10 A Visit to the Underworld

CHAPTER 10 A Visit to the Underworld Before I knew about the Morlocks, I thought the world was a peaceful place. Now that I knew the Eloi were not alone, I felt uneasy. Just like the Eloi, I began to fear the dark nights. I now knew that the Morlocks prowled the darkness, and the idea that these strange creatures roamed freely while I slept was very

在我知道莫洛克家族之前，我以为这个世界是一个和平的地方。 现在我知道埃洛伊人并不孤单，我感到不安。 就像埃洛伊人一样，我开始害怕黑夜。 我现在知道莫洛克人在黑暗中徘徊，想到这些奇怪的生物在我睡觉的时候自由地游荡，我感到非常不安

disturbing. I remembered waking with the feeling that an animal had disturbed me while I was asleep. I could understand why Weena and her people huddled together in large rooms at night. I thought about my machine. It now seemed as if I could get it back by going underground to find it. If only I had someone to go with me— someone who was stronger and braver than the Eloi. The thought of climbing down one of the dark wells by myself frightened me. But I was alone. So I told myself once more that the best thing for me to do would be to learn as much as I could about the Morlocks, the Eloi, and their world. Perhaps then I could figure out an easier way to recover my machine. I began to take longer hikes to explore more of the countryside. On one of these walks, I saw a green building towering in the distance. It was larger than any building I had seen in the world of the future. I wanted to explore it, but it was

令人不安。我记得我醒来时感觉有一只动物在我睡觉时打扰了我。 我能理解为什么薇娜和她的人晚上挤在大房间里。 我想到了我的机器。 现在看来，我只要到地下去找它，就能把它找回来。 要是有人和我一起去就好了——一个比埃洛伊人更强大、更勇敢的人。 一想到要独自爬下一口黑洞洞的井，我就害怕起来。 但我孤身一人。所以我再次告诉自己，对我来说，最好的事情就是尽可能多地了解莫洛克人、埃洛伊人和他们的世界。 也许这样我就能想出一个更简单的方法来恢复我的机器。 我开始进行更长时间的徒步旅行，探索更多的乡村。 在一次散步中，我看到远处耸立着一座绿色建筑。 它比我在未来世界见过的任何建筑都要大。 我想探索一下，但它

getting late and I didn't want to be out at night. So I returned home and told myself I would visit it tomorrow. But by the next morning, I knew I didn't really need to visit the green building. Exploring it wouldn't help me find my Time Machine. It was just that the thought of climbing down a well frightened me terribly. The green building was just an excuse to stay aboveground. No—what I really needed to do was visit the Underworld. And so I made up my mind to climb down into a well that morning. I remembered seeing one nearby and I headed in that direction with Weena. She walked along happily until we reached the dark hole. When I leaned over the edge and looked down, she became very upset. I kissed her on the cheek and said, "Good-bye, little Weena." Then I put one leg over the edge of the well. My little friend let out a cry and began pulling at my arm. I took her hands from my arm, grabbed

很晚了，我不想晚上出去。 于是我回到家，告诉自己明天再去看看。 但到了第二天早上，我知道我真的不需要参观绿色建筑。 探索它并不能帮我找到时间机器。 只是一想到要从井里爬下去，我就害怕极了。 绿色建筑只是一个留在地面上的借口。 不，我真正需要做的是拜访冥界。 所以那天早上我决定爬到井里去。 我记得在附近看到过一个，于是我和薇娜朝那个方向走去。 她高高兴兴地走着，一直走到黑洞。 当我探过悬崖往下看时，她变得非常沮丧。 我亲了亲她的脸颊，说：“再见，小威娜。” 然后我把一条腿放在井边。 我的小朋友叫了一声，开始拉我的胳膊。 我把她的手从我胳膊上拿开，抓住

hold of the side of the well, and put my other leg over the edge. I tried to make her feel better by giving her a smile. Then I grasped the metal ladder and lowered myself into the darkness. The well was deep, and the climb down was difficult because the ladder was made for small hands and feet. One of the metal rungs bent when I stepped on it, and I almost fell into the blackness. I hung in the air by one hand until I recovered safely. Down and down I went. My arms and back began to hurt, but I kept going. I looked up and saw a small blue circle of sky. I also saw Weena, staring down at me from high above. The thud-thud-thud of a machine grew louder as I got farther from the surface. I was now very tired and in pain, and I didn't know how much farther I could go. I looked up again and saw that Weena had gone. Then I looked around and saw a tunnel in the side of the well. I climbed into it and lay down for a much needed rest.

