vigour ['vIgq], tedium ['tJdjqm], supply [sq'plaI]
While this Accelerator will enable us to concentrate ourselves with tremendous impact upon any moment or occasion that demands our utmost sense and vigour, the Retarder will enable us to pass in passive tranquillity through infinite hardship and tedium. Perhaps I am a little optimistic about the Retarder, which has indeed still to be discovered, but about the Accelerator there is no possible sort of doubt whatever. Its appearance upon the market in a convenient, controllable, and assimilable form is a matter of the next few months. It will be obtainable of all chemists and druggists, in small green bottles, at a high but, considering its extraordinary qualities, by no means excessive price. Gibbernes Nervous Accelerator it will be called, and he hopes to be able to supply it in three strengths: one in 200, one in 900, and one in 2000, distinguished by yellow, pink, and white labels respectively.
No doubt its use renders a great number of very extraordinary things possible (, ); for, of course, the most remarkable and, possibly, even criminal proceedings may be effected with impunity by thus dodging, as it were, into the interstices of time (, , , , , , , , ; to dodge , , ; ). Like all potent preparations it will be liable to abuse ( , ; liable , ; /-./; / -./; ). We have, however, discussed this aspect of the question very thoroughly ( ), and we have decided that this is purely a matter of medical jurisprudence and altogether outside our province ( , ). We shall manufacture and sell the Accelerator ( ), and, as for the consequences ( ) we shall see (/).
extraordinary [Ik'strLdqnrI, "ekstrq'LdqnrI], manufacture ["mxnju'fxkCq], consequence ['kOnsIkwqns]
No doubt its use renders a great number of very extraordinary things possible; for, of course, the most remarkable and, possibly, even criminal proceedings may be effected with impunity by thus dodging, as it were, into the interstices of time. Like all potent preparations it will be liable to abuse. We have, however, discussed this aspect of the question very thoroughly, and we have decided that this is purely a matter of medical jurisprudence and altogether outside our province. We shall manufacture and sell the Accelerator, and, as for the consequences we shall see.
The Star
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It was on the first day of the New Year that the announcement was made ( ), almost simultaneously from three observatories ( ), that the motion of the planet Neptune ( ), the outermost of all the planets that wheel about the sun ( , ), had become very erratic ( ; erratic , , ; ). Ogilvy had already called attention to a suspected retardation in its velocity in December ( : ). Such a piece of news was scarcely calculated to interest a world ( , ) the greater portion of whose inhabitants were unaware of the existence of the planet Neptune ( ), nor outside the astronomical profession did the subsequent discovery of a faint remote speck of light in the region of the perturbed planet cause any very great excitement ( = ). Scientific people, however, found the intelligence remarkable enough (, , ), even before it became known that the new body was rapidly growing larger and brighter ( , , ), that its motion was quite different from the orderly progress of the planets ( ), and that the deflection of Neptune and its satellite was becoming now of an unprecedented kind ( / : ).
simultaneous ["sImql'teInIqs], observatory [qb'zWvqtrI], region ['rJGqn]
It was on the first day of the New Year that the announcement was made, almost simultaneously from three observatories, that the motion of the planet Neptune, the outermost of all the planets that wheel about the sun, had become very erratic. Ogilvy had already called attention to a suspected retardation in its velocity in December. Such a piece of news was scarcely calculated to interest a world the greater portion of whose inhabitants were unaware of the existence of the planet Neptune, nor outside the astronomical profession did the subsequent discovery of a faint remote speck of light in the region of the perturbed planet cause any very great excitement. Scientific people, however, found the intelligence remarkable enough, even before it became known that the new body was rapidly growing larger and brighter, that its motion was quite different from the orderly progress of the planets, and that the deflection of Neptune and its satellite was becoming now of an unprecedented kind.
Few people without a training in science can realise the huge isolation of the solar system (// = ). The sun with its specks of planets, its dust of planetoids, and its impalpable comets, swims in a vacant immensity that almost defeats the imagination ( , : / , ; to defeat ; , ; imagination ). Beyond the orbit of Neptune there is space ( = ), vacant so far as human observation has penetrated ( , ), without warmth or light or sound ( , , ), blank emptiness ( ; blank ; , ; , , /, /; , , ), for twenty million times a million miles ( , ; times ). That is the smallest estimate of the distance to be traversed before the very nearest of the stars is attained ( , , , , ; to traverse , , , ).
