Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. TITELBLATT

2. IMPRESSUM

3. CHAPTER I

4. CHAPTER II

5. CHAPTER III

6. CHAPTER IV

7. CHAPTER V

8. CHAPTER VI

9. CHAPTER VII

10. CHAPTER VIII

11. CHAPTER IX

12. CHAPTER X

13. CHAPTER XI

14. CHAPTER XII

15. EPILOGUE

16. THE TIME MACHINE (ENGLISCH)

H. G. Wells
The Time Machine / Die Zeitmaschine
Zweisprachige Ausgabe
Übersetzt von Felix Paul Greve

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CHAPTER I

KAPITEL I

THE Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us.

Der Zeitreisende (denn so werde ich am besten von ihm reden) setzte uns eine geheimnisvolle Sache auseinander.

His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated.

Seine grauen Augen leuchteten und zwinkerten, und sein meist blasses Gesicht war gerötet und belebt.

The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses.

Das Feuer brannte hell, und die weichen Strahlen des Glühlichts in den Silberlilien trafen die Bläschen, die in unseren Gläsern aufblitzten und vergingen.

Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon,

Unsere Stühle – von ihm erfundene Patente – umarmten und liebkosten sich eher, als daß sie auf sich sitzen ließen,

and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought roams gracefully free of the trammels of precision.

und es herrschte jene üppige Nach-Tisch-Atmosphäre, da die Gedanken anmutig und frei von den Fesseln der Präzision hinlaufen.

And he put it to us in this way — marking the points with a lean forefinger

Und er stellte es folgendermaßen dar – indem er einzelnen Punkten mit einem hageren Zeigefinger Nachdruck verlieh

— as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it) and his fecundity.

– während wir dasaßen und träge seinen Ernst bei diesem neuen Paradoxon (wofür wir es hielten) und seine Fruchtbarkeit bewunderten.

“You must follow me carefully. I shall have to controvert one or two ideas that are almost universally accepted.

»Sie müssen mir aufmerksam folgen. Ich werde die eine oder andere Vorstellung bekämpfen müssen, die fast allgemein angenommen ist.

The geometry, for instance, they taught you at school is founded on a misconception.”

Die Geometrie zum Beispiel, die man Sie auf der Schule gelehrt hat, gründet sich auf einem Irrtum.«

“Is not that rather a large thing to expect us to begin upon?” said Filby, an argumentative person with red hair.

»Ist damit anzufangen nicht etwas viel von uns erwartet?« sagte Filby, ein streitliebender Mann mit rotem Haar.

“I do not mean to ask you to accept anything without reasonable ground for it. You will soon admit as much as I need from you.

»Ich will von Ihnen nicht verlangen, daß Sie irgend etwas ohne vernünftigen Grund annehmen, Sie werden bald soviel zugeben, wie ich von Ihnen nötig habe.

You know of course that a mathematical line, a line of thickness nil, has no real existence.

Sie wissen natürlich, daß eine mathematische Linie, eine Linie von einer Dicke nil, in Wirklichkeit nicht existiert.

They taught you that? Neither has a mathematical plane. These things are mere abstractions.”

Das hat man Sie gelehrt? Ebensowenig eine mathematische Fläche. Das sind bloße Abstraktionen.«

“That is all right,” said the Psychologist.

»Das stimmt«, sagte der Psychologe.

“Nor, having only length, breadth, and thickness, can a cube have a real existence.”

»Auch ein Würfel kann, da er nur Länge, Breite und Tiefe besitzt, in Wirklichkeit nicht existieren.«

“There I object,” said Filby. “Of course a solid body may exist. All real things —”

»Da erhebe ich Einspruch«, sagte Filby. »Natürlich kann ein fester Körper existieren. Alle wirklichen Dinge –«

“So most people think. But wait a moment. Can an instantaneous cube exist?”

»Das glauben die meisten Menschen. Aber warten Sie einen Augenblick. Kann ein momentaner Würfel existieren?«

“Don’t follow you,” said Filby.

»Verstehe Sie nicht«, sagte Filby.

“Can a cube that does not last for any time at all, have a real existence?”

»Kann ein Würfel, der überhaupt keine Zeit dauert, existieren?«

Filby became pensive. “Clearly,” the Time Traveller proceeded, “any real body must have extension in four directions:

Filby wurde nachdenklich. »Offenbar«, fuhr der Zeitreisende fort, »muß jeder wirkliche Körper in vier Dimensionen Ausdehnung haben:

it must have Length, Breadth, Thickness, and — Duration.

er muß Länge, Breite, Tiefe und – Dauer haben.

But through a natural infirmity of the flesh, which I will explain to you in a moment, we incline to overlook this fact.

Aber infolge einer natürlichen Schwachheit des Fleisches, die ich Ihnen im Moment erklären will, neigen wir dazu, diese Tatsache zu übersehen.

There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time.

Es gibt wirklich vier Dimensionen; wir nennen sie die drei Ebenen des Raumes, und eine vierte, die Zeit.

There is, however, a tendency to draw an unreal distinction between the former three dimensions and the latter,

Es herrscht jedoch die Neigung, zwischen den ersten drei Dimensionen und der vierten einen unwirklichen Unterschied zu machen,

because it happens that our consciousness moves intermittently in one direction along the latter from the beginning to the end of our lives.”

weil sich zufälligerweise unser Bewußtsein intermittierend vom Anfang unseres Lebens bis zum Ende der vierten Dimension entlang bewegt.«

“That,” said a very young man, making spasmodic efforts to relight his cigar over the lamp; “that … very clear indeed.”

»Das«, sagte ein sehr junger Mann, der krampfhafte Anstrengungen machte, seine Zigarre über der Lampe anzuzünden, »das … ist wahrhaftig ganz klar.«

“Now, it is very remarkable that this is so extensively overlooked,”

»Nun ist es sehr merkwürdig, daß dies in so ausgedehntem Maße übersehen wird«,

continued the Time Traveller, with a slight accession of cheerfulness.

fuhr der Zeitreisende mit einem leichten Anfall von Heiterkeit fort.

“Really this is what is meant by the Fourth Dimension,

»In Wirklichkeit meint man dies mit der vierten Dimension,

though some people who talk about the Fourth Dimension do not know they mean it.

obgleich manche, die von der vierten Dimension reden, nicht wissen, daß sie es meinen.

It is only another way of looking at Time.

