I must ask for the recipe for this dish, too.

• After breakfast, I went to the station.

• My train was at eight o 'clock.

• The journey was beautiful.

• We passed small towns, castles, hills and rivers.

• It was early evening when I arrived here in Bistret.

• An old lady at the Golden Corner Hotel was expecting me.

• She gave me a letter from Count Dracula.

• It has directions for my journey tomorrow.

• The fourth of May.

• I'm writing this while I'm waiting for the coach.

• The coach is going to take me to Count Dracula's castle.

• This morning, I asked the old lady and her husband about Count Dracula.

• I asked about his castle.

• They looked very frightened.

• Then they made the sign of the cross several times.

• They said that didn't know anything.

• They didn't want to talk about it.

• A little later, the old lady came to speak to me.

• Do you have to go, sir?

• Do you have to go?

• Tomorrow is St.

• George's Day.

• Tonight, at midnight, all the bad things in the world will happen.

• You don't understand.

• Don't go, sir.

• Please wait until after St.

• George's Day.

• Then she took a cross from her neck.

• For your mother, she said.

• And she put the cross around my neck.

• It was very strange.

• I must ask the Count about it.

• Ah, here's the coach.

• Goodbye for now.

• The fifth of me, the castle.

• I got on the coach and waited for the driver.

• He was talking to the old lady.

• They were talking about me.

• I didn't understand a lot of what they said, so I opened my little language dictionary.

• The words I heard didn't make me feel very happy.

• I heard Strigoica, which...

• Then Vrolok and Volkoslok, Wolf or Vampire.

• I must ask the Count about this too.

• When the coach left, there were a lot of people at the coach station.

• They all made the sign of the cross.

• Then they pointed two fingers towards me.

• Again, I didn't feel very happy.

• I asked another passenger about this.

• He said that it was a sign against evil.

• The people wanted to protect me.

• But why?

• I didn't understand.

• This journey was also very beautiful.

• The fields were green and the apple trees and cherry trees were full of flowers.

• In the distance, we could see the snowy mountains.

• The coach driver drove very fast.

• But sometimes the road was difficult.

• These hills are difficult for the horses.

• I said to the driver.

• At home, we usually walk if the horses have problems.

• Why don't we walk?

• But the driver didn't want us to walk.

• The dog's here are evil, he said.

• It's too dangerous to walk.

• It began to get dark.

• The driver stopped for a moment.

• He lit the lamps on the coach.

• Then we started again.

• He was driving even more quickly.

• He seemed frightened of something.

• The horses seemed tired, but the driver didn't stop.

• He went faster and faster.

• We were getting near to my meeting place.

• The place where I had to meet Count Dracula's driver.

• When we arrived, it was completely dark.

• There was no one there.

• All the other passengers wanted me to stay on the coach.

• They wanted me to go to Bucovina.

• Then there was a sound in the distance.

• It was the sound of horses.

• We could see lights too.

• Count Dracula's coach was coming.

• The Count's driver got down from the coach.

• He was a tall man with a large black hat.

• His hat covered his face.

• But I could see his eyes.

• They looked red in the light from our lamps.

• He went towards our driver and said, Why are you so early?

• Did you want to miss me?

• Don't you want the gentleman to come with me?

• He smiled.

• It was a hard smile.

• He had very thin lips and very sharp white teeth.

• Our driver seemed afraid and he didn't answer.

• I got on to the Count's coach.

• The Count's driver helped me.

• I could see that he was incredibly strong.

• The four huge black horses started off very fast.

• I was cold.

• I was also a little afraid.

• The driver put a coat around me and we went on into the night.

• I looked at my watch in the light from the lamps.

• It was nearly midnight.

• In the distance I heard a wolf howl.

• Then another and another.

• It got louder and louder.

• I was afraid and the horses were afraid too.

• The driver spoke to them and they became quiet.

• He wasn't afraid.

• It got colder and colder.

• Snow started to fall.

• Suddenly in the distance I saw a blue light.

• The driver saw it too.

• He got down from the coach and went towards the light.

• He held up his hand.

• The wolves stopped howling.

• Then strangely the wolves disappeared.

• We drove on.

• Then I saw it.

• The castle in the distance.

• Count Dracula's castle.

• The horses took us to the front of the castle.

• It was huge, dark and frightening.

• The driver helped me down from the coach.

• Again I saw that he was very strong.

• He put my bags down next to me.

• Then he disappeared with the coach and horses.

