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.
他的母親非常愛他，但不幸的是，剛十歲母親就去世了。他的繼母看都不愿意看他一眼，卻希望他能出去工作為家里賺錢。在一家雪茄店工作兩年后，由于他面部的畸形使他無法跟上所需的工作節奏而被解雇。然后，他嘗試著成為一名上門推銷員，但當人們打開門看到他的一剎那，就會尖叫起來并砰地一聲把門關上，將他拒之門外。
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.
梅里克的父親不知道如何去照顧他，干脆開始毆打他。一天，梅里克無法再忍受下去了，于是離開了他的父親，搬進了一家專門收容醉漢、殘疾人和精神病患者的骯臟的濟貧院。他在那里生活得非常悲慘，于是在絕望之際，他加入了一家馬戲團，成為了一名串演演員。
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.
梅里克很受觀眾歡迎。人們愿意花錢并排起長隊，只為了能夠像觀看動物園里的動物一樣近距離看到他。這對梅里克來說是一種莫大的羞辱，但馬戲團也給了他溫飽和安全感。正是在倫敦的一次串演中，梅里克遇到了弗雷德里克·特里夫斯醫生。特里夫斯對梅里克遭受的待遇感到反感，于是希望提供幫助。他給了梅里克一張自己的名片，但之后梅里克并沒有聯系他。
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.
幾個月后，警方開始取締馬戲團的串演環節，于是梅里克被派到比利時繼續串演。但，后來比利時警方也開始取締比利時境內的串演環節，于是梅里克被迫返回了英國。當他一瘸一拐地在利物浦街車站下車時，身上散發著惡臭和畸形外表引來了圍觀人群。
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.
警察把他拉到一邊并對他進行盤查，但面部的畸形讓梅里克講出的話含糊不清，讓警察難以理解。最后，梅里克向警察出示了特里夫斯醫生的名片。警察派人找到了特里夫斯。然后，特里夫斯立即趕到了警察局，并把梅里克帶回了倫敦醫院。后來，特里夫斯開始在報紙上籌措資金來幫助梅里克。人們的回應非常熱烈，很快就募集到了足夠的資金，讓梅里克能夠在醫院的院子里擁有一套具有永久居住權的房子。
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.
特里夫斯的關照讓梅里克迎來了真正的人生轉折點。起初，當任何人進入他的房間時，梅里克都會像一個受驚的孩子一樣躲起來，但隨著時間的推移，他開始與一些人交談。特里夫斯醫生發現，梅里克實際上非常聰明，于是開始培養他，讓他更好地成長。但是，梅里克面臨的最大障礙并沒有因此被克服。
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.
梅里克一生中對女人的唯一印象就是對他的恐懼與排斥。直白地說，女人們見到梅里克就會落荒而逃。因此，特里夫斯醫生詢問一位迷人的寡婦是否可以進入梅里克的房間，對他微笑，并跟他握手。當她這樣做時，梅里克突然熱淚盈眶。后來，他告訴特里夫斯，除了他的母親，她是他生命中第一位向他表達善意的女人。
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.
這件事是梅里克人生的第二個真正的突破性時刻。在接下來的幾年中，包括女性在內的越來越多的人會與他見面并向他表達善意。他開始會見伯爵夫人和公爵夫人。他甚至與威爾士王妃建立了友誼，因此經常有機會迎接她的來訪，并經常收到她的來信。在此期間，特里夫斯醫生稱梅里克發生了巨大變化。他開始建立起了一些自信，還會花時間到鄉下去旅行，還會與另一位新朋友沃爾特·斯蒂爾爵士討論詩歌。
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。他的面部畸形使他從來沒辦法像大多數人一樣躺著睡覺。他不得不頭靠在膝蓋上，以坐姿睡眠。顯然，這天晚上他嘗試以更“正?！钡姆绞教芍X，但不幸地導致了脖子脫臼，并因此與世長辭。
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.