Es ist nur eine andere Art, die Zeit anzusehen.

There is no difference between Time and any of the three dimensions of Space except that our consciousness moves along it.

Es gibt keinen Unterschied zwischen der Zeit und einer der drei Dimensionen des Raumes, außer daß sich unser Bewußtsein auf ihrer Linie bewegt.

But some foolish people have got hold of the wrong side of that idea.

Aber einige Narren haben diese Idee auf der verkehrten Seite zu fassen bekommen.

You have all heard what they have to say about this Fourth Dimension?”

Sie haben alle gehört, was sie über diese vierte Dimension zu sagen haben?«

“I have not,” said the Provincial Mayor.

»Ich nicht«, sagte der Bürgermeister aus der Provinz.

“It is simply this. That Space, as our mathematicians have it, is spoken of as having three dimensions, which one may call Length,

»Es liegt einfach so. Vom Raum im Sinne unserer Mathematiker spricht man als von etwas, was drei Dimensionen hat, die man Länge,

Breadth, and Thickness, and is always definable by reference to three planes, each at right angles to the others.

Breite, Tiefe nennen kann, und was stets mit Hilfe dreier Ebenen, deren jede im rechten Winkel zu den beiden anderen steht, definierbar ist.

But some philosophical people have been asking why three dimensions particularly

Aber einige philosophische Leute haben gefragt, warum gerade drei Dimensionen?

— why not another direction at right angles to the other three? — and have even tried to construct a Four-Dimension geometry.

– warum nicht noch eine Richtung, die im rechten Winkel zu den drei anderen steht? – und sie haben sogar versucht, eine vierdimensionale Geometrie zu konstruieren.

Professor Simon Newcomb was expounding this to the New York Mathematical Society only a month or so ago.

Professor Simon Newcomb hat das erst vor einem Monat oder so der New-Yorker Mathematischen Gesellschaft auseinandergesetzt.

You know how on a flat surface, which has only two dimensions, we can represent a figure of a three-dimensional solid,

Sie wissen, daß man auf einer Fläche, die nur zwei Dimensionen hat, die Figur eines dreidimensionalen Körpers darstellen kann,

and similarly they think that by models of three dimensions they could represent one of four

und ebenso, meinen Sie, könne man durch Modelle von drei Dimensionen einen von vier darstellen

— if they could master the perspective of the thing. See?”

– wenn man nur der Perspektive der Sache Herr werden könnte. Sehen Sie?«

“I think so,” murmured the Provincial Mayor;

»Ich glaube«, murmelte der Bürgermeister aus der Provinz;

and, knitting his brows, he lapsed into an introspective state, his lips moving as one who repeats mystic words.

und indem er die Brauen zusammenzog, versank er in sich, und seine Lippen bewegten sich wie bei einem, der mystische Worte wiederholt.

“Yes, I think I see it now,” he said after some time, brightening in a quite transitory manner.

»Ja, ich glaube, jetzt sehe ich’s«, sagte er nach einiger Zeit und hellte vorübergehend auf.

“Well, I do not mind telling you I have been at work upon this geometry of Four Dimensions for some time. Some of my results are curious.

»Nun, ich will Ihnen nicht vorenthalten, daß ich seit einiger Zeit an dieser Geometrie der vier Dimensionen gearbeitet habe. Einige meiner Resultate sind sonderbar.

For instance, here is a portrait of a man at eight years old,

Hier, zum Beispiel, sehen Sie das Porträt eines Mannes im Alter von acht,

another at fifteen, another at seventeen, another at twenty-three, and so on.

ein zweites im Alter von fünfzehn, ein drittes im Alter von siebzehn, ein viertes im Alter von dreiundzwanzig Jahren, und so weiter.

All these are evidently sections, as it were, Three-Dimensional representations of his Four-Dimensioned being, which is a fixed and unalterable thing.

All das sind offenbar gleichsam Schnitte, dreidimensionale Darstellungen seines vierdimensionalen Seins, das ein festes und unveränderliches Ding ist.«

“Scientific people,” proceeded the Time Traveller, after the pause required for the proper assimilation of this,

»Wissenschaftler«, fuhr der Zeitreisende nach einer Pause fort, wie sie zur rechten Assimilation seiner Worte erforderlich war,

“know very well that Time is only a kind of Space.

»wissen recht gut, daß die Zeit nur eine Art von Raum ist.

Here is a popular scientific diagram, a weather record. This line I trace with my finger shows the movement of the barometer.

Hier sehen Sie eine beliebte wissenschaftliche Rißzeichnung, einen Wetterbericht. Diese Linie, der ich mit meinem Finger folge, zeigt die Bewegungen des Barometers.

Yesterday it was so high, yesterday night it fell, then this morning it rose again, and so gently upward to here.

Gestern stand es so hoch, gestern abend ist es gefallen, heute morgen wieder gestiegen und dann langsam bis hier herauf.

Surely the mercury did not trace this line in any of the dimensions of Space generally recognized?

Das Quecksilber hat doch diese Linie in keiner der allgemein anerkannten Raumdimensionen gezogen?

But certainly it traced such a line, and that line, therefore, we must conclude was along the Time-Dimension.”

Aber sicherlich hat es eine solche Linie gezogen, und diese Linie, müssen wir also folgern, lief die Zeitdimension entlang.«

“But,” said the Medical Man, staring hard at a coal in the fire, “if Time is really only a fourth dimension of Space,

»Aber«, sagte der Arzt, indem er eine Kohle im Feuer scharf fixierte, »wenn die Zeit wirklich nur eine vierte Raumdimension ist,

why is it, and why has it always been, regarded as something different?

wie kommt es, daß man sie als etwas anderes ansieht und immer angesehen hat?

And why cannot we move in Time as we move about in the other dimensions of Space?”

Und warum können wir uns nicht in der Zeit umherbewegen wie wir uns in den anderen Dimensionen des Raumes bewegen können?«

The Time Traveller smiled. “Are you sure we can move freely in Space?

Der Zeitreisende lächelte. »Sind Sie so sicher, daß wir uns im Raum frei bewegen können?

Right and left we can go, backward and forward freely enough, and men always have done so.

Rechts und links und vorwärts und rückwärts können wir uns frei genug bewegen, und das haben die Menschen auch immer getan.

I admit we move freely in two dimensions. But how about up and down? Gravitation limits us there.”

