September 25, 2025 • 10 mins
Dive into Omega The Last Days of the World, a captivating science fiction novel written by Camille Flammarion in 1894. Set in the 25th century, this thought-provoking tale explores the impending threat of a carbonic-oxide comet on a collision course with Earth. Through its narrative, the novel delves into the philosophical and political ramifications of humanity facing its potential end. (Summary by Wikipedia)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section fifteen of Omega The Last Days of the World.
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. Omega The Last Days of the
(00:21):
World by Camille Flammarion, Part two, Chapter six. It is
sweet to live. Love atones for every loss in its joys,
all else is forgotten. Ineffable music of the heart, thy
divine melody, fills the soul with an ecstasy of infinite happiness.
(00:46):
What illustrious historians have celebrated the heroes of the world's progress,
the glories of war, the conquests of mind and of spirit,
Yet after so many centuries of labor and struggle, there
remain only two palpitating hearts, the kisses of two lovers.
All had perished except love and love the supreme sentiment endured,
(01:11):
shining like an inextinguishable beacon over the immense ocean of
the vanished ages. Death. They did not dream of it,
Did they not suffice for each other? What if the
cold froze their very marrow? Did they not possess in
their hearts a warmth which defied the cold of nature?
(01:32):
Did not. The sun still shine gloriously, and was not
the final doom of the world yet far distant. Omigar
bent every energy to the maintenance of the marvelous system
which had been devised for the automatic extraction by chemical
processes of the nutritive principles of the air, water, and plants,
(01:53):
and in this he seemed to be successful. So in
other days, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the
Barbarians had been seen to utilize during centuries the aqueducts, baths,
and thermal springs all the creations of the civilization of
the Caesars, and to draw from a vanished industry the
(02:14):
sources of their own strength. But one day, wonderful as
it was, the system gave out. The subterranean waters themselves
ceased to flow, the soil was frozen to a great depth.
The rays of the sun still warmed the air within
the glass covered dwellings, but no plant could live longer.
(02:35):
The supply of water was exhausted. The combined efforts of
science and industry were impotent to give to the atmosphere
the nutritive qualities possessed by those of other worlds, and
the human organism constantly clamored for the regenerating principles, which,
as we have seen, had been derived from the air, water,
(02:58):
and plants. These were now exhausted. This last human pair
struggled against these insurmountable obstacles, and recognized the uselessness of
further contest. Yet they were not resigned to death. Before
knowing each other, they had awaited it fearlessly. Now each
(03:20):
wished to defend the other, the beloved one against pitiless destiny.
The very idea of seeing Omigar lying inanimate beside her
filled evil with such anguish that she could not bear
the thought, And he too, vainly longed to carry away
his well beloved from a world doomed to decay, to
(03:40):
fly with her to that brilliant Jupiter which awaited them,
and not to abandon to the earth of the body
he adored. He thought that perhaps there still existed somewhere
upon the earth a spot which had retained a little
of that life giving water without which existence was impossible,
And although already they were both almost without strength, he
(04:03):
formed the supreme resolution of setting out to seek for it.
The electric aeronof was still in working order, forsaking the
city which was now only a tomb. The two lass,
survivors of a vanished humanity, abandoned these inhospitable regions and
set out to seek some unknown oasis. The ancient kingdoms
(04:27):
of the world passed under their feet. They saw the
remains of great cities, made illustrious by the splendors of civilization,
lying in ruins along the equator. The silence of death
covered them all. Omaga recognized the ancient city which he
had recently left, but he knew that there also the
(04:48):
supreme source of life was lacking, and they did not stop.
They traversed thus in their solitary airship, the regions which
had witnessed the last stage of the life of humanity,
but death and silence, and the frozen desert was everywhere.
No more fields, no more vegetation. The water courses were
(05:12):
visible as on a map, and it was evident that
along their banks life had been prolonged. But they were
now dried up forever. And when at times some motionless
lake was distinguished in the lower level, it was like
a lake of stone, for even at the equator, the
sun was powerless to melt the eternal ice. A kind
(05:33):
of bear with long fur was still to be seen
wandering over the frozen earth, seeking in the crevices of
the rocks its scanty vegetable food. From time to time.
Also they descried a kind of penguin and sea cows
walking upon the ice, and large gray polar birds in
awkward flight or alighting mournfully. Nowhere was the sought for
(05:56):
oasis found. The earth was indeed dead. Night came, not
a cloud obscured the sky. A warmer current from the
south had carried them over what was formerly Africa, now
a frozen waste. The mechanism of the ernof had ceased
to work. Exhausted by cold rather than by hunger, they
(06:18):
threw themselves upon the bear skins in the bottom of
the car. Perceiving a ruin, they alighted. It was an
immense quadrangular base, revealing traces of an enormous stone stairway.
It was still possible to recognize one of the ancient
Egyptian pyramids, which in the middle of the desert survived
(06:39):
the civilization which it represented with all Egypt, Nubia and Obscenia.
