Chapter 11 Dr Lanyon's Story

On the ninth of January, four days ago, I, Dr Hastie Lanyon, received a letter in the evening post. My name and address on the envelope were in the handwriting of my old school friend, Dr HenryJekyll.

I was surprised by this because we did not often write. We met often for dinner and I could not think of anything important enough for a letter.

This was the letter:

9 December 1881

Dear Lanyon, 
 You are one of my oldest' friends. If, one day, you

ever say to me, 'Jekyll, my life, my good name, my mind are in danger, ' I will do everything to help you.

Now, Lanyon, my life, my good name and my mind are all in great danger. If you don't help me tonight, I amfinished.

I ask you to do this after you have read this letter. Drive straight to my house. Poole, my servant, is waiting for you. He will take you to the door of the room above my workroom. I want you to go in alone. Open the

cupboard with the letter " E " on the left — break the lock if necessary. Pull out the fourth drawer from the top. Inside it there are some chemicals, a bottle, and a notebook. Please take the drawer to your house.

At midnight, please be alone in your office. A man will come. Give him the drawer. That is all that I ask

you to do. Five minutes after that, you will understand how important this is to me. I do not believe that you will fail me. I am sure that you will do this.

With all my thanks, 
 H.J.

I was sure that the doctor was mad. But until that was proved, I

had to complete his request. I got a taxi and went immediately to Jekyll's house. The servant was waiting there for me; he, too, had a

letter with his orders from Dr Jekyll.
 The cupboard with the letter " E" on it was not locked. I

took out the drawer, covered it with a cloth, and brought it back to my house.

When I was home again, I looked at the things in the drawer. They were what Jekyll described. But it soon became clear that the chemicals were prepared by Jekyll and not by a chemist. I opened one of the packets and found something white. It looked like salt, but it wasn't. I next looked at a small bottle of blood-red liquid. I opened it, and it smelled very strongly. I could not name the smell, but it was very unpleasant.

There was very little in the notebook except dates. There was sometimes a word or two after the date; 'Double' is an example, and once, early in the list, 'Completely failed!!! ' I could only guess their meanings. How did these things help me to do anything for the life, the good name or the mind of the doctor? It looked like the work of a madman.

'And why couldn't Jekyll's messenger go to Jekyll's house and get these things? ' I thought.'Why did I have to go for him? '

•

I sent my servants to bed, and at midnight I was waiting alone in my office with the drawer — and a gun.

There was a quiet knock at the door. I opened it. I found a small man trying to stay in the dark shadows.

'Are you from Dr Jekyll? ' I asked.

He made a noise that I understood as 'yes'. I told him to come in. He saw a policeman come into the square on the far side, and he fearfully hurried inside.

This worried me a little, and I kept my hand on the gun in my pocket. I took him into the bright light ofthe office, and there I studied my visitor. He was a stranger to me. He was small, as I have said, and ugly. A n d I noticed that I had a very strong feeling of dislike and sickness. His clothes were expensive and very well- made, but they were too big for him. Unusually, that did not amuse me.

He was worried and excited at the same time.' Have you got it? ' he cried.' Have you got it? '

He put his hand on my arm to shake me. I pushed it off.

'You forget, sir, ' I said, ' that we have not met in the usual way. Please sit down.'

' I am very sorry, Dr Lanyon, ' he said. He sat down. 'You are quite right. Your friend Dr Henry Jekyll sent me here on an important piece of business. And I understand that a drawer

I pointed to the drawer.' There it is, sir, ' I said.

He jumped out of his seat, and almost ran to it. Then he stopped suddenly and put his hand over his heart. His face was white, and I was afraid for his life and his mind.

'You must be calm, ' I said.

He gave me a terrible smile, picked up the drawer, and looked at the things in it. He saw that they were all there.Then he said to me, ' Do you have a glass? '

I gave him what he wanted. He put some of the liquid from the bottle into the glass. Then he put in some of the chemical and mixed the two together. The liquid seemed to get brighter, and began to smell even more strongly than before. My visitor watched it closely, then he put the glass down on the table.

He looked at me carefully. ' Now, will you be sensible? ' he said.' Can I take this glass away without any questions? Or must you have answers? Think carefully before you reply. I can leave now - or you can watch something terribly shocking.'

' I want to see the end of this, ' I said.

' Lanyon, ' he said.' Do you remember your promise when you became a doctor of medicine? This is a secret. Remember your promise, and keep it a secret.'

He put the glass to his mouth and drank the liquid - all of it. I watched him. With a cry, he reached for the table and nearly fell down. His eyes opened wide and strange noises came from his mouth.

Then he began to change.

He seemed to get bigger. His face suddenly went black, and parts of it moved - like liquid.

I was frightened, and I jumped back against the wall, away from him. I put a hand to my mouth.' Oh, God! ' I heard myself crying, again and again.

There, in front of my eyes - pale and shaking, like a man back from death - there was HenryJekyll!

I just cannot write down the things that he told me in the next hour. I saw what I saw. I heard what I heard. Now I ask myself, 'Do I believe it? 'And I cannot answer that question.

I cannot sleep. A terrible fear is with me every hour of every day and night. I cannot think about the evil man, and the terrible things that he told me, without fear.

I know that I shall soon die. But I will die without understanding. I can only tell you one thing, Utterson. The evil person in my house that night was a man called Hyde. The murderer of Sir Danvers Carew.The man that every policeman in the country is looking for.

Hastie Lanyon

Then he began to change.

I, Dr Henry Jekyll, was born in the year 1830. My family was rich. I studied to be a doctor. I liked the hard work. Other people soon had a good opinion of me, and I liked that too. I seemed to have a good future in front of me. Everything looked bright and good.

My worst problem was my love of fun. I enjoyed the wild night life too much. Many people have found that a love of fun helps them to enjoy life. I wanted to seem serious, and this did not help. So I was careful to hide this side of my life. In this way, my life became a lie. Even before I finished my studies, I already had a double life. My actions were not serious, but I did not want them to be a part ofmy working life.

The years passed, and I grew older and more sensible. But it was too late to change my double life. And then, through my scientific studies, I learned something important. I learned that man has two sides — a good side and an evil side. I knew that this was true of me. I was honest about it. As a doctor, I tried to learn more and to help sick and suffering people. The other part of me was also honest about its search. Slowly it became clear to me that man is not just one person. He is two people.

' Can I separate the two sides? ' I asked myself. ' Can I make two people - one good, one bad - from a single person? If I can, life will be much easier. The bad person can live in his own bad way, without hurting the good person and people's opinion of him. And the good person's good name will be in no danger because of the other person's bad actions. It seems wrong that we have to live with both persons in the same body'

At that time I was doing some scientific work. I found that some chemicals have a great power. They can change a person's body - they can change its shape, and make it bigger or smaller. I do not want to be too clear about the scientific part of this story.