Reading Help The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
gentleness, a certain childlike ease. And besides, they looked so `
` frail that I could fancy myself flinging the whole dozen of them `
` about like nine-pins. But I made a sudden motion to warn them when I `
` saw their little pink hands feeling at the Time Machine. Happily `
` then, when it was not too late, I thought of a danger I had hitherto `
` forgotten, and reaching over the bars of the machine I unscrewed the `
` little levers that would set it in motion, and put these in my `
` pocket. Then I turned again to see what I could do in the way of `
` communication. `
` `
` 'And then, looking more nearly into their features, I saw some `
` further peculiarities in their Dresden-china type of prettiness. `
` Their hair, which was uniformly curly, came to a sharp end at the `
` neck and cheek; there was not the faintest suggestion of it on the `
` face, and their ears were singularly minute. The mouths were small, `
` with bright red, rather thin lips, and the little chins ran to a `
` point. The eyes were large and mild; and--this may seem egotism on `
` my part--I fancied even that there was a certain lack of the `
` interest I might have expected in them. `
` `
` 'As they made no effort to communicate with me, but simply stood `
` round me smiling and speaking in soft cooing notes to each other, I `
` began the conversation. I pointed to the Time Machine and to myself. `
` Then hesitating for a moment how to express time, I pointed to the `
` sun. At once a quaintly pretty little figure in chequered purple and `
` white followed my gesture, and then astonished me by imitating the `
` sound of thunder. `
` `
` 'For a moment I was staggered, though the import of his gesture was `
` plain enough. The question had come into my mind abruptly: were `
` these creatures fools? You may hardly understand how it took me. `
` You see I had always anticipated that the people of the year Eight `
` Hundred and Two Thousand odd would be incredibly in front of us in `
` knowledge, art, everything. Then one of them suddenly asked me a `
` question that showed him to be on the intellectual level of one of `
` our five-year-old children--asked me, in fact, if I had come from `
` the sun in a thunderstorm! It let loose the judgment I had suspended `
` upon their clothes, their frail light limbs, and fragile features. `
` A flow of disappointment rushed across my mind. For a moment I felt `
` that I had built the Time Machine in vain. `
` `
` 'I nodded, pointed to the sun, and gave them such a vivid rendering `
` of a thunderclap as startled them. They all withdrew a pace or so `
` and bowed. Then came one laughing towards me, carrying a chain of `
` beautiful flowers altogether new to me, and put it about my neck. `
` The idea was received with melodious applause; and presently they `
` were all running to and fro for flowers, and laughingly flinging `
` them upon me until I was almost smothered with blossom. You who `
` have never seen the like can scarcely imagine what delicate and `
` wonderful flowers countless years of culture had created. Then `
` someone suggested that their plaything should be exhibited in the `
` nearest building, and so I was led past the sphinx of white marble, `
` which had seemed to watch me all the while with a smile at my `
` astonishment, towards a vast grey edifice of fretted stone. As I `
` went with them the memory of my confident anticipations of a `
` profoundly grave and intellectual posterity came, with irresistible `
` merriment, to my mind. `
` `
` 'The building had a huge entry, and was altogether of colossal `
` dimensions. I was naturally most occupied with the growing crowd of `
` little people, and with the big open portals that yawned before me `
` shadowy and mysterious. My general impression of the world I saw `
` over their heads was a tangled waste of beautiful bushes and `
` flowers, a long neglected and yet weedless garden. I saw a number `
` of tall spikes of strange white flowers, measuring a foot perhaps `
` across the spread of the waxen petals. They grew scattered, as if `
` wild, among the variegated shrubs, but, as I say, I did not examine `
` them closely at this time. The Time Machine was left deserted on the `
` turf among the rhododendrons. `
` `
` 'The arch of the doorway was richly carved, but naturally I did `
` not observe the carving very narrowly, though I fancied I saw `
` suggestions of old Phoenician decorations as I passed through, and `
` it struck me that they were very badly broken and weather-worn. `
` Several more brightly clad people met me in the doorway, and so we `
` entered, I, dressed in dingy nineteenth-century garments, looking `
` grotesque enough, garlanded with flowers, and surrounded by an `
` eddying mass of bright, soft-colored robes and shining white limbs, `
` in a melodious whirl of laughter and laughing speech. `
` `
