🔊 So I came back. For a long time I must have been insensible upon the machine. The blinking succession of the days and nights was resumed, the sun got golden again, the sky blue. I breathed with greater freedom. The fluctuating contours of the land ebbed and flowed. The hands spun backward upon the dials. At last I saw again the dim shadows of houses, the evidences of decadent humanity. These, too, changed and passed, and others came. Presently, when the million dial was at zero, I slackened speed. I began to recognise our own pretty and familiar architecture, the thousands hand ran back to the starting-point, the night and day flapped slower and slower. Then the old walls of the laboratory came round me. Very gently, now, I slowed the mechanism down.

于是,我回来了。我定然在机器上失去了知觉许久。昼夜又开始以令人目眩的速度交替,太阳重现金黄,天空湛蓝。我呼吸得更加自由。陆地起伏的轮廓如潮汐般涨落不定。表盘上的指针向后飞旋。终于,我又看到了房屋的模糊阴影,那是人类衰败的痕迹。这些也变化、消逝,新的又来了。不久,当百万表盘归零时,我放慢了速度。我开始认出我们自己美丽而熟悉的建筑,千位指针回到起点,昼夜的翻动越来越慢。接着,实验室的旧墙围住了我。现在,我轻柔地让机器减速。

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insensible /ɪnˈsensəbl/

adj. 失去知觉的,昏迷的➕

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fluctuating /ˈflʌktʃueɪtɪŋ/

adj. 波动的,起伏不定的➕

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ebbed /ebd/

v. （潮水）退去；衰退,减弱（动词eb的过去式）➕

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decadent /ˈdekədənt/

adj. 颓废的,衰落的➕

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slackened /ˈslækənd/

v. 放松,放慢；减弱（动词slacken的过去式）➕

🔊 I saw one little thing that seemed odd to me. I think I have told you that when I set out, before my velocity became very high, Mrs. Watchett had walked across the room, travelling, as it seemed to me, like a rocket. As I returned, I passed again across that minute when she traversed the laboratory. But now her every motion appeared to be the exact inversion of her previous ones. The door at the lower end opened, and she glided quietly up the laboratory, back foremost, and disappeared behind the door by which she had previously entered. Just before that I seemed to see Hillyer for a moment; but he passed like a flash.

我看到一件让我觉得奇怪的小事。我想我告诉过你,当我出发时,在速度变得极高之前,沃切特太太曾走过房间,在我看来,她像火箭一样移动。当我返回时,我又经过了她穿过实验室的那一刻。但现在,她的每一个动作都似乎是之前动作的完全倒转。下端的门开了,她以背向前的姿势悄无声息地滑上实验室,消失在之前进入的门后。就在那之前,我似乎瞥见了希利尔片刻；但他一闪而过。

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velocity /vəˈlɒsəti/

n. 速度,速率➕

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inversion /ɪnˈvɜːʃn/

n. 倒置,反转➕

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glided /ˈɡlaɪdɪd/

v. 滑行,滑翔（动词glide的过去式）➕

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foremost /ˈfɔːməʊst/

adv. 在最前面；首先,首要地➕

🔊 Then I stopped the machine, and saw about me again the old familiar laboratory, my tools, my appliances just as I had left them. I got off the thing very shakily, and sat down upon my bench. For several minutes I trembled violently. Then I became calmer. Around me was my old workshop again, exactly as it had been. I might have slept there, and the whole thing have been a dream.

然后,我停住了机器,又看到周围那熟悉的老实验室,我的工具,我的设备,都和我离开时一样。我颤抖着从机器上下来,坐在我的长凳上。有好几分钟,我剧烈地颤抖。然后,我平静下来。周围又是我的旧车间了,和以前一模一样。我可能只是在那里睡了一觉,整件事不过是一场梦。

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appliances /əˈplaɪənsɪz/

n. 器具,装置（尤指家用电器）；器械（复数）➕

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violently /ˈvaɪələntli/

adv. 剧烈地,猛烈地➕

🔊 And yet, not exactly! The thing had started from the south-east corner of the laboratory. It had come to rest again in the north-west, against the wall where you saw it. That gives you the exact distance from my little lawn to the pedestal of the White Sphinx, into which the Morlocks had carried my machine.

然而,并非完全如此！机器是从实验室的东南角启动的。它又停在了西北角,靠在你看到的那面墙上。这给出了从我的小草坪到白色斯芬克斯像底座的确切距离,莫洛克人曾把我的机器搬进那里。

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pedestal /ˈpedɪstl/

n. （雕像等的）基座,底座➕

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White Sphinx /waɪt sfɪŋks/

n. 白色狮身人面像（专有名词短语）➕

🔊 For a time my brain went stagnant. Presently I got up and came through the passage here, limping, because my heel was still painful, and feeling sorely begrimed. I saw the Pall Mall Gazette on the table by the door. I found the date was indeed today, and looking at the timepiece, saw the hour was almost eight o’clock. I heard your voices and the clatter of plates. I hesitated—I felt so sick and weak. Then I sniffed good wholesome meat, and opened the door on you. You know the rest. I washed, and dined, and now I am telling you the story.

有一阵子,我的大脑停滞了片刻。不一会儿,我站起来,穿过通道来到这里,一瘸一拐地,因为我的脚后跟还在痛,浑身污秽不堪。我看到门边桌上的《帕尔摩尔街报》。我发现日期确实是今天,看了看钟表,看到时间将近八点。我听到你们的声音和盘子的叮当声。我犹豫了--我感到如此恶心虚弱。然后,我嗅到了鲜美实在的肉香,就打开门见到了你们。剩下的你们都知道了。我洗了澡,吃了饭,现在在给你们讲这个故事。

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stagnant /ˈstæɡnənt/

adj. 停滞的,不流动的；不活跃的➕

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limping /ˈlɪmpɪŋ/

v. 跛行,一瘸一拐地走（动词limp的现在分词）➕

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begrimed /bɪˈɡraɪmd/

adj. 被弄脏的,满是污垢的➕

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Pall Mall Gazette /ˌpæl ˌmæl ɡəˈzet/

n. 《蓓尔美尔街报》（历史上的英国报纸名称,专有名词短语）➕

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wholesome /ˈhəʊlsəm/

adj. 有益健康的；有益的➕

Chapter fifteen: The Time Traveller’s Return (第十五章:时间旅行者的归来)

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