15 - Time Machine (Version 7) by H. G. Wells

Step into the thrilling world of a Victorian scientist who believes he has unlocked the secrets of time travel. As he journeys to the distant future, he discovers humanity has diverged into two very different races the Eloi, delicate and carefree beings living above ground, and the Morlocks, sinister underground dwellers who once served the Eloi but now prey on their innocence. Will he uncover the truth behind this strange new world? Join us for a captivating exploration of evolution and survival. - Summary by Cliff Stone

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter fifteen of The Time Machine by H. G. Wells.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by
Cliffstone of Sydney, Australia, Chapter fifteen. The time travelers returned,
So I came back for a long time. I must

(00:21):
have been insensible upon the machine. The blinking succession of
the days and nights was resumed. The sun got gold,
and again the sky blue. I breathed with greater freedom.
The fluctuating contours of the land ebbed and flowed. The
hands spun backward upon the dials. At last I saw
again the dim shadows of houses, the evidences of decadent humanity.

(00:46):
These too changed and passed, and others came presently. When
the million dial was at zero, I slackened the speed.
I began to recognize our own pretty and familiar architecture.
Do thousand's hand ran back to the starting point. The
night and day flapped slower and slower. Then the old

(01:07):
walls of the laboratory came round me very gently. Now
I slowed the mechanism down. I saw one little thing
that seemed odd to me. I think I have told
you that when I set out before, my velocity became
very high. Missus Watchett had walked across the room, traveling,
as it seemed to me, like a rocket. As I returned,

(01:28):
I passed again across that minute when she traversed the laboratory,
but now her every motion appeared to be the exact
inversion of her previous ones. The door at the lower
end opened, and she glided quietly up the laboratory back foremost,
and disappeared behind the door by which she had previously entered.

(01:49):
Just before that, I seemed to see Helia for a moment,
but he passed like a flash. Then I stopped the
machine and saw about me again the old, familiar laboratory,
my tools by appliances, just as I had left them.
I got off the thing very shakily and sat down
upon my bench. For several minutes. I trembled violently. Then

(02:11):
I became calmer. Around me was my old workshop again,
exactly as it had been. I might have slept there
and the whole thing have been a dream, and yet
not exactly. The thing had started from the southeast corner
of the laboratory. It had come to rest again in
the northwest against the wall where you saw it. That

(02:34):
gives you the exact distance from my little lawn to
the pedestal of the white sphinx, into which the Morlocks
had carried my machine. For a time my brain went stagnant.
Presently I got up and came through the passage here,
limping because my heel was still painful and feeling sorely begrimed.
I saw the poor mar gazette on the table by

(02:57):
the door. I found the date was indeed to day,
and looking at the typeece saw the hour was almost
eight o'clock. I heard your voices and the clatter of plates.
I hesitated, I felt so second weak. Then I sniffed
good wholesome meat and opened the door on you. You
know the rest. I washed and dined, and now I

(03:18):
am telling you the story. End of chapter fifteen.