September 24, 2025 • 12 mins
Dive into a thrilling adventure as David Innes, a mining heir, funds the creation of the iron mole, an innovative excavating vehicle crafted by his brilliant yet aging friend Abner Perry. During a daring test run, the vehicle goes awry, drilling 500 miles into the Earths crust and emerging into the mysterious inner world of Pellucidar. In this captivating realm, the Earth functions as a hollow shell, with Pellucidar as its vibrant internal surface, teeming with prehistoric creatures from every geological era. Here, the intelligent yet malevolent Mahars, a species of flying reptile, dominate the landscape, enslaving the primitive humans who inhabit it. Captured by the Mahars fierce Sagoth servants, Innes and Perry find themselves amidst other human captives, including the valiant Ghak, the clever Hooja, and the enchanting Dian. Join them on an exhilarating journey through a world of danger, intrigue, and unexpected alliances.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter seven of At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
This libriovox recording is in the public domain. At the
Earth's Core, Chapter seven. Freedom. Once out of the direct
path of the animal, fear of it left me, but
another emotion as quickly gripped me, hope of escape that
(00:23):
the demoralized condition of the guards made possible. For the
instant I thought of Perry, but for the hope that
I might better encompass his release. If myself free, I
should have put the thought of freedom from me at once.
As it was, I hastened on toward the right, searching
for an exit toward which no sagoths were fleeing, And
at last I found it, a long, narrow aperture leading
(00:45):
into a dark corridor. Without thought of the possible consequence,
I darted into the shadows of the tunnel, feeling my
way along through the gloom. For some distance. The noises
of the amphitheater had grown fainter and fainter, until now
all was as silent as the tomb about me. Faint
light filtered from above through occasional ventilating and lighting tubes,
(01:09):
but it was scarce sufficient to enable my human eyes
to cope with the darkness, and so I was forced
to move with extreme care, feeling my way along step
by step, with a hand upon the wall beside me.
Presently the light increased, and a moment later, to my delight,
I came upon a flight of steps leading upward, at
the top of which the brilliant light of the noonday
(01:31):
sun shone through an opening in the ground. Cautiously, I
crept up the stairway to the tunnel's end, and peering out,
saw the broad plane of Phutra before me. The numerous
lofty granite towers which mark the several entrances to the
subterranean city, were all in front of me. Behind the
plain stretched level and unbroken to the nearby foothills. I
(01:54):
had come to the surface, then beyond the city, and
my chances for escape seemed much enhanced. My first impulse
was to await darkness before attempting to cross the plain,
so deeply implanted are habits of thought. But of a
sudden I recollected the perpetual noonday brilliance which envelops Pellucidar,
and with a smile I stepped forth into the daylight.
(02:17):
Rank grass waist high grows upon the plain of Phutra,
the gorgeous flowering grass of the inner world, each particular
blade of which is tipped with a tiny five pointed blossom,
Brilliant little stars of varying colors that twinkle in the
green foliage, to add still another charm to the weird
yet lovely landscape. But then the only aspect which attracted
(02:41):
me was the distant hills in which I hoped to
find sanctuary, And so I hastened on trampling the myriad
beauties beneath my hurrying feet. Perry says that the force
of gravity is less upon the surface of the inner
world than upon that of the outer. He explained it
all to me once, but I was never particularly in
such matters, and some most of it has escaped me
(03:03):
as I recall it. The difference is due in some
part to the counter attraction of that portion of the
Earth's crust directly opposite the spot upon the face of
Pellucidar at which one's calculations are being made. Be that
as it may, it always seemed to me that I
moved with greater speed and agility within Pellucidar than upon
the outer surface. There was a certain airy lightness of
(03:25):
step that was most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily
detachment which I can only compare with that occasionally experienced
in dreams. And as I crossed Phutra's flower bespangled plain
that time I seemed almost to fly. Though how much
of the sensation was due to Parry's suggestion and how
much to actuality, I am sure I do not know.
