16 The Time Traveler Returns

CHAPTER 16 The Time Traveler Returns And so I began my journey back in time from the distant future. I sat in the seat and watched as the blinking of days and nights returned. The sun shone a brilliant white again. The sky became its familiar blue, and the ocean disappeared from view. Trees and grass appeared, and the countryside became green

第十六章时间旅行者归来于是我开始了从遥远的未来回到过去的时光之旅。 我坐在座位上，看着白天和黑夜的闪烁。 太阳再次发出耀眼的白光。 天空变成了熟悉的蓝色，海洋从视野中消失了。 树木和草地出现了，乡村变得一片绿色

again. The dials spun backward until the one showing millions of days stopped at zero. I was almost back to present day. I slowed my speed. Buildings rose up around me. The dial showing thousands of days reached zero, too. Then, the walls of my workshop appeared. Very gently, I slowed the Time Machine even more. At one point, I saw everyone at the workshop door, looking into the room. Then I saw my housekeeper again. She walked across the workshop in the blink of an eye—just as before. But because I was traveling backward through time, she was moving in reverse. Then I stopped. I was in my old workshop again. It was good to see everything—my tools, workbenches, and drawings. It was good to hear the sound of traffic coming from outside. I took a deep breath and smelled the air that I knew so well. I got out of the Time Machine. I was shaking

再一次。表盘向后旋转，直到显示数百万天的那一个停在零。 我几乎回到了现代。 我放慢了速度。建筑物在我周围拔地而起。 显示数千天的表盘也归零了。 然后，我工作室的墙壁出现了。 慢慢地，我把时间机器的速度放慢了。 有一次，我看到每个人都站在车间门口，看着房间里。 然后我又见到了我的管家。 她像以前一样，一眨眼工夫就走过车间。 但因为我是在时间倒流，她也在反向移动。 然后我停了下来。我又回到了我以前的工作室。 我很高兴能看到我的工具、工作台和图纸。 听到外面车辆的声音真好。 我深吸了一口气，闻到了我非常熟悉的空气。 我从时间机器里出来了。 我在颤抖

and my legs were weak, so I sat down in a chair. I looked around. Everything was exactly the way I had left it. I almost wondered if I'd simply fallen asleep. Perhaps my adventure was nothing more than a dream. But not everything was exactly the same. When I started my journey, the Time Machine was sitting in one corner of the workshop. But when I returned, it was sitting on the other side of the room. In the future, the Morlocks had dragged it from the lawn into the base of the statue. That meant that it had been moved from one side of the room to the other in the present. I got up from the chair and walked into the hallway. There was a newspaper on the table by the front door. I looked at it and saw today's date. Then I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost eight o'clock in the evening. That's when I heard your voices and the clatter of dishes in the dining room. At first, I just wanted to go upstairs because I was still

我的腿很软，所以我在椅子上坐了下来。 我环顾四周。一切都和我离开时一模一样。 我几乎怀疑自己是不是睡着了。 也许我的冒险只不过是一场梦。 但并不是每件事都完全一样。 当我开始我的旅程时，时间机器就放在车间的一个角落里。 但当我回来的时候，它却坐在房间的另一边。 后来，莫洛克人把它从草坪上拖到了雕像的底座上。 这意味着它现在已经从房间的一边移到了另一边。 我从椅子上站起来，走进走廊。 前门旁边的桌子上放着一份报纸。 我看了看，看到了今天的日期。 然后我看了看钟，发现已经快晚上8点了。 就在那时，我听到了你们的声音和餐厅里盘子的碰撞声。 一开始，我只想上楼，因为我还

feeling weak and sick. But then I smelled the meal. I opened the door and... well, you know the rest. I washed and ate, and now I am telling you my story.

感觉虚弱和恶心。但后来我闻到了这顿饭的味道。 我打开门，然后……剩下的你都知道了。 我洗了澡，吃了饭，现在我给你讲我的故事。