July 27, 2025 • 12 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter six, my despair upon finding the pipe of the
funnel too small for my body, A ray of hope
breaks in upon me, full account of how I succeeded
in entering the pipe of the funnel, my passage through it,
Bulgar's timely aid, the Marble Highway, and some curious things
concerning the entrance to the world within a world. The
(00:22):
rocky sides of Polyphemus's funnel were apparently as well polished
as those of any tin funnel that I had ever
seen hanging in the kitchen of Castle Trump. So, making
fast my tackle and taking Bulgar in my arms away,
we went, sliding down the side, with the line passed
under my arm. For safety's sake. It was nearly a
hundred feet to the bottom, for I had measured off
(00:45):
the full length of my line before I had come
to the apex of this gigantic cone, And, not caring
to tumble headlong down its pipe, I proceeded to light
a taper and look about me, Ah, dear friends, I
can feel that shudder. Now, so terrible was it? And
what wonder too? For A glance at the pipe of
the funnel told me that it was too small to
(01:06):
let my body pass through the agonizing thought flashed through
my mind that I had committed a terrible error, that
I had mistaken some vast pit for the giants well,
that I had thrown bulgars in my own life away
in a mad and unreasoning haste, that I should never
reach the wonderful world within a world, that there in
(01:27):
that thick gloom we must lay our bodies and bones,
or thought I may not the learned master of masters
don fun have made an error himself, and holding not
the idea that the pipe of Polypmus's funnel was large
enough to admit the passage of a man's body. In
my almost frenzy, I advanced to the mouth of the pipe, and,
(01:48):
lowering myself into it, let my body sink as far
as it would. It caught at the shoulders, and after
a careful examination, I was forced to reach the brain
racking conclusion that my faithful bulgar and I had traveled
our last mile together. There was nothing for us to
do but to lie down and die, lie down and
(02:08):
die never. I had noticed, in making the descent into
the Giant's well, that its side had much the appearance
of being walled around by blocks of stone with bulgar
strap to my back, I would slowly climb up from
shelf to shelf until my strength failed me, and then
I would wait until I thought old Juliana had come
back together herbs, and possibly I might make her hear me.
(02:30):
In my despair, I sighed and clutched my own arms,
and as I did so, one of my hands came
into contact with something cold and slippery, having the feel
of tallow. Taking a pinch of the substance between my
thumb and finger, I rubbed it thoughtfully for a moment,
and then a ray of hope broke through the awful
gloom that enshrouded me so piteously. It was black lead.
(02:53):
There could be no doubt of it. It had made
its way through a crack or crevice in Polyphemus's funnel,
and I had rubbed it off in sliding down the side.
With this greasy material to rub on the inside of
the pipe to the funnel, and also to besmear myself with.
Mayhap I might yet slip through into the world within
a world. At any rate, I determined to make the trial,
(03:15):
even if I left some of my skin on the
flinty rock in order to collect my thoughts thoroughly, and
that I might proceed step by step in that systematic
order so characteristic of all my wonderful exploits. I sat down,
and putting my arm around dear Bulgar's neck and drawing
him up against me. I communed with myself for a
(03:35):
good half hour. Then all was in readiness for action.
And to prove to you, dear friends, how careful Bulgar
was not to interrupt my train of thought, I have
to report to you that although a small animal of
the rat family came out from a crevice in the
rock while I sat there, thinking as I could see
by the light of my tiny wax taper, and had
(03:55):
the temerity first to sniff at Bulgar's tail and then
to give it a playful nip. Yet the sagacious animal
never budged a hair's breath. Mind hath ordered. Now let
hands obey, I exclaimed, as I sprang up and began
stripping off my outer garments. This done, I clambered up
(04:16):
on the side of the funnel and began to collect
a supply of the black lead, which I deposited near
the opening of the pipe. The next thing to do
was to get Bulgar through the pipe ahead of me.
To this end, I tied him up in my clothing
bag fashion and began to lower away. After paying out
sixty five or seventy feet of line, he struck bottom,
(04:38):
and by his loud barking, gave me to understand that
it was all rigid that I might make the descent myself.