Ich gebe zu, wir bewegen uns in zwei Dimensionen frei. Aber auf und ab? Da beschränkt uns die Schwerkraft.«

“Not exactly,” said the Medical Man. “There are balloons.”

»Nicht ganz«, sagte der Arzt. »Es gibt Ballons.«

“But before the balloons, save for spasmodic jumping and the inequalities of the surface, man had no freedom of vertical movement.”

»Aber vor den Ballons hatte der Mensch – von krampfhaften Sprüngen und den Unebenheiten der Erde abgesehen – keine Freiheit vertikaler Bewegung.«

“Still they could move a little up and down,” said the Medical Man.

»Immer konnten sie sich ein wenig auf und ab bewegen.«

“Easier, far easier down than up.”

»Leichter, weit leichter ab als auf.«

“And you cannot move at all in Time, you cannot get away from the present moment.”

»Und in der Zeit können Sie sich gar nicht bewegen; vom gegenwärtigen Moment können Sie nicht fort.«

“My dear sir, that is just where you are wrong. That is just where the whole world has gone wrong.

»Mein lieber Herr, gerade da sind Sie im Irrtum. Gerade da ist die ganze Welt im Irrtum.

We are always getting away from the present moment.

Wir kommen beständig vom gegenwärtigen Moment fort.

Our mental existences, which are immaterial and have no dimensions,

Unsere geistige Existenz, die immateriell ist und keine Dimensionen hat,

are passing along the Time-Dimension with a uniform velocity from the cradle to the grave.

läuft von der Wiege bis zum Grabe mit geistförmiger Geschwindigkeit die Zeitdimension entlang.

Just as we should travel down if we began our existence fifty miles above the earth’s surface.”

Genau, wie wir abwärts wandern würden, wenn wir unser Dasein fünfzig Meilen über der Erdoberfläche begännen.«

“But the great difficulty is this,” interrupted the Psychologist.

»Aber die große Schwierigkeit ist die«, unterbrach der Psychologe,

“You can move about in all directions of Space, but you cannot move about in Time.”

»Sie können sich im Raum in allen Richtungen bewegen, aber Sie können sich nicht in der Zeit hin und her bewegen.«

“That is the germ of my great discovery. But you are wrong to say that we cannot move about in Time.

»Das ist der Kern meiner großen Entdeckung. Aber Sie haben Unrecht, wenn Sie sagen, wir können uns in der Zeit nicht hin und her bewegen.

For instance, if I am recalling an incident very vividly I go back to the instant of its occurrence: I become absentminded, as you say. I jump back for a moment.

Wenn ich mich zum Beispiel eines Ereignisses sehr lebhaft erinnere, gehe ich zum Moment seines Geschehens zurück: ich werde geistesabwesend, wie Sie sagen. Ich springe auf einen Moment zurück.

Of course we have no means of staying back for any length of Time, any more than a savage or an animal has of staying six feet above the ground.

Natürlich haben wir kein Mittel, irgendwie längere Zeit dahinterzubleiben, so wenig ein Wilder oder ein Tier Mittel hat, sechs Fuß über dem Boden zu bleiben.

But a civilized man is better off than the savage in this respect.

Aber ein zivilisierter Mensch ist in dieser Hinsicht besser dran als der Wilde.

He can go up against gravitation in a balloon, and why should he not hope

Er kann im Ballon gegen die Schwerkraft steigen, und warum sollte er nicht hoffen,

that ultimately he may be able to stop or accelerate his drift along the Time-Dimension, or even turn about and travel the other way?”

daß er einmal werde imstande sein, seine Fahrt die Zeitdimension entlang zu unterbrechen oder zu beschleunigen oder sogar umzukehren und in entgegengesetzter Richtung zu wandern?«

“Oh, this,” began Filby, “is all —”

»O, das«, begann Filby, »ist alles –«

“Why not?” said the Time Traveller.

»Warum nicht?« fragte der Zeitreisende.

“It’s against reason,” said Filby.

»Es ist gegen die Vernunft«, sagte Filby.

“What reason?” said the Time Traveller.

»Gegen welche Vernunft?« fragte der Zeitreisende.

“You can show black is white by argument,” said Filby, “but you will never convince me.”

»Sie können beweisen, daß weiß schwarz ist«, sagte Filby, »aber Sie werden mich nie überzeugen.«

“Possibly not,” said the Time Traveller.

»Vielleicht nicht«, sagte der Zeitreisende.

“But now you begin to see the object of my investigations into the geometry of Four Dimensions.

»Aber Sie beginnen jetzt, das Ziel meiner Untersuchungen in der Geometrie der vier Dimensionen zu sehen.

Long ago I had a vague inkling of a machine —”

Schon vor langer Zeit ahnte ich etwas von einer Maschine –«

“To travel through Time!” exclaimed the Very Young Man.

»Um durch die Zeit zu reisen?« rief der sehr junge Mann.

“That shall travel indifferently in any direction of Space and Time, as the driver determines.”

»Die in jeder Richtung des Raumes und der Zeit fährt, wie es ihr Führer will.«

Filby contented himself with laughter.

Filby begnügte sich mit Lachen.

“But I have experimental verification,” said the Time Traveller.

»Aber ich habe experimentellen Beweis«, sagte der Zeitreisende.

“It would be remarkably convenient for the historian,” the Psychologist suggested.

»Das wäre für den Historiker außerordentlich bequem«, meinte der Psychologe.

“One might travel back and verify the accepted account of the Battle of Hastings, for instance!”

»Man könnte zurückreisen und zum Beispiel den anerkannten Bericht der Schlacht bei Hastings prüfen!«

“Don’t you think you would attract attention?” said the Medical Man. “Our ancestors had no great tolerance for anachronisms.”

»Meinen Sie nicht, Sie würden Aufmerksamkeit erregen?« sagte der Arzt. »Unsere Vorfahren waren nicht sehr duldsam gegen Anachronismen.«

“One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato,” the Very Young Man thought.

»Man könnte sein Griechisch von Homers und Platos Lippen lernen«, meinte der sehr junge Mann.

“In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.”

»In dem Fall würden Sie im Examen sicher durchfallen. Die deutschen Gelehrten haben das Griechische so sehr verbessert.«

“Then there is the future,” said the Very Young Man. “Just think!

»Und dann die Zukunft«, sagte der sehr junge Mann, »Denken Sie nur!

One might invest all one’s money, leave it to accumulate at interest, and hurry on ahead!”

