Reading Help The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
'To discover a society,' said I, 'erected on a strictly communistic `
` basis.' `
` `
` 'Of all the wild extravagant theories!' began the Psychologist. `
` `
` 'Yes, so it seemed to me, and so I never talked of it until--' `
` `
` 'Experimental verification!' cried I. 'You are going to verify `
` _that_?' `
` `
` 'The experiment!' cried Filby, who was getting brain-weary. `
` `
` 'Let's see your experiment anyhow,' said the Psychologist, 'though `
` it's all humbug, you know.' `
` `
` The Time Traveller smiled round at us. Then, still smiling faintly, `
` and with his hands deep in his trousers pockets, he walked slowly `
` out of the room, and we heard his slippers shuffling down the long `
` passage to his laboratory. `
` `
` The Psychologist looked at us. 'I wonder what he's got?' `
` `
` 'Some sleight-of-hand trick or other,' said the Medical Man, and `
` Filby tried to tell us about a conjurer he had seen at Burslem; but `
` before he had finished his preface the Time Traveller came back, and `
` Filby's anecdote collapsed. `
` `
` The thing the Time Traveller held in his hand was a glittering `
` metallic framework, scarcely larger than a small clock, and very `
` delicately made. There was ivory in it, and some transparent `
` crystalline substance. And now I must be explicit, for this that `
` follows--unless his explanation is to be accepted--is an absolutely `
` unaccountable thing. He took one of the small octagonal tables that `
` were scattered about the room, and set it in front of the fire, with `
` two legs on the hearthrug. On this table he placed the mechanism. `
` Then he drew up a chair, and sat down. The only other object on the `
` table was a small shaded lamp, the bright light of which fell upon `
` the model. There were also perhaps a dozen candles about, two in `
` brass candlesticks upon the mantel and several in sconces, so that `
` the room was brilliantly illuminated. I sat in a low arm-chair `
` nearest the fire, and I drew this forward so as to be almost between `
` the Time Traveller and the fireplace. Filby sat behind him, looking `
` over his shoulder. The Medical Man and the Provincial Mayor watched `
` him in profile from the right, the Psychologist from the left. The `
` Very Young Man stood behind the Psychologist. We were all on the `
` alert. It appears incredible to me that any kind of trick, however `
` subtly conceived and however adroitly done, could have been played `
` upon us under these conditions. `
` `
` The Time Traveller looked at us, and then at the mechanism. 'Well?' `
` said the Psychologist. `
` `
` 'This little affair,' said the Time Traveller, resting his elbows `
` upon the table and pressing his hands together above the apparatus, `
` 'is only a model. It is my plan for a machine to travel through `
` time. You will notice that it looks singularly askew, and that there `
` is an odd twinkling appearance about this bar, as though it was in `
` some way unreal.' He pointed to the part with his finger. 'Also, `
` here is one little white lever, and here is another.' `
` `
` The Medical Man got up out of his chair and peered into the thing. `
` 'It's beautifully made,' he said. `
` `
` 'It took two years to make,' retorted the Time Traveller. Then, when `
` we had all imitated the action of the Medical Man, he said: 'Now I `
` want you clearly to understand that this lever, being pressed over, `
` sends the machine gliding into the future, and this other reverses `
` the motion. This saddle represents the seat of a time traveller. `
` Presently I am going to press the lever, and off the machine will `
` go. It will vanish, pass into future Time, and disappear. Have a `
` good look at the thing. Look at the table too, and satisfy `
` yourselves there is no trickery. I don't want to waste this model, `
` and then be told I'm a quack.' `
` `
` There was a minute's pause perhaps. The Psychologist seemed about to `
` speak to me, but changed his mind. Then the Time Traveller put forth `
` his finger towards the lever. 'No,' he said suddenly. 'Lend me your `
` hand.' And turning to the Psychologist, he took that individual's `
` hand in his own and told him to put out his forefinger. So that it `
` was the Psychologist himself who sent forth the model Time Machine `
` on its interminable voyage. We all saw the lever turn. I am `
` absolutely certain there was no trickery. There was a breath of `
` wind, and the lamp flame jumped. One of the candles on the mantel `
` was blown out, and the little machine suddenly swung round, became `
` indistinct, was seen as a ghost for a second perhaps, as an eddy of `
` faintly glittering brass and ivory; and it was gone--vanished! Save `
` for the lamp the table was bare. `
` `
` Everyone was silent for a minute. Then Filby said he was damned. `
` `
` The Psychologist recovered from his stupor, and suddenly looked `
` under the table. At that the Time Traveller laughed cheerfully. `
` 'Well?' he said, with a reminiscence of the Psychologist. Then, `
` getting up, he went to the tobacco jar on the mantel, and with his `
` back to us began to fill his pipe. `
` `
` We stared at each other. 'Look here,' said the Medical Man, 'are you `