(03:48):
The more I thought of Perry, the less pleasure I
took in my new found freedom. There could be no
liberty for me within Pellucidar unless the old man shared
it with me, and only the hope that I might
find some way to encompass his release kept me from
turning back to Phutra. Just how I was to help
Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped that some
(04:09):
fortuitous circumstance might solve the problem for me. It was
quite evident, however, that little less than a miracle could
aid me, for what could I accomplish in this strange world,
naked and unarmed? It was even doubtful that I could
retrace my steps to Phutra should I once pass beyond
the view of the plane, And even were that possible,
(04:30):
what aid could I bring to Perry. No matter how
far I wandered, the case looked more and more hopeless
the longer I viewed it. Yet with a stubborn persistency,
I forged ahead toward the foothills behind me. No sign
of pursuit developed before me. I saw no living thing.
It was as though I moved through a dead and
(04:51):
forgotten world. I have no idea, of course, how long
it took me to reach the limit of the plane.
But at last I entered the foothills, following a pretty
little canyon upward toward the mountains. Beside me frolicked a
laughing brooklet, hurrying upon its noisy way down to the
silent sea. In its quieter pools, I discovered many small
(05:14):
fish of four or five pound weight. I should imagine
in appearance, except as to size and color, they were
not unlike the whale of our own seas. As I
watched them playing about, I discovered not only that they
suckled their young, but that at intervals they rose to
the surface to breathe, as well as to feed upon
(05:34):
certain grasses and a strange scarlet lichen which grew upon
the rocks just above the water line. It was this
last habit that gave me the opportunity. I craved to
capture one of these herbivorous cetaceans, that is what Perry
calls them, and make as good a meal as one
can on raw, warm blooded fish. But I had become
(05:54):
rather used by this time to the eating of food
in its natural state, though I still balked on the
eyes and entrails, much to the amusement of Ghak, to
whom I always passed these delicacies. Crouching beside the brook,
I waited until one of the diminutive purple whales rose
to nibble at the long grasses which overhung the water.
(06:15):
And then, like the beast of prey that man really is,
I sprang upon my victim, appeasing my hunger, while he
yet wriggled to escape. Then I drank from the clear pool,
and after washing my hands and face, continued my flight.
Above the source of the brook. I encountered a rugged
climb to the summit of a long ridge. Beyond was
(06:36):
a steep declivity to the shore of a placid inland sea,
upon the quiet surface of which lay several beautiful islands.
The view was charming in the extreme, and as no
man or beast was to be seen that might threaten
my new found liberty. I slid over the edge of
the bluff, and, half sliding, half falling, dropped into the
(06:57):
delightful valley, the very aspect of which it seemed to
offer a haven of peace and security. The gently sloping
beach along which I walked was thickly strewn with strangely
shaped colored shells, some empty, others still housing as very
dumb multitude of mollusks as ever might have drawn out
their sluggish lives along the silent shores of the antediluvian
(07:19):
seas of the outer Crust. As I walked, I could
not but compare myself with the first man of that
other world, so complete, the solitude which surrounded me, so
primal and untouched, the virgin wonders and beauties of adolescent nature.
I felt myself a second atom, wending my lonely way
through the childhood of a world, searching for my eve.
(07:42):
And at the thought, there rose before my mind's eye
the exquisite outlines of a perfect face, surmounted by a
loose pile of wondrous raven hair. As I walked, my
eyes were bent upon the beach so that. It was
not until I had come quite upon it that I
discovered that which shattered all all my beautiful dream of
solitude and safety and peace and primal overlordship. The thing
(08:06):
was a hoddled log drawn upon the sands, and in
the bottom of it lay a crude paddle. The rude
shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove some new
form of danger was still upon me when I heard
a rattling of loose stones from the direction of the bluff,
and turning my eyes in that direction, I beheld the
author of the disturbance, a great copper colored man, running
(08:28):
rapidly toward me. There was that in the haste with
which he came which seemed quite sufficiently menacing, so that
I did not need the added evidence of brandishing spear
and scowling face to warn me that I was in
no safe position. But whither to flee was indeed a
momentous question. The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude
the possibility of escaping him. Upon the open beach, there
(08:52):
was but a single alternative, the rude skiff, And with
a celerity which equaled his, I pushed the thing into
the sea, and as it floated, gave a final shove,
and clambered in over the end. A cry of rage
rose from the owner of the primitive craft, and an
instant later his heavy stone tipped spear grazed my shoulder
(09:13):
and buried itself in the bow of the boat beyond.
Then I grasped the paddle, and with feverish haste, urged
the awkward, wobbly thing out upon the surface of the sea.