Man könnte all sein Geld anlegen, es mit Zinsen anstehen lassen und vorauseilen!«

“To discover a society,” said I, “erected on a strictly communistic basis.”

»Um eine Gesellschaft zu finden«, sagte ich, »die auf streng kommunistischer Basis errichtet ist.«

“Of all the wild extravagant theories!” began the Psychologist.

»Von allen wilden, ausschweifenden Theorien!« begann der Psychologe.

“Yes, so it seemed to me, and so I never talked of it until —”

»Ja, so schien es mir; und deshalb habe ich nie davon gesprochen, bis –«

“Experimental verification!” cried I. “You are going to verify that?”

»Experimenteller Beweis!« rief ich. »Sie wollen das beweisen?«

“The experiment!” cried Filby, who was getting brain-weary.

»Das Experiment!« rief Filby, der gehirnmüde wurde.

“Let’s see your experiment anyhow,” said the Psychologist, “though it’s all humbug, you know.”

»Lassen Sie uns Ihr Experiment immerhin sehen«, sagte der Psychologe, »obgleich das alles Unfug ist, wissen Sie.«

The Time Traveller smiled round at us.

Der Zeitreisende sah sich lächelnd im Kreise um.

Then, still smiling faintly, and with his hands deep in his trousers pockets, he walked slowly out of the room, and we heard his slippers shuffling down the long passage to his laboratory.

Dann ging er, immer noch leicht lächelnd, die Hände tief in den Hosentaschen, zum Zimmer hinaus, und wir hörten seine Schuhe den langen Gang bis zu seinem Laboratorium hinunter.

The Psychologist looked at us. “I wonder what he’s got?”

Der Psychologe blickte uns an. »Ich möchte wissen, was er gefunden hat?«

“Some sleight-of-hand trick or other,” said the Medical Man, and Filby tried to tell us about a conjurer he had seen at Burslem;

»Irgendein Taschenspielerstück«, sagte der Arzt, und Filby versuchte, uns von einem Beschwörer zu erzählen, den er zu Burslem gesehen hatte,

but before he had finished his preface the Time Traveller came back, and Filby’s anecdote collapsed.

aber ehe er noch mit seiner Vorrede fertig war, kam der Zeitreisende zurück, und Filbys Anekdote brach zusammen.

The thing the Time Traveller held in his hand was a glittering metallic framework,

Was der Zeitreisende in der Hand hielt, war ein glitzerndes Rahmenwerk aus Metall,

scarcely larger than a small clock, and very delicately made.

kaum größer als eine kleine Uhr, und sehr fein gearbeitet.

There was ivory in it, and some transparent crystalline substance.

Es war Elfenbein daran und eine durchsichtige, kristallinische Substanz.

And now I must be explicit, for this that follows — unless his explanation is to be accepted — is an absolutely unaccountable thing.

Und jetzt muß ich ausführlich werden, denn was folgt, ist – wenn man nicht seine Erklärung annimmt, etwas absolut Unerklärliches.

He took one of the small octagonal tables that were scattered about the room,

Er nahm einen der kleinen achteckigen Tische, die im Zimmer umherstanden,

and set it in front of the fire, with two legs on the hearthrug.

und stellte ihn vors Feuer, mit zwei Füßen auf den Kaminteppich.

On this table he placed the mechanism. Then he drew up a chair, and sat down.

Auf diesen Tisch stellte er den Mechanismus. Dann zog er einen Stuhl heran und setzte sich.

The only other object on the table was a small shaded lamp, the bright light of which fell upon the model.

Der einzige andere Gegenstand auf dem Tische war eine kleine Lampe mit Lampenschirm, deren helles Licht voll auf das Modell fiel.

There were also perhaps a dozen candles about, two in brass candlesticks upon the mantel

Außerdem standen vielleicht ein Dutzend Kerzen umher, zwei davon in Messingleuchtern auf dem Kaminsims,

and several in sconces, so that the room was brilliantly illuminated.

und mehrere in Wandleuchtern, so daß das Zimmer glänzend erleuchtet war.

I sat in a low armchair nearest the fire, and I drew this forward

Ich saß in einem niedrigen Sessel, dem Feuer am nächsten, und zog ihn soweit vor,

so as to be almost between the Time Traveller and the fireplace.

daß ich fast zwischen dem Zeitreisenden und dem Kamin zu sitzen kam.

Filby sat behind him, looking over his shoulder.

Filby saß hinter ihm und sah ihm über die Schulter.

The Medical Man and the Provincial Mayor watched him in profile from the right, the Psychologist from the left.

Der Arzt und der Bürgermeister aus der Provinz beobachteten ihn im Profil von rechts, der Psychologe von links.

The Very Young Man stood behind the Psychologist. We were all on the alert.

Der sehr junge Mann stand hinter dem Psychologen. Wir waren alle auf dem Quivive.

It appears incredible to me that any kind of trick, however subtly conceived and however adroitly done, could have been played upon us under these conditions.

Es scheint mir unglaublich, daß uns unter diesen Bedingungen ein noch so fein ersonnener und noch so geschickt ausgeführter Streich gespielt werden konnte.

The Time Traveller looked at us, and then at the mechanism. “Well?” said the Psychologist.

Der Zeitreisende sah erst uns an und dann den Mechanismus. »Nun?« sagte der Psychologe.

“This little affair,” said the Time Traveller,

»Dieses kleine Ding«, sagte der Zeitreisende,

resting his elbows upon the table and pressing his hands together above the apparatus, “is only a model.

indem er die Ellenbogen auf den Tisch stützte und über dem Apparat die Hände zusammendrückte, »ist nur ein Modell.

It is my plan for a machine to travel through time.

Es ist mein Entwurf zu einer Maschine, um durch die Zeit zu reisen.

You will notice that it looks singularly askew, and that there is an odd twinkling appearance about this bar, as though it was in some way unreal.”

Sie werden bemerken, daß es seltsam verquer aussieht und diese Welle dort sonderbar funkelt, gleichsam als wäre sie irgendwie unreal.«

He pointed to the part with his finger. “Also, here is one little white lever, and here is another.”

Er zeigte den Teil mit dem Finger. »Auch ist hier ein kleiner weißer Hebel und dort noch einer.«

The Medical Man got up out of his chair and peered into the thing. “It’s beautifully made,” he said.

Der Arzt stand aus seinem Stuhle auf und sah sich das Ding an. »Es ist wundervoll gearbeitet«, sagte er.

