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1The Trap of the White Sphinx "About eight or nine in the morning I came to the same seat of yellow metal from which I
2had viewed the world upon the evening of my arrival. I thought of my hasty conclusions upon that evening and could not
3refrain from laughing bitterly at my confidence. Here was the same beautiful scene, the same abundant foliage, the same
4splendid palaces and magnificent ruins, the same silver river running between its fertile banks. The gay robes of the
5beautiful people moved hither and thither among the trees. Some were bathing in exactly the place where I had saved
6Weena, and that suddenly gave me a keen stab of pain. And like blots upon the landscape rose the cupolas above the ways
7to the Underworld. I understood now what all the beauty of the Overworld people covered. Very pleasant was their day, as
8pleasant as the day of the cattle in the field. Like the cattle, they knew of no enemies and provided against no needs.
9And their end was the same. "I grieved to think how brief the dream of the human intellect had been. It had committed
10suicide. It had set itself steadfastly towards comfort and ease, a balanced society with security and permanency as its
11watchword, it had attained its hopes--to come to this at last. Once, life and property must have reached almost absolute
12safety. The rich had been assured of his wealth and comfort, the toiler assured of his life and work. No doubt in that
13perfect world there had been no unemployed problem, no social question left unsolved. And a great quiet had followed.
14"It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble.
15An animal perfectly in harmony with its environment is a perfect mechanism. Nature never appeals to intelligence until
16habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change. Only those
17animals partake of intelligence that have to meet a huge variety of needs and dangers. "So, as I see it, the Upperworld
18man had drifted towards his feeble prettiness, and the Underworld to mere mechanical industry. But that perfect state
19had lacked one thing even for mechanical perfection--absolute permanency. Apparently as time went on, the feeding of an
20Underworld, however it was effected, had become disjointed. Mother Necessity, who had been staved off for a few thousand
21years, came back again, and she began below. The Underworld being in contact with machinery, which, however perfect,
22still needs some little thought outside habit, had probably retained perforce rather more initiative, if less of every
23other human character, than the Upper. And when other meat failed them, they turned to what old habit had hitherto
24forbidden. So I say I saw it in my last view of the world of Eight Hundred and Two Thousand Seven Hundred and One. It
25may be as wrong an explanation as mortal wit could invent. It is how the thing shaped itself to me, and as that I give
26it to you. "After the fatigues, excitements, and terrors of the past days, and in spite of my grief, this seat and the
27tranquil view and the warm sunlight were very pleasant. I was very tired and sleepy, and soon my theorising passed into
28dozing. Catching myself at that, I took my own hint, and spreading myself out upon the turf I had a long and refreshing
29sleep. "I awoke a little before sunsetting. I now felt safe against being caught napping by the Morlocks, and,
30stretching myself, I came on down the hill towards the White Sphinx. I had my crowbar in one hand, and the other hand
31played with the matches in my pocket. "And now came a most unexpected thing. As I approached the pedestal of the sphinx
32I found the bronze valves were open. They had slid down into grooves. "At that I stopped short before them, hesitating
33to enter. "Within was a small apartment, and on a raised place in the corner of this was the Time Machine. I had the
34small levers in my pocket. So here, after all my elaborate preparations for the siege of the White Sphinx, was a meek
35surrender. I threw my iron bar away, almost sorry not to use it. "A sudden thought came into my head as I stooped
36towards the portal. For once, at least, I grasped the mental operations of the Morlocks. Suppressing a strong
37inclination to laugh, I stepped through the bronze frame and up to the Time Machine. I was surprised to find it had been
38carefully oiled and cleaned. I have suspected since that the Morlocks had even partially taken it to pieces while trying
39in their dim way to grasp its purpose. "Now as I stood and examined it, finding a pleasure in the mere touch of the
40contrivance, the thing I had expected happened. The bronze panels suddenly slid up and struck the frame with a clang. I
41was in the dark--trapped. So the Morlocks thought. At that I chuckled gleefully. "I could already hear their murmuring
42laughter as they came towards me. Very calmly I tried to strike the match. I had only to fix on the levers and depart
43then like a ghost. But I had overlooked one little thing. The matches were of that abominable kind that light only on
44the box. "You may imagine how all my calm vanished. The little brutes were close upon me. One touched me. I made a
45sweeping blow in the dark at them with the levers, and began to scramble into the saddle of the machine. Then came one
46hand upon me and then another. Then I had simply to fight against their persistent fingers for my levers, and at the
47same time feel for the studs over which these fitted. One, indeed, they almost got away from me. As it slipped from my
48hand, I had to butt in the dark with my head--I could hear the Morlock's skull ring--to recover it. It was a nearer
49thing than the fight in the forest, I think, this last scramble. "But at last the lever was fixed and pulled over. The
50clinging hands slipped from me. The darkness presently fell from my eyes. I found myself in the same grey light and
51tumult I have already described.
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