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Th Time Machine
Wels, H. G.
Electronic Text Centr, University of Virjinia Libry 

Al on-line databases 

About th electronic version 
Th Time Machine 
Wels, H. G. 
creation of machine-readbl version: Judy Boss 
Conversion to TEI-conformant markup: University of Virjinia Libry Electronic Text Centr : 
Charlottesville, Va.

1994 

About th print version 
Th Time Machine 
H. G. Wels : 
Note: Orijnl sorce infrmation unown; pagination from Indiana Up's 1987 edition (H.M. Geduld, 
ed.) add Janury 1993. 
   minml TEI tagng; spellchecked (note that this text has English spelngs.)

Publishd: 1895


English 

Revisions to th electronic version 
August 1994 Bryson Clevenger, Jr., U.Va. Electronic Text Centr 
TEI header add.: 

etext@virjinia.edu. Comercial use prohibitd; al usaj govrnd by our Conditions of Use: 
http://etext.lib.virjinia.edu/conditions.html
Final chekng: David Seman

Chaptr 1

Paje 31

   Th Time Travlr (for so it wil be convenient to speak of him) was expoundng a recndite matr to 
us. His gray ys shon and twinkld, and his usuly pale face was flushd and anmated. Th fire 
burnd brytly, and th soft radiance of th incandesnt lyts in th lilis of silvr caut th bubls 
that flashd and pasd in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patnts, embraced and caresd us rathr 
than submitd to be sat upon, and ther was that luxurius aftr-dinr atmosfere wen thot runs 
gracefuly fre of th trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way -- markng th points with a 
lean forfingr -- as we sat and lazily admired his ernestness over this new paradox (as we thot it) 
and his fecundity. 
   `U must folo me carefuly. I shal hav to controvertone or two ideas that ar almost universly 
acceptd. Th jeometry, for instnce, they taut u at scool is foundd on a misconception.' 
   `Is not that rathr a larj thing to expect us to begin upon?' said Filby, an argumentativ persn with 
red hair. 
   'I do not mean to ask u to accept anything without reasnbl ground for it. U wil soon admit as 
much as I need from u. U no of corse that a mathmaticl line, a line of thikness nil, has no 
real existnce. They taut u that? Neithr has a mathmaticl plane. These things ar mere 
abstractions.' 
   `That is al ryt,' said th Sycolojist. 
   `Nor, havng only length, bredth, and thikness, can a cube hav a real existnce.' 
   `Ther I object,' said Filby. `Of corse a solid body may exist. Al real things -- ' 
   `So most peple think. But wait a moment. Can an instntaneus cube exist?' 

Paje 32

   `Dont folo u,' said Filby. 
   `Can a cube that dos not last for any time at al, hav a real existnce?' 
   Filby became pensiv. `Clearly,' th Time Travlr proceedd, `any real body must hav extension in 
four directions: it must hav Length, Bredth, Thikness, and -- Duration. But thru a natrl infirmity 
of th flesh, wich I wil explain to u in a moment, we incline to overlook this fact. Ther ar realy 
four dimensions, thre wich we cal th thre planes of Space, and a fourth, Time. Ther is, howevr, a 
tendncy to draw an unreal distinction between th formr thre dimensions and th latr, because it 
hapns that our conciusness moves intrmitntly in one direction along th latr from th beginng 
to th end of our lives.' 
   `That,' said a very yung man, making spasmodic efrts to relight his cigar over th lamp; `that ... 
very clear indeed.' 
   `Now, it is very remarkbl that this is so extensivly overlookd,' continud th Time Travlr, with 
a slyt accession of cheerfulness. `Realy this is wat is ment by th Fourth Dimension, tho som 
peple ho talk about th Fourth Dimension do not no they mean it. It is only anothr way of 
lookng at Time. Ther is no difrnce between Time and any of th thre dimensions of Space exept 
that our conciusness moves along it. But som foolish peple hav got hold of th rong side of that 
idea. U hav al herd wat they hav to say about this Fourth Dimension?' 
   `I hav not,' said th Provincial Mayr. 
   `It is simply this. That Space, as our mathmaticians hav it, is spoken of as havng thre dimensions, 
wich one may cal Length, Bredth, and Thikness, and is always definebl by refrnce to thre 
planes, each at ryt angls to th othrs. But som filosoficl peple hav been askng wy thre 
dimensions particulrly -- wy not anothr direction at ryt angls to th othr thre? -- and hav even 
tryd to construct a Four-Dimension jeometry. Profesr Simon Newcomb was expoundng this to th 
New York Mathmaticl Society only a month or so ago. U no how on a flat surface, wich has 
only two dimensions, we can represent a figr of a thre dimensionl solid, and simlrly they think that 
by modls of thre dimensions they cud represent one of four -- if they cud mastr th perspectiv 
of th thing. Se?' 
   `I think so,' murmrd th Provincial Mayr; and, nitng his brows, he lapsd into an introspectiv 
state, his lips moving as one ho repeats mystic words. `Yes, I think I se it now,' he said aftr som 
time, brytnng in a quite transitry manr. 
   `Wel, I do not mind telng u I hav been at work upon this jeometry of Four Dimensions for som 
time. Som of my results ar curius. For instnce, here is a portrit of a man at eit years old, anothr 
at fifteen, anothr at sevnteen, anothr at twenty-thre, and so on. Al these 

Paje 33

ar evidntly sections, as it wer, Thre-Dimensionl represntations of his Four-Dimensioned being, 
wich is a fixd and unaltrbl thing.' 
   `Sientific peple,' proceedd th Time Travlr, aftr th pause required for th propr asimlation 
of this, `no very wel that Time is only a kind of Space. Here is a populr sientific diagram, a 
wethr record. This line I trace with my fingr shos th movemnt of th barometr. Yestrday it was 
so hy, yestrday nyt it fel, then this mornng it rose again, and so jently upwrd to here. Surely th 
mercury did not trace this line in any of th dimensions of Space jenrly recognized? But certnly it 
traced such a line, and that line, therfor, we must conclude was along th Time-Dimension.' 
   `But,' said th Medicl Man, staring hard at a coal in th fire, `if Time is realy only a fourth dimension 
of Space, wy is it, and wy has it always been, regardd as somthing difrnt? And wy canot we 
move in Time as we move about in th othr dimensions of Space?' 
   Th Time Travlr smiled. `Ar u sure we can move frely in Space? Ryt and left we can go, 
bakwrd and forwrd frely enuf, and men always hav don so. I admit we move frely in two 
dimensions. But how about up and down? Gravitation limits us ther.' 
   `Not exactly,' said th Medicl Man. `Ther ar baloons.' 
   `But befor th baloons, save for spasmodic jumpng and th inequalitis of th surface, man had no 
fredm of verticl movemnt.' 
   `Stil they cud move a litl up and down,' said th Medicl Man. 
   `Esir, far esir down than up.' 
   `And u canot move at al in Time, u canot get away from th presnt moment.' 
   `My dear sir, that is just wher u ar rong. That is just wher th hole world has gon rong. 
We ar always getng away from th presnt movemnt. Our mentl existences, wich ar imaterial 
and hav no dimensions, ar pasng along th Time-Dimension with a uniform velocity from th cradle 
to th grave. Just as we shud travl down if we began our existnce fifty miles abov th earth's 
surface.' 
   `But th gret dificlty is this,' intruptd th Sycolojist. `U can move about in al directions of 
Space, but u canot move about in Time.' 
   `That is th jerm of my gret discovry. But u ar rong to say that we canot move about in 
Time. For instnce, if I am recalng an incidnt very vividly I go bak to th instnt of its ocurence: I 
becom absnt-mindd, as u say. I jump bak for a moment. Of corse we hav no means of stayng 
bak for any length of Time, any mor than a savaj or an anml has of stayng six feet abov th 
ground. But a civlized man is betr off than th savaj in this respect. He can go up against gravitation 
in a baloon, and wy shud he not hope that ultmatly he may be able to stop or accelrate his drift 
along th Time-Dimension, or even turn about and travl th othr way?' 

Paje 34

   `O, this,' began Filby, `is al -- ' 
   `Wy not?' said th Time Travlr. 
   `It's against reasn,' said Filby. 
   `Wat reasn?' said th Time Travlr. 
   `U can sho blak is wite by argumnt,' said Filby, `but u wil nevr convince me.' 
   `Posbly not,' said th Time Travlr. `But now u begin to se th object of my investigations into 
th jeometry of Four Dimensions. Long ago I had a vage inklng of a machine -- ' 
   `To travl thru Time!' exclaimd th Very Yung Man. 
   `That shal travl indifrntly in any direction of Space and Time, as th driver determns.' 
   Filby contentd himself with laftr. 
   `But I hav experimentl verification,' said th Time Travlr. 
   `It wud be remarkbly convenient for th historian,' th Sycolojist sujestd. `One myt travl 
bak and verify th acceptd acount of th Batl of Hastings, for instnce!' 
   `Dont u think u wud atract atention?' said th Medicl Man. `Our ancestrs had no gret 
tolrnce for anachronisms.' 
   `One myt get one's Greek from th very lips of Homer and Plato,' th Very Yung Man thot. 
   `In wich case they wud certnly plow u for th Litl-go. Th Jermn scolrs hav improved 
Greek so much.' 
   `Then ther is th futur,' said th Very Yung Man. `Just think! One myt invest al one's mony, 
leve it to acumulate at intrest, and hurry on ahed!' 
   `To discovr a society,' said I, `erectd on a strictly communistic basis.' 
   `Of al th wild extravagnt theoris!' began th Sycolojist. 
   `Yes, so it seemd to me, and so I nevr talkd of it until -- ' 
   `Experimentl verification!' cryd I. `U ar going to verify that?' 
   `Th experimnt!' cryd Filby, ho was getng brain-weary. 
   `Let's se yr experimnt anyhow,' said th Sycolojist, `tho it's al humbug, u no.' 
   Th Time Travlr smiled round at us. Then, stil smiling faintly, and with his hands deep in his 
trousrs pokets, he walkd sloly out of th room, and we herd his sliprs shuflng down th long 
passaj to his labratry. 
   Th Sycolojist lookd at us. `I wondr wat he's got?' 
   `Som slyt-of-hand trik or othr,' said th Medicl Man, and Filby tryd to tel us about a conjurer 
he had seen at Burslem; but befor he had finishd his preface th Time Travlr came bak, and 
Filby's anecdote colapsd. 
   Th thing th Time Travlr held in his hand was a glitrng metalic framework, scarcely larjr than a 
smal clok, and very delicatly 

Paje 35

made. Ther was ivory in it, and som transparent crystline substnce. And now I must be explicit, for 
this that folos -- unless his explnation is to be acceptd -- is an abslutely unacountbl thing. He 
took one of th smal octagnl tables that wer scatrd about th room, and set it in front of th fire, 
with two legs on th hearthrug. On this table he placed th mecnism. Then he drew up a chair, and sat 
down. Th only othr object on th table was a smal shaded lamp, th bryt lyt of wich fel upon th 
modl. Ther wer also perhaps a dozn candls about, two in brass candlstiks upon th mantl and 
sevrl in sconces, so that th room was briliantly iluminated. I sat in a lo arm-chair nearst th fire, 
and I drew this forwrd so as to be almost between th Time Travlr and th fire-place. Filby sat 
behind him, lookng over his sholdr. Th Medicl Man and th Provincial Mayr wachd him in 
profile from th ryt, th Sycolojist from th left. Th Very Yung Man stood behind th 
Sycolojist. We wer al on th alert. It apears incredbl to me that any kind of trik, howevr sutly 
conceved and howevr adroitly don, cud hav been playd upon us undr these conditions. 
   Th Time Travlr lookd at us, and then at th mecnism. `Wel?' said th Sycolojist. 
   `This litl afair,' said th Time Travlr, restng his elbos upon th table and presng his hands 
togethr abov th apratus, `is only a modl. It is my plan for a machine to travl thru time. U 
wil notice that it looks singulrly askew, and that ther is an od twinklng apearnce about this bar, as 
tho it was in som way unreal.' He pointd to th part with his fingr. `Also, here is one litl wite 
levr, and here is anothr.' 
   Th Medicl Man got up out of his chair and peerd into th thing. `It's butifuly made,' he said. 
   `It took two years to make,' retortd th Time Travlr. Then, wen we had al imitated th action of 
th Medicl Man, he said: `Now I want u clearly to undrstand that this levr, being presd over, 
sends th machine gliding into th futur, and this othr reverses th motion. This sadl represents th 
seat of a time travlr. Presntly I am going to press th levr, and off th machine wil go. It wil vanish, 
pass into futur Time, and disapear. Hav a good look at th thing. Look at th table too, and satisfy 
yrselvs ther is no trikry. I dont want to waste this modl, and then be told I'm a quak.' 
   Ther was a minute's pause perhaps. Th Sycolojist seemd about to speak to me, but chanjed his 
mind. Then th Time Travlr put forth his fingr towards th levr. `No,' he said sudnly. `Lend me 
yr hand.' And turnng to th Sycolojist, he took that individual's hand in his own and told him to put 
out his forfingr. So that it was th Sycolojist himself ho sent forth th modl Time Machine on its 
intermnbl voyaj. We al saw th levr turn. I am abslutely certn 

Paje 36

ther was no trikry. Ther was a breth of wind, and th lamp flame jumpd. One of th candls on 
th mantl was blown out, and th litl machine sudnly swung round, became indistinct, was seen as 
a gost for a secnd perhaps, as an eddy of faintly glitrng brass and ivory; and it was gon -- 
vanishd! Save for th lamp th table was bare. 
   Evryone was silent for a minut. Then Filby said he was damd. 
   Th Sycolojist recovrd from his stupor, and sudnly lookd undr th table. At that th Time 
Travlr lafd cheerfuly. `Wel?' he said, with a remnisnce of th Sycolojist. Then, getng up, 
he went to th tobaco jar on th mantl, and with his bak to us began to fil his pipe. 
   We stared at each othr. `Look here,' said th Medicl Man, `ar u in ernest about this? Do u 
seriusly beleve that that machine has travld into time?' 
   `Certnly,' said th Time Travlr, stoopng to lyt a spil at th fire. Then he turnd, lytng his pipe, 
to look at th Psychologist's face. (Th Sycolojist, to sho that he was not unhinjd, helpd himself 
to a cigar and tryd to lyt it uncut.) `Wat is mor, I hav a big machine nearly finishd in there' -- he 
indicated th labratry -- `and wen that is put togethr I mean to hav a jurny on my own acount.' 
   `U mean to say that that machine has travld into th futur?' said Filby. 
   `Into th futur or th past -- I dont, for certn, no wich.' 
   Aftr an intrvl th Sycolojist had an inspration. `It must hav gon into th past if it has gon 
anywher,' he said. 
   `Wy?' said th Time Travlr. 
   `Because I presume that it has not moved in space, and if it travld into th futur it wud stil be 
here al this time, since it must hav travld thru this time.' 
   `But,' I said, `if it travld into th past it wud hav been visbl wen we came first into this room; 
and last Thursday wen we wer here; and th Thursday befor that; and so forth!' 
   `Serius objections,' remarkd th Provincial Mayr, with an air of impartiality, turnng towards th 
Time Travlr. 
   `Not a bit,' said th Time Travlr, and, to th Sycolojist: `U think. U can explain that. It's 
presntation belo th threshold, u no, diluted presntation.' 
   `Of corse,' said th Sycolojist, and reasured us. `That's a simpl point of sycolojy. I shud 
hav thot of it. It's plan enuf, and helps th paradox delytfuly. We canot se it, nor can we 
apreciate this machine, any mor than we can th spoke of a weel spinng, or a bulet flyng thru 
th air. If it is travlng thru time fifty times or a hundred times fastr than we ar, if it gets thru a 
minut wile we get thru a secnd, th impression it creates wil of corse be only one-fiftieth or 
one-hundredth of wat it wud make if it wer not 

Paje 37

travlng in time. That's plan enuf.' He pasd his hand thru th space in wich th machine had 
been. `U se?' he said, lafng. 
   We sat and stared at th vacant table for a minut or so. Then th Time Travlr askd us wat we 
thot of it al. 
   `It sounds plausbl enuf to-nyt,' said th Medicl Man; `but wait until to-moro. Wait for th 
comn sense of th mornng.' 
   `Wud u like to se th Time Machine itself?' askd th Time Travlr. And therwith, taking th 
lamp in his hand, he led th way down th long, drafty coridr to his labratry. I remembr vividly 
th flikrng lyt, his queer, brod hed in siluet, th dance of th shados, how we al folod 
him, puzld but incredulus, and how ther in th labratry we beheld a larjr edition of th litl 
mecnism wich we had seen vanish from befor our ys. Parts wer of nikl, parts of ivory, parts 
had certnly been filed or sawn out of rok crystl. Th thing was jenrly complete, but th twistd 
crystline bars lay unfinishd upon th bench beside som sheets of drawngs, and I took one up for a 
betr look at it. Quartz it seemd to be. 
   `Look here,' said th Medicl Man, `ar u perfectly serius? Or is this a trik -- like that gost u 
showd us last Crismas?' 
   `Upon that machine,' said th Time Travlr, holdng th lamp aloft, `I intend to explor time. Is that 
plan? I was nevr mor serius in my life.' 
   Non of us quite new how to take it. 
   I caut Filby's y over th sholdr of th Medicl Man, and he winkd at me solemly.
Chaptr 2
   I think that at that time non of us quite beleved in th Time Machine. Th fact is, th Time Travlr 
was one of those men ho ar too clevr to be beleved: u nevr felt that u saw al round him; u 
always suspectd som sutl reserv, som injnuity in ambush, behind his lucid frankness. Had Filby 
shown th modl and explaind th matr in th Time Traveller's words, we shud hav shown him far 
less skepticism. For we shud hav perceved his motivs; a pork buchr cud undrstand Filby. But 
th Time Travlr had mor than a tuch of wim among his elemnts, and we distrustd him. Things 
that wud hav made th frame of a less clevr man seemd triks in his hands. It is a mistake to do 
things too esily. Th serius peple ho took him seriusly nevr felt quite sure of his deportmnt; they 
wer somhow aware that trustng ther reputations for jujmnt with him was like furnishng a nursry 
with eg-shel china. So I dont think any of us said very much about time travlng in th intrvl 
between that Thursday and th next, tho its od potentialitis ran, no dout, in most of our minds: its 

Paje 38

plausbility, that is, its practicl incredibleness, th curius posbilitis of anacronism and of utr 
confusion it sujestd. For my own part, I was particulrly preocupyd with th trik of th modl. 
That I remembr discusng with th Medicl Man, hom I met on Friday at th Linnaean. He said he 
had seen a simlr thing at Tubingen, and laid considrbl stress on th bloing out of th candl. But 
how th trik was don he cud not explain. 
   Th next Thursday I went again to Richmnd -- I supose I was one of th Time Traveller's most 
constnt gests -- and, ariving late, found four or five men alredy asembld in his drawng room. Th 
Medicl Man was standng befor th fire with a sheet of paper in one hand and his wach in th othr. I 
lookd round for th Time Travlr, and -- `It's half-past sevn now,' said th Medicl Man. `I 
supose we'd betr hav dinr?' 
   `Wher's -- ?' said I, naming our host. 
   `U'v just com? It's rathr od. He's unavoidbly detaind. He asks me in this note to lead off 
with dinr at sevn if he's not bak. Says he'l explain wen he coms.' 
   `It seems a pity to let th dinr spoil,' said th Editr of a wel-nown daily paper; and therupon th 
Doctr rang th bel. 
   Th Sycolojist was th only persn besides th Doctr and myself ho had atendd th previus 
dinr. Th othr men wer Blank, th Editr aformentiond, a certn jurnlist, and anothr -- a 
quiet, shy man with a beard -- hom I didnt no, and ho, as far as my obsrvation went, nevr 
opend his mouth al th evenng. Ther was som speculation at th dinr-table about th Time 
Traveller's absnce, and I sujestd time travlng, in a half-joculr spirit. Th Editr wantd that 
explaind to him, and th Sycolojist volunteerd a woodn acount of th `injenius paradox and 
trick' we had witnesd that day week. He was in th midst of his exposition wen th dor from th 
coridr opend sloly and without noise. I was facing th dor, and saw it first. `Helo!' I said. `At 
last!' And th dor opend wider, and th Time Travlr stood befor us. I gave a cry of surprise. 
`Good hevns! man, wat's th matr?' cryd th Medicl Man, ho saw him next. And th hole 
tableful turnd towards th dor. 
   He was in an amazing plyt. His coat was dusty and dirty, and smeard with green down th sleves; 
his hair disordrd, and as it seemd to me grayr -- eithr with dust and dirt or because its color had 
actuly faded. His face was gastly pale; his chin had a brown cut on it -- a cut half heald; his 
expression was hagrd and drawn, as by intense sufrng. For a moment he hesitated in th dorway, 
as if he had been dazld by th lyt. Then he came into th room. He walkd with just such a limp as I 
hav seen in footsore tramps. We stared at him in silence, expectng him to speak. 
   He said not a word, but came painfuly to th table, and made a 