“It took two years to make,” retorted the Time Traveller.

»Die Arbeit daran hat zwei Jahre gedauert«, erwiderte der Zeitreisende.

Then, when we had all imitated the action of the Medical Man, he said: “Now I want you clearly to understand

Dann, als wir alle dem Beispiel des Arztes gefolgt waren, sagte er: »Jetzt möchte ich, daß Sie mich klar dahin verstehen:

that this lever, being pressed over, sends the machine gliding into the future, and this other reverses the motion.

wenn ich diesen Hebel hinüberdrücke, so gleitet die Maschine in die Zukunft fort, und dieser Hebel kehrt die Bewegung um.

This saddle represents the seat of a time traveller.

Dieser Sattel ist der Sitz eines Zeitreisenden.

Presently I am going to press the lever, and off the machine will go. It will vanish, pass into future Time, and disappear.

Ich werde den Hebel gleich drücken, und die Maschine wird losgehen, Ich werde verschwinden, in die Zukunft gehen und fort sein.

Have a good look at the thing. Look at the table too, and satisfy yourselves there is no trickery.

Sehen Sie das Ding gut an. Sehen Sie auch den Tisch an und überzeugen sich, daß kein Betrug geschieht.

I don’t want to waste this model, and then be told I’m a quack.”

Ich will nicht dieses Modell verlieren und mir nachher nachsagen lassen, ich sei ein Quacksalber.«

There was a minute’s pause perhaps. The Psychologist seemed about to speak to me, but changed his mind.

Es trat eine Pause von vielleicht einer Minute ein. Der Psychologe schien mich anreden zu wollen, aber er gab seine Absicht auf.

Then the Time Traveller put forth his finger towards the lever. “No,” he said suddenly. “Lend me your hand.”

Dann streckte der Zeitreisende den Finger gegen den Hebel aus. »Nein«, sagte er plötzlich, »lassen Sie mir Ihre Hand.«

And turning to the Psychologist, he took that individual’s hand in his own and told him to put out his forefinger.

Und er wandte sich dem Psychologen zu und nahm dessen Hand in seine und sagte ihm, er solle den Zeigefinger ausstrecken.

So that it was the Psychologist himself who sent forth the model Time Machine on its interminable voyage. We all saw the lever turn.

So schickte der Psychologe selber das Modell der Zeitmaschine auf seine endlose Reise. Wir alle sahen den Hebel sich drehen.

I am absolutely certain there was no trickery. There was a breath of wind, and the lamp flame jumped.

Ich bin absolut sicher, daß kein Betrug vorlag. Es entstand ein Windhauch, und die Lampe flackerte auf.

One of the candles on the mantel was blown out, and the little machine suddenly swung round, became indistinct,

Eine der Kerzen auf dem Kaminsims wurde ausgeblasen, und die kleine Maschine drehte sich plötzlich, wurde undeutlich,

was seen as a ghost for a second perhaps, as an eddy of faintly glittering brass and ivory;

war vielleicht eine Sekunde lang wie ein Geist zu sehen, wie ein Wirbel schwach glitzernden Messings und Elfenbeins;

and it was gone — vanished! Save for the lamp the table was bare.

und sie war fort – verschwunden. Abgesehen von der Lampe, war der Tisch leer.

Everyone was silent for a minute. Then Filby said he was damned.

Alle schwiegen eine Minute lang. Dann sagte Filby, er ließe sich hängen.

The Psychologist recovered from his stupor, and suddenly looked under the table.

Der Psychologe erholte sich aus seiner Erstarrung und blickte plötzlich unter den Tisch.

At that the Time Traveller laughed cheerfully. “Well?” he said, with a reminiscence of the Psychologist.

Da lachte der Zeitreisende heiter. »Nun?« sagte er mit einer Reminiszenz an den Psychologen.

Then, getting up, he went to the tobacco jar on the mantel, and with his back to us began to fill his pipe.

Dann stand er auf, ging zum Tabakkrug auf dem Kaminsims und begann sich, uns den Rücken zugekehrt, seine Pfeife zu stopfen.

We stared at each other. “Look here,” said the Medical Man, “are you in earnest about this? Do you seriously believe that that machine has travelled into time?”

Wir starrten einander an. »Hören Sie«, sagte der Arzt, »ist das Ihr Ernst? Meinen Sie im Ernst, daß diese Maschine in die Zeit gereist ist?«

“Certainly,” said the Time Traveller, stooping to light a spill at the fire.

»Sicherlich«, sagte der Zeitreisende und bückte sich, um einen Fidibus am Feuer anzuzünden.

Then he turned, lighting his pipe, to look at the Psychologist’s face.

Dann wandte er sich um, während er die Pfeife anzündete, und sah dem Psychologen ins Gesicht.

(The Psychologist, to show that he was not unhinged, helped himself to a cigar and tried to light it uncut.)

(Der Psychologe wollte zeigen, daß er nicht aus den Angeln gehoben war, nahm sich eine Zigarre und versuchte, sie unbeschnitten anzuzünden.)

“What is more, I have a big machine nearly finished in there” — he indicated the laboratory

»Noch mehr – ich habe da hinten« – er zeigte nach dem Laboratorium

— “and when that is put together I mean to have a journey on my own account.”

– »eine große Maschine fast fertig, und wenn sie zusammengesetzt ist, denke ich selber eine Reise zu machen.«

“You mean to say that that machine has travelled into the future?” said Filby.

»Sie wollen sagen, die Maschine sei in die Zukunft gewandert?« sagte Filby.

“Into the future or the past — I don’t, for certain, know which.”

»In die Zukunft oder die Vergangenheit – wohin, weiß ich nicht sicher.«

After an interval the Psychologist had an inspiration. “It must have gone into the past if it has gone anywhere,” he said.

Nach einer Pause hatte der Psychologe eine Inspiration. »Sie muß in die Vergangenheit gewandert sein, wenn sie irgendwohin gewandert ist,« sagte er.

“Why?” said the Time Traveller.

»Warum?« sagte der Zeitreisende.