• I was alone.

• I was alone in front of the huge castle door.

• I stood in silence and looked for a bell.

• I couldn't see one.

• I was frightened.

• I didn't know what to do.

• What kind of place was this?

• Where was I?

• I waited and waited.

• It seemed like a very long time.

• Then I heard something.

• Someone was coming to the door.

• Slowly the huge door opened.

• A tall man stood in front of me.

• He was holding a lamp.

• He had a long white moustache and was very pale.

• He was dressed completely in black.

• He spoke to me in excellent English.

• Welcome to my home.

• Please come in.

• Then he shook my hand.

• His hands were incredibly strong.

• It almost hurt me.

• Count Dracula I asked.

• Yes, I'm Dracula.

• Welcome to my home Mr. Harker.

• Come in.

• The night is cold and you're probably tired and hungry.

• Then he picked up my bags and I followed him.

• He took me up the stairs and along a long corridor.

• More stairs.

• Then along another corridor.

• The castle seemed dark and depressing.

• At the end of the second corridor he opened a huge door.

• Here.

• This is your room.

• I hope you'll be comfortable.

• I was happy to see the room was full of light.

• There was a beautiful fire.

• Thank you.

• I'm sure I will be, I said.

• Now when you're ready, please come downstairs for supper.

• The count left me.

• I washed and I changed my clothes.

• Then I went downstairs to have something to eat.

• The food was excellent.

• There was some chicken, some cheese and some salad.

• The count didn't eat anything.

• I had my supper before you arrived.

• He said, When I ate my supper I looked at the count.

• He was tall with a thin sharp nose.

• He had a lot of hair on his head.

• But he also had hair on his hands.

• His face was pale and his lips were blood red.

• His teeth were very white and very sharp.

• Two of them were longer.

• These two teeth came over his lips.

• They looked like a dog's teeth.

• He looked very strange.

• And now you must go to bed, said the count.

• Sleep for as long as you want.

• In the distance we could hear the wolves howling.

• Listen to them.

• Listen to the music they make.

• They're like the children of the night, said the count.

• I was surprised.

• I didn't like the sound of the wolves.

• The seventh of May.

• I had a good day yesterday.

• I woke up late and went downstairs.

• Breakfast was ready.

• There was a note on the table.

• I have to go away for some time today.

• Enjoy your breakfast.

• Do not wait for me. D.

• After breakfast I looked around the castle.

• It's a very strange place.

• A lot of the doors are locked.

• It's very quiet.

• The only sounds I hear are the sounds of the wolves.

• In some rooms there's some beautiful furniture.

• And there are some beautiful pictures.

• In other rooms some of the furniture is dirty and old.

• I haven't seen any servants.

• Strangely there are no mirrors in the castle.

• I used my small travel mirror to shave this morning.

• This afternoon I found a kind of library.

• I was very happy to find some English books in there.

• The count says I can use the library at any time.

• I can also go into any rooms in the castle.

• Except the rooms which are locked.

• In the evening he asked me about the great house in Carfax.

• I told him about it.

• I showed him my Kodak photographs of it.

• It's not a very nice place.

• It's old and big and a little bit depressing.

• It has an old chapel in the gardens.

• There's a psychiatric hospital near it.

• But there aren't many houses.

• The count thinks that's a good thing.

• He doesn't like places which are full of people.

• He likes old places.

• He seems happy with it.

• I still think he's a very strange man.

• Again we talked until late.

• Again I had my supper alone.

• The count didn't eat with me.

• The eighth of me.

• I woke up late this morning.

• I seemed to be living my life at night, not during the day.

• While I was shaving, the count came into my room.

• I was surprised so I cut myself.

• I couldn't see him in the mirror.

• I turned around and he saw the blood on my face.

• He tried to attack me.

• He seemed to want my blood.

• Then his hand touched the cross on my neck.

• He moved back.

• Almost immediately he became calm.

• Then he surprised me again.

• He took my mirror and threw it out of the window.

• It broke into a thousand pieces.

• Now how am I going to shave?

• I had my breakfast alone.

• The count wasn't there.

• It's strange.

• I've never seen him eat or drink.

• After breakfast I looked around the castle some more.

• It's on the edge of a very high cliff.

• Below it there's a huge forest.

• More importantly there isn't an exit.

• All the doors are locked.

• The only way out is through the very high windows.

• An impossible exit.

• It's a prison.

• And I'm a prisoner.

• I'm a prisoner here.