It had sunk below the level of the sea, and
had afterward emerged into the light and been restored in
the heart of a new capital, by a new civilization
more brilliant than that of the Thebes and of Memphis,
and finally had been again abandoned to the desert. It
(07:02):
was the only remaining monument of the earlier life of humanity,
and owed its stability to its geometric form. Let us
rest here, said Eva, since we are doomed to die,
who indeed has escaped death, Let me die in peace
in your arms. They sought a corner of the ruin
and sat down beside each other, face to face with
(07:25):
the silent desert. The young girl cowered upon the ground,
pressing her husband in her arms, still striving with all
her might against the penetrating cold. He drew her to
his heart and warmed her with his kisses. I love you,
and I am dying, she said, But no, we will
(07:45):
not die. See that star which calls us. At the
same moment, they heard behind them a slight noise issuing
from the ancient tomb of Caeps, a noise like that
the wind makes in the leaves. Shuddering, they turned together
in the direction. Whence the sound came a white shadow
(08:06):
which seemed to be self luminous, for the night was
already dark and there was no moon. Glided rather than
walked toward them, and stopped before their astonished eyes. Fear nothing,
it said, I come to seek you. No, you shall
not die. No one has ever died. Time flows into eternity,
(08:27):
and eternity remains. I was Caeps, king of Egypt, and
I reigned over this country in the early days of
the world as a slave. I have since expiated my
crimes in many existences, and when at length my soul
deserved immortality, I lived upon Neptune, Ganymede, Re, Titan, Saturn, Mars,
(08:52):
and other worlds as yet unknown to you. Jupiter is
now my home. In the days of humanity's greatness, Jupiter
was not habitable for intelligent beings. It was passing through
the necessary stages of preparation. Now this immense world is
the air to all human achievement. Worlds succeed each other
(09:15):
in time, as in space, all is eternal and merges
into the divine. Confide in me and follow me. And
as the old Pharroo still speaking, they felt a delicious
fluid penetrate their souls, as sometimes the ears filled with
an exquisite melody, A sense of calm and transcendent happiness
(09:38):
flowed in their veins. Never in any dream, in any ecstasy,
had they ever experienced such joy. Eva pressed Omigar in
her arms. I love you, she repeated. Her voice was
only a breath. He touched his lips to her already
cold mouth, and heard them murmur how I could have
(10:01):
loved Jupiter was shining majestically above them, and in the
glorious light of his rays, their sight grew dim, and
their eyes gently closed. The specter rose into space and vanished.
And one to whom it is given to sea, not
with the bodily eyes, which perceive only material vibrations, but
(10:23):
with the eyes of the soul, which perceive psychical vibrations,
might have seen two small flames shining side by side,
united by a common attraction, and rising together with the
phantom into the heavens. End of Chapter six
Section fifteen of Omega The Last Days of the World.
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. Omega The Last Days of the
(00:21):
World by Camille Flammarion, Part two, Chapter six. It is
sweet to live. Love atones for every loss in its joys,
all else is forgotten. Ineffable music of the heart, thy
divine melody, fills the soul with an ecstasy of infinite happiness.
(00:46):
What illustrious historians have celebrated the heroes of the world's progress,
the glories of war, the conquests of mind and of spirit,
Yet after so many centuries of labor and struggle, there
remain only two palpitating hearts, the kisses of two lovers.
All had perished except love and love the supreme sentiment endured,
(01:11):
shining like an inextinguishable beacon over the immense ocean of
the vanished ages. Death. They did not dream of it,
Did they not suffice for each other? What if the
cold froze their very marrow? Did they not possess in
their hearts a warmth which defied the cold of nature?
(01:32):
Did not. The sun still shine gloriously, and was not
the final doom of the world yet far distant. Omigar
bent every energy to the maintenance of the marvelous system
which had been devised for the automatic extraction by chemical
processes of the nutritive principles of the air, water, and plants,
(01:53):
and in this he seemed to be successful. So in
other days, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the
Barbarians had been seen to utilize during centuries the aqueducts, baths,
and thermal springs all the creations of the civilization of
the Caesars, and to draw from a vanished industry the
(02:14):
sources of their own strength. But one day, wonderful as
it was, the system gave out. The subterranean waters themselves
ceased to flow, the soil was frozen to a great depth.
The rays of the sun still warmed the air within
the glass covered dwellings, but no plant could live longer.
(02:35):
The supply of water was exhausted. The combined efforts of
science and industry were impotent to give to the atmosphere
the nutritive qualities possessed by those of other worlds, and
the human organism constantly clamored for the regenerating principles, which,
as we have seen, had been derived from the air, water,
(02:58):
and plants. These were now exhausted. This last human pair
struggled against these insurmountable obstacles, and recognized the uselessness of
further contest. Yet they were not resigned to death. Before
knowing each other, they had awaited it fearlessly. Now each
(03:20):
wished to defend the other, the beloved one against pitiless destiny.
