Dracula - Dracula Chapter I Summary Dracula begins with the...

Dracula
Chapter I
Summary
Dracula begins with the diary kept by Jonathan Harker—an English solicitor, or lawyer—
as he makes his way from England to Eastern Europe. Embarking on his first professional
assignment as a solicitor, Harker is traveling to the castle of Count Dracula, a
Transylvanian nobleman. Harker hopes to conclude a real estate deal to sell Count
Dracula a residence in London. Harker plans to take copious notes throughout his journey
so that he can share the details of his adventures with his fiancée, Mina Murray.
In his first diary entry, on May
3
, Harker describes the picturesque countryside of Eastern
Europe and the exotic food he has tasted at the roadside inns. He notes several recipes
that he plans to obtain for Mina. Harker arrives in the northern Romanian town of Bistritz
and checks into a hotel Count Dracula has recommended to him. The innkeeper gives
Harker a letter from the count. The letter welcomes Harker to the beautiful Carpathian
Mountains and informs him that he should take the next day’s coach to the Borgo Pass,
where a carriage will meet him to bring him the rest of the way to the castle.
As Harker prepares to leave the next morning, the innkeeper’s wife delivers an ominous
warning. She reminds Harker that it is the eve of St. George’s Day, when “all the evil
things in the world will have full sway.” She then puts a crucifix around his neck. Though
he is a practicing Anglican who regards Catholic paraphernalia as somewhat idolatrous,
Harker politely accepts the crucifix. He is somewhat disturbed by this exchange,
however, and his uneasiness increases when a crowd of peasants gathers around the inn
as he boards the coach. They mutter many “queer words” at Harker, which, with the help
of his dictionary, he translates to mean “were-wolf” or “vampire.” As the coach departs,
everyone in the crowd makes the sign of the cross in his direction, a gesture that a fellow
passenger explains is meant to protect him from the “evil eye.”
The journey to the Borgo Pass takes Harker through incomparably beautiful country. At
dusk, he passes by quaintly attired peasants kneeling in prayer at roadside shrines. As
darkness falls, the other passengers become restless, urging the coachmen to quicken
their speed. The driver whips the horses into a frenzy and the coach rockets along the
mountain road. One by one, the passengers begin to offer Harker small gifts and tokens
that he assumes are also meant to ward off the evil eye.

The coach soon arrives at the Borgo Pass, but there is no carriage waiting to ferry Harker
to his final destination. Just as the driver offers to bring Harker back to the pass the next
day, however, a small, horse-drawn carriage arrives. Harker boards the carriage and
continues toward the castle. He has the impression that the carriage is covering the same
ground over and over again, and he grows increasingly fearful as the ride progresses.