Paje 39

motion towards th wine. Th Editr fild a glass of champane, and pushd it towards him. He 
draind it, and it seemd to do him good: for he lookd round th table, and th gost of his old smile 
flikrd across his face. `Wat on erth hav u been up to, man?' said th Doctr. Th Time 
Travlr did not seem to hear. `Dont let me disturb u,' he said, with a certn faltrng articulation. 
`I'm al ryt.' He stopd, held out his glass for mor, and took it off at a draft. `That's good,' he 
said. His ys grew brytr, and a faint color came into his cheeks. His glance flikrd over our faces 
with a certn dul aproval, and then went round th warm and comfrtbl room. Then he spoke 
again, stil as it wer feelng his way among his words. `I'm going to wash and dress, and then I'l com 
down and explain things. ... Save me som of that mutn. I'm starvng for a bit of meat.' 
   He lookd across at th Editr, ho was a rare visitr, and hoped he was al ryt. Th Editr began 
a question. `Tel u presntly,' said th Time Travlr. `I'm -- funny. Be al ryt in a minut.' 
   He put down his glass, and walkd towards th staircase dor. Again I remarkd his lameness and 
th soft padng sound of his footfall, and standng up in my place, I saw his feet as he went out. He had 
nothing on them but a pair of tatrd, blod-staind soks. Then th dor closed upon him. I had half a 
mind to folo, til I remembrd how he detestd any fuss about himself. For a minut, perhaps, my 
mind was wool-gathrng. Then, `Remarkbl Behavir of an Emnnt Sientist,' I herd th Editr 
say, thinkng (aftr his wont) in hedlines. And this brot my atention bak to th bryt dinr-table. 
   `Wat's th game?' said th Jurnlist. `Has he been doing th Amatr Cadger? I dont folo.' I met 
th y of th Sycolojist, and red my own interpretation in his face. I thot of th Time Travlr 
limpng painfuly upstairs. I dont think any one else had noticed his lameness. 
   Th first to recovr completely from this surprise was th Medicl Man, ho rang th bel -- th Time 
Travlr hated to hav servnts waitng at dinr -- for a hot plate. At that th Editr turnd to his nife 
and fork with a grunt, and th Silent Man folod suit. Th dinr was resumed. Convrsation was 
exclamatory for a litl wile, with gaps of wondrmnt; and then th Editr got fervnt in his curiosity. 
`Dos our frend eke out his modest incm with a crosng? or has he his Nebuchadnezzar fases?' he 
inquired. `I feel asured it's this busness of th Time Machine,' I said, and took up th Psychologist's 
acount of our previus meetng. Th new gests wer frankly incredulus. Th Editr rased 
objections. `Wat was this time travlng? A man cudnt covr himself with dust by rolng in a 
paradox, cud he?' And then, as th idea came home to him, he resortd to caricatur. Hadnt they any 
clothes-brushs in th Futur? Th Jurnlist, too, wud not beleve at any price, and joind th Editr 
in th esy work of heapng ridicul on th hole thing. They wer both th new kind of jurnlist -- 
very joyus, irevrnt 

Paje 40

yung men. `Our Special Corespondnt in th Day aftr To-moro reports,' th Jurnlist was sayng 
-- or rathr shoutng -- wen th Time Travlr came bak. He was dresd in ordnry evenng 
clothes, and nothing save his hagrd look remaind of th chanje that had startld me. 
   `I say,' said th Editr hilariusly, `these chaps here say u hav been travlng into th midl of 
next week!! Tel us al about litl Rosebery, wil u? Wat wil u take for th lot?' 
   Th Time Travlr came to th place reservd for him without a word. He smiled quietly, in his old 
way. `Wher's my mutn?' he said. `Wat a treat it is to stik a fork into meat again!' 
   `Story!' cryd th Editr. 
   `Story be damd!' said th Time Travlr. `I want somthing to eat. I wont say a word until I get 
som peptone into my artris. Thanks. And th salt.' 
   `One word,' said I. `Hav u been time travlng?' 
   `Yes,' said th Time Travlr, with his mouth ful, nodng his hed. 
   `I'd giv a shilng a line for a verbatim note,' said th Editr. Th Time Travlr pushd his glass 
towards th Silent Man and rang it with his fingrnail; at wich th Silent Man, ho had been staring at 
his face, startd convulsivly, and pord him wine. Th rest of th dinr was uncomfrtbl. For my 
own part, sudn questions kept on rising to my lips, and I dare say it was th same with th othrs. 
Th Jurnlist tryd to releve th tension by telng anecdotes of Hettie Potr. Th Time Travlr 
devoted his atention to his dinr, and displayd th apetite of a tramp. Th Medicl Man smoked a 
cigret, and wachd th Time Travlr thru his ylashs. Th Silent Man seemd even mor 
clumsy than usul, and drank champane with regularity and determnation out of sheer nervusness. At 
last th Time Travlr pushd his plate away, and lookd round us. `I supose I must apolojize,' he 
said. `I was simply starvng. I'v had a most amazing time.' He reachd out his hand for a cigar, and cut 
th end. `But com into th smoking-room. It's too long a story to tel over gresy plates.' And ringng 
th bel in pasng, he led th way into th ajoinng room. 
   `U hav told Blank, and Dash, and Chose about th machine?' he said to me, leanng bak in his 
esy-chair and naming th thre new gests. 
   `But th thing's a mere paradox,' said th Editr. 
   `I cant argu tonyt. I dont mind telng u th story, but I cant argu. I wil,' he went on, `tel u 
th story of wat has hapnd to me, if u like, but u must refrain from intruptions. I want to tel 
it. Badly. Most of it wil sound like lyng. So be it! It's tru -- evry word of it, al th same. I was in my 
labratry at four oclok, and since then ... I'v livd eit days ... such days as no human being evr 
livd befor! I'm nearly worn out, but I shant sleep til I'v told this thing over to u. Then I shal go to 
bed. But no intruptions! Is it agreed?' 

Paje 41

   `Agreed,' said th Editr, and th rest of us ecod `Agreed.' And with that th Time Travlr began 
his story as I hav set it forth. He sat bak in his chair at first, and spoke like a weary man. Aftrwrds 
he got mor anmated. In riting it down I feel with only too much keeness th inadequacy of pen and 
ink -- and, abov al, my own inadequacy -- to express its quality. U red, I wil supose, atentivly 
enuf; but u canot se th speaker's wite, sincere face in th bryt circl of th litl lamp, nor 
hear th intnation of his voice. U canot no how his expression folod th turns of his story! 
Most of us hearrs wer in shado, for th candls in th smoking-room had not been lytd, and only 
th face of th Jurnlist and th legs of th Silent Man from th nes downwrd wer iluminated. At 
first we glanced now and again at each othr. Aftr a time we cesed to do that, and lookd only at th 
Time Traveller's face.
Chaptr 3
   `I told som of u last Thursday of th principls of th Time Machine, and showd u th actul 
thing itself, incomplete in th workshop. Ther it is now, a litl travl-worn, truly; and one of th ivory 
bars is crakd, and a brass rail bent; but th rest of it's sound enuf. I expectd to finish it on Friday, 
but on Friday, wen th putng togethr was nearly don, I found that one of th nikl bars was 
exactly one inch too short, and this I had to get remade; so that th thing was not complete until this 
mornng. It was at ten oclok to-day that th first of al Time Machines began its career. I gave it a last 
tap, tryd al th screws again, put one mor drop of oil on th quartz rod, and sat myself in th sadl. I 
supose a suicide ho holds a pistl to his skul feels much th same wondr at wat wil com next as I 
felt then. I took th startng levr in one hand and th stopng one in th othr, presd th first, and 
almost imediatly th secnd. I seemd to reel; I felt a nytmare sensation of falng; and, lookng 
round, I saw th labratry exactly as befor. Had anything hapnd? For a moment I suspectd that 
my intlect had trikd me. Then I noted th clok. A moment befor, as it seemd, it had stood at a 
minut or so past ten; now it was nearly half-past thre! 
   `I drew a breth, set my teeth, gripd th startng levr with both hands, and went off with a thud. 
Th labratry got hazy and went dark. Mrs. Watchett came in and walkd, aparently without seing 
me, towards th gardn dor. I supose it took her a minut or so to traverse th place, but to me she 
seemd to shoot across th room like a roket. I presd th levr over to its extreme position. Th 
nyt came like th turnng out of a lamp, and in anothr moment came to-moro. Th labratry grew 
faint and hazy, then faintr and evr faintr. To-moro nyt came blak, then day again, nyt again, 
day again, fastr and fastr 

Paje 42

stil. An eddying murmr fild my ears, and a stranje, dum confusedness desendd on my mind. 
   `I am afraid I canot convey th peculir sensations of time travlng. They ar exessivly 
unplesnt. Ther is a feelng exactly like that one has upon a swichbak -- of a helpless hedlong 
motion! I felt th same horibl anticipation, too, of an imnnt smash. As I put on pace, nyt folod 
day like th flapng of a blak wing. Th dim sujestion of th labratry seemd presntly to fal away 
from me, and I saw th sun hopng swiftly across th sky, leapng it evry minut, and evry minut 
markng a day. I suposed th labratry had been destroyd and I had com into th open air. I had a 
dim impression of scafldng, but I was alredy going too fast to be concius of any moving things. 
Th sloest snail that evr crawld dashd by too fast for me. Th twinklng succession of darkns and 
lyt was exessivly painful to th y. Then, in th intrmitnt darknesses, I saw th moon spinng 
swiftly thru her quartrs from new to ful, and had a faint glimps of th circlng stars. Presntly, as I 
went on, stil gainng velocity, th palpitation of nyt and day merjd into one continuus grayness; th 
sky took on a wondrful deepness of blu, a splendid luminus color like that of erly twilyt; th 
jerkng sun became a streak of fire, a briliant arch, in space; th moon a faintr fluctuating band; and I 
cud se nothing of th stars, save now and then a brytr circl flikrng in th blu. 
   `Th landscape was misty and vage. I was stil on th hil-side upon wich this house now stands, 
and th sholdr rose abov me gray and dim. I saw tres groing and chanjing like pufs of vapor, 
now brown, now green; they grew, spred, shivrd, and pasd away. I saw huje bildngs rise up 
faint and fair, and pass like dreams. Th hole surface of th erth seemd chanjed -- meltng and 
floing undr my ys. Th litl bands upon th dials that rejistrd my speed raced round fastr and 
fastr. Presntly I noted that th sun belt swayd up and down, from solstice to solstice, in a minut or 
less, and that consequently my pace was over a year a minut; and minut by minut th wite sno 
flashd across th world, and vanishd, and was folod by th bryt, brief green of spring. 
   `Th unplesnt sensations of th start wer less poignnt now. They merjd at last into a kind of 
hystericl exilration. I remarkd indeed a clumsy swayng of th machine, for wich I was unable to 
acount. But my mind was too confused to atend to it, so with a kind of madness groing upon me, I 
flung myself into futurity. At first I scarce thot of stopng, scarce thot of anything but these new 
sensations. But presntly a fresh series of impressions grew up in my mind -- a certn curiosity and 
therwith a certn dred -- until at last they took complete posession of me. Wat stranje 
developmnts of humanity, wat wondrful advances upon our rudimentry civlization, I thot, myt 
not apear wen I came to look nearly into th dim elusiv world that raced 

Paje 43

and fluctuated befor my ys! I saw gret and splendid, architectur rising about me, mor massiv 
than any bildngs of our own time, and yet, as it seemd, bilt of glimr and mist. I saw a richr green 
flo up th hil-side, and remain ther without any wintry intrmission. Even thru th veil of my 
confusion th erth seemd very fair. And so my mind came round to th busness of stopng. 
   Th peculir risk lay in th posbility of my findng som substnce in th space wich I, or th 
machine, ocupyd. So long as I travld at a hy velocity thru time, this scarcely matrd; I was, 
so to speak, atenuated -- was slipng like a vapor thru th interstices of intrvening substnces! 
But to com to a stop involvd th jamng of myself, molecul by molecul, into watevr lay in my 
way; ment bringng my atms into such intmat contact with those of th obstacl that a profound 
chemicl reaction -- posbly a far-reachng explosion -- wud result, and blo myself and my 
apratus out of al posbl dimensions -- into th Unown. This posbility had ocurd to me again 
and again wile I was making th machine; but then I had cheerfuly acceptd it as an unavoidbl risk -
- one of th risks a man has got to take! Now th risk was inevitbl, I no longr saw it in th same 
cheerful lyt. Th fact is that, insensibly, th abslute stranjeness of everything, th sikly jarng and 
swayng of th machine, abov al, th feelng of prolongd falng, had abslutely upset my nerv. I told 
myself that I cud nevr stop, and with a gust of petulance I resolvd to stop forthwith. Like an 
impatient fool, I lugd over th levr, and incontinently th thing went reelng over, and I was flung 
hedlong thru th air. 
   `Ther was th sound of a clap of thundr in my ears. I may hav been stund for a moment. A 
pitiless hail was hisng round me, and I was sitng on soft turf in front of th overset machine. 
Everything stil seemd gray, but presntly I remarkd that th confusion in my ears was gon. I lookd 
round me. I was on wat seemd to be a litl lawn in a gardn, suroundd by rododendron bushs, 
and I noticed that ther mauv and purpl blosms wer dropng in a showr undr th beatng of th 
hailstones. Th rebounding, dancing hail hung in a cloud over th machine, and drove along th ground 
like smoke. In a moment I was wet to th skin. "Fine hospitality," said I, "to a man ho has travld 
inumerabl years to se u." 
   `Presntly I thot wat a fool I was to get wet. I stood up and lookd round me. A colosl figr, 
carvd aparently in som wite stone, loomd indistinctly beyond th rododendrons thru th hazy 
downpor. But al else of th world was invisbl. 
   `My sensations wud be hard to describe. As th colums of hail grew thinr, I saw th wite figr 
mor distinctly. It was very larj, for a silvr birch-tre tuchd its sholdr. It was of wite marbl, in 
shape somthing like a wingd sfinx, but th wings, insted of being carrid 

Paje 44

verticly at th sides, wer spred so that it seemd to hovr. Th pedestl, it apeard to me, was of 
bronz, and was thik with verdigri. It chanced that th face was towards me; th sytless ys 
seemd to wach me; ther was th faint shado of a smile on th lips. It was gretly wethr-worn, 
and that impartd an unplesnt sujestion of disese. I stood lookng at it for a litl space -- half a 
minut, perhaps, or half an our. It seemd to advance and to recede as th hail drove befor it densr 
or thinr. At last I tor my ys from it for a moment, and saw that th hail curtn had worn 
thredbare, and that th sky was lytnng with th promis of th sun. 
   `I lookd up again at th crouchng wite shape, and th ful temerity of my voyaj came sudnly 
upon me. Wat myt apear wen that hazy curtn was altogethr withdrawn? Wat myt not hav 
hapnd to men? Wat if cruelty had grown into a comn passion? Wat if in this intrvl th race 
had lost its manliness, and had developd into somthing inhuman, unsympathetic, and overwelmngly 
powrful? I myt seem som old-world savaj anml, only th mor dredful and disgustng for our 
comn likeness -- a foul creatur to be incontinently slain. 
   `Alredy I saw othr vast shapes -- huje bildngs with intricat parapets and tal colums, with a 
woodd hil-side dimly creepng in upon me thru th lesnng storm. I was sezed with a panic fear. 
I turnd franticly to th Time Machine, and strove hard to reajust it. As I did so th shafts of th sun 
smote thru th thundrstorm. Th gray downpor was swept aside and vanishd like th trailng 
garmnts of a gost. Abov me, in th intense blu of th sumr sky, som faint brown shreds of cloud 
wirld into nothingness. Th gret bildngs about me stood out clear and distinct, shining with th wet 
of th thundrstorm, and pikd out in wite by th unmelted hailstones piled along ther corses. I felt 
naked in a stranje world. I felt as perhaps a bird may feel in th clear air, noing th hawk wings 
abov and wil swoop. My fear grew to frenzy. I took a brething space, set my teeth, and again 
grapld fiercely, rist and ne, with th machine. It gave undr my desprat onset and turnd over. 
It struk my chin violently. One hand on th sadl, th othr on th levr, I stood pantng hevily in 
atitude to mount again. 
   `But with this recovry of a promt retreat my curaj recovrd. I lookd mor curiusly and less 
fearfuly at this world of th remote futur. In a circulr openng, hy up in th wal of th nearr house, I 
saw a group of figrs clad in rich soft robes. They had seen me, and ther faces wer directd towards 
me. 
   `Then I herd voices aproachng me. Comng thru th bushs by th Wite Sfinx wer th 
heds and sholdrs of men runng. One of these emerjd in a pathway leadng strait to th litl 
lawn upon wich I stood with my machine. He was a slyt creatur -- perhaps four 

Paje 45

feet hy -- clad in a purpl tunic, girdld at th waist with a lethr belt. Sandls or buskins -- I cud 
not clearly distinguish wich -- wer on his feet; his legs wer bare to th nes, and his hed was bare. 
Noticing that, I noticed for th first time how warm th air was. 
   `He struk me as being a very butiful and graceful creatur, but indescribebly frail. His flushd face 
remindd me of th mor butiful kind of consumtiv -- that hectic buty of wich we used to hear 
so much. At th syt of him I sudnly regaind confidnce. I took my hands from th machine.
Chaptr 4
   `In anothr moment we wer standng face to face, I and this frajl thing out of futurity. He came 
strait up to me and lafd into my ys. Th absnce from his berng of any syn of fear struk me 
at once. Then he turnd to th two othrs ho wer foloing him and spoke to them in a stranje and 
very sweet and liquid tong. 
   `Ther wer othrs comng, and presntly a litl group of perhaps eit or ten of these exquisit 
creaturs wer about me. One of them adresd me. It came into my hed, odly enuf, that my 
voice was too harsh and deep for them. So I shook my hed, and, pointng to my ears, shook it again. 
He came a step forwrd, hesitated, and then tuchd my hand. Then I felt othr soft litl tentacls upon 
my bak and sholdrs. They wantd to make sure I was real. Ther was nothing in this at al alarmng. 
Indeed, ther was somthing in these pretty litl peple that inspired confidnce -- a graceful 
jentlness, a certn childlike ese. And besides, they lookd so frail that I cud fancy myself flingng 
th hole dozn of them about like nine-pins. But I made a sudn motion to warn them wen I saw 
ther litl pink hands feelng at th Time Machine. Happily then, wen it was not too late, I thot of a 
danjer I had hithrto forgotn, and reachng over th bars of th machine I unscrewd th litl levrs 
that wud set it in motion, and put these in my poket. Then I turnd again to se wat I cud do in th 
way of comunication. 
   `And then, lookng mor nearly into ther featurs, I saw som furthr peculiaritis in ther Dresden-
china typ of prettiness. Ther hair, wich was uniformly curly, came to a sharp end at th nek and 
cheek; ther was not th faintst sujestion of it on th face, and ther ears wer singulrly minut. Th 
mouths wer smal, with bryt red, rathr thin lips, and th litl chins ran to a point. Th ys wer 
larj and mild; and -- this may seem egotism on my part -- I fancid even that ther was a certn lak 
of th intrest I myt hav expectd in them. 
   `As they made no efrt to comunicate with me, but simply stood round me smiling and speakng in 
soft cooing notes to each othr, I began th 