A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper
colored one had plunged in after me, and was swimming
rapidly in pursuit. His mighty strokes bade fair to close
(09:33):
up the distance between us in short order, for at
best I could make but slow progress with my unfamiliar craft,
which nosed stubbornly in every direction but that which I
desired to follow, so that fully half my energy was
expended in turning its blunt prow back into the course.
I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it
(09:54):
became evident that my pursuer must grasp the stern of
the skiff within the next half dozen strokes. In a
frenzy of despair, I bent to the grandfather of all
paddles in a hopeless effort to escape, and still the
copper giant behind me gained and gained. His hand was
reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek,
sinuous body shoot from the depths below. The man saw
(10:17):
it too, and the look of terror that overspread his
face assured me that I need have no further concern
as to him, for the fear of certain death was
in his look. And then about him coiled the great,
slimy folds of a hideous monster of that prehistoric deep,
a mighty serpent of the sea, with fanged jaws and
(10:38):
darting forked tongue, with bulging eyes, and bony protruberances upon
head and snout that formed short stout horns. As I
looked at that hopeless struggle, my eyes met those of
the doomed man, and I could have sworn that in
his I saw an expression of hopeless appeal. But whether
I did or not, there swept through me a sudden
(11:01):
compassion for the fellow. He was indeed a brother man,
and that he might have killed me with pleasure had
he caught me was forgotten in the extremity of his danger.
Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as a serpent rose to
engage my pursuer. So now the skiff still drifted close
beside the two, the monster seemed to be but playing
(11:21):
with his victim, before he closed his awful jaws upon
him and dragged him down to his dark den beneath
the surface to devour him. The huge snakelike body coiled
and uncoiled about its prey. The hideous, gaping jaws snapped
in the victim's face. The forked tongue, lightning like, ran
in and out upon the copper's skin. Nobly, the giant
(11:43):
battled for his life, beating with his stone hatchet against
the bony armor that covered that frightful carcass. But for
all the damage he inflicted, he might as well have
struck with his open palm. At last, I could endure
no longer to sit supinely by while a fellow man
was dragged down to a horrible death by that repulsive reptile.
(12:05):
Embedded in the prow of the skiff lay the spear
that had been cast after me by him, whom I
suddenly desired to save. With a wrench, I tore it loose,
and standing upright in the wobbly log drove it with
all the strength of my two arms, straight into the
gaping jaws of the Hydrophidian. With a loud hiss, the
(12:25):
creature abandoned its prey to turn upon me, but the
spear embedded in its throat prevented it from seizing me,
though it came near to overturning the skiff in its
mad efforts to reach me. End of Chapter seven
Chapter seven of At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
This libriovox recording is in the public domain. At the
Earth's Core, Chapter seven. Freedom. Once out of the direct
path of the animal, fear of it left me, but
another emotion as quickly gripped me, hope of escape that
(00:23):
the demoralized condition of the guards made possible. For the
instant I thought of Perry, but for the hope that
I might better encompass his release. If myself free, I
should have put the thought of freedom from me at once.
As it was, I hastened on toward the right, searching
for an exit toward which no sagoths were fleeing, And
at last I found it, a long, narrow aperture leading
(00:45):
into a dark corridor. Without thought of the possible consequence,
I darted into the shadows of the tunnel, feeling my
way along through the gloom. For some distance. The noises
of the amphitheater had grown fainter and fainter, until now
all was as silent as the tomb about me. Faint
light filtered from above through occasional ventilating and lighting tubes,
(01:09):
but it was scarce sufficient to enable my human eyes
to cope with the darkness, and so I was forced
to move with extreme care, feeling my way along step
by step, with a hand upon the wall beside me.
Presently the light increased, and a moment later, to my delight,
I came upon a flight of steps leading upward, at
the top of which the brilliant light of the noonday
(01:31):
sun shone through an opening in the ground. Cautiously, I
crept up the stairway to the tunnel's end, and peering out,
saw the broad plane of Phutra before me. The numerous
lofty granite towers which mark the several entrances to the
subterranean city, were all in front of me. Behind the
plain stretched level and unbroken to the nearby foothills. I
(01:54):
had come to the surface, then beyond the city, and
my chances for escape seemed much enhanced. My first impulse
was to await darkness before attempting to cross the plain,
so deeply implanted are habits of thought. But of a
sudden I recollected the perpetual noonday brilliance which envelops Pellucidar,
and with a smile I stepped forth into the daylight.