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isolation ["aIsq'leISqn], warmth [wLmT], estimate ['estImqt]
Few people without a training in science can realise the huge isolation of the solar system. The sun with its specks of planets, its dust of planetoids, and its impalpable comets, swims in a vacant immensity that almost defeats the imagination. Beyond the orbit of Neptune there is space, vacant so far as human observation has penetrated, without warmth or light or sound, blank emptiness, for twenty million times a million miles. That is the smallest estimate of the distance to be traversed before the very nearest of the stars is attained.
And, saving a few comets more unsubstantial than the thinnest flame ( , /, ; saving , , ), no matter had ever to human knowledge crossed this gulf of space ( , , ), until early in the twentieth century this strange wanderer appeared ( ; wanderer ; ; , ). A vast mass of matter it was ( /), bulky, heavy, rushing without warning out of the black mystery of the sky into the radiance of the sun (, , ). By the second day it was clearly visible to any decent instrument ( = : ), as a speck with a barely sensible diameter ( ), in the constellation Leo near Regulus ( ). In a little while an opera glass could attain it ( = ; in a little while , ).
unsubstantial ['Ansqb'stxnSql], century ['senCqrI], diameter [daI'xmItq]
And, saving a few comets more unsubstantial than the thinnest flame, no matter had ever to human knowledge crossed this gulf of space, until early in the twentieth century this strange wanderer appeared. A vast mass of matter it was, bulky, heavy, rushing without warning out of the black mystery of the sky into the radiance of the sun. By the second day it was clearly visible to any decent instrument, as a speck with a barely sensible diameter, in the constellation Leo near Regulus. In a little while an opera glass could attain it.
On the third day of the new year the newspaper readers of two hemispheres ( ) were made aware for the first time of the real importance of this unusual apparition in the heavens ( ; to make aware of ). A Planetary Collision, one London paper headed the news ( // ), and proclaimed Duchaines opinion that this strange new planet would probably collide with Neptune ( , , , ; opinion , , ; ). The leader writers enlarged upon the topic ( ); so that in most of the capitals of the world, on January 3rd, there was an expectation ( 3- = ), however vague of some imminent phenomenon in the sky ( , - ; imminent , , , , , , ); and as the night followed the sunset round the globe ( , ), thousands of men turned their eyes skyward to see ( , ) the old familiar stars just as they had always been ( , , ).
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hemisphere ['hemIsfIq], vague [veIg], phenomenon [fI'nOmInqn]
On the third day of the new year the newspaper readers of two hemispheres were made aware for the first time of the real importance of this unusual apparition in the heavens. A Planetary Collision, one London paper headed the news, and proclaimed Duchaines opinion that this strange new planet would probably collide with Neptune. The leader writers enlarged upon the topic; so that in most of the capitals of the world, on January 3rd, there was an expectation, however vague of some imminent phenomenon in the sky; and as the night followed the sunset round the globe, thousands of men turned their eyes skyward to see the old familiar stars just as they had always been.
Until it was dawn in London and Pollux setting and the stars overhead grown pale ( , / /, ). The Winters dawn it was ( ), a sickly filtering accumulation of daylight ( : ), and the light of gas and candles shone yellow in the windows to show where people were astir ( , , : : ; to shine //). But the yawning policeman saw the thing ( : ), the busy crowds in the markets stopped agape ( , ; to gape ; ), workmen going to their work betimes (, : /), milkmen, the drivers of news-carts (, ), dissipation going home jaded and pale (, , ; dissipation ; ; jaded , ; ; . ), homeless wanderers ( ), sentinels on their beats (, ; be on the beat ; ), and in the country, labourers trudging afield ( , ; to trudge , ), poachers slinking home (, ), all over the dusky quickening country it could be seen ( ) and out at sea by seamen watching for the day ( / / , ) a great white star, come suddenly into the westward sky ( , ; westward , )!
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dawn [dLn], yawn [jLn], country ['kAntrI]
Until it was dawn in London and Pollux setting and the stars overhead grown pale. The Winters dawn it was, a sickly filtering accumulation of daylight, and the light of gas and candles shone yellow in the windows to show where people were astir. But the yawning policeman saw the thing, the busy crowds in the markets stopped agape, workmen going to their work betimes, milkmen, the drivers of news-carts, dissipation going home jaded and pale, homeless wanderers, sentinels on their beats, and in the country, labourers trudging afield, poachers slinking home, all over the dusky quickening country it could be seen and out at sea by seamen watching for the day a great white star, come suddenly into the westward sky!