Paje 46

convrsation. I pointd to th Time Machine and to myself. Then hesitating for a moment how to 
express time, I pointd to th sun. At once a quaintly pretty litl figr in chekrd purpl and wite 
folod my jestur, and then astonishd me by imitating th sound of thundr. 
   `For a moment I was stagrd, tho th import of his jestur was plan enuf. Th question had 
com into my mind abruptly: wer these creaturs fools? U may hardly undrstand how it took me. 
U se I had always anticipated that th peple of th year Eit Hundred and Two Thousnd od 
wud be incredbly in front of us in nolej, art, everything. Then one of them sudnly askd me a 
question that showd him to be on th intlectul levl of one of our five-year-old children -- askd me, 
in fact, if I had com from th sun in a thundrstorm! It let loose th jujmnt I had suspendd upon 
ther clothes, ther frail lyt lims, and frajl featurs. A flo of disapointmnt rushd across my mind. 
For a moment I felt that I had bilt th Time Machine in vain. 
   `I nodd, pointd to th sun, and gave them such a vivid rendrng of a thundrclap as startld them. 
They al withdrew a pace or so and bowd. Then came one lafng towards me, carrying a chain of 
butiful flowrs altogethr new to me, and put it about my nek. Th idea was receved with melodius 
aplause; and presntly they wer al runng to and fro for flowrs, and lafngly flingng them upon 
me until I was almost smothrd with blosm. U ho hav nevr seen th like can scarcely imajn 
wat delicat and wondrful flowrs countless years of cultur had created. Then somone sujestd 
that ther plaything shud be exibitd in th nearst bildng, and so I was led past th sfinx of wite 
marbl, wich had seemd to wach me al th wile with a smile at my astonishmnt, towards a vast 
gray edifice of fretd stone. As I went with them th memry of my confidnt anticipations of a 
profoundly grave and intlectul posterity came, with iresistbl merrimnt, to my mind. 
   `Th bildng had a huje entry, and was altogethr of colosl dimensions. I was natrly most 
ocupyd with th groing crowd of litl peple, and with th big open portls that yawnd befor me 
shadowy and mysterius. My jenrl impression of th world I saw over ther heds was a tangld 
waste of butiful bushs and flowrs, a long-neglectd and yet weedless gardn. I saw a numbr of tal 
spikes of stranje wite flowrs, mesurng a foot perhaps across th spred of th waxn petls. They 
grew scatrd, as if wild, among th varigated shrubs, but, as I say, I did not examn them closely at 
this time. Th Time Machine was left desertd on th turf among th rododendrons. 
   `Th arch of th dorway was richly carvd, but natrly I did not observ th carvng very naroly, 
tho I fancid I saw sujestions of old Phoenician decrations as I pasd thru, and it struk me 
that they wer very badly broken and wethr-worn. Sevrl mor brytly clad peple met me in th 
dorway, and so we entrd, I, dresd in dinjy 

Paje 47

nineteenth-century garmnts, lookng grotesq enuf, garlndd with flowrs, and suroundd by an 
eddying mass of bryt, soft-colord robes and shining wite lims, in a melodius wirl of laftr and 
lafng speech. 
   `Th big dorway opend into a proportionatly gret hal hung with brown. Th roof was in shado, 
and th windos, partialy glazed with colord glass and partialy unglazed, admitd a temprd lyt. 
Th flor was made up of huje bloks of som very hard wite metl, not plates nor slabs -- bloks, 
and it was so much worn, as I jujd by th going to and fro of past jenrations, as to be deeply 
chanld along th mor frequentd ways. Transverse to th length wer inumerabl tables made of 
slabs of polishd stone, rased perhaps a foot from th flor, and upon these wer heaps of fruits. Som 
I recognized as a kind of hypertrophied rasbery and oranj, but for th most part they wer stranje. 
   `Between th tables was scatrd a gret numbr of cushns. Upon these my conductrs seatd 
themselvs, synng for me to do likewise. With a pretty absnce of ceremny they began to eat th fruit 
with ther hands, flingng peel and stalks, and so forth, into th round openngs in th sides of th tables. I 
was not loth to folo ther exampl, for I felt thirsty and hungry. As I did so I surveyd th hal at my 
lesur. 
   `And perhaps th thing that struk me most was its dilapidated look. Th staind-glass windos, 
wich displayd only a jeometricl patrn, wer broken in many places, and th curtns that hung 
across th loer end wer thik with dust. And it caut my y that th cornr of th marbl table near 
me was fracturd. Nevrthless, th jenrl efect was extremely rich and picturesq. Ther wer, 
perhaps, a cupl of hundred peple dining in th hal, and most of them, seatd as near to me as they 
cud com, wer wachng me with intrest, ther litl ys shining over th fruit they wer eatng. Al 
wer clad in th same soft, and yet strong, silky material. 
   `Fruit, by th by, was al ther diet. These peple of th remote futur wer strict vejetarians, and 
wile I was with them, in spite of som carnl cravings, I had to be frugivorous also. Indeed, I found 
aftrwrds that horses, catl, sheep, dogs, had folod th Ichthyosaurus into extinction. But th fruits 
wer very delytful; one, in particulr, that seemd to be in seasn al th time I was ther -- a floury 
thing in a thre-sided husk -- was especialy good, and I made it my staple. At first I was puzld by al 
these stranje fruits, and by th stranje flowrs I saw, but later I began to perceve ther import. 
   `Howevr, I am telng u of my fruit dinr in th distnt futur now. So soon as my apetite was a 
litl chekd, I determnd to make a reslute atemt to lern th speech of these new men of mine. 
Clearly that was th next thing to do. Th fruits seemd a convenient thing to begin upon, and holdng 
one of these up I began a series of interrogative sounds and jesturs. I had som considrbl dificlty 
in conveyng my 

Paje 48

meanng. At first my efrts met with a stare of surprise or inextinguishable laftr, but presntly a fair-
haird litl creatur seemd to grasp my intention and repeatd a name. They had to chatr and explain 
th busness at gret length to each othr, and my first atemts to make th exquisit litl sounds of 
ther languaj causd an imense amount of amusemnt. Howevr, I felt like a scoolmastr amidst 
children, and persistd, and presntly I had a scor of noun substantives at least at my comand; and 
then I got to demonstrativ pronouns, and even th verb "to eat." But it was slo work, and th litl 
peple soon tired and wantd to get away from my interogations, so I determnd, rathr of necessity, 
to let them giv ther lesns in litl doses wen they felt inclined. And very litl doses I found they 
wer befor long, for I nevr met peple mor indlnt or mor esily fatiged. 
   `A queer thing I soon discovrd about my litl hosts, and that was ther lak of intrest. They wud 
com to me with eagr crys of astonishmnt, like children, but like children they wud soon stop 
examnng me and wandr away aftr som othr toy. Th dinr and my convrsationl beginngs 
endd, I noted for th first time that almost al these ho had suroundd me at first wer gon. It is 
od, too, how speedily I came to disregard these litl peple. I went out thru th portl into th 
sunlit world again so soon as my hungr was satisfyd. I was continuly meetng mor of these men of 
th futur, ho wud folo me a litl distnce, chatr and laf about me, and, havng smiled and 
jesticulated in a frendly way, leve me again to my own devices. 
   `Th calm of evenng was upon th world as I emerjd from th gret hal, and th sene was lit by 
th warm glo of th setng sun. At first things wer very confusing. Everything was so entirely difrnt 
from th world I had nown -- even th flowrs. Th big bildng I had left was situated on th slope of 
a brod rivr vally, but th Tams had shiftd perhaps a mile from its presnt position. I resolvd to 
mount to th sumit of a crest, perhaps a mile and a half away, from wich I cud get a wider vew of 
this our planet in th year Eit Hundred and Two Thousnd Sevn Hundred and One A.D. For that, I 
shud explain, was th date th litl dials of my machine recordd. 
   `As I walkd I was wachful for evry impression that cud posbly help to explain th condition of 
ruinus splendr in wich I found th world -- for ruinus it was. A litl way up th hil, for instnce, 
was a gret heap of granit, bound togethr by masses of aluminium, a vast labrinth of precipitus walls 
and crumbld heaps, amidst wich wer thik heaps of very butiful pagoda-like plants -- netls 
posbly -- but wondrfuly tintd with brown about th leavs, and incapabl of stingng. It was 
evidntly th derelict remains of som vast structur, to wat end bilt I cud not determn. It was here 
that I was destnd, at a later date, to hav a very stranje experience -- th first intmation of a stil 
stranjer discovry -- but of that I wil speak in its propr place. 

Paje 49

   `Lookng round with a sudn thot, from a terace on wich I restd for a wile, I realized that 
ther wer no smal houses to be seen. Aparently th singl house, and posbly even th houshold, 
had vanishd. Here and ther among th greenry wer palace-like bildngs, but th house and th 
cotaj, wich form such caractristic featurs of our own English landscape, had disapeard. 
   `"Comunism," said I to myself. 
   `And on th heels of that came anothr thot. I lookd at th half-dozn litl figrs that wer 
foloing me. Then, in a flash, I perceved that al had th same form of costume, th same soft hairless 
visaj, and th same girlish rotundity of lim. It may seem stranje, perhaps, that I had not noticed this 
befor. But everything was so stranje. Now, I saw th fact plainly enuf. In costume, and in al th 
difrnces of textur and berng that now mark off th sexs from each othr, these peple of th 
futur wer alike. And th children seemd to my ys to be but th miniturs of ther parents. I 
jujd, then, that th children of that time wer extremely precocius, fysicly at least, and I found 
aftrwrds abundnt verification of my opinion. 
   `Seing th ese and security in wich these peple wer livng, I felt that this close resemblnce of th 
sexs was aftr al wat one wud expect; for th strength of a man and th softness of a womn, th 
institution of th famly, and th difrentiation of ocupations ar mere militnt necessitis of an aje of 
fysicl force; wher population is balanced and abundnt, much childberng becoms an evil rathr 
than a blesng to th State; wher violence coms but rarely and off-spring ar secure, ther is less 
necessity -- indeed ther is no necessity -- for an eficient famly, and th specialization of th sexs with 
refrnce to ther children's needs disapears. We se som beginngs of this even in our own time, 
and in this futur aje it was complete. This, I must remind u, was my speculation at th time. Later, I 
was to apreciate how far it fel short of th reality. 
   `Wile I was musing upon these things, my atention was atractd by a pretty litl structur, like a 
wel undr a cupola. I thot in a transitry way of th oddness of wels stil existng, and then resumed 
th thred of my speculations. Ther wer no larj bildngs towards th top of th hil, and as my 
walkng powrs wer evidntly miraculus, I was presntly left alone for th first time. With a stranje 
sense of fredm and adventur I pushd on up to th crest. 
   `Ther I found a seat of som yelo metl that I did not recognize, coroded in places with a kind of 
pinkish rust and half smothrd in soft moss, th arm-rests cast and filed into th resemblnce of griffins' 
heds. I sat down on it, and I surveyd th brod vew of our old world undr th sunset of that long 
day. It was as sweet and fair a vew as I hav evr seen. Th sun had alredy gon belo th horizon 
and th west was flaming gold, tuchd with som horizontl bars of purpl and crimsn. 

Paje 50

Belo was th vally of th Tams, in wich th rivr lay like a band of burnishd steel. I hav alredy 
spoken of th gret palaces dotd about among th varigated greenry, som in ruins and som stil 
ocupyd. Here and ther rose a wite or silvry figr in th waste gardn of th erth, here and ther 
came th sharp verticl line of som cupola or oblisk. Ther wer no hejs, no syns of proprietry 
ryts, no evidnces of agricultur; th hole erth had becom a gardn. 
   `So wachng, I began to put my interpretation upon th things I had seen, and as it shaped itself to me 
that evenng, my interpretation was somthing in this way. (Aftrwrds I found I had got only a half-truth 
-- or only a glimps of one facet of th truth.) 
   `It seemd to me that I had hapnd upon humanity upon th wane. Th ruddy sunset set me 
thinkng of th sunset of mankind. For th first time I began to realize an od consequence of th social 
efrt in wich we ar at presnt engajed. And yet, com to think, it is a lojicl consequence enuf. 
Strength is th outcom of need; security sets a premium on feeblness. Th work of ameliorating th 
conditions of life -- th tru civlizing process that makes life mor and mor secure -- had gon stedily 
on to a climax. One triumf of a united humanity over Natur had folod anothr. Things that ar 
now mere dreams had becom projects delibratly put in hand and carrid forwrd. And th harvest 
was wat I saw! 
   `Aftr al, th sanitation and th agricultur of to-day ar stil in th rudimentry staje. Th sience of 
our time has atakd but a litl departmnt of th field of human disese, but, even so, it spreds its 
oprations very stedily and persistntly. Our agricultur and horticultur destroy a weed just here and 
ther and cultivate perhaps a scor or so of holesm plants, leving th gretr numbr to fyt out a 
balance as they can. We improve our favorit plants and anmls -- and how few they ar -- graduly 
by selectiv breedng; now a new and betr peach, now a seedless grape, now a sweetr and larjr 
flowr, now a mor convenient breed of catl. We improve them graduly, because our ideals ar 
vage and tentativ, and our nolej is very limitd; because Natur, too, is shy and slo in our 
clumsy hands. Som day al this wil be betr organized, and stil betr. That is th drift of th curent in 
spite of th eddis. Th hole world wil be intelijnt, educated, and co-oprating; things wil move 
fastr and fastr towards th subjugation of Natur. In th end, wisely and carefuly we shal reajust th 
balance of anml and vejtbl life to suit our human needs. 
   `This ajustmnt, I say, must hav been don, and don wel; don indeed for al Time, in th space of 
Time across wich my machine had leapd. Th air was fre from nats, th erth from weeds or fungi; 
evrywher wer fruits and sweet and delytful flowrs; briliant butrflys flew hithr and thithr. Th 
ideal of preventiv medcin was ataind. Diseses had been stampd out. I saw no evidnce of any 
contajus 

Paje 51

diseses during al my stay. And I shal hav to tel u later that even th processes of putrefaction and 
decay had been profoundly afectd by these chanjes. 
   `Social triumfs, too, had been efectd. I saw mankind housd in splendid sheltrs, gloriusly 
clothed, and as yet I had found them engajed in no toil. Ther wer no syns of strugl, neithr social 
nor ecnomicl strugl. Th shop, th advertismnt, trafic, al that comerce wich constitutes th 
body of our world, was gon. It was natrl on that goldn evenng that I shud jump at th idea of a 
social paradise. Th dificlty of incresing population had been met, I gesd, and population had 
cesed to increse. 
   `But with this chanje in condition coms inevitbly adaptations to th chanje. Wat, unless biolojicl 
sience is a mass of errs, is th cause of human intelijnce and vigr? Hardship and fredm: 
conditions undr wich th activ, strong, and sutl survive and th weakr go to th wal; conditions 
that put a premium upon th loyl alyance of capabl men, upon self-restraint, patience, and decision. 
And th institution of th famly, and th emotions that arise therin, th fierce jelusy, th tendrness 
for offspring, parentl self-devotion, al found ther justification and suport in th imnnt danjers of 
th yung. Now, wher ar these imnnt danjers? Ther is a sentmnt arising, and it wil gro, 
against conubial jelusy, against fierce maternity, against passion of al sorts; unecesry things now, 
and things that make us uncomfrtbl, savaj survivals, discords in a refined and plesnt life. 
   `I thot of th fysicl slightness of th peple, ther lak of intelijnce, and those big abundnt 
ruins, and it strengthnd my belief in a perfect conquest of Natur. For aftr th batl coms Quiet. 
Humanity had been strong, enrjetic, and intelijnt, and had used al its abundnt vitality to altr th 
conditions undr wich it livd. And now came th reaction of th altrd conditions. 
   `Undr th new conditions of perfect comfrt and security, that restless enrjy, that with us is 
strength, wud becom weakness. Even in our own time certn tendncis and desires, once 
necesry to survival, ar a constnt sorce of failur. Fysicl curaj and th lov of batl, for 
instnce, ar no gret help -- may even be hindrances -- to a civlized man. And in a state of fysicl 
balance and security, powr, intlectul as wel as fysicl, wud be out of place. For countless years 
I jujd ther had been no danjer of war or solitry violence, no danjer from wild beasts, no wasting 
disese to require strength of constitution, no need of toil. For such a life, wat we shud cal th weak 
ar as wel equipd as th strong, ar indeed no longr weak. Betr equipd indeed they ar, for th 
strong wud be fretd by an enrjy for wich ther was no outlet. No dout th exquisit buty of 
th bildngs I saw was th outcom of th last surgings of th now purposless enrjy of mankind 
befor it setld down into perfect harmny with th conditions undr wich it 

Paje 52

livd -- th flurish of that triumf wich began th last gret pece. This has evr been th fate of 
enrjy in security; it takes to art and to eroticism, and then com langr and decay. 
   `Even this artistic impetus wud at last die away -- had almost died in th Time I saw. To adorn 
themselvs with flowrs, to dance, to sing in th sunlyt: so much was left of th artistic spirit, and no 
mor. Even that wud fade in th end into a contentd inactivity. We ar kept keen on th grindstone of 
pain and necessity, and, it seemd to me, that here was that hateful grindstone broken at last! 
   `As I stood ther in th gathrng dark I thot that in this simpl explnation I had mastrd th 
problm of th world -- mastrd th hole secret of these delicius peple. Posbly th cheks they 
had devised for th increse of population had succeedd too wel, and ther numbrs had rathr 
diminishd than kept stationry. That wud acount for th abandnd ruins. Very simpl was my 
explnation, and plausbl enuf -- as most rong theoris ar!
Chaptr 5
   `As I stood ther musing over this too perfect triumf of man, th ful moon, yelo and gibbous, 
came up out of an overflo of silvr lyt in th northeast. Th bryt litl figrs cesed to move about 
belo, a noisless owl flitd by, and I shivrd with th chil of th nyt. I determnd to desend and 
find wher I cud sleep. 
   `I lookd for th bildng I new. Then my y travld along to th figr of th Wite Sfinx upon 
th pedestl of bronz, groing distinct as th lyt of th rising moon grew brytr. I cud se th 
silvr birch against it. Ther was th tangl of rododendron bushs, blak in th pale lyt, and ther 
was th litl lawn. I lookd at th lawn again. A queer dout chilld my complacency. "No," said I 
stoutly to myself, "that was not th lawn." 
   `But it was th lawn. For th wite leprous face of th sfinx was towards it. Can u imajn wat I 
felt as this conviction came home to me? But u canot. Th Time Machine was gon! 
   `At once, like a lash across th face, came th posbility of losing my own aje, of being left helpless 
in this stranje new world. Th bare thot of it was an actul fysicl sensation. I cud feel it grip me 
at th throat and stop my brething. In anothr moment I was in a passion of fear and runng with gret 
leapng strides down th slope. Once I fel hedlong and cut my face; I lost no time in stanching th 
blod, but jumpd up and ran on, with a warm trikl down my cheek and chin. Al th time I ran I was 
sayng to myself: "They hav moved it a litl, pushd it undr th bushs out of th way." Nevrthless, 
I ran with al my myt. 

