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“ Within was a small apartment , and on a raised place in the corner of this was the Time Machine . I had the small levers in my pocket . So here , after all my elaborate preparations for the siege of the White Sphinx , was a meek surrender . I threw my iron bar away , almost sorry 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 the bronze frame and up to the Time Machine . I was surprised to find it had been carefully oiled and cleaned . I have suspected since that the Morlocks had even partially taken it to pieces while trying in their dim way to grasp its purpose . “ Now as I stood and examined it , finding a pleasure in the mere touch of the contrivance , the thing I had expected happened . The bronze panels suddenly slid up and struck the frame with a clang . I was in the dark — trapped . So the Morlocks thought . At that I chuckled gleefully . “ I could already hear their murmuring laughter as they came towards me . Very calmly I tried to strike the match . I had only to fix on the levers and depart then like a ghost . But I had overlooked one little thing . The matches were of that abominable kind that light only on the box . “ You may imagine how all my calm vanished . The little brutes were close upon me . One touched me . I made a sweeping blow in the dark at them with the levers , and began to scramble into the saddle of the machine . Then came one hand upon me and then another . Then I had simply to fight against their persistent fingers for my levers , and at 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’s skull ring — to recover it . It was a nearer thing than the fight in the forest , I think , this last scramble . “ But at last the lever was fixed and pulled over . The clinging hands slipped from me . The darkness presently fell from my eyes . I found myself in the same grey light and tumult I have already described . XIV . The Further Vision “ I have already told you of the sickness and confusion that comes with time travelling . And this time I was not seated properly in the saddle , but sideways and in an unstable fashion . For an indefinite time I clung to the machine as it swayed and vibrated , quite unheeding how I went , and when I brought myself to look at the dials again I was amazed to find where I had arrived . One dial records days , and another thousands of days , another millions of days , and another thousands of millions . Now , instead of reversing the levers , I had pulled them over so as to go forward with them , and when I came to look at these indicators I found that the thousands hand was sweeping round as fast as the seconds hand of a watch — into futurity .
Назад Сторінка 57 з 65 Сторінка 57 з 65 Вперед Читайте далі з перекладом Створіть безкоштовний акаунт: 7 днів Pro, далі 20 перекладів слів на день або платний тариф.
