The monster told Frankenstein about the development of his senses after he awoke in the laboratory. He was unable to differentiate between the five senses or determine the sources of light and darkness when he blinked. His vision took several days to come into focus, the way it takes time for infants' eyes to adjust. When he escaped from the laboratory, he wandered around the forest near Ingolstadt living on raw berries and nuts until he discovered the flickering remnants of some traveler's fire. He learned of the warmth and utility of fire as well as the danger of it (which he figured out when he stuck his hand in the flames and burned it), but the source of the fire eluded him. Because he was uncertain how to start a fire, he kept it burning continuously so that he could use it to keep warm and to cook the nuts he found. The sound of his own voice when he imitated the birds around him frightened him. The monster was forced to relocate when the food supply dwindled. As he wandered, snow fell and he sought shelter in a shepherd's cottage.
When he entered the cottage, the man ran away screaming in fear at the hideousness of the monster. The monster, having never seen himself, didn't understand the reaction. He stayed in the cottage, which fascinated him because it was the first shelter he'd ever been in. After he ate the food and rested, he wandered away again and came upon a village. He sought shelter there and was chased away by the frightened villagers who threw rocks at him.
This hostile reception made him afraid of people, so when he found another cottage off in the forest, he just hid in a shed near the house and watched the De Lacey family -- Agatha, Felix, and their blind father -- through a small hole in a covered window. He heard music for the first time when the father played his guitar. The monster even experienced the sympathetic emotions of sadness and joy while he watched them, but he didn't know what those feelings were. Watching them made him happy, but the monster didn't want the family to know he was there.