Paje 53

Al th time, with th certnty that somtimes coms with exessiv dred, I new that such asurance 
was folly, new instinctivly that th machine was removed out of my reach. My breth came with pain. 
I supose I covrd th hole distnce from th hil crest to th litl lawn, two miles perhaps, in ten 
minuts. And I am not a yung man. I cursd aloud, as I ran, at my confidnt folly in leving th 
machine, wasting good breth therby. I cryd aloud, and non ansrd. Not a creatur seemd to be 
stirng in that moonlit world. 
   `Wen I reachd th lawn my worst fears wer realized. Not a trace of th thing was to be seen. I felt 
faint and cold wen I faced th emty space among th blak tangl of bushs. I ran round it furiusly, 
as if th thing myt be hidn in a cornr, and then stopd abruptly, with my hands cluchng my hair. 
Abov me towrd th sfinx, upon th bronz pedestl, wite, shining, leprous, in th lyt of th rising 
moon. It seemd to smile in mokry of my dismay. 
   `I myt hav consoled myself by imajnng th litl peple had put th mecnism in som sheltr for 
me, had I not felt asured of ther fysicl and intlectul inadequacy. That is wat dismayd me: th 
sense of som hithrto unsuspectd powr, thru hos intrvention my invention had vanishd. Yet, 
for one thing I felt asured: unless som othr aje had produced its exact duplicat, th machine cud 
not hav moved in time. Th atachmnt of th levrs -- I wil sho u th method later -- preventd 
any one from tamprng with it in that way wen they wer removed. It had moved, and was hid, only in 
space. But then, wher cud it be? 
   `I think I must hav had a kind of frenzy. I remembr runng violently in and out among th moonlit 
bushs al round th sfinx, and startlng som wite anml that, in th dim lyt, I took for a smal deer. 
I remembr, too, late that nyt, beatng th bushs with my clenchd fist until my nukls wer gashd 
and bleedng from th broken twigs. Then, sobng and raving in my anguish of mind, I went down to 
th gret bildng of stone. Th big hal was dark, silent, and desertd. I slipd on th uneven flor, and 
fel over one of th malachite tables, almost brekng my shin. I lit a mach and went on past th dusty 
curtns, of wich I hav told u. 
   `Ther I found a secnd gret hal covrd with cushns, upon wich, perhaps, a scor or so of th 
litl peple wer sleepng. I hav no dout they found my secnd apearnce stranje enuf, comng 
sudnly out of th quiet darkns with inarticulat noises and th splutr and flare of a mach. For they 
had forgotn about machs. "Wher is my Time Machine?" I began, bawlng like an angry child, layng 
hands upon them and shaking them up togethr. It must hav been very queer to them. Som lafd, 
most of them lookd sorly frytnd. Wen I saw them standng round me, it came into my hed that I 
was doing as foolish 

Paje 54

a thing as it was posbl for me to do undr th circmstnces, in tryng to revive th sensation of fear. 
For, reasnng from ther daylyt behavir, I thot that fear must be forgotn. 
   `Abruptly, I dashd down th mach, and, nokng one of th peple over in my corse, went 
blundrng across th big dining-hal again, out undr th moonlyt. I herd crys of terr and ther litl 
feet runng and stumblng this way and that. I do not remembr al I did as th moon crept up th sky. I 
supose it was th unexpectd natur of my loss that madnd me. I felt hopelesly cut off from my 
own kind -- a stranje anml in an unown world. I must hav raved to and fro, screamng and cryng 
upon God and Fate. I hav a memry of horibl fatige, as th long nyt of despair wor away; of 
lookng in this imposbl place and that; of groping among moonlit ruins and tuchng stranje creaturs 
in th blak shados; at last, of lyng on th ground near th sfinx and weepng with abslute 
rechedness. I had nothing left but misry. Then I slept, and wen I woke again it was ful day, and a 
cupl of sparos wer hopng round me on th turf within reach of my arm. 
   `I sat up in th freshness of th mornng, tryng to remembr how I had got ther, and wy I had such 
a profound sense of desertion and despair. Then things came clear in my mind. With th plan, 
reasnbl daylyt, I cud look my circmstnces fairly in th face. I saw th wild folly of my frenzy 
overnyt, and I cud reasn with myself. "Supose th worst?" I said. "Supose th machine 
altogethr lost -- perhaps destroyd? It behoves me to be calm and patient, to lern th way of th 
peple, to get a clear idea of th method of my loss, and th means of getng materials and tools; so 
that in th end, perhaps, I may make anothr." That wud be my only hope, perhaps, but betr than 
despair. And, aftr al, it was a butiful and curius world. 
   `But probbly, th machine had only been taken away. Stil, I must be calm and patient, find its hiding-
place, and recovr it by force or cunng. And with that I scrambld to my feet and lookd about me, 
wondrng wher I cud bathe. I felt weary, stif, and travl-soild. Th freshness of th mornng made 
me desire an equal freshness. I had exaustd my emotion. Indeed, as I went about my busness, I 
found myself wondrng at my intense exitemnt overnyt. I made a careful examnation of th ground 
about th litl lawn. I wasted som time in futil questionings, conveyd, as wel as I was able, to such 
of th litl peple as came by. They al faild to undrstand my jesturs; som wer simply stolid, som 
thot it was a jest and lafd at me. I had th hardst task in th world to keep my hands off ther 
pretty lafng faces. It was a foolish impulse, but th devl begotten of fear and blind angr was il 
curbd and stil eagr to take advantaj of my perplexity. Th turf gave betr counsl. I found a groov 
ripd in it, about midway between th pedestl of th sfinx and th marks of my feet wher, on 
arival, I had strugld with th overturnd machine. Ther wer othr syns of removal 

Paje 55

about, with queer naro footprints like those I cud imajn made by a sloth. This directd my closer 
atention to th pedestl. It was, as I think I hav said, of bronz. It was not a mere blok, but hyly 
decrated with deep framed panls on eithr side. I went and rapd at these. Th pedestl was 
holo. Examnng th panls with care I found them discontinuus with th frames. Ther wer no 
handls or keholes, but posbly th panls, if they wer dors, as I suposed, opend from within. 
One thing was clear enuf to my mind. It took no very gret mentl efrt to infer that my Time 
Machine was inside that pedestl. But how it got ther was a difrnt problm. 
   `I saw th heds of two oranj-clad peple comng thru th bushs and undr som blosm-
covrd apl-tres towards me. I turnd smiling to them and beknd them to me. They came, and 
then, pointng to th bronz pedestl, I tryd to intmate my wish to open it. But at my first jestur 
towards this they behaved very odly. I dont no how to convey ther expression to u. Supose 
u wer to use a grosly impropr jestur to a delicat-mindd womn -- it is how she wud look. 
They went off as if they had receved th last posbl insult. I tryd a sweet-lookng litl chap in wite 
next, with exactly th same result. Somhow, his manr made me feel ashamed of myself. But, as u 
no, I wantd th Time Machine, and I tryd him once mor. As he turnd off, like th othrs, my 
tempr got th betr of me. In thre strides I was aftr him, had him by th loose part of his robe round 
th nek, and began dragng him towards th sfinx. Then I saw th horr and repugnnce of his 
face, and al of a sudn I let him go. 
   `But I was not beatn yet. I bangd with my fist at th bronz panls, I thot I herd somthing stir 
inside -- to be explicit, I thot I herd a sound like a chukl -- but I must hav been mistaken. Then 
I got a big pebl from th rivr, and came and hamrd til I had flatnd a coil in th decrations, 
and th verdigri came off in powdry flakes. Th delicat litl peple must hav herd me hamrng 
in gusty outbreks a mile away on eithr hand, but nothing came of it. I saw a crowd of them upon th 
slopes, lookng furtivly at me. At last, hot and tired, I sat down to wach th place. But I was too 
restless to wach long; I am too Occidental for a long vijl. I cud work at a problm for years, but to 
wait inactiv for twenty-four ours -- that is anothr matr. 
   `I got up aftr a time, and began walkng aimlesly thru th bushs towards th hil again. 
"Patience," said I to myself. "If u want yr machine again u must leve that sfinx alone. If they 
mean to take yr machine away, it's litl good yr rekng ther bronz panls, and if they dont, 
u wil get it bak as soon as u can ask for it. To sit among al those unown things befor a puzl 
like that is hopeless. That way lies monomania. Face this world. Lern its ways, wach it, be careful of 
too hasty gesses at its meanng. In th end u wil find clus to it al." Then sudnly th humor of th 
situation came into my mind: 

Paje 56

th thot of th years I had spent in study and toil to get into th futur aje, and now my passion of 
anxiety to get out of it. I had made myself th most complicated and th most hopeless trap that evr a 
man devised. Altho it was at my own expense, I cud not help myself. I lafd aloud. 
   `Going thru th big palace, it seemd to me that th litl peple avoidd me. It may hav been my 
fancy, or it may hav had somthing to do with my hamrng at th gates of bronz. Yet I felt tolrbly 
sure of th avoidnce. I was careful, howevr, to sho no concern and to abstain from any pursuit of 
them, and in th corse of a day or two things got bak to th old footng. I made wat progress I cud 
in th languaj, and in adition I pushd my explrations here and ther. Eithr I misd som sutl 
point, or ther languaj was exessivly simpl -- almost exclusivly composed of concrete substantives 
and verbs. Ther seemd to be few, if any, abstract terms, or litl use of figrativ languaj. Ther 
sentnces wer usuly simpl and of two words, and I faild to convey or undrstand any but th 
simplst propositions. I determnd to put th thot of my Time Machine and th mystry of th 
bronz dors undr th sfinx as much as posbl in a cornr of memry, until my groing nolej 
wud led me bak to them in a natrl way. Yet a certn feelng, u may undrstand, tethrd me in 
a circl of a few miles round th point of my arival. 
   `So far as I cud se, al th world displayd th same exuberant richness as th Tams vally. 
From evry hil I climbd I saw th same abundnce of splendid bildngs, endlesly varid in material 
and styl, th same clustrng thikets of evrgreens, th same blosm-laden tres and tre-ferns. Here 
and ther watr shon like silvr, and beyond, th land rose into blu undulating hils, and so faded into 
th serenity of th sky. A peculir featur, wich presntly atractd my atention, was th presnce of 
certn circulr wels, sevrl, as it seemd to me, of a very gret depth. One lay by th path up th hil, 
wich I had folod during my first walk. Like th othrs, it was rimd with bronz, curiusly 
rot, and protectd by a litl cupola from th rain. Sitng by th side of these wels, and peerng 
down into th shafted darkns, I cud se no gleam of watr, nor cud I start any reflection with a 
lytd mach. But in al of them I herd a certn sound: a thud -- thud -- thud, like th beatng of som 
big enjn; and I discovrd, from th flaring of my machs, that a stedy curent of air set down th 
shafts. Furthr, I threw a scrap of paper into th throat of one, and, insted of flutrng sloly down, it 
was at once sukd swiftly out of syt. 
   `Aftr a time, too, I came to conect these wels with tal towrs standng here and ther upon th 
slopes; for abov them ther was ofn just such a flikr in th air as one ses on a hot day abov a 
sun-scorchd beach. Putng things togethr, I reachd a strong sujestion of an extensiv systm of 
subteranean ventlation, hos tru import it was dificlt 

Paje 57

to imajn. I was at first inclined to asociate it with th sanitry apratus of these peple. It was an 
obvius conclusion, but it was abslutely rong. 
   `And here I must admit that I lernd very litl of drains and bels and modes of conveynce, and th 
like conveniences, during my time in this real futur. In som of these visions of Utopias and comng 
times wich I hav red, ther is a vast amount of detail about bildng, and social aranjemnts, and so 
forth. But wile such details ar esy enuf to obtain wen th hole world is containd in one's 
imajnation, they ar altogethr inaccesbl to a real travlr amid such realitis as I found here. 
Conceve th tale of Londn wich a negro, fresh from Centrl Africa, wud take bak to his tribe! 
Wat wud he no of railway compnis, of social movemnts, of telefone and telegraf wires, of 
th Parcels Delivry Compny, and postl ordrs and th like? Yet we, at least, shud be wilng 
enuf to explain these things to him! And even of wat he new, how much cud he make his 
untravelled frend eithr aprehend or beleve? Then, think how naro th gap between a negro and a 
wite man of our own times, and how wide th intrvl between myself and these of th Goldn Aje! I 
was sensbl of much wich was unseen, and wich contributed to my comfrt; but save for a jenrl 
impression of autmatic orgnization, I fear I can convey very litl of th difrnce to yr mind. 
   `In th matr of sepulture, for instnce, I cud se no syns of crematoria nor anything sujestiv of 
tombs. But it ocurd to me that, posbly, ther myt be cemetris (or crematoria) somwher 
beyond th ranje of my explorings. This, again, was a question I delibratly put to myself, and my 
curiosity was at first entirely defeatd upon th point. Th thing puzld me, and I was led to make a 
furthr remark, wich puzld me stil mor: that ajed and infirm among this peple ther wer non. 
   `I must confess that my satisfaction with my first theoris of an autmatic civlization and a decadnt 
humanity did not long endure. Yet I cud think of no othr. Let me put my dificltis. Th sevrl big 
palaces I had explord wer mere livng places, gret dining-hals and sleepng apartmnts. I cud find 
no machinery, no aplyances of any kind. Yet these peple wer clothed in plesnt fabrics that must at 
times need renewl, and ther sandls, tho undecorated, wer fairly complex specimns of 
metlwork. Somhow such things must be made. And th litl peple displayd no vestij of a creativ 
tendncy. Ther wer no shops, no workshops, no syn of importations among them. They spent al 
ther time in playng jently, in bathing in th rivr, in making lov in a half-playful fashn, in eatng fruit 
and sleepng. I cud not se how things wer kept going. 
   `Then, again, about th Time Machine: somthing, I new not wat, had taken it into th holo 
pedestl of th Wite Sfinx. Wy? For th 

Paje 58

life of me I cud not imajn. Those watrless wels, too, those flikrng pilrs. I felt I lakd a clu. I 
felt -- how shal I put it? Supose u found an inscription, with sentnces here and ther in exlnt 
plan English, and interpolated therwith, othrs made up of words, of letrs even, abslutely unown 
to u? Wel, on th third day of my visit, that was how th world of Eit Hundred and Two Thousnd 
Sevn Hundred and One presentd itself to me! 
   `That day, too, I made a frend -- of a sort. It hapnd that, as I was wachng som of th litl 
peple bathing in a shalo, one of them was sezed with cramp and began driftng downstream. Th 
main curent ran rathr swiftly, but not too strongly for even a modrat swimr. It wil giv u an 
idea, therfor, of th stranje deficiency in these creaturs, wen I tel u that non made th slytst 
atemt to rescu th weakly cryng litl thing wich was drownng befor ther ys. Wen I realized 
this, I hurridly slipd off my clothes, and, wading in at a point loer down, I caut th poor mite and 
drew her safe to land. A litl rubng of th lims soon brot her round, and I had th satisfaction of 
seing she was al ryt befor I left her. I had got to such a lo estmate of her kind that I did not 
expect any gratitude from her. In that, howevr, I was rong. 
   `This hapnd in th mornng. In th aftrnoon I met my litl womn, as I beleve it was, as I was 
returng towards my centr from an explration, and she receved me with crys of delyt and 
presentd me with a big garlnd of flowrs -- evidntly made for me and me alone. Th thing took my 
imajnation. Very posbly I had been feelng desolate. At any rate I did my best to display my 
apreciation of th gift. We wer soon seatd togethr in a litl stone arbr, engajed in convrsation, 
chiefly of smiles. Th creature's frendliness afectd me exactly as a child's myt hav don. We pasd 
each othr flowrs, and she kisd my hands. I did th same to hers. Then I tryd talk, and found that 
her name was Weena, wich, tho I dont no wat it ment, somhow seemd apropriat 
enuf. That was th beginng of a queer frendship wich lastd a week, and endd -- as I wil tel 
u! 
   `She was exactly like a child. She wantd to be with me always. She tryd to folo me evry wher, 
and on my next jurny out and about it went to my hart to tire her down, and leve her at last, 
exaustd and calng aftr me rathr plaintivly. But th problms of th world had to be mastrd. I 
had not, I said to myself, com into th futur to carry on a minitur flirtation. Yet her distress wen I 
left her was very gret, her expostulations at th partng wer somtimes frantic, and I think, altogethr, 
I had as much trubl as comfrt from her devotion. Nevrthless she was, somhow, a very gret 
comfrt. I thot it was mere childish afection that made her cling to me. Until it was too late, I did not 
clearly no wat I had inflictd upon her wen I left her. Nor until it was too late did I clearly 
undrstand wat she was to me. For, by merely seemng 

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fond of me, and shoing in her weak, futil way that she cared for me, th litl dol of a creatur 
presntly gave my return to th neibrhood of th Wite Sfinx almost th feelng of comng home; 
and I wud wach for her tiny figr of wite and gold so soon as I came over th hil. 
   `It was from her, too, that I lernd that fear had not yet left th world. She was fearless enuf in th 
daylyt, and she had th odst confidnce in me; for once, in a foolish moment, I made thretnng 
grimaces at her, and she simply lafd at them. But she dredd th dark, dredd shados, dredd 
blak things. Darkns to her was th one thing dredful. It was a singulrly passionat emotion, and it 
set me thinkng and observng. I discovrd then, among othr things, that these litl peple gathrd 
into th gret houses aftr dark, and slept in droves. To entr upon them without a lyt was to put them 
into a tumult of aprehension. I nevr found one out of dors, or one sleepng alone within dors, aftr 
dark. Yet I was stil such a blockhead that I misd th lesn of that fear, and in spite of Weena's 
distress I insistd upon sleepng away from these slumbrng multitudes. 
   `It trubld her gretly, but in th end her od afection for me triumfd, and for five of th nyts of 
our aquaintnce, including th last nyt of al, she slept with her hed pillowed on my arm. But my 
story slips away from me as I speak of her. It must hav been th nyt befor her rescu that I was 
awakend about dawn. I had been restless, dreamng most disagreeably that I was drownd, and that 
se-anemnes wer feelng over my face with ther soft palps. I woke with a start, and with an od 
fancy that som grayish anml had just rushd out of th chamber. I tryd to get to sleep again, but I felt 
restless and uncomfrtbl. It was that dim gray our wen things ar just creepng out of darkns, 
wen everything is colorless and clear cut, and yet unreal. I got up, and went down into th gret hal, 
and so out upon th flagstones in front of th palace. I thot I wud make a virtu of necessity, and 
se th sunrise. 
   `Th moon was setng, and th dyng moonlyt and th first palr of dawn wer mingld in a gastly 
half-lyt. Th bushs wer inky blak, th ground a sombr gray, th sky colorless and cheerless. And 
up th hil I thot I cud se gosts. Ther sevrl times, as I scand th slope, I saw wite figrs. 
Twice I fancid I saw a solitry wite, apelike creatur runng rathr quikly up th hil, and once near 
th ruins I saw a leash of them carrying som dark body. They moved hastily. I did not se wat 
became of them. It seemd that they vanishd among th bushs. Th dawn was stil indistinct, u must 
undrstand. I was feelng that chil, uncertn, erly-mornng feelng u may hav nown. I doutd my 
ys. 
   `As th eastrn sky grew brytr, and th lyt of th day came on and its vivid colorng returnd 
upon th world once mor, I scand th 

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vew keenly. But I saw no vestij of my wite figrs. They wer mere creaturs of th half-lyt. "They 
must hav been gosts," I said; "I wondr wence they dated." For a queer notion of Grant Allen's 
came into my hed, and amused me. If each jenration die and leve gosts, he argud, th world at 
last wil get overcrowdd with them. On that theory they wud hav grown inumerabl som Eit 
Hundred Thousnd Years hence, and it was no gret wondr to se four at once. But th jest was 
unsatisfyng, and I was thinkng of these figrs al th mornng, until Weena's rescu drove them out of 
my hed. I asociated them in som indefnit way with th wite anml I had startld in my first 
passionat serch for th Time Machine. But Weena was a plesnt substitute. Yet al th same, they 
wer soon destnd to take far deadlier posession of my mind. 
   `I think I hav said how much hotr than our own was th wethr of this Goldn Aje. I canot 
acount for it. It may be that th sun was hotr, or th erth nearr th sun. It is usul to asume that th 
sun wil go on coolng stedily in th futur. But peple, unfamilir with such speculations as those of th 
yungr Darwin, forget that th planets must ultmatly fal bak one by one into th parent body. As 
these catastrofes ocur, th sun wil blaze with renewd enrjy; and it may be that som inr planet 
had sufrd this fate. Watevr th reasn, th fact remains that th sun was very much hotr than we 
no it. 
   `Wel, one very hot mornng -- my fourth, I think -- as I was seekng sheltr from th heat and glare in 
a colosl ruin near th gret house wher I slept and fed, ther hapnd this stranje thing: Clambrng 
among these heaps of masonry, I found a naro galry, hos end and side windos wer blokd 
by falen masses of stone. By contrast with th brilliancy outside, it seemd at first impenetrably dark to 
me. I entrd it groping, for th chanje from lyt to blakness made spots of color swim befor me. 
Sudnly I haltd spelbound. A pair of ys, luminus by reflection against th daylyt without, was 
wachng me out of th darkns. 
   `Th old instinctiv dred of wild beasts came upon me. I clenchd my hands and stedfastly lookd 
into th glaring ybals. I was afraid to turn. Then th thot of th abslute security in wich humanity 
apeard to be livng came to my mind. And then I remembrd that stranje terr of th dark. 
Overcomng my fear to som extent, I advanced a step and spoke. I wil admit that my voice was harsh 
and il controld. I put out my hand and tuchd somthing soft. At once th ys dartd sideways, and 
somthing wite ran past me. I turnd with my hart in my mouth, and saw a queer litl apelike figr, 
its hed held down in a peculir manr, runng across th sunlit space behind me. It blundrd against 
a blok of granit, stagrd aside, and in a moment was hidn in a blak shado beneath anothr pile 
of ruind masonry. 
   `My impression of it is, of corse, imperfect; but I new it was a 

