Reading Help The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
generations, had come at last to find the daylit surface `
` intolerable. And the Morlocks made their garments, I inferred, and `
` maintained them in their habitual needs, perhaps through the `
` survival of an old habit of service. They did it as a standing horse `
` paws with his foot, or as a man enjoys killing animals in sport: `
` because ancient and departed necessities had impressed it on the `
` organism. But, clearly, the old order was already in part reversed. `
` The Nemesis of the delicate ones was creeping on apace. Ages ago, `
` thousands of generations ago, man had thrust his brother man out of `
` the ease and the sunshine. And now that brother was coming back `
` changed! Already the Eloi had begun to learn one old lesson anew. `
` They were becoming reacquainted with Fear. And suddenly there came `
` into my head the memory of the meat I had seen in the Under-world. `
` It seemed odd how it floated into my mind: not stirred up as it `
` were by the current of my meditations, but coming in almost like a `
` question from outside. I tried to recall the form of it. I had a `
` vague sense of something familiar, but I could not tell what it was `
` at the time. `
` `
` 'Still, however helpless the little people in the presence of their `
` mysterious Fear, I was differently constituted. I came out of this `
` age of ours, this ripe prime of the human race, when Fear does not `
` paralyse and mystery has lost its terrors. I at least would defend `
` myself. Without further delay I determined to make myself arms and a `
` fastness where I might sleep. With that refuge as a base, I could `
` face this strange world with some of that confidence I had lost in `
` realizing to what creatures night by night I lay exposed. I felt `
` I could never sleep again until my bed was secure from them. I `
` shuddered with horror to think how they must already have examined `
` me. `
` `
` 'I wandered during the afternoon along the valley of the Thames, but `
` found nothing that commended itself to my mind as inaccessible. All `
` the buildings and trees seemed easily practicable to such dexterous `
` climbers as the Morlocks, to judge by their wells, must be. Then the `
` tall pinnacles of the Palace of Green Porcelain and the polished `
` gleam of its walls came back to my memory; and in the evening, `
` taking Weena like a child upon my shoulder, I went up the hills `
` towards the south-west. The distance, I had reckoned, was seven or `
` eight miles, but it must have been nearer eighteen. I had first seen `
` the place on a moist afternoon when distances are deceptively `
` diminished. In addition, the heel of one of my shoes was loose, and `
` a nail was working through the sole--they were comfortable old shoes `
` I wore about indoors--so that I was lame. And it was already long `
` past sunset when I came in sight of the palace, silhouetted black `
` against the pale yellow of the sky. `
` `
` 'Weena had been hugely delighted when I began to carry her, but `
` after a while she desired me to let her down, and ran along by the `
` side of me, occasionally darting off on either hand to pick flowers `
` to stick in my pockets. My pockets had always puzzled Weena, but at `
` the last she had concluded that they were an eccentric kind of vase `
` for floral decoration. At least she utilized them for that purpose. `
` And that reminds me! In changing my jacket I found...' `
` `
` The Time Traveller paused, put his hand into his pocket, and `
` silently placed two withered flowers, not unlike very large white `
` mallows, upon the little table. Then he resumed his narrative. `
` `
` 'As the hush of evening crept over the world and we proceeded over `
` the hill crest towards Wimbledon, Weena grew tired and wanted to `
` return to the house of grey stone. But I pointed out the distant `
` pinnacles of the Palace of Green Porcelain to her, and contrived to `
` make her understand that we were seeking a refuge there from her `
` Fear. You know that great pause that comes upon things before the `
` dusk? Even the breeze stops in the trees. To me there is always an `
` air of expectation about that evening stillness. The sky was clear, `
` remote, and empty save for a few horizontal bars far down in the `
` sunset. Well, that night the expectation took the colour of my `
` fears. In that darkling calm my senses seemed preternaturally `
` sharpened. I fancied I could even feel the hollowness of the ground `
` beneath my feet: could, indeed, almost see through it the Morlocks `
` on their ant-hill going hither and thither and waiting for the dark. `
` In my excitement I fancied that they would receive my invasion of `
` their burrows as a declaration of war. And why had they taken my `
` Time Machine? `
` `
` 'So we went on in the quiet, and the twilight deepened into night. `
` The clear blue of the distance faded, and one star after another `
` came out. The ground grew dim and the trees black. Weena's fears and `