` 'The big doorway opened into a proportionately great hall hung with `
` brown. The roof was in shadow, and the windows, partially glazed `
` with coloured glass and partially unglazed, admitted a tempered `
` light. The floor was made up of huge blocks of some very hard white `
` metal, not plates nor slabs--blocks, and it was so much worn, as I `
` judged by the going to and fro of past generations, as to be deeply `
` channelled along the more frequented ways. Transverse to the length `
` were innumerable tables made of slabs of polished stone, raised `
` perhaps a foot from the floor, and upon these were heaps of fruits. `
` Some I recognized as a kind of hypertrophied raspberry and orange, `
` but for the most part they were strange. `
` `
` 'Between the tables was scattered a great number of cushions. `
` Upon these my conductors seated themselves, signing for me to do `
` likewise. With a pretty absence of ceremony they began to eat the `
` fruit with their hands, flinging peel and stalks, and so forth, into `
` the round openings in the sides of the tables. I was not loath to `
` follow their example, for I felt thirsty and hungry. As I did so I `
` surveyed the hall at my leisure. `
` `
` 'And perhaps the thing that struck me most was its dilapidated look. `
` The stained-glass windows, which displayed only a geometrical `
` pattern, were broken in many places, and the curtains that hung `
` across the lower end were thick with dust. And it caught my eye that `
` the corner of the marble table near me was fractured. Nevertheless, `
` the general effect was extremely rich and picturesque. There were, `
` perhaps, a couple of hundred people dining in the hall, and most of `
` them, seated as near to me as they could come, were watching me with `
` interest, their little eyes shining over the fruit they were eating. `
` All were clad in the same soft and yet strong, silky material. `
` `
` 'Fruit, by the by, was all their diet. These people of the remote `
` future were strict vegetarians, and while I was with them, in spite `
` of some carnal cravings, I had to be frugivorous also. Indeed, I `
` found afterwards that horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, had followed the `
` Ichthyosaurus into extinction. But the fruits were very delightful; `
` one, in particular, that seemed to be in season all the time I was `
` there--a floury thing in a three-sided husk--was especially good, `
` and I made it my staple. At first I was puzzled by all these strange `
` fruits, and by the strange flowers I saw, but later I began to `
` perceive their import. `
` `
` 'However, I am telling you of my fruit dinner in the distant future `
` now. So soon as my appetite was a little checked, I determined to `
` make a resolute attempt to learn the speech of these new men of `
` mine. Clearly that was the next thing to do. The fruits seemed a `
` convenient thing to begin upon, and holding one of these up I began `
` a series of interrogative sounds and gestures. I had some `
` considerable difficulty in conveying my meaning. At first my efforts `
` met with a stare of surprise or inextinguishable laughter, but `
` presently a fair-haired little creature seemed to grasp my intention `
` and repeated a name. They had to chatter and explain the business `
` at great length to each other, and my first attempts to make the `
` exquisite little sounds of their language caused an immense amount `
` of amusement. However, I felt like a schoolmaster amidst children, `
` and persisted, and presently I had a score of noun substantives at `
` least at my command; and then I got to demonstrative pronouns, and `
` even the verb "to eat." But it was slow work, and the little people `
` soon tired and wanted to get away from my interrogations, so I `
` determined, rather of necessity, to let them give their lessons in `
` little doses when they felt inclined. And very little doses I found `
` they were before long, for I never met people more indolent or more `
` easily fatigued. `
` `
` 'A queer thing I soon discovered about my little hosts, and that was `
` their lack of interest. They would come to me with eager cries of `
` astonishment, like children, but like children they would soon stop `
` examining me and wander away after some other toy. The dinner and my `
` conversational beginnings ended, I noted for the first time that `
` almost all those who had surrounded me at first were gone. It is `
` odd, too, how speedily I came to disregard these little people. I `
` went out through the portal into the sunlit world again as soon as `
` my hunger was satisfied. I was continually meeting more of these men `
` of the future, who would follow me a little distance, chatter and `
` laugh about me, and, having smiled and gesticulated in a friendly `
` way, leave me again to my own devices. `
` `
` 'The calm of evening was upon the world as I emerged from the great `
` hall, and the scene was lit by the warm glow of the setting sun. `