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dul wite, and had stranje larj grayish-red ys; also that ther was flaxen hair on its hed and down 
its bak. But, as I say, it went too fast for me to se distinctly. I canot even say wethr it ran on al-
fours, or only with its forarms held very lo. Aftr an instant's pause I folod it into th secnd heap 
of ruins. I cud not find it at first; but, aftr a time in th profound obscurity, I came upon one of those 
round wel-like openngs of wich I hav told u, half closed by a falen pilr. A sudn thot came 
to me. Cud this Thing hav vanishd down th shaft? I lit a mach, and, lookng down, I saw a smal, 
wite, moving creatur, with larj bryt ys wich regardd me stedfastly as it retreatd. It made me 
shudr. It was so like a human spider! It was clambrng down th wal, and now I saw for th first 
time a numbr of metl foot and hand rests formng a kind of ladr down th shaft. Then th lyt 
burnd my fingrs and fel out of my hand, going out as it dropd, and wen I had lit anothr th litl 
monstr had disapeard. 
   `I do not no how long I sat peerng down that wel. It was not for som time that I cud succeed 
in persuading myself that th thing I had seen was human. But, graduly, th truth dawnd on me: that 
Man had not remaind one species, but had difrentiated into two distinct anmls: that my graceful 
children of th Upr-world wer not th sole desendnts of our jenration, but that this bleachd, 
obsene, nocturnl Thing, wich had flashd befor me, was also er to al th ajes. 
   `I thot of th flikrng pilrs and of my theory of an undrground ventlation. I began to suspect 
ther tru import. And wat, I wondrd, was this Lemur doing in my sceme of a perfectly balanced 
orgnization? How was it related to th indlnt serenity of th butiful Upr-worlders? And wat 
was hidn down ther, at th foot of that shaft? I sat upon th ej of th wel telng myself that, at 
any rate, ther was nothing to fear, and that ther I must desend for th solution of my dificltis. And 
withal I was abslutely afraid to go! As I hesitated, two of th butiful Upr-world peple came 
runng in ther amrus sport across th daylyt in th shado. Th male pursud th female, flingng 
flowrs at her as he ran. 
   `They seemd distresd to find me, my arm against th overturnd pilr, peerng down th wel. 
Aparently it was considrd bad form to remark these aprturs; for wen I pointd to this one, and 
tryd to frame a question about it in ther tong, they wer stil mor visbly distresd and turnd away. 
But they wer intrestd by my machs, and I struk som to amuse them. I tryd them again about th 
wel, and again I faild. So presntly I left them, meanng to go bak to Weena, and se wat I cud 
get from her. But my mind was alredy in revlution; my gesses and impressions wer slipng and 
sliding to a new ajustmnt. I had now a clu to th import of these wels, to th ventlating towrs, to 
th mystry of th gosts; to say nothing of a hint at th meanng of th bronz gates and th fate of th 
Time Machine! And very vagely ther 

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came a sujestion towards th solution of th ecnomic problm that had puzld me. 
   `Here was th new vew. Plainly, this secnd species of Man was subteranean. Ther wer thre 
circmstnces in particulr wich made me think that its rare emerjnce abov ground was th outcom 
of a long-continud undrground look comn in most anmls that liv larjly in th dark -- th wite 
fish of th Kentuky caves, for instnce. Then, those larj ys, with that capacity for reflectng lyt, 
ar comn featurs of nocturnl things -- witness th owl and th cat. And last of al, that evidnt 
confusion in th sunshine, that hasty yet fumblng awkwrd flyt towards dark shado, and that peculir 
carrij of th hed wile in th lyt -- al reinforced th theory of an extreme sensitiveness of th 
retna. 
   `Beneath my feet, then, th erth must be tunnelled enormusly, and these tunnellings wer th habitat 
of th new race. Th presnce of ventlating shafts and wels along th hil slopes -- evrywher, in fact, 
exept along th rivr vally -- showd how universl wer its ramifications. Wat so natrl, then, as to 
asume that it was in this artificial Undr-world that such work as was necesry to th comfrt of th 
daylyt race was don? Th notion was so plausbl that I at once acceptd it, and went on to asume 
th how of this splitng of th human species. I dare say u wil anticipate th shape of my theory; 
tho, for myself, I very soon felt that it fel far short of th truth. 
   `At first, proceedng from th problms of our own aje, it seemd clear as daylyt to me that th 
gradul widenng of th presnt merely tempry and social difrnce between th Capitlist and th 
Laborr, was th ke to th hole position. No dout it wil seem grotesq enuf to u -- and 
wildly incredbl! -- and yet even now ther ar existng circmstnces to point that way. Ther is a 
tendncy to utilize undrground space for th less ornmentl purposes of civlization; ther is th 
Metropolitn Railway in Londn, for instnce, ther ar new electric railways, ther ar subways, ther 
ar undrground workrooms and restrans, and they increse and multiply. Evidntly, I thot, this 
tendncy had incresed til Industry had graduly lost its birthryt in th sky. I mean that it had gon 
deepr and deepr into larjr and evr larjr undrground factris, spendng a stil-incresing amount 
of its time therin, til, in th end -- ! Even now, dos not an East-end workr liv in such artificial 
conditions as practicly to be cut off from th natrl surface of th erth? 
   `Again, th exclusiv tendncy of richr peple -- du, no dout, to th incresing refinemnt of ther 
education, and th widenng gulf between them and th rude violence of th poor -- is alredy leadng to 
th closing, in ther intrest, of considrbl portions of th surface of th land. About Londn, for 
instnce, perhaps half th prettir cuntry is shut in against intrusion. And this same widenng gulf -- 
wich is du to th length and expense of th hyr educationl process and th incresed 

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facilitis for and temtations towards refined habits on th part of th rich -- wil make that exchanje 
between class and class, that promotion by intermarriage wich at presnt retards th splitng of our 
species along lines of social stratification, less and less frequent. So, in th end, abov ground u must 
hav th Havs, pursuing plesur and comfrt and buty, and belo ground th Hav-nots, th 
Workrs getng continuly adaptd to th conditions of ther labor. Once they wer ther, they wud 
no dout hav to pay rent, and not a litl of it, for th ventlation of ther cavrns; and if they refused, 
they wud starv or be sufocated for arears. Such of them as wer so constituted as to be misrbl 
and rebelius wud die; and, in th end, th balance being permnnt, th survivors wud becom as 
wel adaptd to th conditions of undrground life, and as happy in ther way, as th Upr-world 
peple wer to thers. As it seemd to me, th refined buty and th etiolated palr folod natrly 
enuf. 
   `Th gret triumf of Humanity I had dreamd of took a difrnt shape in my mind. It had been no 
such triumf of moral education and jenrl co-opration as I had imajnd. Insted, I saw a real 
aristocracy, armd with a perfectd sience and workng to a lojicl conclusion th industrial systm of 
today. Its triumf had not been simply a triumf over Natur, but a triumf over Natur and th 
felo-man. This, I must warn u, was my theory at th time. I had no convenient cicerone in th 
patrn of th Utopian books. My explnation may be abslutely rong. I stil think it is th most 
plausbl one. But even on this suposition th balanced civlization that was at last ataind must hav 
long since pasd its zenith, and was now far falen into decay. Th too-perfect security of th Upr-
worlders had led them to a slo movemnt of dejenration, to a jenrl dwindlng in size, strength, and 
intelijnce. That I cud se clearly enuf alredy. Wat had hapnd to th Undr-grounders I did 
not yet suspect; but from wat I had seen of th Morlocks -- that, by th by, was th name by wich 
these creaturs wer cald -- I cud imajn that th modification of th human typ was even far 
mor profound than among th "Eloi," th butiful race that I alredy new. 
   `Then came trublsm douts. Wy had th Morlocks taken my Time Machine? For I felt sure it 
was they ho had taken it. Wy, too, if th Eloi wer mastrs, cud they not restor th machine to 
me? And wy wer they so teribly afraid of th dark? I proceedd, as I hav said, to question Weena 
about this Undr-world, but here again I was disapointd. At first she wud not undrstand my 
questions, and presntly she refused to ansr them. She shivrd as tho th topic was unendurebl. 
And wen I presd her, perhaps a litl harshly, she burst into tears. They wer th only tears, exept 
my own, I evr saw in that Goldn Aje. Wen I saw them I cesed abruptly to trubl about th 
Morlocks, and was only concernd in banishing these syns of th human inheritnce 

Paje 64

from Weena's ys. And very soon she was smiling and clapng her hands, wile I solemly burnd a 
mach.
Chaptr 6
   `It may seem od to u, but it was two days befor I cud folo up th new-found clu in wat 
was manifestly th propr way. I felt a peculir shrinkng from those palid bodis. They wer just th 
half-bleachd color of th worms and things one ses preservd in spirit in a zoolojicl museum. And 
they wer filthily cold to th tuch. Probbly my shrinkng was larjly du to th sympathetic influence 
of th Eloi, hos disgust of th Morlocks I now began to apreciate. 
   `Th next nyt I did not sleep wel. Probbly my helth was a litl disordrd. I was opresd with 
perplexity and dout. Once or twice I had a feelng of intense fear for wich I cud perceve no defnit 
reasn. I remembr creepng noislesly into th gret hal wher th litl peple wer sleepng in th 
moonlyt -- that nyt Weena was among them -- and feelng reasured by ther presnce. It ocurd 
to me even then, that in th corse of a few days th moon must pass thru its last quartr, and th 
nyts gro dark, wen th apearnces of these unplesnt creaturs from belo, these witend 
Lemurs, this new vermn that had replaced th old, myt be mor abundnt. And on both these days I 
had th restless feelng of one ho shirks an inevitbl duty. I felt asured that th Time Machine was 
only to be recovrd by boldly penetrating these undrground mystris. Yet I cud not face th 
mystry. If only I had had a companion it wud hav been difrnt. But I was so horibly alone, and 
even to clambr down into th darkns of th wel apald me. I dont no if u wil undrstand my 
feelng, but I nevr felt quite safe at my bak. 
   `It was this restlesness, this insecurity, perhaps, that drove me furthr and furthr afield in my 
explorng expeditions. Going to th south-westwrd towards th rising cuntry that is now cald 
Combe Wood, I observd far off, in th direction of nineteenth-Century Banstead, a vast green 
structur, difrnt in caractr from any I had hithrto seen. It was larjr than th larjst of th palaces 
or ruins I new, and th facade had an Orientl look: th face of it havng th lustr, as wel as th pale-
green tint, a kind of bluish-green, of a certn typ of Chinese porcelin. This difrnce in aspect 
sujestd a difrnce in use, and I was mindd to push on and explor. But th day was groing late, 
and I had com upon th syt of th place aftr a long and tiring circuit; so I resolvd to hold over th 
adventur for th foloing day, and I returnd to th welcm and th caresses of litl Weena. But 
next mornng I perceved clearly enuf that my curiosity regardng th Palace of Green Porcelin was a 
pece of self-deception, to enable me to shirk, by anothr day, an experience 

Paje 65

I dredd. I resolvd I wud make th desent without furthr waste of time, and startd out in th 
erly mornng towards a wel near th ruins of granit and aluminium. 
   `Litl Weena ran with me. She danced beside me to th wel, but wen she saw me lean over th 
mouth and look downwrd, she seemd stranjely disconcertd. "Good-by, litl Weena," I said, 
kisng her; and then, putng her down, I began to feel over th parapet for th climbng hooks. Rathr 
hastily, I may as wel confess, for I feard my curaj myt leak away! At first she wachd me in 
amazemnt. Then she gave a most piteus cry, and, runng to me, she began to pul at me with her litl 
hands. I think her oposition nervd me rathr to proceed. I shook her off, perhaps a litl rufly, and 
in anothr moment I was in th throat of th wel. I saw her agnized face over th parapet, and smiled 
to reasure her. Then I had to look down at th unstable hooks to wich I clung. 
   `I had to clambr down a shaft of perhaps two hundred yards. Th desent was efectd by means of 
metalic bars projectng from th sides of th wel, and these being adaptd to th needs of a creatur 
much smalr and lytr than myself, I was speedily crampd and fatiged by th desent. And not 
simply fatiged! One of th bars bent sudnly undr my weit, and almost swung me off into th 
blakness beneath. For a moment I hung by one hand, and aftr that experience I did not dare to rest 
again. Tho my arms and bak wer presntly acutely painful, I went on clambrng down th sheer 
desent with as quik a motion as posbl. Glancing upwrd, I saw th aprtur, a smal blu disk, in 
wich a star was visbl, wile litl Weena's hed showd as a round blak projection. Th thudng 
sound of a machine belo grew loudr and mor opressiv. Everything save that litl disk abov was 
profoundly dark, and wen I lookd up again Weena had disapeard. 
   `I was in an agny of discomfrt. I had som thot of tryng to go up th shaft again, and leve th 
Undr-world alone. But even wile I turnd this over in my mind I continud to desend. At last, with 
intense relief, I saw dimly comng up, a foot to th ryt of me, a slendr loophole in th wal. Swingng 
myself in, I found it was th aprtur of a naro horizontl tunl in wich I cud lie down and rest. It 
was not too soon. My arms ached, my bak was crampd, and I was tremblng with th prolongd 
terr of a fal. Besides this, th unbroken darkns had had a distresng efect upon my ys. Th air 
was ful of th throb and hum of machinery pumpng air down th shaft. 
   `I do not no how long I lay. I was rousd by a soft hand tuchng my face. Startng up in th 
darkns I snachd at my machs and, hastily striking one, I saw thre stoopng wite creaturs simlr 
to th one I had seen abov ground in th ruin, hastily retreatng befor th lyt. Livng, as they did, in 
wat apeard to me impenetrbl darkns, ther ys wer abnormly larj and sensitiv, just as ar 
th pupils of th abysml fishs, and they reflectd th lyt in th same way. I hav no dout they 

Paje 66

cud se me in that rayless obscurity, and they did not seem to hav any fear of me apart from th lyt. 
But, so soon as I struk a mach in ordr to se them, they fled incontinently, vanishng into dark gutrs 
and tunls, from wich ther ys glared at me in th stranjest fashn. 
   `I tryd to cal to them, but th languaj they had was aparently difrnt from that of th Over-world 
peple; so that I was needs left to my own unaidd efrts, and th thot of flyt befor explration 
was even then in my mind. But I said to myself. "U ar in for it now," and, feelng my way along th 
tunl, I found th noise of machinery gro loudr. Presntly th walls fel away from me, and I came to 
a larj open space, and striking anothr mach, saw that I had entrd a vast archd cavrn, wich 
strechd into utr darkns beyond th ranje of my lyt. Th vew I had of it was as much as one 
cud se in th burnng of a mach. 
   `Necesrily my memry is vage. Gret shapes like big machines rose out of th dimness, and cast 
grotesq blak shados, in wich dim spectrl Morlocks sheltrd from th glare. Th place, by th 
by, was very stuffy and opressiv, and th faint halitus of freshly shed blod was in th air. Som way 
down th centrl vista was a litl table of wite metl, laid with wat seemd a meal. Th Morlocks at 
any rate wer carnivrus! Even at th time, I remembr wondrng wat larj anml cud hav 
survived to furnish th red joint I saw. It was al very indistinct: th hevy smel, th big unmeaning 
shapes, th obsene figrs lurkng in th shados, and only waitng for th darkns to com at me 
again! Then th mach burnd down, and stung my fingrs, and fel, a riglng red spot in th 
blakness. 
   `I hav thot since how particulrly il-equipd I was for such an experience. Wen I had startd 
with th Time Machine, I had startd with th absurd asumtion that th men of th Futur wud 
certnly be infnitly ahed of ourselvs in al ther aplyances. I had com without arms, without 
medcin, without anything to smoke -- at times I misd tobaco frytfuly -- even without enuf 
machs. If only I had thot of a Kodak! I cud hav flashd that glimps of th Undrworld in a 
secnd, and examnd it at lesur. But, as it was, I stood ther with only th wepns and th powrs 
that Natur had endowd me with -- hands, feet, and teeth; these, and four safety-machs that stil 
remaind to me. 
   `I was afraid to push my way in among al this machinery in th dark, and it was only with my last 
glimps of lyt I discovrd that my stor of machs had run lo. It had nevr ocurd to me until that 
moment that ther was any need to econmize them, and I had wasted almost half th box in astonishng 
th Upr-worlders, to hom fire was a novlty. Now, as I say, I had four left, and wile I stood in th 
dark, a hand tuchd mine, lank fingrs came feelng over my face, and I was sensbl of a peculir 
unplesnt odor. I fancid I herd th brething of a crowd of those dredful litl beings about me. I 
felt th box of machs 

Paje 67

in my hand being jently disngajed, and othr hands behind me plukng at my clothing. Th sense of 
these unseen creaturs examnng me was indescribebly unplesnt. Th sudn realization of my 
ignrnce of ther ways of thinkng and doing came home to me very vividly in th darkns. I shoutd at 
them as loudly as I cud. They startd away, and then I cud feel them aproachng me again. They 
cluchd at me mor boldly, wisprng od sounds to each othr. I shivrd violently, and shoutd 
again -- rathr discordantly. This time they wer not so seriusly alarmd, and they made a queer 
lafng noise as they came bak at me. I wil confess I was horibly frytnd. I determnd to strike 
anothr mach and escape undr th protection of its glare. I did so, and eking out th flikr with a 
scrap of paper from my poket, I made good my retreat to th naro tunl. But I had scarce entrd 
this wen my lyt was blown out, and in th blakness I cud hear th Morlocks ruslng like wind 
among leavs, and patrng like th rain, as they hurrid aftr me. 
   `In a moment I was cluchd by sevrl hands, and ther was no mistaking that they wer tryng to 
haul me bak. I struk anothr lyt, and waved it in ther dazld faces. U can scarce imajn how 
nauseatingly inhuman they lookd -- those pale, chinless faces and gret, lidless, pinkish-gray ys! -- 
as they stared in ther blindness and bewildrmnt. But I did not stay to look, I promis u: I retreatd 
again, and wen my secnd mach had endd, I struk my third. It had almost burnd thru wen I 
reachd th openng into th shaft. I lay down on th ej, for th throb of th gret pump belo made 
me giddy. Then I felt sideways for th projectng hooks, and, as I did so, my feet wer graspd from 
behind, and I was violently tugd bakwrd. I lit my last mach ... and it incontinently went out. But I 
had my hand on th climbng bars now, and, kikng violently, I disngajed myself from th cluchs of 
th Morlocks and was speedily clambrng up th shaft, wile they stayd peerng and blinkng up at me: 
al but one litl rech ho folod me for som way, and wellnigh secured my boot as a trofy. 
   That climb seemd intermnbl to me. With th last twenty or thirty feet of it a dedly nausea came 
upon me. I had th gretst dificlty in keepng my hold. Th last few yards was a frytful strugl 
against this faintness. Sevrl times my hed swam, and I felt al th sensations of falng. At last, 
howevr, I got over th wel-mouth somhow, and stagrd out of th ruin into th blindng sunlyt. I 
fel upon my face. Even th soil smelt sweet and clean. Then I remembr Weena kisng my hands and 
ears, and th voices of othrs among th Eloi. Then, for a time, I was insensbl.
Chaptr 7
   `Now, indeed, I seemd in a worse case than befor. Hithrto, exept during my night's anguish at th 
loss of th Time Machine, I had felt a 

