CHAPTER ONE

Jonathan Harker's Journal

3 May—After a long journey by train, I finally made it to Budapest. It is a very nice city with one of the most beautiful bridges in Europe. The little bit of German I can speak has been very helpful so far. It was quite difficult finding my way to the region of Transylvania, because the maps for this area are so undeveloped. I'm now in the town of Bistritz, which, I believe, is very near my destination: Castle Dracula, the home of Count Dracula.

As suggested by the Count, I got a room at the Golden Krone Hotel. The landlady there was a kindly, old woman. She had a letter for me from the Count:

Dear friend, I look forward to meeting you tomorrow in the evening. I have arranged for you to be brought to the Borgo Pass in the afternoon. One of my men will meet you there and bring you the rest of the way to my home.

Dracula

4 May—This morning the landlady became frightened after I told her where I was going. She grew very quiet for a while, but then, just as I was preparing to go, she began to insist that I stay.

"Tomorrow is St. George's Day. That means that tonight, at twelve o'clock, all the horrible spirits and evil people will come out!"

"I'm sorry, but I must go," I answered, "I have urgent business with Count Dracula."

Her face changed from frightened to sad, and then she gave me her cross to wear around my neck. I accepted it out of politeness. I have to say, her behavior made me a little afraid.

5 May—Still on my way to the Castle. When I left yesterday, it seemed like the whole town of Bistritz had gathered to watch me go. They seemed afraid for me. And when I looked up what I heard them saying in my little dictionary, I found such words as "devil" "evil", and "vampire".

The carriage driver drove us very quickly through the countryside. He seemed eager to get me to Borgo Pass. The beautiful Carpathian Mountains surrounded us. Occasionally,along the road, we would pass the people of the countryside. Every time, they made the sign of the cross toward our carriage. When the sun went down, my carriage companions began to look worried. They continually asked the driver to go faster. I wanted to get out and walk a little, but they told me it was quite dangerous because of the many wild dogs in the area. As we drove faster down the road, the carriage began to move violently side to side. It felt like it could break at any moment.

When we entered the Borgo Pass, my companions made the sign of the cross in my direction and wished me good luck. I could see from their faces that they truly felt sorry for me. Up ahead, there was no one waiting for me. I began to fear that something had gone wrong and that my business with the Count would be made impossible. Then, suddenly, from out of the darkness of the night, a black carriage appeared, coming quickly toward us. It pulled up next to our carriage and its driver immediately asked for my bags. I could not see his face clearly, but his eyes seemed strangely red. And when he spoke, I noticed that his teeth were very white and more pointed than usual.

I climbed out and boarded the black carriage. Immediately, the driver whipped his horses into a mad run. As we raced down the narrow road, it seemed that the view outside of my window kept repeating itself again and again. The further we went, the colder the air seemed to get, until it actually began to snow. In the distance, wild dogs began to yell a long and seemingly painful cry. Soon the entire countryside was filled with these sounds. I looked at my watch and found that it was nearly midnight. I remembered the words of the landlady in Bistritz and suddenly became very uncomfortable.

As we drove along, the dogs seemed to be getting closer to us. Then I noticed a blue fire appear alongside the road. The driver quickly stopped the carriage, jumped down from it, and ran to where the flame was burning. He picked up several rocks and then put them together in a certain way. The shape of the flame suddenly changed and the driver stared into it for a moment.

I could hear sounds all around the carriage just then. In the moonlight, I became aware of the presence of a large pack of wolves, which had surrounded us. They were slowly moving forward and showing their teeth. Every once in a while, they would, together, raise their heads toward the moon and let out a horrible cry. I shouted to the driver to return. He remained staring into the flame for a few minutes more. Meanwhile, the horses were becoming increasingly afraid of the approaching wolves. Eventually, the driver returned to the carriage. With a single wave of his arm, he sent the wolves running away from us and then, again, boarded the carriage. Several minutes later we were driving through the large doors of a very large and very old castle.

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