` At first things were very confusing. Everything was so entirely `
` different from the world I had known--even the flowers. The big `
` building I had left was situated on the slope of a broad river `
` valley, but the Thames had shifted perhaps a mile from its present `
` position. I resolved to mount to the summit of a crest, perhaps a `
` mile and a half away, from which I could get a wider view of this `
` our planet in the year Eight Hundred and Two Thousand Seven Hundred `
` and One A.D. For that, I should explain, was the date the little `
` dials of my machine recorded. `
` `
` 'As I walked I was watching for every impression that could possibly `
` help to explain the condition of ruinous splendour in which I `
` found the world--for ruinous it was. A little way up the hill, for `
` instance, was a great heap of granite, bound together by masses of `
` aluminium, a vast labyrinth of precipitous walls and crumpled `
` heaps, amidst which were thick heaps of very beautiful pagoda-like `
` plants--nettles possibly--but wonderfully tinted with brown about `
` the leaves, and incapable of stinging. It was evidently the derelict `
` remains of some vast structure, to what end built I could not `
` determine. It was here that I was destined, at a later date, to have `
` a very strange experience--the first intimation of a still stranger `
` discovery--but of that I will speak in its proper place. `
` `
` 'Looking round with a sudden thought, from a terrace on which I `
` rested for a while, I realized that there were no small houses to be `
` seen. Apparently the single house, and possibly even the household, `
` had vanished. Here and there among the greenery were palace-like `
` buildings, but the house and the cottage, which form such `
` characteristic features of our own English landscape, had `
` disappeared. `
` `
` '"Communism," said I to myself. `
` `
` 'And on the heels of that came another thought. I looked at the `
` half-dozen little figures that were following me. Then, in a flash, `
` I perceived that all had the same form of costume, the same soft `
` hairless visage, and the same girlish rotundity of limb. It may seem `
` strange, perhaps, that I had not noticed this before. But everything `
` was so strange. Now, I saw the fact plainly enough. In costume, and `
` in all the differences of texture and bearing that now mark off the `
` sexes from each other, these people of the future were alike. And `
` the children seemed to my eyes to be but the miniatures of their `
`
` frail that I could fancy myself flinging the whole dozen of them `
` about like nine-pins. But I made a sudden motion to warn them when I `
` saw their little pink hands feeling at the Time Machine. Happily `
` then, when it was not too late, I thought of a danger I had hitherto `
` forgotten, and reaching over the bars of the machine I unscrewed the `
` little levers that would set it in motion, and put these in my `
` pocket. Then I turned again to see what I could do in the way of `
` communication. `
` `
` 'And then, looking more nearly into their features, I saw some `
` further peculiarities in their Dresden-china type of prettiness. `
` Their hair, which was uniformly curly, came to a sharp end at the `
` neck and cheek; there was not the faintest suggestion of it on the `
` face, and their ears were singularly minute. The mouths were small, `
` with bright red, rather thin lips, and the little chins ran to a `
` point. The eyes were large and mild; and--this may seem egotism on `
` my part--I fancied even that there was a certain lack of the `
` interest I might have expected in them. `
` `
` 'As they made no effort to communicate with me, but simply stood `
` round me smiling and speaking in soft cooing notes to each other, I `
` began the conversation. I pointed to the Time Machine and to myself. `
` Then hesitating for a moment how to express time, I pointed to the `
` sun. At once a quaintly pretty little figure in chequered purple and `
` white followed my gesture, and then astonished me by imitating the `
` sound of thunder. `
` `
` 'For a moment I was staggered, though the import of his gesture was `
` plain enough. The question had come into my mind abruptly: were `
` these creatures fools? You may hardly understand how it took me. `
` You see I had always anticipated that the people of the year Eight `
` Hundred and Two Thousand odd would be incredibly in front of us in `
` knowledge, art, everything. Then one of them suddenly asked me a `
` question that showed him to be on the intellectual level of one of `
` our five-year-old children--asked me, in fact, if I had come from `
` the sun in a thunderstorm! It let loose the judgment I had suspended `
` upon their clothes, their frail light limbs, and fragile features. `
` A flow of disappointment rushed across my mind. For a moment I felt `
` that I had built the Time Machine in vain. `
` `