Paje 68

sustainng hope of ultmat escape, but that hope was stagrd by these new discovris. Hithrto I 
had merely thot myself impeded by th childish simplicity of th litl peple, and by som unown 
forces wich I had only to undrstand to overcom; but ther was an altogethr new elemnt in th 
siknng quality of th Morlocks -- a somthing inhuman and malyn. Instinctivly I lothed them. 
Befor, I had felt as a man myt feel ho had falen into a pit: my concern was with th pit and how to 
get out of it. Now I felt like a beast in a trap, hos enmy wud com upon him soon. 
   `Th enmy I dredd may surprise u. It was th darkns of th new moon. Weena had put this 
into my hed by som at first incomprehensbl remarks about th Dark Nyts. It was not now such a 
very dificlt problm to gess wat th comng Dark Nyts myt mean. Th moon was on th wane: 
each nyt ther was a longr intrvl of darkns. And I now undrstood to som slyt degree at least 
th reasn of th fear of th litl Upr-world peple for th dark. I wondrd vagely wat foul 
vilany it myt be that th Morlocks did undr th new moon. I felt pretty sure now that my secnd 
hypothesis was al rong. Th Upr-world peple myt once hav been th favord aristocracy, and 
th Morlocks ther mecanicl servnts: but that had long since pasd away. Th two species that had 
resultd from th evlution of man wer sliding down towards, or had alredy arived at, an altogethr 
new relationship. Th Eloi, like th Carlovingian kings, had decayd to a mere butiful futility. They stil 
posesd th erth on sufrnce: since th Morlocks, subteranean for inumerabl jenrations, had 
com at last to find th daylit surface intolrbl. And th Morlocks made ther garmnts, I inferd, and 
maintaind them in ther habitul needs, perhaps thru th survival of an old habit of service. They did 
it as a standng horse paws with his foot, or as a man enjoys kilng anmls in sport: because ancient and 
departd necessitis had impresd it on th orgnism. But, clearly, th old ordr was alredy in part 
reversd. Th Nemesis of th delicat ones was creepng on apace. Ajes ago, thousnds of jenrations 
ago, man had thrust his brothr man out of th ese and th sunshine. And now that brothr was comng 
bak -- chanjed! Alredy th Eloi had begun to lern one old lesn anew. They wer becomng 
reacquainted with Fear. And sudnly ther came into my hed th memry of th meat I had seen in 
th Undr-world. It seemd od how it floatd into my mind: not stird up as it wer by th curent of 
my meditations, but comng in almost like a question from outside. I tryd to recal th form of it. I had a 
vage sense of somthing familir, but I cud not tel wat it was at th time. 
   `Stil, howevr helpless th litl peple in th presnce of ther mysterius Fear, I was difrntly 
constituted. I came out of this aje of ours, this ripe prime of th human race, wen Fear dos not 
paralyz and mystry has lost its terrs. I at least wud defend myself. Without furthr 

Paje 69

delay I determnd to make myself arms and a fastness wher I myt sleep. With that refuje as a base, 
I cud face this stranje world with som of that confidnce I had lost in realizing to wat creaturs nyt 
by nyt I lay exposed. I felt I cud nevr sleep again until my bed was secure from them. I shudrd 
with horr to think how they must alredy hav examnd me. 
   `I wandrd during th aftrnoon along th vally of th Tams, but found nothing that comendd 
itself to my mind as inaccesbl. Al th bildngs and tres seemd esily practicbl to such dextrus 
climbrs as th Morlocks, to juj by ther wels, must be. Then th tal pinacls of th Palace of 
Green Porcelin and th polishd gleam of its walls came bak to my memry; and in th evenng, 
taking Weena like a child upon my sholdr, I went up th hils towards th south-west. Th distnce, I 
had reknd, was sevn or eit miles, but it must hav been nearr eiteen. I had first seen th place 
on a moist aftrnoon wen distnces ar deceptivly diminishd. In adition, th heel of one of my shoes 
was loose, and a nail was workng thru th sole -- they wer comfrtbl old shoes I wor about 
indors -- so that I was lame. And it was alredy long past sunset wen I came in syt of th palace, 
siluetd blak against th pale yelo of th sky. 
   `Weena had been hujely delytd wen I began to carry her, but aftr a time she desired me to let 
her down, and ran along by th side of me, ocasionly dartng off on eithr hand to pik flowrs to 
stik in my pokets. My pokets had always puzld Weena, but at th last she had concluded that they 
wer an eccentric kind of vase for floral decration. At least she utilized them for that purpos. And that 
reminds me! In chanjing my jaket I found ...' 
   Th Time Travlr pausd, put his hand into his poket, and silently placed two withrd flowrs, not 
unlike very larj wite mallows, upon th litl table. Then he resumed his narativ. 
   `As th hush of evenng crept over th world and we proceedd over th hil crest towards 
Wimbldn, Weena grew tired and wantd to return to th house of gray stone. But I pointd out th 
distnt pinacls of th Palace of Green Porcelin to her, and contrived to make her undrstand that we 
wer seekng a refuje ther from her Fear. U no that gret pause that coms upon things befor 
th dusk? Even th breze stops in th tres. To me ther is always an air of expectation about that 
evenng stilness. Th sky was clear, remote, and emty save for a few horizontl bars far down in th 
sunset. Wel, that nyt th expectation took th color of my fears. In that darklng calm my senses 
seemd preternaturally sharpnd. I fancid I cud even feel th holoness of th ground beneath my 
feet: cud, indeed, almost se thru it th Morlocks on ther anthill going hithr and thithr and 
waitng for th dark. In my exitemnt I fancid that they wud receve my invasion of ther buros as 
a declration of war. And wy had they taken my Time Machine? 

Paje 70

   `So we went on in th quiet, and th twilyt deepnd into nyt. Th clear blu of th distnce faded, 
and one star aftr anothr came out. Th ground grew dim and th tres blak. Weena's fears and her 
fatige grew upon her. I took her in my arms and talkd to her and caresd her. Then, as th darkns 
grew deepr, she put her arms round my nek, and, closing her ys, tytly presd her face against my 
sholdr. So we went down a long slope into a vally, and ther in th dimness I almost walkd into a 
litl rivr. This I waded, and went up th oposit side of th vally, past a numbr of sleepng houses, 
and by a statu -- a Faun, or som such figr, minus th hed. Here too wer acacias. So far I had 
seen nothing of th Morlocks, but it was yet erly in th nyt, and th darkr ours befor th old moon 
rose wer stil to com. 
   `From th brow of th next hil I saw a thik wood spredng wide and blak befor me. I hesitated at 
this. I cud se no end to it, eithr to th ryt or th left. Feelng tired -- my feet, in particulr, wer 
very sor -- I carefuly loerd Weena from my sholdr as I haltd, and sat down upon th turf. I 
cud no longr se th Palace of Green Porcelin, and I was in dout of my direction. I lookd into th 
thikness of th wood and thot of wat it myt hide. Undr that dense tangl of branchs one wud 
be out of syt of th stars. Even wer ther no othr lurkng danjer -- a danjer I did not care to let my 
imajnation loose upon -- ther wud stil be al th roots to stumbl over and th tre-boles to strike 
against. 
   `I was very tired, too, aftr th exitemnts of th day; so I decided that I wud not face it, but wud 
pass th nyt upon th open hil. `Weena, I was glad to find, was fast asleep. I carefuly rapd her in 
my jaket, and sat down beside her to wait for th moonrise. Th hil-side was quiet and desertd, but 
from th blak of th wood ther came now and then a stir of livng things. Abov me shon th stars, 
for th nyt was very clear. I felt a certn sense of frendly comfrt in ther twinklng. Al th old 
constlations had gon from th sky, howevr: that slo movemnt wich is imperceptbl in a hundred 
human lifetimes, had long since rearanjed them in unfamilir groupngs. But th Milky Way, it seemd 
to me, was stil th same tatrd streamr of star-dust as of yore. Southwrd (as I jujd it) was a very 
bryt red star that was new to me; it was even mor splendid than our own green Sirius. And amid al 
these scintillating points of lyt one bryt planet shon kindly and stedily like th face of an old frend. 
   `Lookng at these stars sudnly dwarfd my own trubls and al th gravities of terestrial life. I 
thot of ther unfathmbl distnce, and th slo inevitbl drift of ther movemnts out of th 
unown past into th unown futur. I thot of th gret precessional cycl that th pole of th 
erth describes. Only forty times had that silent revlution ocurd during al th years that I had 
traversd. And during these few revlutions al th activity, al th traditions, th complex orgnizations, 

Paje 71

th nations, languajs, literatures, asprations, even th mere memry of Man as I new him, had been 
swept out of existnce. Insted wer these frail creaturs ho had forgotn ther hy ancestry, and th 
wite Things of wich I went in terr. Then I thot of th Gret Fear that was between th two 
species, and for th first time, with a sudn shivr, came th clear nolej of wat th meat I had 
seen myt be. Yet it was too horibl! I lookd at litl Weena sleepng beside me, her face wite and 
starlike undr th stars, and forthwith dismisd th thot. 
   `Thru that long nyt I held my mind off th Morlocks as wel as I cud, and whiled away th time 
by tryng to fancy I cud find syns of th old constlations in th new confusion. Th sky kept very 
clear, exept for a hazy cloud or so. No dout I dozed at times. Then, as my vijl wor on, came a 
faintness in th eastwrd sky, like th reflection of som colorless fire, and th old moon rose, thin and 
peakd and wite. And close behind, and overtaking it, and overfloing it, th dawn came, pale at first, 
and then groing pink and warm. No Morlocks had aproachd us. Indeed, I had seen non upon th 
hil that nyt. And in th confidnce of renewd day it almost seemd to me that my fear had been 
unreasnbl. I stood up and found my foot with th loose heel swolen at th ankl and painful undr 
th heel, so I sat down again, took off my shoes, and flung them away. 
   `I awakend Weena, and we went down into th wood, now green and plesnt insted of blak and 
forbidng. We found som fruit wherwith to brek our fast. We soon met othrs of th dainty ones, 
lafng and dancing in th sunlyt as tho ther was no such thing in natur as th nyt. And then I 
thot once mor of th meat that I had seen. I felt asured now of wat it was, and from th botm 
of my hart I pitid this last feebl rill from th gret flod of humanity. Clearly, at som time in th 
Long-Ago of human decay th Morlocks' food had run short. Posbly they had livd on rats and such-
like vermn. Even now man is far less discrimnating and exclusiv in his food than he was -- far less than 
any monky. His prejudice against human flesh is no deep-seatd instinct. And so these inhuman sons of 
men -- ! I tryd to look at th thing in a sientific spirit. Aftr al, they wer less human and mor remote 
than our canibl ancestrs of thre or four thousnd years ago. And th intelijnce that wud hav 
made this state of things a torment had gon. Wy shud I trubl myself? These Eloi wer mere fatted 
catl, wich th ant-like Morlocks preservd and preyd upon -- probbly saw to th breedng of. 
And ther was Weena dancing at my side! 
   `Then I tryd to preserv myself from th horr that was comng upon me, by regardng it as a 
rigrus punishmnt of human selfishness. Man had been content to liv in ese and delyt upon th 
labors of his felo-man, had taken Necessity as his wachword and excuse, and in th fulness of time 
Necessity had com home to him. I even tryd a Carlyle-like scorn of this reched aristocracy in 
decay. But this atitude 

Paje 72

of mind was imposbl. Howevr gret ther intlectul degradation, th Eloi had kept too much of th 
human form not to claim my sympathy, and to make me perforce a sharer in ther degradation and ther 
Fear. 
   `I had at that time very vage ideas as to th corse I shud pursu. My first was to secure som safe 
place of refuje, and to make myself such arms of metl or stone as I cud contrive. That necessity was 
imediat. In th next place, I hoped to procure som means of fire, so that I shud hav th wepn 
of a torch at hand, for nothing, I new, wud be mor eficient against these Morlocks. Then I wantd 
to aranje som contrivance to brek open th dors of bronz undr th Wite Sfinx. I had in mind a 
batrng-ram. I had a persuasion that if I cud entr those dors and carry a blaze of lyt befor me I 
shud discovr th Time Machine and escape. I cud not imajn th Morlocks wer strong enuf to 
move it far away. Weena I had resolvd to bring with me to our own time. And turnng such scemes 
over in my mind I pursud our way towards th bildng wich my fancy had chosen as our dwelng.
Chaptr 8
   `I found th Palace of Green Porcelin, wen we aproachd it about noon, desertd and falng into 
ruin. Only raged vestijs of glass remaind in its windos, and gret sheets of th green facing had 
falen away from th coroded metalic framework. It lay very hy upon a turfy down, and lookng 
north-eastwrd befor I entrd it, I was surprised to se a larj estury, or even creek, wher I 
jujd Wandswrth and Battersea must once hav been. I thot then -- tho I nevr folod up 
th thot -- of wat myt hav hapnd, or myt be hapnng, to th livng things in th se. 
   `Th material of th Palace proved on examnation to be indeed porcelin, and along th face of it I 
saw an inscription in som unown caractr. I thot, rathr foolishly, that Weena myt help me to 
interpret this, but I only lernd that th bare idea of riting had nevr entrd her hed. She always 
seemd to me, I fancy, mor human than she was, perhaps because her afection was so human. 
   `Within th big valvs of th dor -- wich wer open and broken -- we found, insted of th 
custmry hal, a long galry lit by many side windos. At th first glance I was remindd of a museum. 
Th tiled flor was thik with dust, and a remarkbl aray of mislaneus objects was shroudd in 
th same gray covrng. Then I perceved, standng stranje and gaunt in th centr of th hal, wat was 
clearly th loer part of a huje skeletn. I recognized by th obliqe feet that it was som extinct 
creatur aftr th fashn of th Megatherium. Th skul and th upr bones lay beside it in th thik 
dust, and in one place, wher rain-watr had dropd thru a leak in th roof, th thing itself had 
been worn 

Paje 73

away. Furthr in th galry was th huje skeletn barel of a Brontosaurus. My museum hypothesis 
was confirmd. Going towards th side I found wat apeard to be sloping shelvs, and clearng away 
th thik dust, I found th old familir glass cases of our own time. But they must hav been air-tyt to 
juj from th fair presrvation of som of ther contents. 
   `Clearly we stood among th ruins of som latr-day South Kensngtn! Here, aparently, was th 
Palaeontological Section, and a very splendid aray of fosls it must hav been, tho th inevitbl 
process of decay that had been staved off for a time, and had, thru th extinction of bacteria and 
fungi, lost ninety-nine hundredths of its force, was nevrthless, with extreme sureness if with extreme 
sloness at work again upon al its tresurs. Here and ther I found traces of th litl peple in th 
shape of rare fosls broken to peces or thredd in strings upon reeds. And th cases had in som 
instnces been bodily removed -- by th Morlocks as I jujd. Th place was very silent. Th thik 
dust dednd our footsteps. Weena, ho had been rolng a se urchn down th sloping glass of a 
case, presntly came, as I stared about me, and very quietly took my hand and stood beside me. 
   `And at first I was so much surprised by this ancient monumnt of an intlectul aje, that I gave no 
thot to th posbilitis it presentd. Even my preocupation about th Time Machine receded a litl 
from my mind. 
   `To juj from th size of th place, this Palace of Green Porcelin had a gret deal mor in it than a 
Galry of Paleontolojy; posbly historicl galris; it myt be, even a libry! To me, at least in my 
presnt circmstnces, these wud be vastly mor intrestng than this spectacl of old-time jeolojy in 
decay. Explorng, I found anothr short galry runng transversely to th first. This apeard to be 
devoted to minrls, and th syt of a blok of sulfr set my mind runng on gunpowdr. But I cud 
find no saltpeter; indeed, no nitrates of any kind. Doutless they had deliquesced ajes ago. Yet th 
sulfr hung in my mind, and set up a train of thinkng. As for th rest of th contents of that galry, 
tho on th hole they wer th best preservd of al I saw, I had litl intrest. I am no specialist in 
mineralogy, and I went on down a very ruinus ile runng paralel to th first hal I had entrd. 
Aparently this section had been devoted to natrl histry, but everything had long since pasd out of 
recognition. A few shrivld and blaknd vestijs of wat had once been stufd anmls, desicated 
mummis in jars that had once held spirit, a brown dust of departd plants: that was al! I was sorry for 
that, because I shud hav been glad to trace th patnt readjustments by wich th conquest of 
anmated natur had been ataind. Then we came to a galry of simply colosl proportions, but 
singulrly il-lit, th flor of it runng downwrd at a slyt angl from th end at wich I entrd. At 
intrvls wite globes hung from th celing -- many 

Paje 74

of them crakd and smashd -- wich sujestd that orijnly th place had been artificialy lit. Here I 
was mor in my elemnt, for rising on eithr side of me wer th huje bulks of big machines, al gretly 
coroded and many broken down, but som stil fairly complete. U no I hav a certn weakness 
for mecnism, and I was inclined to lingr among these; th mor so as for th most part they had th 
intrest of puzls, and I cud make only th vagest gesses at wat they wer for. I fancid that if I 
cud solv ther puzls I shud find myself in posession of powrs that myt be of use against th 
Morlocks. 
   `Sudnly Weena came very close to my side. So sudnly that she startld me. Had it not been for 
her I do not think I shud hav noticed that th flor of th galry sloped at al.(1) Th end I had com 
in at was quite abov ground, and was lit by rare slit-like windos. As u went down th length, th 
ground came up against these windos, until at last ther was a pit like th "area" of a Londn house 
befor each, and only a naro line of daylyt at th top. I went sloly along, puzlng about th 
machines, and had been too intent upon them to notice th gradul dimnution of th lyt, until Weena's 
incresing aprehensions drew my atention. Then I saw that th galry ran down at last into a thik 
darkns. I hesitated, and then, as I lookd round me, I saw that th dust was less abundnt and its 
surface less even. Furthr away towards th dimness, it apeard to be broken by a numbr of smal 
naro footprints. My sense of th imediat presnce of th Morlocks revived at that. I felt that I was 
wasting my time in this academic examnation of machinery. I cald to mind that it was alredy far 
advanced in th aftrnoon, and that I had stil no wepn, no refuje, and no means of making a fire. 
And then down in th remote blakness of th galry I herd a peculir patrng, and th same od 
noises I had herd down th wel. 
   `I took Weena's hand. Then, struk with a sudn idea, I left her and turnd to a machine from wich 
projectd a levr not unlike those in a signl-box. Clambrng upon th stand, and graspng this levr in 
my hands, I put al my weit upon it sideways. Sudnly Weena, desertd in th centrl ile, began to 
wimpr. I had jujd th strength of th levr pretty corectly, for it snapd aftr a minute's strain, 
and I rejoind her with a mace in my hand mor than suficient, I jujd, for any Morlock skul I myt 
encountr. And I longd very much to kil a Morlock or so. Very inhuman, u may think, to want to go 
kilng one's own desendnts! But it was imposbl, somhow, to feel any humanity in th things. Only 
my disnclination to leve Weena, and a persuasion that if I began to slake my thirst for murdr my Time 
Machine myt sufr, restraind me from going strait down th galry and kilng th brutes I herd. 