Upon hearing his voice, I gave the line a few
sharp tugs. He was not so slow to comprehend my meaning,
and in a moment or so had not only scrambled
out of the bag himself, but pulled my clothing loose
so that I might draw the line up again. My
(05:00):
next step was to contrive a way to weight myself
when the moment arrived to begin of the descent, for
I felt sure that I never should be able to
arrange it so as to slip through the pipe unless
something was pulling at my heels. Cutting off about ten
feet of the rope, I made fast one end of
the piece to a long piece of rock weighing about
a hundred pounds. This I laid near the mouth of
(05:23):
the pipe, ready for use. But now came the most
difficult thing of all. It was to draw my shoulders
in on my breast and lash them securely in that position,
by which plan I expected to reduce my width in
at least two good inches. These two inches thus gained,
or rather lost, might be the means by which I
would be able to slip through the pipe of Polypmus's
(05:44):
funnel and reach the vast underground passage leading to the
world within a world. Putting a noose around my chest
just below my collar bone, I drew my shoulders in
as tight as I could bear, and changed the slip
knot into a hard one. Then, having made the other
into the line fast to the side of the funnel,
I proceeded to wind myself up, as the housewives often do,
(06:06):
a big sausage to keep it from bursting. This done,
I set about rolling in the black lead until I
was thoroughly smeared with it. There was now but one
thing more to do before dropping myself into the pipe,
and that was to make fast the weight to my feet.
It was no easy task, wound up as I was
with my arms lashed down against my body, but by
(06:28):
the use of slip knots, I finally accomplished the feat and,
sitting down, put my legs into the pipe and drew
a long breath, for I felt as if I was
skewered up in a strait jacket. Bending down, I called
out to Bulgar. He answered with a yelp of joy
that brought fresh vigor to my heart. Now was come
the supreme moment, which was to witness success or failure? Failure? Oh,
(06:52):
what a dread word is that? And yet how often
must human lips pronounce it? And in so doing breathe
out the sigh in which it ends. Quickly lowering the weight,
I wriggled off the edge of the opening and straightened
myself out as I slipped into the pipe. Had I
stopped it like a cork? Or was I moving? Yes? Down, down, gently, slowly, noiselessly,
(07:16):
I went slipping through the pipe to Polyphemus's funnel. What
did I care how that weight caused the line to
cut into my ankles. I was moving. I was drawing
nearer and nearer to Bulgar, whose joyous spark I could
hear now, and then nearer to the inner gates of
the world within a world. But woe is me? I
suddenly stopped, and, in spite of all my efforts to
(07:36):
start again, by twisting, turning, and shaking my body. It
refused to sink another inch, and there I stick, Oh, bulgar, bulgar,
I moan, faithful friend, if thou couldst but reach me,
one tug from thee might save thy little master. In
a sort of wild and desperate way. I now began
(07:56):
to feel about me as well as I could with
my hands wedged in so close to my sides. But
in a moment or so I had discovered the cause
of my coming to such a sudden standstill. I had
struck a portion of the pipe that had a thread
to it, like that which encircles a bolt of iron
and makes a screw of it. And the thought came
to me that if I could only succeed in giving
a revolving motion to my body, I would, with every
(08:18):
turn twist myself further down toward the end of the pipe.
I could feel that my knuckles and finger tips were
being bruised and lacerated by this arduous work. But worft
cared I for the keen pain that darted from hands
to wrists and wrists to elbows. It was like twisting
a screw slowly through a long nut, only the thread
in this case was on the knut and the little
(08:41):
grows in the screw, and that screw was my poor
bruise little body. All of a sudden, by the swinging
of the weight, I could tell that it had passed
out at the lower end of the pipe. It was
pulling cruelly hard on my tender ankles, but I could
twist myself no more. My strength was gone. I was
at the point of swooning when I heard Bulgar utter
(09:02):
a loud yelp, And the next instant there was such
a strong tug at my ankle, so I sent forth
a groan. But that hug saved me. It was Bulgar
who had leaped into the air, and catching the rope
in his teeth, had dragged his little master out of
the pipe of Polyphemus's tunnel. We all fell into the
same heap, Bulger and I and the weight fully ten
(09:23):
feet and very serious might have been the consequences for
me had my fall not been broken by my striking
on the pile of my clothing placed directly under the opening.
And dear friends, if you talked until the crack of doom,
you could not make me believe that my four footed
brother hadn't placed those clothes there to catch me. They
weren't thrown higglely piggledy into a heap, either, but were
(09:46):
laid one upon the other, the heaviest at the bottom.