Brighter it was than any star in our skies ( , ); brighter than the evening star at its brightest (, ). It still glowed out white and large, no mere twinkling spot of light ( , , /), but a small round clear shining disc, an hour after the day had come ( , /). And where science has not reached ( , ), men stared and feared ( ), telling one another of the wars and pestilences ( ; pestilence // ; ; , ; -. ; ) that are foreshadowed by these fiery signs in the Heavens ( ). Sturdy Boers, dusky Hottentots, Gold Coast Negroes, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Portuguese, stood in the warmth of the sunrise watching the setting of this strange new star ( , , //, , , , ).
science ['saIqns], pestilence ['pestIlqns], Portuguese ["pLtju'gJz]
Brighter it was than any star in our skies; brighter than the evening star at its brightest. It still glowed out white and large, no mere twinkling spot of light, but a small round clear shining disc, an hour after the day had come. And where science has not reached, men stared and feared, telling one another of the wars and pestilences that are foreshadowed by these fiery signs in the Heavens. Sturdy Boers, dusky Hottentots, Gold Coast Negroes, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Portuguese, stood in the warmth of the sunrise watching the setting of this strange new star.
And in a hundred observatories there had been suppressed excitement ( = ), rising almost to shouting pitch ( ), as the two remote bodies had rushed together ( ); and a hurrying to and fro ( ; to and fro ; ), to gather photographic apparatus and spectroscope ( ), and this appliance and that ( ), to record this novel astonishing sight, the destruction of a world ( , ). For it was a world ( ), a sister planet of our earth ( ), far greater than our earth indeed (, ), that had so suddenly flashed into flaming death ( ). Neptune it was, had been struck, fairly and squarely, by the strange planet from outer space ( ; to strike //; ; ) and the heat of the concussion had incontinently turned two solid globes into one vast mass of incandescence ( ).
appliance [q'plaIqns], death [deT], incandescence ["Inkxn'desqns]
And in a hundred observatories there had been suppressed excitement, rising almost to shouting pitch, as the two remote bodies had rushed together; and a hurrying to and fro, to gather photographic apparatus and spectroscope, and this appliance and that, to record this novel astonishing sight, the destruction of a world. For it was a world, a sister planet of our earth, far greater than our earth indeed, that had so suddenly flashed into flaming death. Neptune it was, had been struck, fairly and squarely, by the strange planet from outer space and the heat of the concussion had incontinently turned two solid globes into one vast mass of incandescence.
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Round the world that day ( ), two hours before the dawn ( ), went the pallid great white star ( = ), fading only as it sank westward and the sun mounted above it ( , , ; to sink ; ). Everywhere men marvelled at it ( ), but of all those who saw it none could have marvelled more than those sailors ( , , , , , ), habitual watchers of the stars ( ), who far away at sea had heard nothing of its advent ( ) and saw it now rise like a pigmy moon and climb zenithward and hang overhead and sink westward with the passing of the night ( , , , // , , ).
marvel ['mRvql], habitual [hq'bICuql], zenithward ['zenITwqd]
Round the world that day, two hours before the dawn, went the pallid great white star, fading only as it sank westward and the sun mounted above it. Everywhere men marvelled at it, but of all those who saw it none could have marvelled more than those sailors, habitual watchers of the stars, who far away at sea had heard nothing of its advent and saw it now rise like a pigmy moon and climb zenithward and hang overhead and sink westward with the passing of the night.
And when next it rose over Europe ( ) everywhere were crowds of watchers on hilly slopes, on house-roofs, in open spaces ( , , ), staring eastward for the rising of the great new star ( : ). It rose with a white glow in front of it ( ), like the glare of a white fire ( ; glare ; ; ), and those who had seen it come into existence the night before cried out at the sight of it ( , , ; to come into existence , ). It is larger ( ), they cried ( ). It is brighter ( )! And, indeed the moon a quarter full and sinking in the west was in its apparent size beyond comparison ( , , ; quarter ; ), but scarcely in all its breadth had it as much brightness now as the little circle of the strange new star ( , ).
quarter ['kwLtq], scarcely ['skeqslI], breadth [bredT]
And when next it rose over Europe everywhere were crowds of watchers on hilly slopes, on house-roofs, in open spaces, staring eastward for the rising of the great new star. It rose with a white glow in front of it, like the glare of a white fire, and those who had seen it come into existence the night before cried out at the sight of it. It is larger, they cried. It is brighter! And, indeed the moon a quarter full and sinking in the west was in its apparent size beyond comparison, but scarcely in all its breadth had it as much brightness now as the little circle of the strange new star.