Paje 75

   `Wel, mace in one hand and Weena in th othr, I went out of that galry and into anothr and stil 
larjr one, wich at th first glance remindd me of a militry chapl hung with tatrd flags. Th brown 
and chartd rags that hung from th sides of it, I presntly recognized as th decayng vestijs of books. 
They had long since dropd to peces, and evry semblnce of print had left them. But here and ther 
wer warpd bords and crakd metalic clasps that told th tale wel enuf. Had I been a litry 
man I myt, perhaps, hav moralized upon th futility of al ambition. But as it was, th thing that struk 
me with keenst force was th enormus waste of labor to wich this sombr wildrness of rotng 
paper testifyd. At th time I wil confess that I thot chiefly of th Filosoficl Transactions and my 
own sevnteen papers upon fysicl optics. 
   `Then, going up a brod staircase, we came to wat may once hav been a galry of tecnicl 
chemistry. And here I had not a litl hope of useful discovris. Exept at one end wher th roof had 
colapsd, this galry was wel preservd. I went eagrly to evry unbroken case. And at last, in one of 
th realy air-tyt cases, I found a box of machs. Very eagrly I tryd them. They wer perfectly good. 
They wer not even damp. I turnd to Weena. "Dance," I cryd to her in her own tong. For now I had 
a wepn indeed against th horibl creaturs we feard. And so, in that derelict museum, upon th 
thik soft carpetng of dust, to Weena's huje delyt, I solemly performd a kind of composit dance, 
wislng Th Land of th Leal as cheerfuly as I cud. In part it was a modest cancan, in part a step-
dance, in part a skirt-dance (so far as my tailcoat permitd), and in part orijnl. For I am natrly 
inventiv, as u no. 
   `Now, I stil think that for this box of machs to hav escaped th wer of time for imemorial years 
was a most stranje, as for me it was a most fortunat thing. Yet, odly enuf, I found a far unlikelier 
substnce, and that was camfr. I found it in a seald jar, that by chance, I supose, had been realy 
hermeticly seald. I fancid at first that it was parafn wax, and smashd th glass acordngly. But th 
odor of camfr was unmistakebl. In th universl decay this volatl substnce had chanced to 
survive, perhaps thru many thousnds of centuris. It remindd me of a sepia paintng I had once 
seen don from th ink of a fosl Belemnite that must hav perishd and becom foslized milions of 
years ago. I was about to thro it away, but I remembrd that it was inflamabl and burnd with a 
good bryt flame -- was, in fact, an exlnt candl -- and I put it in my poket. I found no explosivs, 
howevr, nor any means of brekng down th bronz dors. As yet my iron crobar was th most 
helpful thing I had chanced upon. Nevrthless I left that galry gretly elated. 
   `I canot tel u al th story of that long aftrnoon. It wud require a gret efrt of memry to recal 
my explrations in at al th propr ordr. I remembr a long galry of rustng stands of arms, and how 
I 

Paje 76

hesitated between my crobar and a hachet or a sord. I cud not carry both, howevr, and my bar 
of iron promisd best against th bronz gates. Ther wer numbrs of guns, pistls, and rifles. Th 
most wer masses of rust, but many wer of som new metl, and stil fairly sound. But any cartrijs 
or powdr ther may once hav been had rotd into dust. One cornr I saw was chard and 
shatrd; perhaps, I thot, by an explosion among th specimns. In anothr place was a vast aray 
of idols -- Polynesian, Mexicn, Grecian, Phoenician, evry cuntry on erth I shud think. And here, 
yieldng to an iresistbl impulse, I rote my name upon th nose of a steatite monstr from South 
America that particulrly took my fancy. 
   `As th evenng drew on, my intrest waned. I went thru galry aftr galry, dusty, silent, ofn 
ruinus, th exibits somtimes mere heaps of rust and lignite, somtimes freshr. In one place I 
sudnly found myself near th modl of a tin-mine, and then by th merest accidnt I discovrd, in an 
air-tyt case, two dynmite cartrijs! I shoutd "Eureka!" and smashd th case with joy. Then came 
a dout. I hesitated. Then, selectng a litl side galry, I made my esay. I nevr felt such a 
disapointmnt as I did in waitng five, ten, fifteen minuts for an explosion that nevr came. Of corse 
th things wer dummis, as I myt hav gesd from ther presnce. I realy beleve that, had they not 
been so, I shud hav rushd off incontinently and blown Sfinx, bronz dors, and (as it proved) my 
chances of findng th Time Machine, al togethr into non-existnce. 
   `It was aftr that, I think, that we came to a litl open cort within th palace. It was turfd, and had 
thre fruit-tres. So we restd and refreshd ourselvs. Towards sunset I began to considr our 
position. Nyt was creepng upon us, and my inaccesbl hiding-place had stil to be found. But that 
trubld me very litl now. I had in my posession a thing that was, perhaps, th best of al defenses 
against th Morlocks -- I had machs! I had th camfr in my poket, too, if a blaze wer needd. It 
seemd to me that th best thing we cud do wud be to pass th nyt in th open, protectd by a 
fire. In th mornng ther was th getng of th Time Machine. Towards that, as yet, I had only my iron 
mace. But now, with my groing nolej, I felt very difrntly towards those bronz dors. Up to 
this, I had refraind from forcing them, larjly because of th mystry on th othr side. They had nevr 
impresd me as being very strong, and I hoped to find my bar of iron not altogethr inadequat for th 
work.
Chaptr 9
   `We emerjd from th palace wile th sun was stil in part abov th horizon. I was determnd to 
reach th Wite Sfinx erly th next mornng, 

Paje 77

and ere th dusk I purposed pushng thru th woods that had stopd me on th previus jurny. 
My plan was to go as far as posbl that nyt, and then, bildng a fire, to sleep in th protection of its 
glare. Acordngly, as we went along I gathrd any stiks or dryd grass I saw, and presntly had my 
arms ful of such litr. Thus loadd, our progress was sloer than I had anticipated, and besides Weena 
was tired. And I began to sufr from sleepiness too; so that it was ful nyt befor we reachd th 
wood. Upon th shrubby hil of its ej Weena wud hav stopd, fearng th darkns befor us; 
but a singulr sense of impendng calamity, that shud indeed hav servd me as a warnng, drove me 
onwrd. I had been without sleep for a nyt and two days, and I was feverish and iritbl. I felt sleep 
comng upon me, and th Morlocks with it. 
   `Wile we hesitated, among th blak bushs behind us, and dim against ther blakness, I saw thre 
crouchng figrs. Ther was scrub and long grass al about us, and I did not feel safe from ther 
insidius aproach. Th forest, I calculated, was rathr less than a mile across. If we cud get thru it 
to th bare hil-side, ther, as it seemd to me, was an altogethr safer restng-place; I thot that with 
my machs and my camfr I cud contrive to keep my path iluminated thru th woods. Yet it 
was evidnt that if I was to flurish machs with my hands I shud hav to abandn my firewood; so, 
rathr reluctntly, I put it down. And then it came into my hed that I wud amaze our frends behind 
by lytng it. I was to discovr th atrocius folly of this proceedng, but it came to my mind as an 
injenius move for covrng our retreat. 
   `I dont no if u hav evr thot that a rare thing flame must be in th absnce of man and in a 
temprat climat. Th sun's heat is rarely strong enuf to burn, even wen it is focusd by dewdrops, 
as is somtimes th case in mor tropicl districts. Lytnng may blast and blakn, but it rarely givs 
rise to widespred fire. Decayng vejetation may ocasionly smoulder with th heat of its fermntation, 
but this rarely results in flame. In this decadnce, too, th art of fire-making had been forgotn on th 
erth. Th red tongs that went likng up my heap of wood wer an altogethr new and stranje thing 
to Weena. 
   `She wantd to run to it and play with it. I beleve she wud hav cast herself into it had I not 
restraind her. But I caut her up, and, in spite of her strugls, plunjd boldly befor me into th 
wood. For a litl way th glare of my fire lit th path. Lookng bak presntly, I cud se, thru th 
crowdd stems, that from my heap of stiks th blaze had spred to som bushs ajacent, and a 
curvd line of fire was creepng up th grass of th hil. I lafd at that, and turnd again to th dark 
tres befor me. It was very blak, and Weena clung to me convulsivly, but ther was stil, as my ys 
grew acustmd to th darkns, suficient lyt for me to avoid th stems. Overhed it was simply 
blak, exept 

Paje 78

wher a gap of remote blu sky shon down upon us here and ther. I struk non of my machs 
because I had no hand fre. Upon my left arm I carrid my litl one, in my ryt hand I had my iron bar. 
   `For som way I herd nothing but th craklng twigs undr my feet, th faint rusl of th breze 
abov, and my own brething and th throb of th blod-vesls in my ears. Then I seemd to no of 
a patrng about me. I pushd on grimly. Th patrng grew mor distinct, and then I caut th same 
queer sound and voices I had herd in th Undr-world. Ther wer evidntly sevrl of th Morlocks, 
and they wer closing in upon me. Indeed, in anothr minut I felt a tug at my coat, then somthing at 
my arm. And Weena shivrd violently, and became quite stil. 
   `It was time for a mach. But to get one I must put her down. I did so, and, as I fumbld with my 
poket, a strugl began in th darkns about my nes, perfectly silent on her part and with th same 
peculir cooing sounds from th Morlocks. Soft litl hands, too, wer creepng over my coat and bak, 
tuchng even my nek. Then th mach scrachd and fizzed. I held it flaring, and saw th wite baks 
of th Morlocks in flyt amid th tres. I hastily took a lump of camfr from my poket, and prepared 
to lyt it as soon as th mach shud wane. Then I lookd at Weena. She was lyng cluchng my feet 
and quite motionless, with her face to th ground. With a sudn fryt I stoopd to her. She seemd 
scarcely to brethe. I lit th blok of camfr and flung it to th ground, and as it split and flared up and 
drove bak th Morlocks and th shados, I nelt down and liftd her. Th wood behind seemd ful 
of th stir and murmr of a gret compny! 
   `She seemd to hav faintd. I put her carefuly upon my sholdr and rose to push on, and then ther 
came a horibl realization. In maneuvrng with my machs and Weena, I had turnd myself about 
sevrl times, and now I had not th faintst idea in wat direction lay my path. For al I new, I myt 
be facing bak towards th Palace of Green Porcelin. I found myself in a cold swet. I had to think 
rapidly wat to do. I determnd to bild a fire and encamp wher we wer. I put Weena, stil 
motionless, down upon a turfy bole, and very hastily, as my first lump of camfr waned, I began 
colectng stiks and leavs. Here and ther out of th darkns round me th Morlocks' ys shon like 
carbuncles. 
   `Th camfr flikrd and went out. I lit a mach, and as I did so, two wite forms that had been 
aproachng Weena dashd hastily away. One was so blindd by th lyt that he came strait for me, 
and I felt his bones grind undr th blo of my fist. He gave a woop of dismay, stagrd a litl way, 
and fel down. I lit anothr pece of camfr, and went on gathrng my bonfire. Presntly I noticed how 
dry was som of th foliaj abov me, for since my arival on th Time Machine, a matr of a week, 
no rain had falen. So, insted of castng about among th tres for falen twigs, I began leapng up and 
dragng down branchs. Very soon I had a choking smoky fire of green wood and dry stiks, and 
cud econmize 

Paje 79

my camfr. Then I turnd to wher Weena lay beside my iron mace. I tryd wat I cud to revive her, 
but she lay like one ded. I cud not even satisfy myself wethr or not she brethed. 
   `Now, th smoke of th fire beat over towards me, and it must hav made me hevy of a sudn. 
Morover, th vapor of camfr was in th air. My fire wud not need replenishng for an our or so. 
I felt very weary aftr my exertion, and sat down. Th wood, too, was ful of a slumbrous murmr that I 
did not undrstand. I seemd just to nod and open my ys. But al was dark, and th Morlocks had 
ther hands upon me. Flingng off ther clingng fingrs I hastily felt in my poket for th mach-box, and -
- it had gon! Then they gripd and closed with me again. In a moment I new wat had hapnd. I 
had slept, and my Th forest seemd ful of th smel of burnng wood. I was caut by th nek, by th 
hair, by th arms, and puld down. It was indescribebly horibl in th darkns to feel al these soft 
creaturs heapd upon me. I felt as if I was in a monstrus spider's web. I was overpowrd, and went 
down. I felt litl teeth nipng at my nek. I rold over, and as I did so my hand came against my iron 
levr. It gave me strength. I strugld up, shaking th human rats from me, and, holdng th bar short, I 
thrust wher I jujd ther faces myt be. I cud feel th suculent givng of flesh and bone undr my 
blos, and for a moment I was fre. 
   `Th stranje exltation that so ofn seems to acompny hard fytng came upon me. I new that 
both I and Weena wer lost, but I determnd to make th Morlocks pay for ther meat. I stood with 
my bak to a tre, swingng th iron bar befor me. Th hole wood was ful of th stir and crys of 
them. A minut pasd. Ther voices seemd to rise to a hyr pich of exitemnt, and ther 
movemnts grew fastr. Yet non came within reach. I stood glaring at th blakness. Then sudnly 
came hope. Wat if th Morlocks wer afraid? And close on th heels of that came a stranje thing. Th 
darkns seemd to gro luminus. Very dimly I began to se th Morlocks about me -- thre batrd 
at my feet -- and then I recognized, with incredulus surprise, that th othrs wer runng, in an 
incesnt stream, as it seemd, from behind me, and away thru th wood in front. And ther baks 
seemd no longr wite, but redish. As I stood agape, I saw a litl red spark go driftng across a gap 
of starlyt between th branchs, and vanish. And at that I undrstood th smel of burnng wood, th 
slumbrous murmr that was groing now into a gusty ror, th red glo, and th Morlocks' flyt. 
   `Stepng out from behind my tre and lookng bak, I saw, thru th blak pilrs of th nearr 
tres, th flames of th burnng forest. It was my first fire comng aftr me. With that I lookd for 
Weena, but she was gon. Th hisng and craklng behind me, th explosiv thud as each fresh tre 
burst into flame, left litl time for reflection. My iron bar stil gripd, I folod in th Morlocks' path. 
It was a close race. Once th flames crept forwrd so swiftly on my ryt as I ran that I was 

Paje 80

outflankd and had to strike off to th left. But at last I emerjd upon a smal open space, and as I did 
so, a Morlock came blundrng towards me, and past me, and went on strait into th fire! 
   `And now I was to se th most weird and horibl thing, I think, of al that I beheld in that futur aje. 
This hole space was as bryt as day with th reflection of th fire. In th centr was a hilok or 
tumulus, surmountd by a scorchd hawthorn. Beyond this was anothr arm of th burnng forest, with 
yelo tongs alredy rithing from it, completely encirclng th space with a fence of fire. Upon th 
hil-side wer som thirty or forty Morlocks, dazld by th lyt and heat, and blundrng hithr and 
thithr against each othr in ther bewildrmnt. At first I did not realize ther blindness, and struk 
furiusly at them with my bar, in a frenzy of fear, as they aproachd me, kilng one and criplng 
sevrl mor. But wen I had wachd th jesturs of one of them groping undr th hawthorn against 
th red sky, and herd ther moans, I was asured of ther abslute helplesness and misry in th glare, 
and I struk no mor of them. 
   `Yet evry now and then one wud com strait towards me, setng loose a quivrng onr that 
made me quik to elude him. At one time th flames died down somwat, and I feard th foul 
creaturs wud presntly be able to se me. I was thinkng of beginng th fyt by kilng som of them 
befor this shud hapn; but th fire burst out again brytly, and I stayd my hand. I walkd about th 
hil among them and avoidd them, lookng for som trace of Weena. But Weena was gon. 
   `At last I sat down on th sumit of th hilok, and wachd this stranje incredbl compny of blind 
things groping to and fro, and making uncanny noises to each othr, as th glare of th fire beat on them. 
Th coilng uprush of smoke streamd across th sky, and thru th rare tatrs of that red canopy, 
remote as tho they belongd to anothr universe, shon th litl stars. Two or thre Morlocks came 
blundrng into me, and I drove them off with blos of my fists, tremblng as I did so. 
   `For th most part of that nyt I was persuaded it was a nytmare. I bit myself and screamd in a 
passionat desire to awake. I beat th ground with my hands, and got up and sat down again, and 
wandrd here and ther, and again sat down. Then I wud fal to rubng my ys and calng upon 
God to let me awake. Thrice I saw Morlocks put ther heds down in a kind of agny and rush into th 
flames. But, at last, abov th subsiding witenng and blackening tre stumps, and th diminishng 
numbrs of these dim creaturs, came th wite lyt of th day. 
   `I serchd again for traces of Weena, but ther wer non. It was plan that they had left her poor 
litl body in th forest. I canot describe how it releved me to think that it had escaped th awful fate 
to wich it seemd destnd. As I thot of that, I was almost moved to begin a 

Paje 81

massacr of th helpless abominations about me, but I containd myself. Th hilok, as I hav said, was 
a kind of iland in th forest. From its sumit I cud now make out thru a haze of smoke th Palace 
of Green Porcelin, and from that I cud get my berngs for th Wite Sfinx. And so, leving th 
remnnt of these damd sols stil going hithr and thithr and moanng, as th day grew clearr, I tied 
som grass about my feet and limpd on across smoking ashs and among blak stems, that stil 
pulsated internly with fire, towards th hiding-place of th Time Machine. I walkd sloly, for I was 
almost exaustd, as wel as lame, and I felt th intensest rechedness for th horibl deth of litl 
Weena. It seemd an overwelmng calamity. Now, in this old familir room, it is mor like th soro 
of a dream than an actul loss. But that mornng it left me abslutely lonely again -- teribly alone. I 
began to think of this house of mine, of this fireside, of som of u, and with such thots came a 
longng that was pain. 
   `But, as I walkd over th smoking ashs undr th bryt mornng sky, I made a discovry. In my 
trousr poket wer stil som loose machs. Th box must hav leakd befor it was lost.
Chaptr 10
   `About eit or nine in th mornng I came to th same seat of yelo metl from wich I had vewd 
th world upon th evenng of my arival. I thot of my hasty conclusions upon that evenng and cud 
not refrain from lafng bitrly at my confidnce. Here was th same butiful sene, th same 
abundnt foliaj, th same splendid palaces and magnificent ruins, th same silvr rivr runng between 
il fertl banks. Th gay robes of th butiful peple moved hithr and thithr among th tres. Som 
wer bathing in exactly th place wher I had saved Weena, and that sudnly gave me a keen stab of 
pain. And like blots upon th landscape rose th cupolas abov th ways to th Undr-world. I 
undrstood now wat al th buty of th Over-world peple covrd. Very plesnt was ther day, as 
plesnt as th day of th catl in th field. Like th catl, they new of no enmis and provided 
against no needs. And ther end was th same. 
   `I greved to think how brief th dream of th human intlect had been. It had comitd suicide. It 
had set itself stedfastly towards comfrt and ese, a balanced society with security and permanency as 
its wachword, it had ataind its hopes -- to com to this at last. Once, life and proprty must hav 
reachd almost abslute safety. Th rich had been asured of his welth and comfrt, th toiler asured 
of his life and work. No dout in that perfect world ther had been no unemployd problm, no social 
question left unsolvd. And a gret quiet had folod. 
   `It is a law of natur we overlook, that intlectul versatility is th compnsation for chanje, danjer, 
and trubl. An anml perfectly in 

Paje 82

harmny with its environmnt is a perfect mecnism. Natur nevr apeals to intelijnce until habit and 
instinct ar useless. Ther is no intelijnce wher ther is no chanje and no need of chanje. Only those 
anmls partake of intelijnce that hav to meet a huje variety of needs and danjers. 
   `So, as I se it, th Upr-world man had driftd towards his feebl prettiness, and th Undr-world 
to mere mecanicl industry. But that perfect state had lakd one thing even for mecanicl perfection 
-- abslute permanency. Aparently as time went on, th feedng of th Undr-world, howevr it was 
efectd, had becom disjointd. Mothr Necessity, ho had been staved off for a few thousnd years, 
came bak again, and she began belo. Th Undr-world being in contact with machinery, wich, 
howevr perfect, stil needs som litl thot outside habit, had probbly retaind perforce rathr 
mor initiativ, if less of evry othr human caractr, than th Upr. And wen othr meat faild them, 
they turnd to wat old habit had hithrto forbidn. So I say I saw it in my last vew of th world of 
Eit Hundred and Two Thousnd Sevn Hundred and One. It may be as rong an explnation as 
mortl wit cud invent. It is how th thing shaped itself to me, and as that I giv it to u. 
   `Aftr th fatiges, exitemnts, and terrs of th past days, and in spite of my grief, this seat and th 
tranquil vew and th warm sunlyt wer very plesnt. I was very tired and sleepy, and soon my 
theorizing pasd into dozing. Cachng myself at that, I took my own hint, and spredng myself out 
upon th turf I had a long and refreshng sleep. 
   `I awoke a litl befor sunsetting. I now felt safe against being caut napng by th Morlocks, and, 
strechng myself, I came on down th hil towards th Wite Sfinx. I had my crobar in one hand, 
and th othr hand playd with th machs in my poket. 
   `And now came a most unexpectd thing. As I aproachd th pedestl of th sfinx I found th 
bronz valvs wer open. They had slid down into groovs. 
   `At that I stopd short befor them, hesitating to entr. 
   `Within was a smal apartmnt, and on a rased place in th cornr of this was th Time Machine. I 
had th smal levrs in my poket. So here, aftr al my elabrat preprations for th seje of th Wite 
Sfinx, was a meek surendr. I threw my iron bar away, almost sorry not to use it. 
   `A sudn thot came into my hed as I stoopd towards th portl. For once, at least, I graspd 
th mentl oprations of th Morlocks. Supresng a strong inclnation to laf, I stepd thru th 
bronz frame and up to th Time Machine. I was surprised to find it had been carefuly oild and 
cleand. I hav suspectd since that th Morlocks had even partialy taken it to peces wile tryng in 
ther dim way to grasp its purpos. 
   `Now as I stood and examnd it, findng a plesur in th mere 

