Opening extract from
The Time
Machine
Written by
H. G. Wells
- retold by Eric Brown
Published by
Real Reads
All text is copyright of the author and illustrator
Please print off and read at your leisure.
Published by Real Reads Ltd
Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK
[Link]
Text copyright © Eric Brown 2008
Illustrations copyright © Felix Bennett 2008
The right of Eric Brown to be identified as author of
this book has been asserted by him in accordance with the
Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988
First published in 2008
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-906230-13-5
Printed in China by Imago Ltd
Designed by Lucy Guenot
Typeset by Bookcraft Ltd, Stroud, Gloucestershire
Contents
The Characters 4
The Time Machine 7
Taking things further 55
The characters
The time traveller
The time traveller has built a
time machine. Can he really travel
into the future to learn what
becomes of humankind?
Filby
An old friend of the time
traveller, but will he believe
the incredible story
of strange worlds?
The psychologist
The psychologist enjoys his talks
with his time traveller friend.
Has the inventor gone
completely mad this time?
4
The medical man
He thinks the time traveller’s
tale is poppycock, but what does
he make of the white flowers
brought back from the far future?
The very young man
The young man really wants to believe in
time travel, yet this story of danger and death
in the future seems just too far-fetched.
Weena
Weena falls in love with the
strange man from the past.
How can she warn him of
the dangers he faces?
The Morlocks
The Morlocks live brutish lives far
underground. What is it that they
eat when they come out at night?
5
the TIME MACHINE
The time traveller was explaining a very
complicated matter to his friends. They sat
before the blazing fire, drinking wine and
listening to his words.
‘You must follow me carefully,’ said the
time traveller. ‘I shall have to explain one or
two ideas that everyone takes for granted.’
‘That’s rather a grand claim to start with!’
said Filby, an argumentative man with red hair.
‘I do not mean to ask you to accept
anything without reasonable ground for it,’ the
time traveller said.
‘Then continue,’ said the psychologist.
‘Clearly,’ said the time traveller, ‘any object
exists in four dimensions. It must have length,
breadth, thickness – and duration.’
‘Yes, I understand,’ said the very young
man.
7
‘The fourth dimension of duration,’
continued the time traveller, ‘is just
another way of looking at time. Now, some
philosophical people have been asking why we
cannot move in time as we move in the other
three dimensions.’
‘But,’ said the medical man, ‘you cannot
move at all in time! You cannot get away from
the present moment.’
The time traveller smiled. ‘My dear sir,
that is just where you are wrong. This is the
germ of my great discovery – that it is indeed
possible to move along the time dimension.’
‘Surely that is against reason,’ said Filby.
The time traveller smiled. ‘Long ago,’ he
said, ‘I had the vague inkling of a machine
which could … ’
‘ … travel through time?!’ exclaimed the
very young man.
‘Yes, and I have experimental verification.’
Filby laughed.
8
‘It would be useful for the historian,’ the
psychologist said. ‘He might travel back in
time to the Battle of Hastings!’
‘One might visit ancient Greece,’ said the
very young man, ‘and then there is always the
future!’
The editor leaned forward. ‘You said you
had experimental verification,’ he challenged
the time traveller. ‘Then let’s see it. Though it’s
all humbug, of course.’
The time traveller smiled at his friends,
then stood and left the room.
‘I wonder what he’s got?’ the psychologist
said.
‘Some magic trick or other,’ said the
medical man.
The time traveller returned.
He was carrying a glittering metallic
framework, a little larger than a small clock.
He placed the mechanism upon a table, then
drew up a chair and sat down.
9
‘This little affair,’ said the time traveller, ‘is
only a model. It is the prototype for a bigger
machine.’
His friends stared at the machine.
‘Now this little lever,’ explained the time
traveller, indicating a rod of ivory, ‘sends the
machine gliding into the future, and this one
10
sends it back in time. I am going to move this
lever, and off the machine will go. It will pass
into future time, and disappear.’
The editor opened his mouth to speak, but
changed his mind.
The time traveller moved his hand
towards the lever, then suddenly turned to the
psychologist. ‘No. Lend me your hand.’ He
took the man’s hand and pressed the lever
forward.
Everyone saw the lever move. There was a
breath of wind, and one of the candles on the
mantelpiece was blown out. The little machine
on the table swung around, became faint …
and vanished!
11
The psychologist looked under the table. The
time traveller laughed.
‘Look here,’ said the medical man, ‘do you
seriously believe that the machine has travelled
in time?’
‘Certainly,’ replied the time traveller, filling
his pipe. ‘I have a much bigger machine nearly
finished in my laboratory. And soon I intend to
travel upon it.’ He looked around at his friends.
‘Would you care to see the time machine itself?’
12