His mother loved him dearly, but died when he was ten. His step-mother didn’t even look at him but expected him to work to contribute to the family finances. After two years working in a cigar shop he was dismissed because he could not keep up with the required work pace, due to his deformities. Then, he tried to be a door-to-door salesman, but when people opened their doors and saw him, they would scream and slam the door in his face.
他的母亲非常爱他，但不幸的是，刚十岁母亲就去世了。他的继母看都不愿意看他一眼，却希望他能出去工作为家里赚钱。在一家雪茄店工作两年后，由于他面部的畸形使他无法跟上所需的工作节奏而被解雇。然后，他尝试着成为一名上门推销员，但当人们打开门看到他的一刹那，就会尖叫起来并砰地一声把门关上，将他拒之门外。
Merrick’s father, not knowing how to take care of him, began beating him. One day Merrick couldn’t take it anymore and left his dad to live in a squalid workhouse for drunks, cripples and the mentally ill. His life there was so miserable that in a moment of desperation, he offered himself to a carnival owner as a sideshow act.
梅里克的父亲不知道如何去照顾他，干脆开始殴打他。一天，梅里克无法再忍受下去了，于是离开了他的父亲，搬进了一家专门收容醉汉、残疾人和精神病患者的肮脏的济贫院。他在那里生活得非常悲惨，于是在绝望之际，他加入了一家马戏团，成为了一名串演演员。
Merrick was a hit. People would pay money to line up and observe him like some animal in a zoo. It was very humiliating to Merrick, yet the carnival gave him a sense of security and food. It was during a sideshow in London that Merrick met Doctor Frederick Treves. Disgusted by Merrick’s treatment, Treves wanted to help. He gave Merrick his card, but lost track of him.
梅里克很受观众欢迎。人们愿意花钱并排起长队，只为了能够像观看动物园里的动物一样近距离看到他。这对梅里克来说是一种莫大的羞辱，但马戏团也给了他温饱和安全感。正是在伦敦的一次串演中，梅里克遇到了弗雷德里克·特里夫斯医生。特里夫斯对梅里克遭受的待遇感到反感，于是希望提供帮助。他给了梅里克一张自己的名片，但之后梅里克并没有联系他。
A few months later, the police started clamping down on sideshows, so Merrick was sent to Belgium to work in a sideshow there. But when the Belgian police also clamped down on sideshows in Belgium, Merrick was forced to make his way back to England. As he limped down Liverpool Street station, foul smelling and misshapen, a crowd gathered simply to watch him.
几个月后，警方开始取缔马戏团的串演环节，于是梅里克被派到比利时继续串演。但，后来比利时警方也开始取缔比利时境内的串演环节，于是梅里克被迫返回了英国。当他一瘸一拐地在利物浦街车站下车时，身上散发着恶臭和畸形外表引来了围观人群。
The police took him aside to sort things out, but Merrick’s speech was so slurred by his deformities that they couldn’t understand him. At last, Merrick showed them Dr Treves’ card. The police sent someone to get him, and Treves rushed to the police station. He took Merrick back to London hospital and began a newspaper appeal for funds to help Merrick. The response was very warm, and soon sufficient that Merrick was able to have his own house on the hospital grounds with permission to live there permanently.
警察把他拉到一边并对他进行盘查，但面部的畸形让梅里克讲出的话含糊不清，让警察难以理解。最后，梅里克向警察出示了特里夫斯医生的名片。警察派人找到了特里夫斯。然后，特里夫斯立即赶到了警察局，并把梅里克带回了伦敦医院。后来，特里夫斯开始在报纸上筹措资金来帮助梅里克。人们的回应非常热烈，很快就募集到了足够的资金，让梅里克能够在医院的院子里拥有一套具有永久居住权的房子。
Treves’ care marked a real turning point for Merrick. At first Merrick would act like a frightened child and hide when anyone came into his room, but over time he began to engage some in conversation. Dr Treves discovered that Merrick was in fact highly intelligent and sought to nurture his growth. Yet Merrick’s greatest hurdle was still to fall.
特里夫斯的关照让梅里克迎来了真正的人生转折点。起初，当任何人进入他的房间时，梅里克都会像一个受惊的孩子一样躲起来，但随着时间的推移，他开始与一些人交谈。特里夫斯医生发现，梅里克实际上非常聪明，于是开始培养他，让他更好地成长。但是，梅里克面临的最大障碍并没有因此被克服。
All his life Merrick had known only fear and rejection from women. They had literally run from him. So Dr Treves asked an attractive widow he knew if she could come into Merrick’s room, smile at him and shake his hand. When she did Merrick broke down into a ball of tears, later telling Treves that she was the first woman in his life apart from his mother to have showed him kindness.
梅里克一生中对女人的唯一印象就是对他的恐惧与排斥。直白地说，女人们见到梅里克就会落荒而逃。因此，特里夫斯医生询问一位迷人的寡妇是否可以进入梅里克的房间，对他微笑，并跟他握手。当她这样做时，梅里克突然热泪盈眶。后来，他告诉特里夫斯，除了他的母亲，她是他生命中第一位向他表达善意的女人。
That was a second real breakthrough moment for Merrick. In the coming years more and more people, women included, would meet him and show him kindness. He began meeting Countesses and Duchesses. He even had many visits and letters from the Princess of Wales, as he was forming a friendship with her. Throughout this time Dr Treves reported that Merrick changed dramatically. He began to develop some self-confidence, to spend time traveling in the country, to discuss poetry with another new friend, Sir Walter Steel.
这件事是梅里克人生的第二个真正的突破性时刻。在接下来的几年中，包括女性在内的越来越多的人会与他见面并向他表达善意。他开始会见伯爵夫人和公爵夫人。他甚至与威尔士王妃建立了友谊，因此经常有机会迎接她的来访，并经常收到她的来信。在此期间，特里夫斯医生称梅里克发生了巨大变化。他开始建立起了一些自信，还会花时间到乡下去旅行，还会与另一位新朋友沃尔特·斯蒂尔爵士讨论诗歌。
Merrick died in April 1890. His deformities had never allowed him to sleep lying down as most people do. He had to sleep in a sitting position, his head resting on his knees. He apparently tried one night to sleep lying down, to be more “normal”, and sadly dislocated his neck and died.
梅里克于1890年4月去世。他的面部畸形使他从来没办法像大多数人一样躺着睡觉。他不得不头靠在膝盖上，以坐姿睡眠。显然，这天晚上他尝试以更“正常”的方式躺着睡觉，但不幸地导致了脖子脱臼，并因此与世长辞。
While his short-lived life was marked mainly by cruelty and indifference, his life story was told for decades to come, teaching us a lesson of compassion. For he might have lived just a couple of years as a real human being, but he did experience them, helped by a friend.