Under the Knife by H.G. Wells
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. very_soon I_saw the full circle of_the earth, slightly gibbous, like the moon when she nears her full, but very large; and_the silvery shape of America was now in_the noonday blaze wherein (as it seemed) little England had_been basking but a few_minutes_ago .At first the earth was large, and shone in_the heavens, filling agreat part of_them; but every moment she grew smaller and more distant .As she shrank, the broad moon in its third quarter crept into view over the rim of her disc .I looked for_the constellations .Only that part of Aries directly behind the sun and_the Lion, which the earth covered, were hidden .I recognised the tortuous, tattered band of_the Milky Way with Vega very bright between sun and earth; and Sirius and Orion shone splendid against the unfathomable blackness in_the opposite quarter of_the heavens .The Pole Star was overhead, and_the Great Bear hung over the circle of_the earth .And away beneath and beyond the shining corona of_the sun were strange groupings of stars I had never seen in my life--notably adagger-shaped group that I_knew for_the Southern Cross .All these were no larger than when_they had shone on earth, but the little stars that one scarce sees shone now against the setting of black vacancy as brightly as_the first-magnitudes had done, while the larger worlds were points of indescribable glory and colour .Aldebaran was aspot of blood-red fire, and Sirius condensed to one point the light of innumerable sapphires . and_they shone steadily: they_did_not scintillate, they were calmly glorious .My impressions had an adamantine hardness and brightness: there_was no blurring softness, no atmosphere, nothing but infinite darkness set with_the myriads of_these acute and brilliant points and specks of light .Presently, when I looked again, the little earth seemed no bigger than_the sun, and it dwindled and turned as I looked, until in asecond's space (as it seemed to_me), it_was halved; and so it went on swiftly dwindling .Far away in_the opposite direction, alittle pinkish pin's head of light, shining steadily, was_the planet Mars .I swam motionless in vacancy, and, without atrace of terror or astonishment, watched the speck of cosmic dust we call the world fall away from me .

Presently it dawned upon me that my sense of duration had changed; that my mind was moving not faster but infinitely slower, that between each separate impression there_was aperiod of many days .The moon spun once round the earth as I noted this; and I perceived clearly the motion of Mars in_his orbit .Moreover, it appeared as if_the time between thought and thought grew steadily greater, until at last athousand years was but amoment in my perception .

At first the constellations had shone motionless against the black background of infinite space; but presently it seemed as_though the group of stars about Hercules and_the Scorpion was contracting, while Orion and Aldebaran and their neighbours were scattering apart .Flashing suddenly out_of_the darkness there came aflying multitude of particles of rock, glittering like dust-specks in asunbeam, and encompassed in afaintly luminous cloud .They swirled all about me, and vanished again in atwinkling far behind .And then I_saw that abright spot of light, that shone alittle to one side of_my path, was growing very rapidly larger, and perceived that_it_was the planet Saturn rushing towards me .Larger and larger it grew, swallowing up the heavens behind it, and hiding every moment afresh multitude, of stars .I perceived its flattened, whirling body, its disc-like belt, and seven of_its little satellites .It grew and grew, till it towered enormous; and then I plunged amid astreaming multitude of clashing stones and dancing dust-particles and gas-eddies, and saw for amoment the mighty triple belt like three concentric arches of moonlight above me, its shadow black on_the boiling tumult below .These things happened in one-tenth of_the time it takes to_tell them .The planet went by like aflash of lightning; for afew seconds it blotted out the sun, and there and then became amere black, dwindling, winged patch against the light .The earth, the mother mote of_my being, I_could no longer see .

So with astately swiftness, in_the profoundest silence, the solar system fell from me as it had_been agarment, until the sun was amere star amid the multitude of stars, with its eddy of planet-specks lost in_the confused glittering of_the remoter light . i_was no longer adenizen of_the solar system: I had come to_the outer Universe, I seemed to grasp and comprehend the whole world of matter .Ever more swiftly the stars closed in about_the spot where Antares and Vega had vanished in aphosphorescent haze, until that part of_the sky had the semblance of awhirling mass of nebulae, and ever before me yawned vaster gaps of vacant blackness, and_the stars shone fewer and fewer .It seemed as_if I moved towards apoint between Orion's belt and sword; and_the void about_that region opened vaster and vaster every second, an incredible gulf of nothingness into which i_was falling .Faster and ever faster the universe rushed by, ahurry of whirling motes at last, speeding silently into_the void .Stars glowing brighter and brighter, with their circling planets catching the light in aghostly fashion as I neared them, shone out and vanished again into inexistence; faint comets, clusters of meteorites, winking specks of matter, eddying light-points, whizzed past, some perhaps ahundred millions of miles or so from me at most, few nearer, travelling with unimaginable rapidity, shooting constellations, momentary darts of fire, through_that black, enormous night .More than anything else it_was like adusty draught, sunbeam-lit .Broader and wider and deeper grew the starless space, the vacant Beyond, into which i_was being drawn .At last aquarter of_the heavens was black and blank, and_the whole headlong rush of stellar universe closed in behind me like aveil of light that_is gathered together .It drove away from me like amonstrous jack-o'-lantern driven by_the wind .I had come out into_the wilderness of space .Ever the vacant blackness grew broader, until the hosts of_the stars seemed only like aswarm of fiery specks hurrying away from me, inconceivably remote, and_the darkness, the nothingness and emptiness, was about me on every side .Soon the little universe of matter, the cage of points in_which I had begun to_be, was dwindling, now to awhirling disc of luminous glittering, and now to one minute disc of hazy light .In alittle while it would shrink to apoint, and at last would vanish altogether .