` her fatigue grew upon her. I took her in my arms and talked to her `
` and caressed her. Then, as the darkness grew deeper, she put her `
` arms round my neck, and, closing her eyes, tightly pressed her face `
` against my shoulder. So we went down a long slope into a valley, and `
` there in the dimness I almost walked into a little river. This I `
` waded, and went up the opposite side of the valley, past a number `
` of sleeping houses, and by a statue--a Faun, or some such figure, `
` _minus_ the head. Here too were acacias. So far I had seen nothing of `
` the Morlocks, but it was yet early in the night, and the darker hours `
` before the old moon rose were still to come. `
` `
` 'From the brow of the next hill I saw a thick wood spreading wide `
` and black before me. I hesitated at this. I could see no end to `
` it, either to the right or the left. Feeling tired--my feet, in `
` particular, were very sore--I carefully lowered Weena from my `
` shoulder as I halted, and sat down upon the turf. I could no `
` longer see the Palace of Green Porcelain, and I was in doubt of my `
` direction. I looked into the thickness of the wood and thought of `
` what it might hide. Under that dense tangle of branches one would `
` be out of sight of the stars. Even were there no other lurking `
` danger--a danger I did not care to let my imagination loose `
` upon--there would still be all the roots to stumble over and the `
` tree-boles to strike against. `
` `
` 'I was very tired, too, after the excitements of the day; so I `
` decided that I would not face it, but would pass the night upon the `
` open hill. `
` `
` 'Weena, I was glad to find, was fast asleep. I carefully wrapped her `
` in my jacket, and sat down beside her to wait for the moonrise. The `
` hill-side was quiet and deserted, but from the black of the wood `
` there came now and then a stir of living things. Above me shone the `
` stars, for the night was very clear. I felt a certain sense of `
` friendly comfort in their twinkling. All the old constellations `
` had gone from the sky, however: that slow movement which is `
` imperceptible in a hundred human lifetimes, had long since `
` rearranged them in unfamiliar groupings. But the Milky Way, it `
` seemed to me, was still the same tattered streamer of star-dust as `
` of yore. Southward (as I judged it) was a very bright red star that `
` was new to me; it was even more splendid than our own green Sirius. `
` And amid all these scintillating points of light one bright planet `
` shone kindly and steadily like the face of an old friend. `
` `
` 'Looking at these stars suddenly dwarfed my own troubles and all `
` the gravities of terrestrial life. I thought of their unfathomable `
` distance, and the slow inevitable drift of their movements out of `
` the unknown past into the unknown future. I thought of the great `
` precessional cycle that the pole of the earth describes. Only forty `
` times had that silent revolution occurred during all the years that `
` I had traversed. And during these few revolutions all the activity, `
` all the traditions, the complex organizations, the nations, `
` languages, literatures, aspirations, even the mere memory of Man as `
` I knew him, had been swept out of existence. Instead were these `
` frail creatures who had forgotten their high ancestry, and the white `
` Things of which I went in terror. Then I thought of the Great Fear `
` that was between the two species, and for the first time, with a `
` sudden shiver, came the clear knowledge of what the meat I had seen `
` might be. Yet it was too horrible! I looked at little Weena sleeping `
` beside me, her face white and starlike under the stars, and `
` forthwith dismissed the thought. `
` `
` 'Through that long night I held my mind off the Morlocks as well as `
` I could, and whiled away the time by trying to fancy I could find `
` signs of the old constellations in the new confusion. The sky kept `
` very clear, except for a hazy cloud or so. No doubt I dozed at `
` times. Then, as my vigil wore on, came a faintness in the eastward `
` sky, like the reflection of some colourless fire, and the old moon `
` rose, thin and peaked and white. And close behind, and overtaking `
` it, and overflowing it, the dawn came, pale at first, and then `
` growing pink and warm. No Morlocks had approached us. Indeed, I had `
` seen none upon the hill that night. And in the confidence of renewed `
` day it almost seemed to me that my fear had been unreasonable. I `
` stood up and found my foot with the loose heel swollen at the ankle `
` and painful under the heel; so I sat down again, took off my shoes, `
` and flung them away. `
` `
` 'I awakened Weena, and we went down into the wood, now green and `
` pleasant instead of black and forbidding. We found some fruit `
` wherewith to break our fast. We soon met others of the dainty ones, `
` laughing and dancing in the sunlight as though there was no such `
` thing in nature as the night. And then I thought once more of the `