` 'I nodded, pointed to the sun, and gave them such a vivid rendering `
` of a thunderclap as startled them. They all withdrew a pace or so `
` and bowed. Then came one laughing towards me, carrying a chain of `
` beautiful flowers altogether new to me, and put it about my neck. `
` The idea was received with melodious applause; and presently they `
` were all running to and fro for flowers, and laughingly flinging `
` them upon me until I was almost smothered with blossom. You who `
` have never seen the like can scarcely imagine what delicate and `
` wonderful flowers countless years of culture had created. Then `
` someone suggested that their plaything should be exhibited in the `
` nearest building, and so I was led past the sphinx of white marble, `
` which had seemed to watch me all the while with a smile at my `
` astonishment, towards a vast grey edifice of fretted stone. As I `
` went with them the memory of my confident anticipations of a `
` profoundly grave and intellectual posterity came, with irresistible `
` merriment, to my mind. `
` `
` 'The building had a huge entry, and was altogether of colossal `
` dimensions. I was naturally most occupied with the growing crowd of `
` little people, and with the big open portals that yawned before me `
` shadowy and mysterious. My general impression of the world I saw `
` over their heads was a tangled waste of beautiful bushes and `
` flowers, a long neglected and yet weedless garden. I saw a number `
` of tall spikes of strange white flowers, measuring a foot perhaps `
` across the spread of the waxen petals. They grew scattered, as if `
` wild, among the variegated shrubs, but, as I say, I did not examine `
` them closely at this time. The Time Machine was left deserted on the `
` turf among the rhododendrons. `
` `
` 'The arch of the doorway was richly carved, but naturally I did `
` not observe the carving very narrowly, though I fancied I saw `
` suggestions of old Phoenician decorations as I passed through, and `
` it struck me that they were very badly broken and weather-worn. `
` Several more brightly clad people met me in the doorway, and so we `
` entered, I, dressed in dingy nineteenth-century garments, looking `
` grotesque enough, garlanded with flowers, and surrounded by an `
` eddying mass of bright, soft-colored robes and shining white limbs, `
` in a melodious whirl of laughter and laughing speech. `
` `
` 'The big doorway opened into a proportionately great hall hung with `
` brown. The roof was in shadow, and the windows, partially glazed `
` with coloured glass and partially unglazed, admitted a tempered `
` light. The floor was made up of huge blocks of some very hard white `
` metal, not plates nor slabs--blocks, and it was so much worn, as I `
` judged by the going to and fro of past generations, as to be deeply `
` channelled along the more frequented ways. Transverse to the length `
` were innumerable tables made of slabs of polished stone, raised `
` perhaps a foot from the floor, and upon these were heaps of fruits. `
` Some I recognized as a kind of hypertrophied raspberry and orange, `
` but for the most part they were strange. `
` `
` 'Between the tables was scattered a great number of cushions. `
` Upon these my conductors seated themselves, signing for me to do `
` likewise. With a pretty absence of ceremony they began to eat the `
` fruit with their hands, flinging peel and stalks, and so forth, into `
` the round openings in the sides of the tables. I was not loath to `
` follow their example, for I felt thirsty and hungry. As I did so I `
` surveyed the hall at my leisure. `
` `
` 'And perhaps the thing that struck me most was its dilapidated look. `
` The stained-glass windows, which displayed only a geometrical `
` pattern, were broken in many places, and the curtains that hung `
` across the lower end were thick with dust. And it caught my eye that `
` the corner of the marble table near me was fractured. Nevertheless, `
` the general effect was extremely rich and picturesque. There were, `
` perhaps, a couple of hundred people dining in the hall, and most of `
` them, seated as near to me as they could come, were watching me with `
` interest, their little eyes shining over the fruit they were eating. `
` All were clad in the same soft and yet strong, silky material. `
` `
` 'Fruit, by the by, was all their diet. These people of the remote `
` future were strict vegetarians, and while I was with them, in spite `
` of some carnal cravings, I had to be frugivorous also. Indeed, I `
` found afterwards that horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, had followed the `
` Ichthyosaurus into extinction. But the fruits were very delightful; `
` one, in particular, that seemed to be in season all the time I was `
` there--a floury thing in a three-sided husk--was especially good, `
` and I made it my staple. At first I was puzzled by all these strange `
` fruits, and by the strange flowers I saw, but later I began to `