抓住井壁，把另一条腿放在井壁上。 我试着给她一个微笑，让她感觉好一点。 然后我抓住金属梯子，潜入黑暗中。 井很深，爬下去很困难，因为梯子是为小手和脚做的。 当我踩到一个金属横档时，它弯了，我差点掉进黑暗中。 我用一只手悬在空中，直到我安全回来。 我一直往下走。我的手臂和背部开始疼痛，但我继续前进。 我抬头一看，看到了一个蓝色的小圆圈。 我还看到了维娜，她从高处俯视着我。 我离水面越远，机器的砰砰声就越响。 我现在又累又痛，我不知道我还能走多远。 我再次抬起头来，发现薇娜已经走了。 然后我环顾四周，看到井边有一条隧道。 我爬进去，躺下休息。

I don't know how long I lay in the tunnel, but suddenly I felt a soft hand on my face. I sat up quickly, found my matches, and lit one. In the light, I saw three Morlocks crouching in the tunnel looking at me. Their eyes were large and sparkled with the light of the match. Now that I saw them up close, I could see that they had sharp teeth. But the flame was too bright for them, and they quickly crawled into the shadows. I could still see their eyes staring at me from the dark. I tried to talk to them, but their language must have been different from the Elois', and they didn't reply. I wanted to climb back up the well, but I knew I couldn't turn back now. So I lit another match and crawled down the tunnel. As I made my way, the Morlocks stayed ahead of me, just beyond my small circle of light. Soon, I came to a large cavern. It was big, and the light of the match didn't reach the far wall. In the cavern, I could just see the dark shapes

我不知道我在隧道里躺了多久，但突然我感到一只柔软的手放在我的脸上。 我迅速坐起来，找到火柴，点了一根。 在灯光下，我看到三个莫洛克人蹲在隧道里看着我。 他们的眼睛很大，在火柴的火光下闪闪发光。 现在我近距离看到了它们，我可以看到它们有锋利的牙齿。 但是火焰对他们来说太亮了，他们很快就爬进了阴影里。 我仍然能看到他们的眼睛在黑暗中盯着我。 我试着和他们说话，但他们的语言一定和埃洛伊人的不同，他们没有回答。 我想爬回井里，但我知道我现在不能回头了。 所以我又点了一根火柴，爬下了隧道。 在我前进的过程中，莫洛克人一直走在我前面，就在我的小光圈之外。 很快，我来到了一个大洞穴。 它很大，火柴的光照不到远处的墙。 在洞穴里，我只能看到黑暗的身影

of large machines. Morlocks crouched in the shadows, watching me. The air was stuffy and warm. The throbbing sound of the machines filled the air and echoed off the cavern walls. Just then, my match flickered out. Right away I realized how helpless I was. I didn't have any of the things I needed to explore the Underworld safely. I only had a handful of matches left because I'd wasted some of them by showing fire to the Eloi. I hadn't brought any medicines or first-aid supplies with me from the past. I hadn't even thought to bring a camera! Instead, all I had with me in the tunnel were four matches.

大型机器。莫洛克蹲在阴影里，看着我。 空气又闷又热。 机器的轰鸣声弥漫在空气中，回荡在岩壁上。 就在这时，我的火柴熄灭了。 我立刻意识到我是多么的无助。 我没有任何安全探索冥界所需要的东西。 我只剩下几根火柴了，因为我在向埃洛伊人点火时浪费了一些。 我没有从过去带任何药品或急救用品。 我甚至没想过要带相机！相反，我在球员通道里只带了四支火柴。