` meat that I had seen. I felt assured now of what it was, and from `
` the bottom of my heart I pitied this last feeble rill from the great `
` flood of humanity. Clearly, at some time in the Long-Ago of human `
` decay the Morlocks' food had run short. Possibly they had lived on `
` rats and such-like vermin. Even now man is far less discriminating `
` and exclusive in his food than he was--far less than any monkey. His `
` prejudice against human flesh is no deep-seated instinct. And so `
` these inhuman sons of men----! I tried to look at the thing in a `
` scientific spirit. After all, they were less human and more remote `
` than our cannibal ancestors of three or four thousand years ago. `
` And the intelligence that would have made this state of things a `
` torment had gone. Why should I trouble myself? These Eloi were mere `
` fatted cattle, which the ant-like Morlocks preserved and preyed `
` upon--probably saw to the breeding of. And there was Weena dancing `
` at my side! `
` `
` 'Then I tried to preserve myself from the horror that was coming `
` upon me, by regarding it as a rigorous punishment of human `
` selfishness. Man had been content to live in ease and delight upon `
` the labours of his fellow-man, had taken Necessity as his watchword `
` and excuse, and in the fullness of time Necessity had come home to `
` him. I even tried a Carlyle-like scorn of this wretched aristocracy `
` in decay. But this attitude of mind was impossible. However great `
` their intellectual degradation, the Eloi had kept too much of the `
` human form not to claim my sympathy, and to make me perforce a `
` sharer in their degradation and their Fear. `
` `
` 'I had at that time very vague ideas as to the course I should `
` pursue. My first was to secure some safe place of refuge, and to `
` make myself such arms of metal or stone as I could contrive. That `
` necessity was immediate. In the next place, I hoped to procure some `
` means of fire, so that I should have the weapon of a torch at hand, `
` for nothing, I knew, would be more efficient against these Morlocks. `
` Then I wanted to arrange some contrivance to break open the doors of `
` bronze under the White Sphinx. I had in mind a battering ram. I had `
` a persuasion that if I could enter those doors and carry a blaze of `
` light before me I should discover the Time Machine and escape. I `
` could not imagine the Morlocks were strong enough to move it far `
` away. Weena I had resolved to bring with me to our own time. And `
` turning such schemes over in my mind I pursued our way towards the `
`
` intolerable. And the Morlocks made their garments, I inferred, and `
` maintained them in their habitual needs, perhaps through the `
` survival of an old habit of service. They did it as a standing horse `
` paws with his foot, or as a man enjoys killing animals in sport: `
` because ancient and departed necessities had impressed it on the `
` organism. But, clearly, the old order was already in part reversed. `
` The Nemesis of the delicate ones was creeping on apace. Ages ago, `
` thousands of generations ago, man had thrust his brother man out of `
` the ease and the sunshine. And now that brother was coming back `
` changed! Already the Eloi had begun to learn one old lesson anew. `
` They were becoming reacquainted with Fear. And suddenly there came `
` into my head the memory of the meat I had seen in the Under-world. `
` It seemed odd how it floated into my mind: not stirred up as it `
` were by the current of my meditations, but coming in almost like a `
` question from outside. I tried to recall the form of it. I had a `
` vague sense of something familiar, but I could not tell what it was `
` at the time. `
` `
` 'Still, however helpless the little people in the presence of their `
` mysterious Fear, I was differently constituted. I came out of this `
` age of ours, this ripe prime of the human race, when Fear does not `
` paralyse and mystery has lost its terrors. I at least would defend `
` myself. Without further delay I determined to make myself arms and a `
` fastness where I might sleep. With that refuge as a base, I could `
` face this strange world with some of that confidence I had lost in `
` realizing to what creatures night by night I lay exposed. I felt `
` I could never sleep again until my bed was secure from them. I `
` shuddered with horror to think how they must already have examined `
` me. `
` `
` 'I wandered during the afternoon along the valley of the Thames, but `
` found nothing that commended itself to my mind as inaccessible. All `
` the buildings and trees seemed easily practicable to such dexterous `
` climbers as the Morlocks, to judge by their wells, must be. Then the `
` tall pinnacles of the Palace of Green Porcelain and the polished `
` gleam of its walls came back to my memory; and in the evening, `
` taking Weena like a child upon my shoulder, I went up the hills `
` towards the south-west. The distance, I had reckoned, was seven or `
` eight miles, but it must have been nearer eighteen. I had first seen `