` in earnest about this? Do you seriously believe that that machine `
` has travelled into time?' `
` `
` 'Certainly,' said the Time Traveller, stooping to light a spill at `
` the fire. Then he turned, lighting his pipe, to look at the `
` Psychologist's face. (The Psychologist, to show that he was not `
` unhinged, helped himself to a cigar and tried to light it uncut.) `
` 'What is more, I have a big machine nearly finished in there'--he `
` indicated the laboratory--'and when that is put together I mean to `
` have a journey on my own account.' `
` `
` 'You mean to say that that machine has travelled into the future?' `
` said Filby. `
` `
` 'Into the future or the past--I don't, for certain, know which.' `
` `
` After an interval the Psychologist had an inspiration. 'It must have `
` gone into the past if it has gone anywhere,' he said. `
` `
` 'Why?' said the Time Traveller. `
` `
` 'Because I presume that it has not moved in space, and if it `
` travelled into the future it would still be here all this time, `
` since it must have travelled through this time.' `
` `
` 'But,' I said, 'If it travelled into the past it would have been `
` visible when we came first into this room; and last Thursday when we `
` were here; and the Thursday before that; and so forth!' `
` `
` 'Serious objections,' remarked the Provincial Mayor, with an air of `
` impartiality, turning towards the Time Traveller. `
` `
` 'Not a bit,' said the Time Traveller, and, to the Psychologist: 'You `
` think. You can explain that. It's presentation below the threshold, `
` you know, diluted presentation.' `
` `
` 'Of course,' said the Psychologist, and reassured us. 'That's a `
` simple point of psychology. I should have thought of it. It's plain `
` enough, and helps the paradox delightfully. We cannot see it, nor `
` can we appreciate this machine, any more than we can the spoke of `
` a wheel spinning, or a bullet flying through the air. If it is `
` travelling through time fifty times or a hundred times faster than `
` we are, if it gets through a minute while we get through a second, `
` the impression it creates will of course be only one-fiftieth or `
` one-hundredth of what it would make if it were not travelling in `
` time. That's plain enough.' He passed his hand through the space in `
` which the machine had been. 'You see?' he said, laughing. `
` `
` We sat and stared at the vacant table for a minute or so. Then the `
` Time Traveller asked us what we thought of it all. `
` `
` 'It sounds plausible enough to-night,' said the Medical Man; 'but `
` wait until to-morrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.' `
` `
` 'Would you like to see the Time Machine itself?' asked the Time `
` Traveller. And therewith, taking the lamp in his hand, he led the `
` way down the long, draughty corridor to his laboratory. I remember `
` vividly the flickering light, his queer, broad head in silhouette, `
` the dance of the shadows, how we all followed him, puzzled but `
` incredulous, and how there in the laboratory we beheld a larger `
` edition of the little mechanism which we had seen vanish from before `
` our eyes. Parts were of nickel, parts of ivory, parts had certainly `
` been filed or sawn out of rock crystal. The thing was generally `
` complete, but the twisted crystalline bars lay unfinished upon the `
` bench beside some sheets of drawings, and I took one up for a better `
` look at it. Quartz it seemed to be. `
` `
` 'Look here,' said the Medical Man, 'are you perfectly serious? `
` Or is this a trick--like that ghost you showed us last Christmas?' `
` `
` 'Upon that machine,' said the Time Traveller, holding the lamp `
` aloft, 'I intend to explore time. Is that plain? I was never more `
` serious in my life.' `
` `
` None of us quite knew how to take it. `
` `
` I caught Filby's eye over the shoulder of the Medical Man, and he `
` winked at me solemnly. `
` `
` `
` `
` II `
` `
` `
` I think that at that time none of us quite believed in the Time `
` Machine. The fact is, the Time Traveller was one of those men who `
` are too clever to be believed: you never felt that you saw all round `
` him; you always suspected some subtle reserve, some ingenuity in `
` ambush, behind his lucid frankness. Had Filby shown the model and `
` explained the matter in the Time Traveller's words, we should have `
` shown _him_ far less scepticism. For we should have perceived his `
` motives; a pork butcher could understand Filby. But the Time `
` Traveller had more than a touch of whim among his elements, and we `
` distrusted him. Things that would have made the frame of a less `
` clever man seemed tricks in his hands. It is a mistake to do things `
` too easily. The serious people who took him seriously never felt `
` quite sure of his deportment; they were somehow aware that trusting `
` their reputations for judgment with him was like furnishing a `
` nursery with egg-shell china. So I don't think any of us said very `
` much about time travelling in the interval between that Thursday and `
` the next, though its odd potentialities ran, no doubt, in most of `
` our minds: its plausibility, that is, its practical incredibleness, `
` the curious possibilities of anachronism and of utter confusion it `