(02:17):
Rank grass waist high grows upon the plain of Phutra,
the gorgeous flowering grass of the inner world, each particular
blade of which is tipped with a tiny five pointed blossom,
Brilliant little stars of varying colors that twinkle in the
green foliage, to add still another charm to the weird
yet lovely landscape. But then the only aspect which attracted
(02:41):
me was the distant hills in which I hoped to
find sanctuary, And so I hastened on trampling the myriad
beauties beneath my hurrying feet. Perry says that the force
of gravity is less upon the surface of the inner
world than upon that of the outer. He explained it
all to me once, but I was never particularly in
such matters, and some most of it has escaped me
(03:03):
as I recall it. The difference is due in some
part to the counter attraction of that portion of the
Earth's crust directly opposite the spot upon the face of
Pellucidar at which one's calculations are being made. Be that
as it may, it always seemed to me that I
moved with greater speed and agility within Pellucidar than upon
the outer surface. There was a certain airy lightness of
(03:25):
step that was most pleasing, and a feeling of bodily
detachment which I can only compare with that occasionally experienced
in dreams. And as I crossed Phutra's flower bespangled plain
that time I seemed almost to fly. Though how much
of the sensation was due to Parry's suggestion and how
much to actuality, I am sure I do not know.
(03:48):
The more I thought of Perry, the less pleasure I
took in my new found freedom. There could be no
liberty for me within Pellucidar unless the old man shared
it with me, and only the hope that I might
find some way to encompass his release kept me from
turning back to Phutra. Just how I was to help
Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped that some
(04:09):
fortuitous circumstance might solve the problem for me. It was
quite evident, however, that little less than a miracle could
aid me, for what could I accomplish in this strange world,
naked and unarmed? It was even doubtful that I could
retrace my steps to Phutra should I once pass beyond
the view of the plane, And even were that possible,
(04:30):
what aid could I bring to Perry. No matter how
far I wandered, the case looked more and more hopeless
the longer I viewed it. Yet with a stubborn persistency,
I forged ahead toward the foothills behind me. No sign
of pursuit developed before me. I saw no living thing.
It was as though I moved through a dead and
(04:51):
forgotten world. I have no idea, of course, how long
it took me to reach the limit of the plane.
But at last I entered the foothills, following a pretty
little canyon upward toward the mountains. Beside me frolicked a
laughing brooklet, hurrying upon its noisy way down to the
silent sea. In its quieter pools, I discovered many small
(05:14):
fish of four or five pound weight. I should imagine
in appearance, except as to size and color, they were
not unlike the whale of our own seas. As I
watched them playing about, I discovered not only that they
suckled their young, but that at intervals they rose to
the surface to breathe, as well as to feed upon
(05:34):
certain grasses and a strange scarlet lichen which grew upon
the rocks just above the water line. It was this
last habit that gave me the opportunity. I craved to
capture one of these herbivorous cetaceans, that is what Perry
calls them, and make as good a meal as one
can on raw, warm blooded fish. But I had become
(05:54):
rather used by this time to the eating of food
in its natural state, though I still balked on the
eyes and entrails, much to the amusement of Ghak, to
whom I always passed these delicacies. Crouching beside the brook,
I waited until one of the diminutive purple whales rose
to nibble at the long grasses which overhung the water.
(06:15):
And then, like the beast of prey that man really is,
I sprang upon my victim, appeasing my hunger, while he
yet wriggled to escape. Then I drank from the clear pool,
and after washing my hands and face, continued my flight.
Above the source of the brook. I encountered a rugged
climb to the summit of a long ridge. Beyond was
(06:36):
a steep declivity to the shore of a placid inland sea,
upon the quiet surface of which lay several beautiful islands.
The view was charming in the extreme, and as no
man or beast was to be seen that might threaten
my new found liberty. I slid over the edge of
the bluff, and, half sliding, half falling, dropped into the
(06:57):
delightful valley, the very aspect of which it seemed to
offer a haven of peace and security. The gently sloping
beach along which I walked was thickly strewn with strangely
shaped colored shells, some empty, others still housing as very
dumb multitude of mollusks as ever might have drawn out
their sluggish lives along the silent shores of the antediluvian
(07:19):
seas of the outer Crust. As I walked, I could
not but compare myself with the first man of that
other world, so complete, the solitude which surrounded me, so
primal and untouched, the virgin wonders and beauties of adolescent nature.