“Because I presume that it has not moved in space,

»Weil ich annehme, daß sie sich im Raum nicht bewegt hat,

and if it travelled into the future it would still be here all this time, since it must have travelled through this time.”

und wenn sie in die Zukunft gewandert wäre, würde sie noch immer hier sein, weil sie diese Zeit hätte durchwandern müssen.«

“But,” I said, “If it travelled into the past it would have been visible when we came first into this room;

»Aber«, sagte ich, »wenn sie in die Vergangenheit gewandert wäre, hätte sie zu sehen sein müssen, als wir in dieses Zimmer kamen,

and last Thursday when we were here; and the Thursday before that; and so forth!”

und letzten Donnerstag, als wir hier waren, und den Donnerstag davor und so fort.«

“Serious objections,” remarked the Provincial Mayor, with an air of impartiality, turning towards the Time Traveller.

»Ernste Einwände«, bemerkte der Bürgermeister aus der Provinz mit einer Miene der Unparteilichkeit, indem er sich zum Zeitreisenden wandte.

“Not a bit,” said the Time Traveller, and, to the Psychologist: “You think. You can explain that.

»Keine Spur«, sagte der Zeitreisende; und zum Psychologen: »Sie denken. Sie können das erklären.

It’s presentation below the threshold, you know, diluted presentation.”

Es ist eine Wahrnehmung unter der Schwelle, wissen Sie, verflüchtigte Wahrnehmung.«

“Of course,” said the Psychologist, and reassured us. “That’s a simple point of psychology.

»Natürlich«, sagte der Psychologe und beruhigte uns. »Das ist etwas ganz Gewöhnliches in der Psychologie.

I should have thought of it. It’s plain enough, and helps the paradox delightfully.

Daran hätte ich denken sollen. Das ist einfach genug und hilft dem Paradoxen wundervoll.

We cannot see it, nor can we appreciate this machine, any more than we can the spoke of a wheel spinning, or a bullet flying through the air.

Wir können diese Maschine so wenig sehen und wahrnehmen, wie wir die Speiche eines wirbelnden Rades oder einer Kugel, die durch die Luft fliegt, sehen können.

If it is travelling through time fifty times or a hundred times faster than we are, if it gets through a minute while we get through a second,

Wenn sie fünfzig oder hundertmal so schnell durch die Zeit wandert wie wir, wenn sie eine Minute durchläuft, während wir eine Sekunde durchlaufen,

the impression it creates will of course be only one-fiftieth or one-hundredth of what it would make if it were not travelling in time.

so wird der Eindruck, den sie macht, natürlich auch nur ein Fünfzigstel oder ein Hundertstel von dem sein, den sie machen würde, wenn sie nicht durch die Zeit wanderte.

That’s plain enough.” He passed his hand through the space in which the machine had been. “You see?” he said, laughing.

Das ist ganz klar.« Er fuhr mit der Hand durch den Raum, wo die Maschine gestanden hatte. »Sie sehen?« sagte er lachend.

We sat and stared at the vacant table for a minute or so. Then the Time Traveller asked us what we thought of it all.

Wir saßen eine Minute oder so und starrten den leeren Tisch an. Dann fragte uns der Zeitreisende, was wir von dem allen hielten.

“It sounds plausible enough tonight,” said the Medical Man; “but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.”

»Heut abend klingt alles plausibel genug«, sagte der Arzt; »aber warten Sie bis morgen. Warten Sie auf den gesunden Menschenverstand des Morgens.«

“Would you like to see the Time Machine itself?” asked the Time Traveller.

»Möchten Sie die Zeitmaschine selber sehen?« fragte der Zeitreisende.

And therewith, taking the lamp in his hand, he led the way down the long, draughty corridor to his laboratory.

Und zugleich nahm er die Lampe und führte uns den langen Gang zu seinem Laboratorium hinunter.

I remember vividly the flickering light, his queer, broad head in silhouette,

Ich erinnere mich lebhaft des flackernden Lichts, seines wunderlichen, breiten Kopfes in der Silhouette,

the dance of the shadows, how we all followed him, puzzled but incredulous,

des Schattentanzes, als wir ihm alle folgten, verwirrt, aber ungläubig,

and how there in the laboratory we beheld a larger edition of the little mechanism which we had seen vanish from before our eyes.

und wie wir dort im Laboratorium eine größere Ausgabe des kleinen Mechanismus erblickten, den wir vor unseren Augen hatten verschwinden sehen.

Parts were of nickel, parts of ivory, parts had certainly been filed or sawn out of rock crystal.

Teile waren aus Nickel, Teile aus Elfenbein und andere waren ohne Frage aus Felskristall geschliffen und geschnitten.

The thing was generally complete, but the twisted crystalline bars lay unfinished upon the bench beside some sheets of drawings,

Die Maschine war ziemlich fertig, nur die gewundenen Kristallwellen lagen noch unvollendet auf der Bank neben einigen Zeichnungen,

and I took one up for a better look at it. Quartz it seemed to be.

und ich nahm eine in die Hand, um sie besser zu betrachten. Es schien Quarz zu sein.

“Look here,” said the Medical Man, “are you perfectly serious? Or is this a trick — like that ghost you showed us last Christmas?”

»Hören Sie«, sagte der Arzt, »ist es Ihnen wirklich Ernst? Oder ist es ein Trick – wie der Geist, den Sie uns vergangene Weihnachten zeigten?«

“Upon that machine,” said the Time Traveller, holding the lamp aloft, “I intend to explore time.

»Auf der Maschine«, sagte der Zeitreisende und hielt die Lampe hoch, »will ich die Zeit erforschen.

Is that plain? I was never more serious in my life.”

Ist das klar? Es ist mir in meinem ganzen Leben nie mehr Ernst gewesen.«

None of us quite knew how to take it.

Keiner von uns wußte recht, wie er es nehmen sollte.

I caught Filby’s eye over the shoulder of the Medical Man, and he winked at me solemnly.

Ich begegnete über der Schulter des Arztes Filbys Auge, und er blinzelte mir feierlich zu.

CHAPTER I

THE Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought roams gracefully free of the trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way — marking the points with a lean forefinger — as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it) and his fecundity.

“You must follow me carefully. I shall have to controvert one or two ideas that are almost universally accepted. The geometry, for instance, they taught you at school is founded on a misconception.”

“Is not that rather a large thing to expect us to begin upon?” said Filby, an argumentative person with red hair.

“I do not mean to ask you to accept anything without reasonable ground for it. You will soon admit as much as I need from you. You know of course that a mathematical line, a line of thickness nil, has no real existence. They taught you that? Neither has a mathematical plane. These things are mere abstractions.”

“That is all right,” said the Psychologist.

“Nor, having only length, breadth, and thickness, can a cube have a real existence.”