Having unwound myself and lighted one of my wax tapers,
I made haste to cast away the undergarment with its
coating of black lead, and resume my clothing. Then, stooping down,
I made anigas damination of the floor. It was composed
of huge blocks of marble of various colors, polished almost
(10:06):
as smooth as if the hand of man had brought
the work. And then I knew that I was on
Nature's marble highway leading to the cities of the underworld,
which don Fum had mentioned in his book. And I
remembered too that he had spoken of Nature's mighty mosaics,
huge fantastic figures on the walls of these lofty corridors,
made up of various colored blocks and fragments, laid one
(10:29):
upon the other, as if with design, and not by
the wild, tempestuous whims of upbursting forces thousands of years ago,
when the Earth was in its mad and wayward youth.
After a rest of several hours, during which I nursed
my torn hands and bruised fingers. Bulgar and I were
up and off again along this broad and glorious marble highway.
(10:50):
Strange to say, it was not the inky darkness of
the ordinary cavern which filled these magnificent chambers through which
the marble Highway went winding in still lately and massive grandeur.
Far from it. The gloom was tempered by a faint
glow that met us on the way, Ever, and anon
like a ray of twilight gone astray. Anyway, Bulgar, I noticed,
(11:12):
could see perfectly well, so tying a bit of twine
to his collar, I sent him on ahead, convinced that
I could have no surer guide. At times our path
would be lighted up for an instant by the bursting
out of a little tongue of flame, either on the
sides or from the roof of the gallery. I was
puzzled for quite a while to tell what it proceeded from,
(11:33):
but at last I caught sight of the source, or
rather the maker, of this welcome illumination. It proceeded from
a lizard like animal, which, by suddenly uncoiling its tail,
had the power to emit this extremely bright flesh of
phosphorescent light, and in so doing he made a sharp
crack for all the world like the noise of an
electric spark. Bulgar was delighted with this performance, and on
(11:56):
one occasion, not being able to control his feelings, he
uttered a sharp burke, whereupon apparently ten thousand of these
little torch bearers snapped their tails at me at the
same instant, and filled the vast place with a flash
of light of almost lightning like intensity. Vulgar was so
frightened by the result of his applause that he took
good care to keep quiet after this end of chapter
(12:19):
six
Chapter six, my despair upon finding the pipe of the
funnel too small for my body, A ray of hope
breaks in upon me, full account of how I succeeded
in entering the pipe of the funnel, my passage through it,
Bulgar's timely aid, the Marble Highway, and some curious things
concerning the entrance to the world within a world. The
(00:22):
rocky sides of Polyphemus's funnel were apparently as well polished
as those of any tin funnel that I had ever
seen hanging in the kitchen of Castle Trump. So, making
fast my tackle and taking Bulgar in my arms away,
we went, sliding down the side, with the line passed
under my arm. For safety's sake. It was nearly a
hundred feet to the bottom, for I had measured off
(00:45):
the full length of my line before I had come
to the apex of this gigantic cone, And, not caring
to tumble headlong down its pipe, I proceeded to light
a taper and look about me, Ah, dear friends, I
can feel that shudder. Now, so terrible was it? And
what wonder too? For A glance at the pipe of
the funnel told me that it was too small to
(01:06):
let my body pass through the agonizing thought flashed through
my mind that I had committed a terrible error, that
I had mistaken some vast pit for the giants well,
that I had thrown bulgars in my own life away
in a mad and unreasoning haste, that I should never
reach the wonderful world within a world, that there in
(01:27):
that thick gloom we must lay our bodies and bones,
or thought I may not the learned master of masters
don fun have made an error himself, and holding not
the idea that the pipe of Polypmus's funnel was large
enough to admit the passage of a man's body. In
my almost frenzy, I advanced to the mouth of the pipe, and,
(01:48):
lowering myself into it, let my body sink as far
as it would. It caught at the shoulders, and after
a careful examination, I was forced to reach the brain
racking conclusion that my faithful bulgar and I had traveled
our last mile together. There was nothing for us to
do but to lie down and die, lie down and
(02:08):
die never. I had noticed, in making the descent into
the Giant's well, that its side had much the appearance
of being walled around by blocks of stone with bulgar
strap to my back, I would slowly climb up from
shelf to shelf until my strength failed me, and then
I would wait until I thought old Juliana had come
back together herbs, and possibly I might make her hear me.