` perceive their import. `
` `
` 'However, I am telling you of my fruit dinner in the distant future `
` now. So soon as my appetite was a little checked, I determined to `
` make a resolute attempt to learn the speech of these new men of `
` mine. Clearly that was the next thing to do. The fruits seemed a `
` convenient thing to begin upon, and holding one of these up I began `
` a series of interrogative sounds and gestures. I had some `
` considerable difficulty in conveying my meaning. At first my efforts `
` met with a stare of surprise or inextinguishable laughter, but `
` presently a fair-haired little creature seemed to grasp my intention `
` and repeated a name. They had to chatter and explain the business `
` at great length to each other, and my first attempts to make the `
` exquisite little sounds of their language caused an immense amount `
` of amusement. However, I felt like a schoolmaster amidst children, `
` and persisted, and presently I had a score of noun substantives at `
` least at my command; and then I got to demonstrative pronouns, and `
` even the verb "to eat." But it was slow work, and the little people `
` soon tired and wanted to get away from my interrogations, so I `
` determined, rather of necessity, to let them give their lessons in `
` little doses when they felt inclined. And very little doses I found `
` they were before long, for I never met people more indolent or more `
` easily fatigued. `
` `
` 'A queer thing I soon discovered about my little hosts, and that was `
` their lack of interest. They would come to me with eager cries of `
` astonishment, like children, but like children they would soon stop `
` examining me and wander away after some other toy. The dinner and my `
` conversational beginnings ended, I noted for the first time that `
` almost all those who had surrounded me at first were gone. It is `
` odd, too, how speedily I came to disregard these little people. I `
` went out through the portal into the sunlit world again as soon as `
` my hunger was satisfied. I was continually meeting more of these men `
` of the future, who would follow me a little distance, chatter and `
` laugh about me, and, having smiled and gesticulated in a friendly `
` way, leave me again to my own devices. `
` `
` 'The calm of evening was upon the world as I emerged from the great `
` hall, and the scene was lit by the warm glow of the setting sun. `
` At first things were very confusing. Everything was so entirely `
` different from the world I had known--even the flowers. The big `
` building I had left was situated on the slope of a broad river `
` valley, but the Thames had shifted perhaps a mile from its present `
` position. I resolved to mount to the summit of a crest, perhaps a `
` mile and a half away, from which I could get a wider view of this `
` our planet in the year Eight Hundred and Two Thousand Seven Hundred `
` and One A.D. For that, I should explain, was the date the little `
` dials of my machine recorded. `
` `
` 'As I walked I was watching for every impression that could possibly `
` help to explain the condition of ruinous splendour in which I `
` found the world--for ruinous it was. A little way up the hill, for `
` instance, was a great heap of granite, bound together by masses of `
` aluminium, a vast labyrinth of precipitous walls and crumpled `
` heaps, amidst which were thick heaps of very beautiful pagoda-like `
` plants--nettles possibly--but wonderfully tinted with brown about `
` the leaves, and incapable of stinging. It was evidently the derelict `
` remains of some vast structure, to what end built I could not `
` determine. It was here that I was destined, at a later date, to have `
` a very strange experience--the first intimation of a still stranger `
` discovery--but of that I will speak in its proper place. `
` `
` 'Looking round with a sudden thought, from a terrace on which I `
` rested for a while, I realized that there were no small houses to be `
` seen. Apparently the single house, and possibly even the household, `
` had vanished. Here and there among the greenery were palace-like `
` buildings, but the house and the cottage, which form such `
` characteristic features of our own English landscape, had `
` disappeared. `
` `
` '"Communism," said I to myself. `
` `
` 'And on the heels of that came another thought. I looked at the `
` half-dozen little figures that were following me. Then, in a flash, `
` I perceived that all had the same form of costume, the same soft `
` hairless visage, and the same girlish rotundity of limb. It may seem `
` strange, perhaps, that I had not noticed this before. But everything `
` was so strange. Now, I saw the fact plainly enough. In costume, and `
` in all the differences of texture and bearing that now mark off the `
` sexes from each other, these people of the future were alike. And `
` the children seemed to my eyes to be but the miniatures of their `
`