` suggested. For my own part, I was particularly preoccupied with the `
`
` basis.' `
` `
` 'Of all the wild extravagant theories!' began the Psychologist. `
` `
` 'Yes, so it seemed to me, and so I never talked of it until--' `
` `
` 'Experimental verification!' cried I. 'You are going to verify `
` _that_?' `
` `
` 'The experiment!' cried Filby, who was getting brain-weary. `
` `
` 'Let's see your experiment anyhow,' said the Psychologist, 'though `
` it's all humbug, you know.' `
` `
` The Time Traveller smiled round at us. Then, still smiling faintly, `
` and with his hands deep in his trousers pockets, he walked slowly `
` out of the room, and we heard his slippers shuffling down the long `
` passage to his laboratory. `
` `
` The Psychologist looked at us. 'I wonder what he's got?' `
` `
` 'Some sleight-of-hand trick or other,' said the Medical Man, and `
` Filby tried to tell us about a conjurer he had seen at Burslem; but `
` before he had finished his preface the Time Traveller came back, and `
` Filby's anecdote collapsed. `
` `
` The thing the Time Traveller held in his hand was a glittering `
` metallic framework, scarcely larger than a small clock, and very `
` delicately made. There was ivory in it, and some transparent `
` crystalline substance. And now I must be explicit, for this that `
` follows--unless his explanation is to be accepted--is an absolutely `
` unaccountable thing. He took one of the small octagonal tables that `
` were scattered about the room, and set it in front of the fire, with `
` two legs on the hearthrug. On this table he placed the mechanism. `
` Then he drew up a chair, and sat down. The only other object on the `
` table was a small shaded lamp, the bright light of which fell upon `
` the model. There were also perhaps a dozen candles about, two in `
` brass candlesticks upon the mantel and several in sconces, so that `
` the room was brilliantly illuminated. I sat in a low arm-chair `
` nearest the fire, and I drew this forward so as to be almost between `
` the Time Traveller and the fireplace. Filby sat behind him, looking `
` over his shoulder. The Medical Man and the Provincial Mayor watched `
` him in profile from the right, the Psychologist from the left. The `
` Very Young Man stood behind the Psychologist. We were all on the `
` alert. It appears incredible to me that any kind of trick, however `
` subtly conceived and however adroitly done, could have been played `
` upon us under these conditions. `
` `
` The Time Traveller looked at us, and then at the mechanism. 'Well?' `
` said the Psychologist. `
` `
` 'This little affair,' said the Time Traveller, resting his elbows `
` upon the table and pressing his hands together above the apparatus, `
` 'is only a model. It is my plan for a machine to travel through `
` time. You will notice that it looks singularly askew, and that there `
` is an odd twinkling appearance about this bar, as though it was in `
` some way unreal.' He pointed to the part with his finger. 'Also, `
` here is one little white lever, and here is another.' `
` `
` The Medical Man got up out of his chair and peered into the thing. `
` 'It's beautifully made,' he said. `
` `
` 'It took two years to make,' retorted the Time Traveller. Then, when `
` we had all imitated the action of the Medical Man, he said: 'Now I `
` want you clearly to understand that this lever, being pressed over, `
` sends the machine gliding into the future, and this other reverses `
` the motion. This saddle represents the seat of a time traveller. `
` Presently I am going to press the lever, and off the machine will `
` go. It will vanish, pass into future Time, and disappear. Have a `
` good look at the thing. Look at the table too, and satisfy `
` yourselves there is no trickery. I don't want to waste this model, `
` and then be told I'm a quack.' `
` `
` There was a minute's pause perhaps. The Psychologist seemed about to `
` speak to me, but changed his mind. Then the Time Traveller put forth `
` his finger towards the lever. 'No,' he said suddenly. 'Lend me your `
` hand.' And turning to the Psychologist, he took that individual's `
` hand in his own and told him to put out his forefinger. So that it `
` was the Psychologist himself who sent forth the model Time Machine `
` on its interminable voyage. We all saw the lever turn. I am `
` absolutely certain there was no trickery. There was a breath of `
` wind, and the lamp flame jumped. One of the candles on the mantel `
` was blown out, and the little machine suddenly swung round, became `
` indistinct, was seen as a ghost for a second perhaps, as an eddy of `
` faintly glittering brass and ivory; and it was gone--vanished! Save `
` for the lamp the table was bare. `
` `
` Everyone was silent for a minute. Then Filby said he was damned. `
` `
` The Psychologist recovered from his stupor, and suddenly looked `
` under the table. At that the Time Traveller laughed cheerfully. `
` 'Well?' he said, with a reminiscence of the Psychologist. Then, `
` getting up, he went to the tobacco jar on the mantel, and with his `
` back to us began to fill his pipe. `
` `
` We stared at each other. 'Look here,' said the Medical Man, 'are you `
` in earnest about this? Do you seriously believe that that machine `