“There I object,” said Filby. “Of course a solid body may exist. All real things —”

“So most people think. But wait a moment. Can an instantaneous cube exist?”

“Don’t follow you,” said Filby.

“Can a cube that does not last for any time at all, have a real existence?”

Filby became pensive. “Clearly,” the Time Traveller proceeded, “any real body must have extension in four directions: it must have Length, Breadth, Thickness, and — Duration. But through a natural infirmity of the flesh, which I will explain to you in a moment, we incline to overlook this fact. There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time. There is, however, a tendency to draw an unreal distinction between the former three dimensions and the latter, because it happens that our consciousness moves intermittently in one direction along the latter from the beginning to the end of our lives.”

“That,” said a very young man, making spasmodic efforts to relight his cigar over the lamp; “that … very clear indeed.”

“Now, it is very remarkable that this is so extensively overlooked,” continued the Time Traveller, with a slight accession of cheerfulness. “Really this is what is meant by the Fourth Dimension, though some people who talk about the Fourth Dimension do not know they mean it. It is only another way of looking at Time. There is no difference between Time and any of the three dimensions of Space except that our consciousness moves along it. But some foolish people have got hold of the wrong side of that idea. You have all heard what they have to say about this Fourth Dimension?”

“I have not,” said the Provincial Mayor.

“It is simply this. That Space, as our mathematicians have it, is spoken of as having three dimensions, which one may call Length, Breadth, and Thickness, and is always definable by reference to three planes, each at right angles to the others. But some philosophical people have been asking why three dimensions particularly — why not another direction at right angles to the other three? — and have even tried to construct a Four-Dimension geometry. Professor Simon Newcomb was expounding this to the New York Mathematical Society only a month or so ago. You know how on a flat surface, which has only two dimensions, we can represent a figure of a three-dimensional solid, and similarly they think that by models of three dimensions they could represent one of four — if they could master the perspective of the thing. See?”

“I think so,” murmured the Provincial Mayor; and, knitting his brows, he lapsed into an introspective state, his lips moving as one who repeats mystic words. “Yes, I think I see it now,” he said after some time, brightening in a quite transitory manner.

“Well, I do not mind telling you I have been at work upon this geometry of Four Dimensions for some time. Some of my results are curious. For instance, here is a portrait of a man at eight years old, another at fifteen, another at seventeen, another at twenty-three, and so on. All these are evidently sections, as it were, Three-Dimensional representations of his Four-Dimensioned being, which is a fixed and unalterable thing.

“Scientific people,” proceeded the Time Traveller, after the pause required for the proper assimilation of this, “know very well that Time is only a kind of Space. Here is a popular scientific diagram, a weather record. This line I trace with my finger shows the movement of the barometer. Yesterday it was so high, yesterday night it fell, then this morning it rose again, and so gently upward to here. Surely the mercury did not trace this line in any of the dimensions of Space generally recognized? But certainly it traced such a line, and that line, therefore, we must conclude was along the Time-Dimension.”

“But,” said the Medical Man, staring hard at a coal in the fire, “if Time is really only a fourth dimension of Space, why is it, and why has it always been, regarded as something different? And why cannot we move in Time as we move about in the other dimensions of Space?”

The Time Traveller smiled. “Are you sure we can move freely in Space? Right and left we can go, backward and forward freely enough, and men always have done so. I admit we move freely in two dimensions. But how about up and down? Gravitation limits us there.”

“Not exactly,” said the Medical Man. “There are balloons.”

“But before the balloons, save for spasmodic jumping and the inequalities of the surface, man had no freedom of vertical movement.”

“Still they could move a little up and down,” said the Medical Man.

“Easier, far easier down than up.”

“And you cannot move at all in Time, you cannot get away from the present moment.”

“My dear sir, that is just where you are wrong. That is just where the whole world has gone wrong. We are always getting away from the present moment. Our mental existences, which are immaterial and have no dimensions, are passing along the Time-Dimension with a uniform velocity from the cradle to the grave. Just as we should travel down if we began our existence fifty miles above the earth’s surface.”

“But the great difficulty is this,” interrupted the Psychologist. “You can move about in all directions of Space, but you cannot move about in Time.”

“That is the germ of my great discovery. But you are wrong to say that we cannot move about in Time. For instance, if I am recalling an incident very vividly I go back to the instant of its occurrence: I become absentminded, as you say. I jump back for a moment. Of course we have no means of staying back for any length of Time, any more than a savage or an animal has of staying six feet above the ground. But a civilized man is better off than the savage in this respect. He can go up against gravitation in a balloon, and why should he not hope that ultimately he may be able to stop or accelerate his drift along the Time-Dimension, or even turn about and travel the other way?”

“Oh, this,” began Filby, “is all —”

“Why not?” said the Time Traveller.

“It’s against reason,” said Filby.

“What reason?” said the Time Traveller.

“You can show black is white by argument,” said Filby, “but you will never convince me.”

“Possibly not,” said the Time Traveller. “But now you begin to see the object of my investigations into the geometry of Four Dimensions. Long ago I had a vague inkling of a machine —”

“To travel through Time!” exclaimed the Very Young Man.

“That shall travel indifferently in any direction of Space and Time, as the driver determines.”

Filby contented himself with laughter.

“But I have experimental verification,” said the Time Traveller.

“It would be remarkably convenient for the historian,” the Psychologist suggested. “One might travel back and verify the accepted account of the Battle of Hastings, for instance!”

“Don’t you think you would attract attention?” said the Medical Man. “Our ancestors had no great tolerance for anachronisms.”

“One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato,” the Very Young Man thought.

“In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.”

“Then there is the future,” said the Very Young Man. “Just think! One might invest all one’s money, leave it to accumulate at interest, and hurry on ahead!”

“To discover a society,” said I, “erected on a strictly communistic basis.”

“Of all the wild extravagant theories!” began the Psychologist.

“Yes, so it seemed to me, and so I never talked of it until —”

“Experimental verification!” cried I. “You are going to verify that?”

“The experiment!” cried Filby, who was getting brain-weary.

“Let’s see your experiment anyhow,” said the Psychologist, “though it’s all humbug, you know.”

The Time Traveller smiled round at us. Then, still smiling faintly, and with his hands deep in his trousers pockets, he walked slowly out of the room, and we heard his slippers shuffling down the long passage to his laboratory.

The Psychologist looked at us. “I wonder what he’s got?”