(02:30):
In my despair, I sighed and clutched my own arms,
and as I did so, one of my hands came
into contact with something cold and slippery, having the feel
of tallow. Taking a pinch of the substance between my
thumb and finger, I rubbed it thoughtfully for a moment,
and then a ray of hope broke through the awful
gloom that enshrouded me so piteously. It was black lead.
(02:53):
There could be no doubt of it. It had made
its way through a crack or crevice in Polyphemus's funnel,
and I had rubbed it off in sliding down the side.
With this greasy material to rub on the inside of
the pipe to the funnel, and also to besmear myself with.
Mayhap I might yet slip through into the world within
a world. At any rate, I determined to make the trial,
(03:15):
even if I left some of my skin on the
flinty rock in order to collect my thoughts thoroughly, and
that I might proceed step by step in that systematic
order so characteristic of all my wonderful exploits. I sat down,
and putting my arm around dear Bulgar's neck and drawing
him up against me. I communed with myself for a
(03:35):
good half hour. Then all was in readiness for action.
And to prove to you, dear friends, how careful Bulgar
was not to interrupt my train of thought, I have
to report to you that although a small animal of
the rat family came out from a crevice in the
rock while I sat there, thinking as I could see
by the light of my tiny wax taper, and had
(03:55):
the temerity first to sniff at Bulgar's tail and then
to give it a playful nip. Yet the sagacious animal
never budged a hair's breath. Mind hath ordered. Now let
hands obey, I exclaimed, as I sprang up and began
stripping off my outer garments. This done, I clambered up
(04:16):
on the side of the funnel and began to collect
a supply of the black lead, which I deposited near
the opening of the pipe. The next thing to do
was to get Bulgar through the pipe ahead of me.
To this end, I tied him up in my clothing
bag fashion and began to lower away. After paying out
sixty five or seventy feet of line, he struck bottom,
(04:38):
and by his loud barking, gave me to understand that
it was all rigid that I might make the descent myself.
Upon hearing his voice, I gave the line a few
sharp tugs. He was not so slow to comprehend my meaning,
and in a moment or so had not only scrambled
out of the bag himself, but pulled my clothing loose
so that I might draw the line up again. My
(05:00):
next step was to contrive a way to weight myself
when the moment arrived to begin of the descent, for
I felt sure that I never should be able to
arrange it so as to slip through the pipe unless
something was pulling at my heels. Cutting off about ten
feet of the rope, I made fast one end of
the piece to a long piece of rock weighing about
a hundred pounds. This I laid near the mouth of
(05:23):
the pipe, ready for use. But now came the most
difficult thing of all. It was to draw my shoulders
in on my breast and lash them securely in that position,
by which plan I expected to reduce my width in
at least two good inches. These two inches thus gained,
or rather lost, might be the means by which I
would be able to slip through the pipe of Polypmus's
(05:44):
funnel and reach the vast underground passage leading to the
world within a world. Putting a noose around my chest
just below my collar bone, I drew my shoulders in
as tight as I could bear, and changed the slip
knot into a hard one. Then, having made the other
into the line fast to the side of the funnel,
I proceeded to wind myself up, as the housewives often do,
(06:06):
a big sausage to keep it from bursting. This done,
I set about rolling in the black lead until I
was thoroughly smeared with it. There was now but one
thing more to do before dropping myself into the pipe,
and that was to make fast the weight to my feet.
It was no easy task, wound up as I was
with my arms lashed down against my body, but by
(06:28):
the use of slip knots, I finally accomplished the feat and,
sitting down, put my legs into the pipe and drew
a long breath, for I felt as if I was
skewered up in a strait jacket. Bending down, I called
out to Bulgar. He answered with a yelp of joy
that brought fresh vigor to my heart. Now was come
the supreme moment, which was to witness success or failure? Failure? Oh,
(06:52):
what a dread word is that? And yet how often
must human lips pronounce it? And in so doing breathe
out the sigh in which it ends. Quickly lowering the weight,
I wriggled off the edge of the opening and straightened
myself out as I slipped into the pipe. Had I
stopped it like a cork? Or was I moving? Yes? Down, down, gently, slowly, noiselessly,
(07:16):
I went slipping through the pipe to Polyphemus's funnel. What
did I care how that weight caused the line to
cut into my ankles. I was moving. I was drawing
nearer and nearer to Bulgar, whose joyous spark I could
hear now, and then nearer to the inner gates of
the world within a world. But woe is me? I
suddenly stopped, and, in spite of all my efforts to
(07:36):
start again, by twisting, turning, and shaking my body. It
refused to sink another inch, and there I stick, Oh, bulgar, bulgar,
I moan, faithful friend, if thou couldst but reach me,
one tug from thee might save thy little master. In
a sort of wild and desperate way. I now began
(07:56):
to feel about me as well as I could with
my hands wedged in so close to my sides. But
in a moment or so I had discovered the cause
of my coming to such a sudden standstill. I had
struck a portion of the pipe that had a thread
to it, like that which encircles a bolt of iron
and makes a screw of it. And the thought came
to me that if I could only succeed in giving
a revolving motion to my body, I would, with every
(08:18):
turn twist myself further down toward the end of the pipe.