` has travelled into time?' `
` `
` 'Certainly,' said the Time Traveller, stooping to light a spill at `
` the fire. Then he turned, lighting his pipe, to look at the `
` Psychologist's face. (The Psychologist, to show that he was not `
` unhinged, helped himself to a cigar and tried to light it uncut.) `
` 'What is more, I have a big machine nearly finished in there'--he `
` indicated the laboratory--'and when that is put together I mean to `
` have a journey on my own account.' `
` `
` 'You mean to say that that machine has travelled into the future?' `
` said Filby. `
` `
` 'Into the future or the past--I don't, for certain, know which.' `
` `
` After an interval the Psychologist had an inspiration. 'It must have `
` gone into the past if it has gone anywhere,' he said. `
` `
` 'Why?' said the Time Traveller. `
` `
` 'Because I presume that it has not moved in space, and if it `
` travelled into the future it would still be here all this time, `
` since it must have travelled through this time.' `
` `
` 'But,' I said, 'If it travelled into the past it would have been `
` visible when we came first into this room; and last Thursday when we `
` were here; and the Thursday before that; and so forth!' `
` `
` 'Serious objections,' remarked the Provincial Mayor, with an air of `
` impartiality, turning towards the Time Traveller. `
` `
` 'Not a bit,' said the Time Traveller, and, to the Psychologist: 'You `
` think. You can explain that. It's presentation below the threshold, `
` you know, diluted presentation.' `
` `
` 'Of course,' said the Psychologist, and reassured us. 'That's a `
` simple point of psychology. I should have thought of it. It's plain `
` enough, and helps the paradox delightfully. We cannot see it, nor `
` can we appreciate this machine, any more than we can the spoke of `
` a wheel spinning, or a bullet flying through the air. If it is `
` travelling through time fifty times or a hundred times faster than `
` we are, if it gets through a minute while we get through a second, `
` the impression it creates will of course be only one-fiftieth or `
` one-hundredth of what it would make if it were not travelling in `
` time. That's plain enough.' He passed his hand through the space in `
` which the machine had been. 'You see?' he said, laughing. `
` `
` We sat and stared at the vacant table for a minute or so. Then the `
` Time Traveller asked us what we thought of it all. `
` `
` 'It sounds plausible enough to-night,' said the Medical Man; 'but `
` wait until to-morrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.' `
` `
` 'Would you like to see the Time Machine itself?' asked the Time `
` Traveller. And therewith, taking the lamp in his hand, he led the `
` way down the long, draughty corridor to his laboratory. I remember `
` vividly the flickering light, his queer, broad head in silhouette, `
` the dance of the shadows, how we all followed him, puzzled but `
` incredulous, and how there in the laboratory we beheld a larger `
` edition of the little mechanism which we had seen vanish from before `
` our eyes. Parts were of nickel, parts of ivory, parts had certainly `
` been filed or sawn out of rock crystal. The thing was generally `
` complete, but the twisted crystalline bars lay unfinished upon the `
` bench beside some sheets of drawings, and I took one up for a better `
` look at it. Quartz it seemed to be. `
` `
` 'Look here,' said the Medical Man, 'are you perfectly serious? `
` Or is this a trick--like that ghost you showed us last Christmas?' `
` `
` 'Upon that machine,' said the Time Traveller, holding the lamp `
` aloft, 'I intend to explore time. Is that plain? I was never more `
` serious in my life.' `
` `
` None of us quite knew how to take it. `
` `
` I caught Filby's eye over the shoulder of the Medical Man, and he `
` winked at me solemnly. `
` `
` `
` `
` II `
` `
` `
` I think that at that time none of us quite believed in the Time `
` Machine. The fact is, the Time Traveller was one of those men who `
` are too clever to be believed: you never felt that you saw all round `
` him; you always suspected some subtle reserve, some ingenuity in `
` ambush, behind his lucid frankness. Had Filby shown the model and `
` explained the matter in the Time Traveller's words, we should have `
` shown _him_ far less scepticism. For we should have perceived his `
` motives; a pork butcher could understand Filby. But the Time `
` Traveller had more than a touch of whim among his elements, and we `
` distrusted him. Things that would have made the frame of a less `
` clever man seemed tricks in his hands. It is a mistake to do things `
` too easily. The serious people who took him seriously never felt `
` quite sure of his deportment; they were somehow aware that trusting `
` their reputations for judgment with him was like furnishing a `
` nursery with egg-shell china. So I don't think any of us said very `
` much about time travelling in the interval between that Thursday and `
` the next, though its odd potentialities ran, no doubt, in most of `
` our minds: its plausibility, that is, its practical incredibleness, `
` the curious possibilities of anachronism and of utter confusion it `
` suggested. For my own part, I was particularly preoccupied with the `
`