“Some sleight-of-hand trick or other,” said the Medical Man, and Filby tried to tell us about a conjurer he had seen at Burslem; but before he had finished his preface the Time Traveller came back, and Filby’s anecdote collapsed.

The thing the Time Traveller held in his hand was a glittering metallic framework, scarcely larger than a small clock, and very delicately made. There was ivory in it, and some transparent crystalline substance. And now I must be explicit, for this that follows — unless his explanation is to be accepted — is an absolutely unaccountable thing. He took one of the small octagonal tables that were scattered about the room, and set it in front of the fire, with two legs on the hearthrug. On this table he placed the mechanism. Then he drew up a chair, and sat down. The only other object on the table was a small shaded lamp, the bright light of which fell upon the model. There were also perhaps a dozen candles about, two in brass candlesticks upon the mantel and several in sconces, so that the room was brilliantly illuminated. I sat in a low armchair nearest the fire, and I drew this forward so as to be almost between the Time Traveller and the fireplace. Filby sat behind him, looking over his shoulder. The Medical Man and the Provincial Mayor watched him in profile from the right, the Psychologist from the left. The Very Young Man stood behind the Psychologist. We were all on the alert. It appears incredible to me that any kind of trick, however subtly conceived and however adroitly done, could have been played upon us under these conditions.

The Time Traveller looked at us, and then at the mechanism. “Well?” said the Psychologist.

“This little affair,” said the Time Traveller, resting his elbows upon the table and pressing his hands together above the apparatus, “is only a model. It is my plan for a machine to travel through time. You will notice that it looks singularly askew, and that there is an odd twinkling appearance about this bar, as though it was in some way unreal.” He pointed to the part with his finger. “Also, here is one little white lever, and here is another.”

The Medical Man got up out of his chair and peered into the thing. “It’s beautifully made,” he said.

“It took two years to make,” retorted the Time Traveller. Then, when we had all imitated the action of the Medical Man, he said: “Now I want you clearly to understand that this lever, being pressed over, sends the machine gliding into the future, and this other reverses the motion. This saddle represents the seat of a time traveller. Presently I am going to press the lever, and off the machine will go. It will vanish, pass into future Time, and disappear. Have a good look at the thing. Look at the table too, and satisfy yourselves there is no trickery. I don’t want to waste this model, and then be told I’m a quack.”

There was a minute’s pause perhaps. The Psychologist seemed about to speak to me, but changed his mind. Then the Time Traveller put forth his finger towards the lever. “No,” he said suddenly. “Lend me your hand.” And turning to the Psychologist, he took that individual’s hand in his own and told him to put out his forefinger. So that it was the Psychologist himself who sent forth the model Time Machine on its interminable voyage. We all saw the lever turn. I am absolutely certain there was no trickery. There was a breath of wind, and the lamp flame jumped. One of the candles on the mantel was blown out, and the little machine suddenly swung round, became indistinct, was seen as a ghost for a second perhaps, as an eddy of faintly glittering brass and ivory; and it was gone — vanished! Save for the lamp the table was bare.

Everyone was silent for a minute. Then Filby said he was damned.

The Psychologist recovered from his stupor, and suddenly looked under the table. At that the Time Traveller laughed cheerfully. “Well?” he said, with a reminiscence of the Psychologist. Then, getting up, he went to the tobacco jar on the mantel, and with his back to us began to fill his pipe.

We stared at each other. “Look here,” said the Medical Man, “are you in earnest about this? Do you seriously believe that that machine has travelled into time?”

“Certainly,” said the Time Traveller, stooping to light a spill at the fire. Then he turned, lighting his pipe, to look at the Psychologist’s face. (The Psychologist, to show that he was not unhinged, helped himself to a cigar and tried to light it uncut.) “What is more, I have a big machine nearly finished in there” — he indicated the laboratory — “and when that is put together I mean to have a journey on my own account.”

“You mean to say that that machine has travelled into the future?” said Filby.

“Into the future or the past — I don’t, for certain, know which.”

After an interval the Psychologist had an inspiration. “It must have gone into the past if it has gone anywhere,” he said.

“Why?” said the Time Traveller.

“Because I presume that it has not moved in space, and if it travelled into the future it would still be here all this time, since it must have travelled through this time.”

“But,” I said, “If it travelled into the past it would have been visible when we came first into this room; and last Thursday when we were here; and the Thursday before that; and so forth!”

“Serious objections,” remarked the Provincial Mayor, with an air of impartiality, turning towards the Time Traveller.

“Not a bit,” said the Time Traveller, and, to the Psychologist: “You think. You can explain that. It’s presentation below the threshold, you know, diluted presentation.”

“Of course,” said the Psychologist, and reassured us. “That’s a simple point of psychology. I should have thought of it. It’s plain enough, and helps the paradox delightfully. We cannot see it, nor can we appreciate this machine, any more than we can the spoke of a wheel spinning, or a bullet flying through the air. If it is travelling through time fifty times or a hundred times faster than we are, if it gets through a minute while we get through a second, the impression it creates will of course be only one-fiftieth or one-hundredth of what it would make if it were not travelling in time. That’s plain enough.” He passed his hand through the space in which the machine had been. “You see?” he said, laughing.

We sat and stared at the vacant table for a minute or so. Then the Time Traveller asked us what we thought of it all.

“It sounds plausible enough tonight,” said the Medical Man; “but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.”

“Would you like to see the Time Machine itself?” asked the Time Traveller. And therewith, taking the lamp in his hand, he led the way down the long, draughty corridor to his laboratory. I remember vividly the flickering light, his queer, broad head in silhouette, the dance of the shadows, how we all followed him, puzzled but incredulous, and how there in the laboratory we beheld a larger edition of the little mechanism which we had seen vanish from before our eyes. Parts were of nickel, parts of ivory, parts had certainly been filed or sawn out of rock crystal. The thing was generally complete, but the twisted crystalline bars lay unfinished upon the bench beside some sheets of drawings, and I took one up for a better look at it. Quartz it seemed to be.

“Look here,” said the Medical Man, “are you perfectly serious? Or is this a trick — like that ghost you showed us last Christmas?”

“Upon that machine,” said the Time Traveller, holding the lamp aloft, “I intend to explore time. Is that plain? I was never more serious in my life.”

None of us quite knew how to take it.

I caught Filby’s eye over the shoulder of the Medical Man, and he winked at me solemnly.