` the place on a moist afternoon when distances are deceptively `
` diminished. In addition, the heel of one of my shoes was loose, and `
` a nail was working through the sole--they were comfortable old shoes `
` I wore about indoors--so that I was lame. And it was already long `
` past sunset when I came in sight of the palace, silhouetted black `
` against the pale yellow of the sky. `
` `
` 'Weena had been hugely delighted when I began to carry her, but `
` after a while she desired me to let her down, and ran along by the `
` side of me, occasionally darting off on either hand to pick flowers `
` to stick in my pockets. My pockets had always puzzled Weena, but at `
` the last she had concluded that they were an eccentric kind of vase `
` for floral decoration. At least she utilized them for that purpose. `
` And that reminds me! In changing my jacket I found...' `
` `
` The Time Traveller paused, put his hand into his pocket, and `
` silently placed two withered flowers, not unlike very large white `
` mallows, upon the little table. Then he resumed his narrative. `
` `
` 'As the hush of evening crept over the world and we proceeded over `
` the hill crest towards Wimbledon, Weena grew tired and wanted to `
` return to the house of grey stone. But I pointed out the distant `
` pinnacles of the Palace of Green Porcelain to her, and contrived to `
` make her understand that we were seeking a refuge there from her `
` Fear. You know that great pause that comes upon things before the `
` dusk? Even the breeze stops in the trees. To me there is always an `
` air of expectation about that evening stillness. The sky was clear, `
` remote, and empty save for a few horizontal bars far down in the `
` sunset. Well, that night the expectation took the colour of my `
` fears. In that darkling calm my senses seemed preternaturally `
` sharpened. I fancied I could even feel the hollowness of the ground `
` beneath my feet: could, indeed, almost see through it the Morlocks `
` on their ant-hill going hither and thither and waiting for the dark. `
` In my excitement I fancied that they would receive my invasion of `
` their burrows as a declaration of war. And why had they taken my `
` Time Machine? `
` `
` 'So we went on in the quiet, and the twilight deepened into night. `
` The clear blue of the distance faded, and one star after another `
` came out. The ground grew dim and the trees black. Weena's fears and `
` her fatigue grew upon her. I took her in my arms and talked to her `
` and caressed her. Then, as the darkness grew deeper, she put her `
` arms round my neck, and, closing her eyes, tightly pressed her face `
` against my shoulder. So we went down a long slope into a valley, and `
` there in the dimness I almost walked into a little river. This I `
` waded, and went up the opposite side of the valley, past a number `
` of sleeping houses, and by a statue--a Faun, or some such figure, `
` _minus_ the head. Here too were acacias. So far I had seen nothing of `
` the Morlocks, but it was yet early in the night, and the darker hours `
` before the old moon rose were still to come. `
` `
` 'From the brow of the next hill I saw a thick wood spreading wide `
` and black before me. I hesitated at this. I could see no end to `
` it, either to the right or the left. Feeling tired--my feet, in `
` particular, were very sore--I carefully lowered Weena from my `
` shoulder as I halted, and sat down upon the turf. I could no `
` longer see the Palace of Green Porcelain, and I was in doubt of my `
` direction. I looked into the thickness of the wood and thought of `
` what it might hide. Under that dense tangle of branches one would `
` be out of sight of the stars. Even were there no other lurking `
` danger--a danger I did not care to let my imagination loose `
` upon--there would still be all the roots to stumble over and the `
` tree-boles to strike against. `
` `
` 'I was very tired, too, after the excitements of the day; so I `
` decided that I would not face it, but would pass the night upon the `
` open hill. `
` `
` 'Weena, I was glad to find, was fast asleep. I carefully wrapped her `
` in my jacket, and sat down beside her to wait for the moonrise. The `
` hill-side was quiet and deserted, but from the black of the wood `
` there came now and then a stir of living things. Above me shone the `
` stars, for the night was very clear. I felt a certain sense of `
` friendly comfort in their twinkling. All the old constellations `
` had gone from the sky, however: that slow movement which is `
` imperceptible in a hundred human lifetimes, had long since `
` rearranged them in unfamiliar groupings. But the Milky Way, it `
` seemed to me, was still the same tattered streamer of star-dust as `
` of yore. Southward (as I judged it) was a very bright red star that `
` was new to me; it was even more splendid than our own green Sirius. `
` And amid all these scintillating points of light one bright planet `
` shone kindly and steadily like the face of an old friend. `