Paje 83

tuch of th contrivance, th thing I had expectd hapnd. Th bronz panls sudnly slid up and 
struk th frame with a clang. I was in th dark -- trapd. So th Morlocks thot. At that I chukld 
glefuly. 
   `I cud alredy hear ther murmrng laftr as they came towards me. Very calmly I tryd to strike 
th mach. I had only to fix on th levrs and depart then like a gost. But I had overlookd one litl 
thing. Th machs wer of that abomnbl kind that lyt only on th box. 
   `U may imajn how al my calm vanishd. Th litl brutes wer close upon me. One tuchd me. I 
made a sweepng blo in th dark at them with th levrs, and began to scrambl into th sadl of th 
machine. Then came one hand upon me and then anothr. Then I had simply to fyt against ther 
persistnt fingrs for my levrs, and at th same time feel for th studs over wich these fitd. One, 
indeed, they almost got away from me. As it slipd from my hand, I had to but in th dark with my 
hed -- I cud hear th Morlock's skul ring -- to recovr it. It was a nearr thing than th fyt in th 
forest, I think, this last scrambl. 
   `But at last th levr was fixd and puld over. Th clingng hands slipd from me. Th darkns 
presntly fel from my ys. I found myself in th same gray lyt and tumult I hav alredy described.
Chaptr 11
   `I hav alredy told u of th sikness and confusion that coms with time travlng. And this time I 
was not seatd proprly in th sadl, but sideways and in an unstable fashn. For an indefnit time I 
clung to th machine as it swayd and vibrated, quite unheeding how I went, and wen I brot myself 
to look at th dials again I was amazed to find wher I had arived. One dial records days, and anothr 
thousnds of days, anothr milions of days, and anothr thousnds of milions. Now, insted of 
reversng th levrs, I had puld them over so as, to go forwrd with them, and wen I came to look at 
these indicators I found that th thousnds hand was sweepng round as fast as th secnds hand of a 
wach -- into futurity. 
   `As I drove on, a peculir chanje crept over th apearnce of things. Th palpitating grayness grew 
darkr; then -- tho I was stil travlng with prodijus velocity -- th blinkng succession of day and 
nyt, wich was usuly indicativ of a sloer pace, returnd, and grew mor and mor markd. This 
puzld me very much at first. Th alternations of nyt and day grew sloer and sloer, and so did th 
passaj of th sun across th sky, until they seemd to strech thru centuris. At last a stedy twilyt 
broodd over th erth, a twilyt only broken now and then wen a comet glared across th darklng 
sky. Th band of lyt that had indicated th sun had long since disapeard; for th sun had cesed to 
set -- it simply rose and fel in th west, and grew evr brodr and mor red. Al trace of th moon had 
vanishd. Th circlng of th stars, 

Paje 84

groing sloer and sloer, had givn place to creepng points of lyt. At last, som time befor I 
stopd, th sun, red and very larj, haltd motionless upon th horizon, a vast dome gloing with a 
dul heat, and now and then sufrng a momentry extinction. At one time it had for a litl wile gloed 
mor briliantly again, but it speedily revertd to its sulen red heat. I perceved by this sloing down of 
its rising and setng that th work of th tidal drag was don. Th erth had com to rest with one face 
to th sun, even as in our own time th moon faces th erth. Very cautiusly, for I remembrd my 
formr hedlong fal, I began to reverse my motion. Sloer and sloer went th circlng hands until th 
thousnds one seemd motionless and th daily one was no longr a mere mist upon its scale. Stil 
sloer, until th dim outlines of a desolate beach grew visbl. 
   `I stopd very jently and sat upon th Time Machine, lookng round. Th sky was no longr blu. 
North-eastwrd it was inky blak, and out of th blakness shon brytly and stedily th pale wite 
stars. Overhed it was a deep Indian red and starless, and south-eastwrd it grew brytr to a gloing 
scarlet wher, cut by th horizon, lay th huje hul of th sun, red and motionless. Th roks about me 
wer of a harsh redish color, and al th trace of life that I cud se at first was th intensly green 
vejetation that covrd evry projectng point on ther south-eastrn face. It was th same rich green 
that one ses on forest moss or on th lichn in caves: plants wich like these gro in a perpetul 
twilyt. 
   `Th machine was standng on a sloping beach. Th se strechd away to th south-west, to rise into 
a sharp bryt horizon against th wan sky. Ther wer no brekrs and no waves, for not a breth of 
wind was stirng. Only a slyt oily swel rose and fel like a jentl brething, and showd that th 
eternl se was stil moving and livng. And along th marjn wher th watr somtimes broke was a 
thik incrustation of salt -- pink undr th lurid sky. Ther was a sense of opression in my hed, and I 
noticed that I was brething very fast. Th sensation remindd me of my only experience of 
mountneerng, and from that I jujd th air to be mor rarefyd than it is now. 
   `Far away up th desolate slope I herd a harsh scream, and saw a thing like a huje wite butrfly go 
slantng and flutrng up into th sky and, circlng, disapear over som lo hiloks beyond. Th sound 
of its voice was so disml that I shivrd and seatd myself mor firmly upon th machine. Lookng 
round me again, I saw that, quite near, wat I had taken to be a redish mass of rok was moving 
sloly towards me. Then I saw th thing was realy a monstrus crab-like creatur. Can u imajn a 
crab as larj as yondr table, with its many legs moving sloly and uncertnly, its big claws swayng, its 
long antenae, like carters' wips, waving and feelng, and its stalkd ys gleamng at u on eithr side 
of its metalic front? Its bak was corugated and ornmentd with ungainly bosses, and a greenish 
incrustation blochd it here and ther. 

Paje 85

I cud se th many palps of its complicated mouth flikrng and feelng as it moved. 
   `As I stared at this sinistr aprition crawlng towards me, I felt a tiklng on my cheek as tho a fly 
had lytd ther. I tryd to brush it away with my hand, but in a moment it returnd, and almost 
imediatly came anothr by my ear. I struk at this, and caut somthing threadlike. It was drawn 
swiftly out of my hand. With a frytful qualm, I turnd, and I saw that I had graspd th antena of 
anothr monstr crab that stood just behind me. Its evil ys wer riglng on ther stalks, its mouth 
was al alive with apetite, and its vast ungainly claws, smeard with an algal slime, wer desendng 
upon me. In a moment my hand was on th levr, and I had placed a month between myself and these 
monstrs. But I was stil on th same beach, and I saw them distinctly now as soon as I stopd. 
Dozns of them seemd to be crawlng here and ther, in th sombr lyt, among th foliated sheets of 
intense green. 
   `I canot convey th sense of abomnbl deslation that hung over th world. Th red eastrn sky, 
th northwrd blakness, th salt Ded Se, th stony beach crawlng with these foul, slo stirng 
monstrs, th uniform poisnus-lookng green of th lichenous plants, th thin air that hurts one's lungs: 
al contributed to an apalng efect. I moved on a hundred years, and ther was th same red sun -- a 
litl larjr, a litl dulr -- th same dyng se, th same chil air, and th same crowd of erthy 
crustacea creepng in and out among th green weed and th red roks. And in th westwrd sky, I saw 
a curvd pale line like a vast new moon. 
   `So I travld, stopng evr and again, in gret strides of a thousnd years or mor, drawn on by th 
mystry of th earth's fate, wachng with a stranje fasnation th sun gro larjr and dulr in th 
westwrd sky, and th life of th old erth eb away. At last, mor than thirty milion years hence, th 
huje red-hot dome of th sun had com to obscure nearly a tenth part of th darklng hevns. Then I 
stopd once mor, for th crawlng multitude of crabs had disapeard, and th red beach, save for its 
livid green liverworts and lichns, seemd lifeless. And now it was flekd with wite. A bitr cold 
asaild me. Rare wite flakes evr and again came eddying down. To th north-eastwrd, th glare of 
sno lay undr th starlyt of th sable sky and I cud se an undulating crest of hiloks pinkish wite. 
Ther wer frinjs of ice along th se marjn, with driftng masses furthr out; but th main expanse of 
that salt ocen, al blody undr th eternl sunset, was stil unfrozen. 
   `I lookd about me to se if any traces of anml life remaind. A certn indefinebl aprehension stil 
kept me in th sadl of th machine. But I saw nothing moving, in erth or sky or se. Th green slime 
on th roks alone testifyd that life was not extinct. A shalo sandbank had apeard in th se and 
th watr had receded from th beach. I fancid I saw som blak object flopng about upon this 
bank, but it 

Paje 86

became motionless as I lookd at it, and I jujd that my y had been deceved, and that th blak 
object was merely a rok. Th stars in th sky wer intensly bryt and seemd to me to twinkl very 
litl. 
   `Sudnly I noticed that th circulr westwrd outline of th sun had chanjed; that a concavity, a bay, 
had apeard in th curv. I saw this gro larjr. For a minut perhaps I stared agast at this blakness 
that was creepng over th day, and then I realized that an eclips was beginng. Eithr th moon or th 
planet Mercury was pasng across th sun's disk. Natrly, at first I took it to be th moon, but ther is 
much to incline me to beleve that wat I realy saw was th transit of an inr planet pasng very near 
to th erth. 
   `Th darkns grew apace; a cold wind began to blo in freshnng gusts from th east, and th 
showrng wite flakes in th air incresed in numbr. From th ej of th se came a ripl and 
wispr. Beyond these lifeless sounds th world was silent. Silent? It wud be hard to convey th 
stilness of it. Al th sounds of man, th bleatng of sheep, th crys of birds, th hum of insects, th stir 
that makes th bakground of our lives -- al that was over. As th darkns thiknd, th eddying 
flakes grew mor abundnt, dancing befor my ys; and th cold of th air mor intense. At last, one 
by one, swiftly, one aftr th othr, th wite peaks of th distnt hils vanishd into blakness. Th 
breze rose to a moanng wind. I saw th blak centrl shado of th eclips sweepng towards me. In 
anothr moment th pale stars alone wer visbl. Al else was rayless obscurity. Th sky was abslutely 
blak. 
   `A horr of this gret darkns came on me. Th cold, that smote to my maro, and th pain I felt 
in brething, overcame me. I shivrd, and a dedly nausea sezed me. Then like a red-hot bo in th 
sky apeard th ej of th sun. I got off th machine to recovr myself. I felt giddy and incapabl of 
facing th return jurny. As I stood sik and confused I saw again th moving thing upon th shoal -- 
ther was no mistake now that it was a moving thing -- against th red watr of th se. It was a round 
thing, th size of a footbal perhaps, or, it may be, bigr, and tentacls traild down from it; it seemd 
blak against th weltering blod-red watr, and it was hopng fitfuly about. Then I felt I was faintng. 
But a teribl dred of lyng helpless in that remote and awful twilyt sustaind me wile I clambrd 
upon th sadl.
Chaptr 12
   `So I came bak. For a long time I must hav been insensbl upon th machine. Th blinkng 
succession of th days and nyts was resumed, th sun got goldn again, th sky blu. I brethed with 
gretr fredm. Th fluctuating conturs of th land ebd and floed. Th hands spun bakwrd 
upon th dials. At last I saw again th dim shados of houses, th evidnces of decadnt humanity. 
These, too, chanjed and pasd, and 

Paje 87

othrs came. Presntly, wen th milion dial was at zero, I slaknd speed. I began to recognize our 
own petty and familir architectur, th thousnds hand ran bak to th startng-point, th nyt and day 
flapd sloer and sloer. Then th old walls of th labratry came round me. Very jently, now, I 
sloed th mecnism down. 
   `I saw one litl thing that seemd od to me. I think I hav told u that wen I set out, befor my 
velocity became very hy, Mrs. Watchett had walkd across th room, travlng, as it seemd to me, 
like a roket. As I returnd, I pasd again across that minut wen she traversd th labratry. But 
now her evry motion apeard to be th exact inversion of her previus ones. Th dor at th loer 
end opend, and she glided quietly up th labratry, bak formost, and disapeard behind th dor 
by wich she had previusly entrd. Just befor that I seemd to se Hillyer for a moment; but he 
pasd like a flash. 
   `Then I stopd th machine, and saw about me again th old familir labratry, my tools, my 
aplyances just as I had left them. I got off th thing very shakily, and sat down upon my bench. For 
sevrl minuts I trembld violently. Then I became calmr. Around me was my old workshop again, 
exactly as it had been. I myt hav slept ther, and th hole thing hav been a dream. 
   `And yet, not exactly! Th thing had startd from th south-east cornr of th labratry. It had com 
to rest again in th north-west, against th wal wher u saw it. That givs u th exact distnce from 
my litl lawn to th pedestl of th Wite Sfinx, into wich th Morlocks had carrid my machine. 
   `For a time my brain went stagnnt. Presntly I got up and came thru th passaj here, limpng, 
because my heel was stil painful, and feelng sorly begrimed. I saw th Pal Mal Gazet on th table 
by th dor. I found th date was indeed today, and lookng at th timepiece, saw th our was almost 
eit oclok. I herd yr voices and th clatr of plates. I hesitated -- I felt so sik and weak. Then I 
snifd good holesm meat, and opend th dor on u. U no th rest. I washd, and dined, 
and now I am telng u th story. 
   `I no,' he said, aftr a pause, `that al this wil be abslutely incredbl to u. To me th one 
incredbl thing is that I am here to-nyt in this old familir room lookng into yr frendly faces and 
telng u these stranje adventurs.' 
   He lookd at th Medicl Man. `No. I canot expect u to beleve it. Take it as a lie -- or a 
profesy. Say I dreamd it in th workshop. Considr I hav been speculating upon th destnis of our 
race until I hav hachd this fiction. Treat my asertion of its truth as a mere stroke of art to enhance its 
intrest. And taking it as a story, wat do u think of it?' 
   He took up his pipe, and began, in his old acustmd manr, to tap with it nervusly upon th bars 
of th grate. Ther was a momentry stilness. Then chairs began to creak and shoes to scrape upon th 
carpet. 

Paje 88

I took my ys off th Time Traveller's face, and lookd round at his audience. They wer in th dark, 
and litl spots of color swam befor them. Th Medicl Man seemd absorbd in th contmplation 
of our host. Th Editr was lookng hard at th end of his cigar -- th sixth. Th Jurnlist fumbld for 
his wach. Th othrs, as far as I remembr, wer motionless. 
   Th Editr stood up with a sy. `Wat a pity it is u'r not a riter of storis!' he said, putng his 
hand on th Time Traveller's sholdr. 
   `U dont beleve it?' 
   `Wel -- ' 
   `I thot not.' 
   Th Time Travlr turnd to us. `Wher ar th machs?' he said. He lit one and spoke over his 
pipe, pufng. `To tel u th truth ... I hardly beleve it myself. ... And yet ...' 
   His y fel with a mute inquiry upon th withrd wite flowrs upon th litl table. Then he turnd 
over th hand holdng his pipe, and I saw he was lookng at som half-heald scars on his nukls. 
   Th Medicl Man rose, came to th lamp, and examnd th flowrs. `Th gynaeceum's od,' he said. 
Th Sycolojist lent forwrd to se, holdng out his hand for a specimn. 
   `I'm hangd if it isnt a quartr to one,' said th Jurnlist. `How shal we get home?' 
   `Plenty of cabs at th station,' said th Sycolojist. 
   `It's a curius thing,' said th Medicl Man; `but I certnly dont no th natrl ordr of these 
flowrs. May I hav them?' 
   Th Time Travlr hesitated. Then sudnly: `Certnly not.' 
   `Wher did u realy get them?' said th Medicl Man. 
   Th Time Travlr put his hand to his hed. He spoke like one ho was tryng to keep hold of an 
idea that eluded him. `They wer put into my poket by Weena, wen I travld into Time.' He stared 
round th room. `I'm damd if it isnt al going. This room and u and th atmosfere of evry day is 
too much for my memry. Did I evr make a Time Machine, or a modl of a Time Machine? Or is it al 
only a dream? They say life is a dream, a precius poor dream at times -- but I cant stand anothr that 
wont fit. It's madness. And wher did th dream com from? ... I must look at that machine. If ther is 
one!' 
   He caut up th lamp swiftly, and carrid it, flaring red, thru th dor into th coridr. We 
folod him. Ther in th flikrng lyt of th lamp was th machine sure enuf, squat, ugly, and 
askew; a thing of brass, ebny, ivory, and translucent glimrng quartz. Solid to th tuch -- for I put 
out my hand and felt th rail of it -- and with brown spots and smears upon th ivory, and bits of grass 
and moss upon th loer parts, and one rail bent ary. 
   Th Time Travlr put th lamp down on th bench, and ran his hand along th damajd rail. `It's al 
ryt now,' he said. `Th story I 

Paje 89

told u was tru. I'm sorry to hav brot u out here in th cold.' He took up th lamp, and, in an 
abslute silence, we returnd to th smoking-room. 
   He came into th hal with us and helpd th Editr on with his coat. Th Medicl Man lookd into his 
face and, with a certn hesitation, told him he was sufrng from overwork, at wich he lafd hujely. 
I remembr him standng in th open dorway, bawlng good nyt. 
   I shared a cab with th Editr. He thot th tale a `gaudy lie.' For my own part I was unable to 
com to a conclusion. Th story was so fantastic and incredbl, th telng so credbl and sober. I lay 
awake most of th nyt thinkng about it. I determnd to go next day and se th Time Travlr again. 
I was told he was in th labratry, and being on esy terms in th house, I went up to him. Th 
labratry, howevr, was emty. I stared for a minut at th Time Machine and put out my hand and 
tuchd th levr. At that th squat substantial-lookng mass swayd like a bou shaken by th wind. 
Its instability startld me extremely, and I had a queer remnisnce of th childish days wen I used to 
be forbidn to medl. I came bak thru th coridr. Th Time Travlr met me in th smoking-
room. He was comng from th house. He had a smal camra undr one arm and a napsak undr th 
othr. He lafd wen he saw me, and gave me an elbo to shake. `I'm frytfuly busy,' said he, `with 
that thing in ther.' 
   `But is it not som hoax?' I said. `Do u realy travl thru time?' 
   `Realy and truly I do.' And he lookd frankly into my ys. He hesitated. His y wandrd about th 
room. `I only want half an our,' he said. `I no wy u came, and it's awfuly good of u. Ther's 
som magazines here. If u'l stop to lunch I'l prove u this time travlng up to th hilt, specimn and 
al. If u'l forgiv my leving u now?' 
   I consentd, hardly comprehendng then th ful import of his words, and he nodd and went on 
down th coridr. I herd th dor of th labratry slam, seatd myself in a chair, and took up a daily 
paper. Wat was he going to do befor lunch-time? Then sudnly I was remindd by an advertismnt 
that I had promisd to meet Richardson, th publishr, at two. I lookd at my wach, and saw that I 
cud barely save that engajemnt. I got up and went down th passaj to tel th Time Travlr. 
   As I took hold of th handl of th dor I herd an exclmation, odly truncated at th end, and a 
clik and a thud. A gust of air wirld round me as I opend th dor, and from within came th sound 
of broken glass falng on th flor. Th Time Travlr was not ther. I seemd to se a gostly, 
indistinct figr sitng in a wirlng mass of blak and brass for a moment -- a figr so transparent that 
th bench behind with its sheets of drawngs was abslutely distinct; but this phantasm vanishd as I 
rubd my ys. Th Time Machine had gon. Save for a subsiding stir of dust, th furthr end of th 
labratry was emty. A pane of th skylyt had, aparently, just been blown in. 

Paje 90

   I felt an unreasnbl amazemnt. I new that somthing stranje had hapnd, and for th moment 
cud not distinguish wat th stranje thing myt be. As I stood staring, th dor into th gardn 
opend, and th man-servnt apeard. 
   We lookd at each othr. Then ideas began to com. `Has Mr. -- gon out that way?' said I. 
   `No, sir. No one has com out this way. I was expectng to find him here.' 
   At that I undrstood. At th risk of disapointng Richardson I stayd on, waitng for th Time 
Travlr; waitng for th secnd, perhaps stil stranjer story, and th specimns and fotografs he 
wud bring with him. But I am beginng now to fear that I must wait a lifetime. Th Time Travlr 
vanishd thre years ago. And, as evrybody nos now, he has nevr returnd.
Eplog
   One canot choose but wondr. Wil he evr return? It may be that he swept bak into th past, and fel among th blod-
drinkng, hairy savajs of th Aje of Unpolishd Stone; into th abysses of th Cretaceous Se; or among th grotesq saurians, 
th huje reptilian brutes of th Jurassic times. He may even now -- if I may use th frase -- be wandrng on som plesiosaurus-
hauntd Oolitic coral reef, or beside th lonely saline lakes of th Triassic Aje. Or did he go forwrd, into one of th nearr ajes, in 
wich men ar stil men, but with th ridls of our own time ansrd and its wearism problms solvd? Into th manhood of 
th race: for I, for my own part, canot think that these latr days of weak experimnt, fragmntry theory, and mutul discord 
ar indeed man's culmnating time! I say, for my own part. He, I no -- for th question had been discusd among us long 
befor th Time Machine was made -- thot but cheerlessly of th Advancemnt of Mankind, and saw in th groing pile of 
civlization only a foolish heapng that must inevitbly fal bak upon and destroy its makers in th end. If that is so, it remains 
for us to liv as tho it wer not so. But to me th futur is stil blak and blank -- is a vast ignrnce, lit at a few casul places 
by th memry of his story. And I hav by me, for my comfrt, two stranje wite flowrs -- shrivld now, and brown and flat 
and britl -- to witness that even wen mind and strength had gon, gratitude and a mutul tendrness stil livd on in th hart of 
man.