I could feel that my knuckles and finger tips were
being bruised and lacerated by this arduous work. But worft
cared I for the keen pain that darted from hands
to wrists and wrists to elbows. It was like twisting
a screw slowly through a long nut, only the thread
in this case was on the knut and the little
(08:41):
grows in the screw, and that screw was my poor
bruise little body. All of a sudden, by the swinging
of the weight, I could tell that it had passed
out at the lower end of the pipe. It was
pulling cruelly hard on my tender ankles, but I could
twist myself no more. My strength was gone. I was
at the point of swooning when I heard Bulgar utter
(09:02):
a loud yelp, And the next instant there was such
a strong tug at my ankle, so I sent forth
a groan. But that hug saved me. It was Bulgar
who had leaped into the air, and catching the rope
in his teeth, had dragged his little master out of
the pipe of Polyphemus's tunnel. We all fell into the
same heap, Bulger and I and the weight fully ten
(09:23):
feet and very serious might have been the consequences for
me had my fall not been broken by my striking
on the pile of my clothing placed directly under the opening.
And dear friends, if you talked until the crack of doom,
you could not make me believe that my four footed
brother hadn't placed those clothes there to catch me. They
weren't thrown higglely piggledy into a heap, either, but were
(09:46):
laid one upon the other, the heaviest at the bottom.
Having unwound myself and lighted one of my wax tapers,
I made haste to cast away the undergarment with its
coating of black lead, and resume my clothing. Then, stooping down,
I made anigas damination of the floor. It was composed
of huge blocks of marble of various colors, polished almost
(10:06):
as smooth as if the hand of man had brought
the work. And then I knew that I was on
Nature's marble highway leading to the cities of the underworld,
which don Fum had mentioned in his book. And I
remembered too that he had spoken of Nature's mighty mosaics,
huge fantastic figures on the walls of these lofty corridors,
made up of various colored blocks and fragments, laid one
(10:29):
upon the other, as if with design, and not by
the wild, tempestuous whims of upbursting forces thousands of years ago,
when the Earth was in its mad and wayward youth.
After a rest of several hours, during which I nursed
my torn hands and bruised fingers. Bulgar and I were
up and off again along this broad and glorious marble highway.
(10:50):
Strange to say, it was not the inky darkness of
the ordinary cavern which filled these magnificent chambers through which
the marble Highway went winding in still lately and massive grandeur.
Far from it. The gloom was tempered by a faint
glow that met us on the way, Ever, and anon
like a ray of twilight gone astray. Anyway, Bulgar, I noticed,
(11:12):
could see perfectly well, so tying a bit of twine
to his collar, I sent him on ahead, convinced that
I could have no surer guide. At times our path
would be lighted up for an instant by the bursting
out of a little tongue of flame, either on the
sides or from the roof of the gallery. I was
puzzled for quite a while to tell what it proceeded from,
(11:33):
but at last I caught sight of the source, or
rather the maker, of this welcome illumination. It proceeded from
a lizard like animal, which, by suddenly uncoiling its tail,
had the power to emit this extremely bright flesh of
phosphorescent light, and in so doing he made a sharp
crack for all the world like the noise of an
electric spark. Bulgar was delighted with this performance, and on
(11:56):
one occasion, not being able to control his feelings, he
uttered a sharp burke, whereupon apparently ten thousand of these
little torch bearers snapped their tails at me at the
same instant, and filled the vast place with a flash
of light of almost lightning like intensity. Vulgar was so
frightened by the result of his applause that he took
good care to keep quiet after this end of chapter
(12:19):
six
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