` `
` 'Looking at these stars suddenly dwarfed my own troubles and all `
` the gravities of terrestrial life. I thought of their unfathomable `
` distance, and the slow inevitable drift of their movements out of `
` the unknown past into the unknown future. I thought of the great `
` precessional cycle that the pole of the earth describes. Only forty `
` times had that silent revolution occurred during all the years that `
` I had traversed. And during these few revolutions all the activity, `
` all the traditions, the complex organizations, the nations, `
` languages, literatures, aspirations, even the mere memory of Man as `
` I knew him, had been swept out of existence. Instead were these `
` frail creatures who had forgotten their high ancestry, and the white `
` Things of which I went in terror. Then I thought of the Great Fear `
` that was between the two species, and for the first time, with a `
` sudden shiver, came the clear knowledge of what the meat I had seen `
` might be. Yet it was too horrible! I looked at little Weena sleeping `
` beside me, her face white and starlike under the stars, and `
` forthwith dismissed the thought. `
` `
` 'Through that long night I held my mind off the Morlocks as well as `
` I could, and whiled away the time by trying to fancy I could find `
` signs of the old constellations in the new confusion. The sky kept `
` very clear, except for a hazy cloud or so. No doubt I dozed at `
` times. Then, as my vigil wore on, came a faintness in the eastward `
` sky, like the reflection of some colourless fire, and the old moon `
` rose, thin and peaked and white. And close behind, and overtaking `
` it, and overflowing it, the dawn came, pale at first, and then `
` growing pink and warm. No Morlocks had approached us. Indeed, I had `
` seen none upon the hill that night. And in the confidence of renewed `
` day it almost seemed to me that my fear had been unreasonable. I `
` stood up and found my foot with the loose heel swollen at the ankle `
` and painful under the heel; so I sat down again, took off my shoes, `
` and flung them away. `
` `
` 'I awakened Weena, and we went down into the wood, now green and `
` pleasant instead of black and forbidding. We found some fruit `
` wherewith to break our fast. We soon met others of the dainty ones, `
` laughing and dancing in the sunlight as though there was no such `
` thing in nature as the night. And then I thought once more of the `
` meat that I had seen. I felt assured now of what it was, and from `
` the bottom of my heart I pitied this last feeble rill from the great `
` flood of humanity. Clearly, at some time in the Long-Ago of human `
` decay the Morlocks' food had run short. Possibly they had lived on `
` rats and such-like vermin. Even now man is far less discriminating `
` and exclusive in his food than he was--far less than any monkey. His `
` prejudice against human flesh is no deep-seated instinct. And so `
` these inhuman sons of men----! I tried to look at the thing in a `
` scientific spirit. After all, they were less human and more remote `
` than our cannibal ancestors of three or four thousand years ago. `
` And the intelligence that would have made this state of things a `
` torment had gone. Why should I trouble myself? These Eloi were mere `
` fatted cattle, which the ant-like Morlocks preserved and preyed `
` upon--probably saw to the breeding of. And there was Weena dancing `
` at my side! `
` `
` 'Then I tried to preserve myself from the horror that was coming `
` upon me, by regarding it as a rigorous punishment of human `
` selfishness. Man had been content to live in ease and delight upon `
` the labours of his fellow-man, had taken Necessity as his watchword `
` and excuse, and in the fullness of time Necessity had come home to `
` him. I even tried a Carlyle-like scorn of this wretched aristocracy `
` in decay. But this attitude of mind was impossible. However great `
` their intellectual degradation, the Eloi had kept too much of the `
` human form not to claim my sympathy, and to make me perforce a `
` sharer in their degradation and their Fear. `
` `
` 'I had at that time very vague ideas as to the course I should `
` pursue. My first was to secure some safe place of refuge, and to `
` make myself such arms of metal or stone as I could contrive. That `
` necessity was immediate. In the next place, I hoped to procure some `
` means of fire, so that I should have the weapon of a torch at hand, `
` for nothing, I knew, would be more efficient against these Morlocks. `
` Then I wanted to arrange some contrivance to break open the doors of `
` bronze under the White Sphinx. I had in mind a battering ram. I had `
` a persuasion that if I could enter those doors and carry a blaze of `
` light before me I should discover the Time Machine and escape. I `
` could not imagine the Morlocks were strong enough to move it far `
` away. Weena I had resolved to bring with me to our own time. And `
` turning such schemes over in my mind I pursued our way towards the `
`