Suddenly feeling came back to_me--feeling in_the shape of overwhelming terror; such adread of_those dark vastitudes as no words can describe, apassionate resurgence of sympathy and social desire .Were there other souls, invisible to_me as I to_them, about me in_the blackness ? or was I indeed, even as I_felt, alone ? Had I passed out of being into something that was neither being nor not-being ? The covering of_the body, the covering of matter, had_been torn from me, and_the hallucinations of companionship and security .Everything was black and silent .I had ceased to_be . i_was nothing . there_was nothing, save only that infinitesimal dot of light that dwindled in_the gulf .I strained myself to hear and_see, and for awhile there_was naught but infinite silence, intolerable darkness, horror, and despair .

Then I_saw that about_the spot of light into which the whole world of matter had shrunk there_was afaint glow .And in aband on either side of that_the darkness was not absolute .I watched it for ages, as it seemed to_me, and through_the long waiting the haze grew imperceptibly more distinct .And then about_the band appeared an irregular cloud of_the faintest, palest brown . I_felt apassionate impatience; but the things grew brighter so slowly that_they scarce seemed to_change . what_was unfolding itself ? What was_this strange reddish dawn in_the interminable night of space ?

The cloud's shape was grotesque .It seemed to_be looped along its lower side into four projecting masses, and, above, it ended in astraight line .What phantom was_it ? I_felt assured I had seen that figure before; but I_could_not think what, nor where, nor when it_was .Then the realisation rushed upon me . it_was aclenched Hand . i_was alone in space, alone with_this huge, shadowy Hand, upon_which the whole Universe of Matter lay like an unconsidered speck of dust .It seemed as_though I watched it through vast periods of_time . on_the forefinger glittered aring; and_the universe from_which I had come was but aspot of light upon_the ring's curvature . and_the thing that_the hand gripped had the likeness of ablack rod .Through along eternity I watched this Hand, with_the ring and_the rod, marvelling and fearing and waiting helplessly on what might follow .It seemed as_though nothing could follow: that i_should watch for ever, seeing only the Hand and_the thing it held, and understanding nothing of_its import . was_the whole universe but arefracting speck upon some greater Being ? Were our worlds but the atoms of another universe, and those again of another, and so on through an endless progression ? And what_was I ? Was I indeed immaterial ? avague persuasion of abody gathering about me came into my suspense .The abysmal darkness about_the Hand filled with impalpable suggestions, with uncertain, fluctuating shapes .

Then, suddenly, came asound, like the sound of atolling bell: faint, as_if infinitely far; muffled, as_though heard through thick swathings of darkness: adeep, vibrating resonance, with vast gulfs of silence between each stroke . and_the Hand appeared to tighten on_the rod .And I_saw far above the Hand, towards the apex of_the darkness, acircle of dim phosphorescence, aghostly sphere whence these sounds came throbbing; and at_the last stroke the Hand vanished, for_the hour had come, and I heard anoise of many waters .But the black rod remained as agreat band across the sky .And then avoice, which seemed to run to_the uttermost parts of space, spoke, saying, " there_will_be no more pain ."

at_that an almost intolerable gladness and radiance rushed in upon me, and I_saw the circle shining white and bright, and_the rod black and shining, and many things else distinct and clear . and_the circle was_the face of_the clock, and_the rod the rail of_my bed .Haddon was standing at_the foot, against the rail, with asmall pair of scissors on_his fingers; and_the hands of_my clock on_the mantel over his shoulder were clasped together over the hour of twelve .Mowbray was washing something in abasin at_the octagonal table, and at my side I_felt asubdued feeling that could scarce be spoken of as pain .

The operation had_not killed me .And I perceived, suddenly, that_the dull melancholy of half ayear was lifted from my mind .

Section [1 | 2 | 3]