The Time Machine Read online

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  'About eight or nine in the morning I came to the same seat ofyellow metal from which I had viewed the world upon the evening ofmy arrival. I thought of my hasty conclusions upon that evening andcould not refrain from laughing bitterly at my confidence. Herewas the same beautiful scene, the same abundant foliage, the samesplendid palaces and magnificent ruins, the same silver riverrunning between its fertile banks. The gay robes of the beautifulpeople moved hither and thither among the trees. Some were bathingin exactly the place where I had saved Weena, and that suddenly gaveme a keen stab of pain. And like blots upon the landscape rose thecupolas above the ways to the Under-world. I understood now what allthe beauty of the Over-world people covered. Very pleasant was theirday, as pleasant as the day of the cattle in the field. Like thecattle, they knew of no enemies and provided against no needs. Andtheir end was the same.

  'I grieved to think how brief the dream of the human intellect hadbeen. It had committed suicide. It had set itself steadfastlytowards comfort and ease, a balanced society with security andpermanency as its watchword, it had attained its hopes--to cometo this at last. Once, life and property must have reached almostabsolute safety. The rich had been assured of his wealth andcomfort, the toiler assured of his life and work. No doubt in thatperfect world there had been no unemployed problem, no socialquestion left unsolved. And a great quiet had followed.

  'It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatilityis the compensation for change, danger, and trouble. An animalperfectly in harmony with its environment is a perfect mechanism.Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct areuseless. There is no intelligence where there is no change and noneed of change. Only those animals partake of intelligence that haveto meet a huge variety of needs and dangers.

  'So, as I see it, the Upper-world man had drifted towards hisfeeble prettiness, and the Under-world to mere mechanical industry.But that perfect state had lacked one thing even for mechanicalperfection--absolute permanency. Apparently as time went on, thefeeding of the Under-world, however it was effected, had becomedisjointed. Mother Necessity, who had been staved off for afew thousand years, came back again, and she began below. TheUnder-world being in contact with machinery, which, however perfect,still needs some little thought outside habit, had probably retainedperforce rather more initiative, if less of every other humancharacter, than the Upper. And when other meat failed them, theyturned to what old habit had hitherto forbidden. So I say I saw itin my last view of the world of Eight Hundred and Two Thousand SevenHundred and One. It may be as wrong an explanation as mortal witcould invent. It is how the thing shaped itself to me, and as that Igive it to you.

  'After the fatigues, excitements, and terrors of the past days, andin spite of my grief, this seat and the tranquil view and the warmsunlight were very pleasant. I was very tired and sleepy, and soonmy theorizing passed into dozing. Catching myself at that, I took myown hint, and spreading myself out upon the turf I had a long andrefreshing sleep.

  'I awoke a little before sunsetting. I now felt safe against beingcaught napping by the Morlocks, and, stretching myself, I came ondown the hill towards the White Sphinx. I had my crowbar in onehand, and the other hand played with the matches in my pocket.

  'And now came a most unexpected thing. As I approached the pedestalof the sphinx I found the bronze valves were open. They had sliddown into grooves.

  'At that I stopped short before them, hesitating to enter.

  'Within was a small apartment, and on a raised place in the cornerof this was the Time Machine. I had the small levers in my pocket.So here, after all my elaborate preparations for the siege of theWhite Sphinx, was a meek surrender. I threw my iron bar away, almostsorry not to use it.

  'A sudden thought came into my head as I stooped towards the portal.For once, at least, I grasped the mental operations of the Morlocks.Suppressing a strong inclination to laugh, I stepped through thebronze frame and up to the Time Machine. I was surprised to find ithad been carefully oiled and cleaned. I have suspected since thatthe Morlocks had even partially taken it to pieces while trying intheir dim way to grasp its purpose.

  'Now as I stood and examined it, finding a pleasure in the meretouch of the contrivance, the thing I had expected happened. Thebronze panels suddenly slid up and struck the frame with a clang.I was in the dark--trapped. So the Morlocks thought. At that Ichuckled gleefully.

  'I could already hear their murmuring laughter as they came towardsme. Very calmly I tried to strike the match. I had only to fix onthe levers and depart then like a ghost. But I had overlooked onelittle thing. The matches were of that abominable kind that lightonly on the box.

  'You may imagine how all my calm vanished. The little brutes wereclose upon me. One touched me. I made a sweeping blow in the dark atthem with the levers, and began to scramble into the saddle of themachine. Then came one hand upon me and then another. Then I hadsimply to fight against their persistent fingers for my levers, andat the same time feel for the studs over which these fitted. One,indeed, they almost got away from me. As it slipped from my hand,I had to butt in the dark with my head--I could hear the Morlock'sskull ring--to recover it. It was a nearer thing than the fight inthe forest, I think, this last scramble.

  'But at last the lever was fitted and pulled over. The clinginghands slipped from me. The darkness presently fell from my eyes.I found myself in the same grey light and tumult I have alreadydescribed.