I felt myself a second atom, wending my lonely way
through the childhood of a world, searching for my eve.
(07:42):
And at the thought, there rose before my mind's eye
the exquisite outlines of a perfect face, surmounted by a
loose pile of wondrous raven hair. As I walked, my
eyes were bent upon the beach so that. It was
not until I had come quite upon it that I
discovered that which shattered all all my beautiful dream of
solitude and safety and peace and primal overlordship. The thing
(08:06):
was a hoddled log drawn upon the sands, and in
the bottom of it lay a crude paddle. The rude
shock of awakening to what doubtless might prove some new
form of danger was still upon me when I heard
a rattling of loose stones from the direction of the bluff,
and turning my eyes in that direction, I beheld the
author of the disturbance, a great copper colored man, running
(08:28):
rapidly toward me. There was that in the haste with
which he came which seemed quite sufficiently menacing, so that
I did not need the added evidence of brandishing spear
and scowling face to warn me that I was in
no safe position. But whither to flee was indeed a
momentous question. The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude
the possibility of escaping him. Upon the open beach, there
(08:52):
was but a single alternative, the rude skiff, And with
a celerity which equaled his, I pushed the thing into
the sea, and as it floated, gave a final shove,
and clambered in over the end. A cry of rage
rose from the owner of the primitive craft, and an
instant later his heavy stone tipped spear grazed my shoulder
(09:13):
and buried itself in the bow of the boat beyond.
Then I grasped the paddle, and with feverish haste, urged
the awkward, wobbly thing out upon the surface of the sea.
A glance over my shoulder showed me that the copper
colored one had plunged in after me, and was swimming
rapidly in pursuit. His mighty strokes bade fair to close
(09:33):
up the distance between us in short order, for at
best I could make but slow progress with my unfamiliar craft,
which nosed stubbornly in every direction but that which I
desired to follow, so that fully half my energy was
expended in turning its blunt prow back into the course.
I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it
(09:54):
became evident that my pursuer must grasp the stern of
the skiff within the next half dozen strokes. In a
frenzy of despair, I bent to the grandfather of all
paddles in a hopeless effort to escape, and still the
copper giant behind me gained and gained. His hand was
reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek,
sinuous body shoot from the depths below. The man saw
(10:17):
it too, and the look of terror that overspread his
face assured me that I need have no further concern
as to him, for the fear of certain death was
in his look. And then about him coiled the great,
slimy folds of a hideous monster of that prehistoric deep,
a mighty serpent of the sea, with fanged jaws and
(10:38):
darting forked tongue, with bulging eyes, and bony protruberances upon
head and snout that formed short stout horns. As I
looked at that hopeless struggle, my eyes met those of
the doomed man, and I could have sworn that in
his I saw an expression of hopeless appeal. But whether
I did or not, there swept through me a sudden
(11:01):
compassion for the fellow. He was indeed a brother man,
and that he might have killed me with pleasure had
he caught me was forgotten in the extremity of his danger.
Unconsciously I had ceased paddling as a serpent rose to
engage my pursuer. So now the skiff still drifted close
beside the two, the monster seemed to be but playing
(11:21):
with his victim, before he closed his awful jaws upon
him and dragged him down to his dark den beneath
the surface to devour him. The huge snakelike body coiled
and uncoiled about its prey. The hideous, gaping jaws snapped
in the victim's face. The forked tongue, lightning like, ran
in and out upon the copper's skin. Nobly, the giant
(11:43):
battled for his life, beating with his stone hatchet against
the bony armor that covered that frightful carcass. But for
all the damage he inflicted, he might as well have
struck with his open palm. At last, I could endure
no longer to sit supinely by while a fellow man
was dragged down to a horrible death by that repulsive reptile.
(12:05):
Embedded in the prow of the skiff lay the spear
that had been cast after me by him, whom I
suddenly desired to save. With a wrench, I tore it loose,
and standing upright in the wobbly log drove it with
all the strength of my two arms, straight into the
gaping jaws of the Hydrophidian. With a loud hiss, the
(12:25):
creature abandoned its prey to turn upon me, but the
spear embedded in its throat prevented it from seizing me,
though it came near to overturning the skiff in its
mad efforts to reach me. End of Chapter seven
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