DRACULA – Eva

Among struck indeed glimpse width as on

For With midst

Jonathan Harker’s Journal 3 May. Bistritz.—Left Munich at 8:35 P.M., on 1st May, arriving at

Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late. Buda-Pesth

seems a wonderful place, from the …………………. which I got of it from the train and the little I

could walk through the streets. I feared to go very far from the station, as we had arrived late

and would start ………………….. near the correct time as possible. The impression I had was that

we were leaving the West and entering the East; the most western of splendid bridges over

the Danube, which is here of noble ……………….. and depth, took us ………………. the traditions of

Turkish rule. We left in pretty good time, and came after nightfall to Klausenburgh. Here I

stopped ……………….. the night at the Hotel Royale. I had for dinner, or rather supper, a chicken

done up some way with red pepper, which was very good but thirsty. (Mem. get recipe for

Mina.) I asked the waiter, and he said it was called ‘paprika hendl,’ and that, as it was a

national dish, I should be able to get it anywhere along the Carpathians. I found my smattering

of German very useful here, ………………, I don’t know how I should be able to get ……………….

without it. Having had some time at my disposal when in London, I had visited the British

Museum, and made search among the books and maps in the library regarding Transylvania; it

had ………………me that some foreknowledge of the country could hardly fail to have some

importance in dealing …………………. a nobleman of that country. I find that the district he

named is in the extreme east of the country, just on the borders of three states, Transylvania,

Moldavia, and Bukovina, in the ………………… of the Carpathian mountains; one of the wildest

and least known portions of Europe.

Original:

Jonathan Harker’s Journal 3 May. Bistritz.—Left Munich at 8:35 P.M., on 1st May, arriving at

Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late. Buda-Pesth

seems a wonderful place, from the glimpse which I got of it from the train and the little I could

walk through the streets. I feared to go very far from the station, as we had arrived late and

would start as near the correct time as possible. The impression I had was that we were

leaving the West and entering the East; the most western of splendid bridges over the Danube,

which is here of noble width and depth, took us among the traditions of Turkish rule. We left in

pretty good time, and came after nightfall to Klausenburgh. Here I stopped for the night at the

Hotel Royale. I had for dinner, or rather supper, a chicken done up some way with red pepper,

which was very good but thirsty. (Mem. get recipe for Mina.) I asked the waiter, and he said it

was called ‘paprika hendl,’ and that, as it was a national dish, I should be able to get it

anywhere along the Carpathians. I found my smattering of German very useful here, indeed, I

don’t know how I should be able to get on without it. Having had some time at my disposal

when in London, I had visited the British Museum, and made search among the books and

maps in the library regarding Transylvania; it had struck me that some foreknowledge of the

country could hardly fail to have some importance in dealing with a nobleman of that country.

I find that the district he named is in the extreme east of the country, just on the borders of

three states, Transylvania, Moldavia, and Bukovina, in the midst of the Carpathian mountains;

one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe.

SUMMARY:

Jonathan Harker, a young London solicitor (a lawyer) travels to Transylvania (modern-day

Romania) to help a rich nobleman, Count Dracula, purchase an estate in England. Dracula

is planning to immigrate to England, and wants Harker to help him hammer out all the legal

details. Harker is at first impressed by Dracula's suave politeness, but is soon creeped out

by the Count's uncanny ability to communicate with wolves and by the lack of servants (or

anyone else) in the Count's huge castle. Soon after, Harker realizes that he's a prisoner in

the castle.

One evening, he tries to find an escape route – only to be discovered and almost

seduced/devoured by three sexy vampire ladies (the brides of Dracula). Dracula rescues

him at the last minute, and Harker realizes that Dracula is only keeping him alive to finish

the real estate transaction. Harker decides to make a break for it and only barely escapes

from the castle alive. He's not able to head straight back to England, though. He comes

down with a severe case of brain fever because of the shock and spends many weeks

recuperating in a convent in the countryside in Hungary.

Meanwhile, back in England, Harker's fiancée, Mina, is hanging out with her best friend

Lucy in a seaside town. Mina's worried about Jonathan and wonders why she hasn't heard

from him in so long, but Lucy can only think about her own suitors. She gets three marriage

proposals in the same day by three friends: Dr. John Seward, a doctor who runs a mental

hospital; Quincey Morris, an American; and Arthur Holmwood, the son of Lord Godalming

(an English gentleman). She accepts Arthur Holmwood. Even though Quincey Morris and

Dr. Seward are disappointed, they still stay friends with Arthur.

Meanwhile, Dracula has arrived in England, but hasn't shown himself yet. A patient in Dr.

Seward's hospital, Renfield, continually captures and eats insects, spiders, and birds and

says that the "Master" is coming soon. Lucy starts acting weird – she seems to be losing

blood, but no one knows where the blood's going. Her fiancé, Lord Arthur Holmwood, gets

worried, and Jack Seward sends for his friend and mentor, Van Helsing, to check her out.

Van Helsing realizes that there's a vampire involved. He's a scientist and doctor, but he's

also well versed in ancient superstitions and philosophy, so he knows what to do to kill

vampires. Even after giving her multiple blood transfusions, they're not able to save Lucy,

and she dies. But Van Helsing knows she's not really dead. The four men break into her

tomb and catch vampire Lucy coming back from a foray in the neighboring village. They

stab her in the heart and cut off her head to make sure she's really dead, and not just

mostly dead.

Mina finally hears from Jonathan and goes to Budapest to pick him up. They get married at

the convent where he's been recovering from his illness, and come back to England.

Harker, Van Helsing, Seward, Morris, and Holmwood all swear to get rid of Dracula once

and for all. Mina has to hide in Dr. Seward's office at the hospital while the men go vampire

hunting. Unfortunately, Renfield knows about Dracula and invites him into the building

(vampires can't enter unless they've been invited, so don't go inviting any vampires into

your homes), and he starts drinking Mina's blood. The men come back in time to find her

being force-fed some of Dracula's blood.

The case is now extremely urgent – if they don't catch and kill Dracula quickly, Mina will

turn into a vampire, like Lucy. Dracula leads them on a spectacular chase back to

Transylvania, where they finally catch up to him and kill him. Mina is saved, and they all live

happily ever after. Except for Quincey Morris, who gets stabbed during the final fight.