It is brighter ( )! cried the people clustering in the streets ( , ). But in the dim observatories the watchers held their breath and peered at one another ( ; to peer , ) IT IS NEARER ( ), they said. NEARER ()!
And voice after voice repeated ( : ), It is nearer ( ), and the clicking telegraph took that up ( ; to take up , ), and it trembled along telephone wires ( ), and in a thousand cities grimy compositors fingered the type ( ; finger ; to finger , ; -. ). It is nearer ( ). Men writing in offices, struck with a strange realisation, flung down their pens (, , , ; to fling , , ), men talking in a thousand places suddenly came upon a grotesque possibility in those words (, , : // ), It is nearer ( ).
breath [breT], thousand ['Tauzqnd], grotesque [grqu'tesk]
It is brighter! cried the people clustering in the streets. But in the dim observatories the watchers held their breath and peered at one another IT IS NEARER, they said. NEARER!
And voice after voice repeated, It is nearer, and the clicking telegraph took that up, and it trembled along telephone wires, and in a thousand cities grimy compositors fingered the type. It is nearer. Men writing in offices, struck with a strange realisation, flung down their pens, men talking in a thousand places suddenly came upon a grotesque possibility in those words, It is nearer.
It hurried along wakening streets ( : ), it was shouted down the frost-stilled ways of quiet villages ( ); men who had read these things from the throbbing tape stood in yellow-lit doorways shouting the news to the passers-by (, : , , ). It is nearer ( /). Pretty women, flushed and glittering, heard the news told jestingly between the dances ( , , , ), and feigned an intelligent interest they did not feel ( , ). Nearer ()! Indeed (). How curious ( )! How very, very clever people must be to find out things like that (, , , , ; to find out , , ; ; /, /)!
quiet ['kwaIqt], feign [feIn], curious ['kjuqrIqs]
It hurried along wakening streets, it was shouted down the frost-stilled ways of quiet villages; men who had read these things from the throbbing tape stood in yellow-lit doorways shouting the news to the passers-by. It is nearer. Pretty women, flushed and glittering, heard the news told jestingly between the dances, and feigned an intelligent interest they did not feel. Nearer! Indeed. How curious! How very, very clever people must be to find out things like that!
Lonely tramps faring through the wintry night murmured those words to comfort themselves looking skyward ( , , , , ). It has need to be nearer ( ), for the nights as cold as charity ( , ). Dont seem much warmth from it if it IS nearer, all the same ( , , = , ).
What is a new star to me ( )? cried the weeping woman kneeling beside her dead ( , ).
word [wWd], new [njH], dead [ded]
Lonely tramps faring through the wintry night murmured those words to comfort themselves looking skyward. It has need to be nearer, for the nights as cold as charity. Dont seem much warmth from it if it IS nearer, all the same.
What is a new star to me? cried the weeping woman kneeling beside her dead.
The schoolboy, rising early for his examination work (, ), puzzled it out for himself (// ; to puzzle out ; , ) with the great white star shining broad and bright through the frost-flowers of his window ( , ; flower , ). Centrifugal, centripetal (, ), he said, with his chin on his fist ( , // : ). Stop a planet in its flight ( : ), rob it of its centrifugal force ( ), what then ( )? Centripetal has it ( //), and down it falls into the sun ( )! And this ( ) !
Do WE come in the way? I wonder (, / / / / )
broad [brLd], centripetal ["sentrI'pJtql], wonder ['wAndq]
The schoolboy, rising early for his examination work, puzzled it out for himself with the great white star shining broad and bright through the frost-flowers of his window. Centrifugal, centripetal, he said, with his chin on his fist. Stop a planet in its flight, rob it of its centrifugal force, what then? Centripetal has it, and down it falls into the sun! And this !