The very idea of seeing Omigar lying inanimate beside her
filled evil with such anguish that she could not bear
the thought, And he too, vainly longed to carry away
his well beloved from a world doomed to decay, to
(03:40):
fly with her to that brilliant Jupiter which awaited them,
and not to abandon to the earth of the body
he adored. He thought that perhaps there still existed somewhere
upon the earth a spot which had retained a little
of that life giving water without which existence was impossible,
And although already they were both almost without strength, he
(04:03):
formed the supreme resolution of setting out to seek for it.
The electric aeronof was still in working order, forsaking the
city which was now only a tomb. The two lass,
survivors of a vanished humanity, abandoned these inhospitable regions and
set out to seek some unknown oasis. The ancient kingdoms
(04:27):
of the world passed under their feet. They saw the
remains of great cities, made illustrious by the splendors of civilization,
lying in ruins along the equator. The silence of death
covered them all. Omaga recognized the ancient city which he
had recently left, but he knew that there also the
(04:48):
supreme source of life was lacking, and they did not stop.
They traversed thus in their solitary airship, the regions which
had witnessed the last stage of the life of humanity,
but death and silence, and the frozen desert was everywhere.
No more fields, no more vegetation. The water courses were
(05:12):
visible as on a map, and it was evident that
along their banks life had been prolonged. But they were
now dried up forever. And when at times some motionless
lake was distinguished in the lower level, it was like
a lake of stone, for even at the equator, the
sun was powerless to melt the eternal ice. A kind
(05:33):
of bear with long fur was still to be seen
wandering over the frozen earth, seeking in the crevices of
the rocks its scanty vegetable food. From time to time.
Also they descried a kind of penguin and sea cows
walking upon the ice, and large gray polar birds in
awkward flight or alighting mournfully. Nowhere was the sought for
(05:56):
oasis found. The earth was indeed dead. Night came, not
a cloud obscured the sky. A warmer current from the
south had carried them over what was formerly Africa, now
a frozen waste. The mechanism of the ernof had ceased
to work. Exhausted by cold rather than by hunger, they
(06:18):
threw themselves upon the bear skins in the bottom of
the car. Perceiving a ruin, they alighted. It was an
immense quadrangular base, revealing traces of an enormous stone stairway.
It was still possible to recognize one of the ancient
Egyptian pyramids, which in the middle of the desert survived
(06:39):
the civilization which it represented with all Egypt, Nubia and Obscenia.
It had sunk below the level of the sea, and
had afterward emerged into the light and been restored in
the heart of a new capital, by a new civilization
more brilliant than that of the Thebes and of Memphis,
and finally had been again abandoned to the desert. It
(07:02):
was the only remaining monument of the earlier life of humanity,
and owed its stability to its geometric form. Let us
rest here, said Eva, since we are doomed to die,
who indeed has escaped death, Let me die in peace
in your arms. They sought a corner of the ruin
and sat down beside each other, face to face with
(07:25):
the silent desert. The young girl cowered upon the ground,
pressing her husband in her arms, still striving with all
her might against the penetrating cold. He drew her to
his heart and warmed her with his kisses. I love you,
and I am dying, she said, But no, we will
(07:45):
not die. See that star which calls us. At the
same moment, they heard behind them a slight noise issuing
from the ancient tomb of Caeps, a noise like that
the wind makes in the leaves. Shuddering, they turned together
in the direction. Whence the sound came a white shadow
(08:06):
which seemed to be self luminous, for the night was
already dark and there was no moon. Glided rather than
walked toward them, and stopped before their astonished eyes. Fear nothing,
it said, I come to seek you. No, you shall
not die. No one has ever died. Time flows into eternity,
(08:27):
and eternity remains. I was Caeps, king of Egypt, and
I reigned over this country in the early days of
the world as a slave. I have since expiated my
crimes in many existences, and when at length my soul
deserved immortality, I lived upon Neptune, Ganymede, Re, Titan, Saturn, Mars,
(08:52):
and other worlds as yet unknown to you. Jupiter is
now my home. In the days of humanity's greatness, Jupiter
was not habitable for intelligent beings. It was passing through
the necessary stages of preparation. Now this immense world is
the air to all human achievement. Worlds succeed each other
(09:15):
in time, as in space, all is eternal and merges
into the divine. Confide in me and follow me. And
as the old Pharroo still speaking, they felt a delicious
fluid penetrate their souls, as sometimes the ears filled with
an exquisite melody, A sense of calm and transcendent happiness
(09:38):
flowed in their veins. Never in any dream, in any ecstasy,
had they ever experienced such joy. Eva pressed Omigar in
her arms. I love you, she repeated. Her voice was
only a breath. He touched his lips to her already
cold mouth, and heard them murmur how I could have
(10:01):
loved Jupiter was shining majestically above them, and in the
glorious light of his rays, their sight grew dim, and
their eyes gently closed. The specter rose into space and vanished.
And one to whom it is given to sea, not
with the bodily eyes, which perceive only material vibrations, but
(10:23):
with the eyes of the soul, which perceive psychical vibrations,
might have seen two small flames shining side by side,
united by a common attraction, and rising together with the
phantom into the heavens. End of Chapter six
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