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The War of the Worlds, The War of the Worlds: Chapter 11

The War of the Worlds: Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven At the Window

I have already said that my storms of emotion have a trick of exhausting themselves. After a time I discovered that I was cold and wet, and with little pools of water about me on the stair carpet. I got up almost mechanically, went into the dining room and drank some whiskey, and then I was moved to change my clothes. [:]

After I had done that I went upstairs to my study, but why I did so I do not know. The window of my study looks over the trees and the railway towards Horsell Common. In the hurry of our departure this window had been left open. The passage was dark, and, by contrast with the picture the window frame enclosed, the side of the room seemed impenetrably dark. I stopped short in the doorway.

The thunderstorm had passed. :] The towers of the Oriental College and the pine trees about it had gone, and very far away, lit by a vivid red glare, the common about the sand pits was visible. Across the light huge black shapes, grotesque and strange, moved busily to and fro.

It seemed indeed as if the whole country in that direction was on fire—a broad hillside set with minute tongues of flame, swaying and writhing with the gusts of the dying storm, and throwing a red reflection upon the cloud scud above. [:] Every now and then a haze of smoke from some nearer conflagration drove across the window and hid the Martian shapes. I could not see what they were doing, nor the clear form of them, nor recognise the black objects they were busied upon. [:] Neither could I see the nearer fire, though the reflections of it danced on the wall and ceiling of the study. A sharp, resinous tang of burning was in the air.

I closed the door noiselessly and crept towards the window. As I did so, the view opened out until, on the one hand, it reached to the houses about Woking station, and on the other to the charred and blackened pine woods of Byfleet. There was a light down below the hill, on the railway, near the arch, and several of the houses along the Maybury road and the streets near the station were glowing ruins. [:] The light upon the railway puzzled me at first; there were a black heap and a vivid glare, and to the right of that a row of yellow oblongs. Then I perceived this was a wrecked train, the fore part smashed and on fire, the hinder carriages still upon the rails.

Between these three main centres of light—the houses, the train, and the burning county towards Chobham—stretched irregular patches of dark country, broken here and there by intervals of dimly glowing and smoking ground. It was the strangest spectacle, that black expanse set with fire. It reminded me, more than anything else, of the Potteries at night. At first I could distinguish no people at all, though I peered intently for them. Later I saw against the light of Woking station a number of black figures hurrying one after the other across the line.

They seemed amazingly busy. I began to ask myself what they could be. Were they intelligent mechanisms? Such a thing I felt was impossible. Or did a Martian sit within each, ruling, directing, using, much as a man's brain sits and rules in his body? I began to compare the things to human machines, to ask myself for the first time in my life how an ironclad or a steam engine would seem to an intelligent lower animal.

The storm had left the sky clear, and over the smoke of the burning land the little fading pinpoint of Mars was dropping into the west, when a soldier came into my garden. I heard a slight scraping at the fence, and rousing myself from the lethargy that had fallen upon me, I looked down and saw him dimly, clambering over the palings. At the sight of another human being my torpor passed, and I leaned out of the window eagerly.

“Hist!” said I, in a whisper.

He stopped astride of the fence in doubt. Then he came over and across the lawn to the corner of the house. [:] He bent down and stepped softly.

“Who's there?” he said, also whispering, standing under the window and peering up. “Where are you going?” I asked.>[:] “God knows.” [:]

“Are you trying to hide?” [:]

“That's it.” “Come into the house,” I said.

I went down, unfastened the door, and let him in, and locked the door again. I could not see his face. He was hatless, and his coat was unbuttoned.

">“My God!” he said, as I drew him in. [:]

“What has happened?” I asked.

“What hasn't?” In the obscurity I could see he made a gesture of despair. “They wiped us out—simply wiped us out,” he repeated again and again.

He followed me, almost mechanically, into the dining room.

“Take some whiskey,” I said, pouring out a stiff dose.

“I lay still,” he said, “scared out of my wits, with the fore quarter of a horse atop of me. We'd been wiped out. And the smell—good God! Like burnt meat! I was hurt across the back by the fall of the horse, and there I had to lie until I felt better. Just like parade it had been a minute before—then stumble, bang, swish!”

“Wiped out!” he said.

He had hid under the dead horse for a long time, peeping out furtively across the common. The Cardigan men had tried a rush, in skirmishing order, at the pit, simply to be swept out of existence. [:] Then the monster had risen to its feet and had begun to walk leisurely to and fro across the common among the few fugitives, with its headlike hood turning about exactly like the head of a cowled human being. A kind of arm carried a complicated metallic case, about which green flashes scintillated, and out of the funnel of this there smoked the Heat-Ray.

In a few minutes there was, so far as the soldier could see, not a living thing left upon the common, and every bush and tree upon it that was not already a blackened skeleton was burning. The hussars had been on the road beyond the curvature of the ground, and he saw nothing of them. He heard the Martians rattle for a time and then become still. The giant saved Woking station and its cluster of houses until the last; then in a moment the Heat-Ray was brought to bear, and the town became a heap of fiery ruins. Then the Thing shut off the Heat-Ray, and turning its back upon the artilleryman, began to waddle away towards the smouldering pine woods that sheltered the second cylinder. As it did so a second glittering Titan built itself up out of the pit.

The second monster followed the first, and at that the artilleryman began to crawl very cautiously across the hot heather ash towards Horsell. He managed to get alive into the ditch by the side of the road, and so escaped to Woking. There his story became ejaculatory. The place was impassable. It seems there were a few people alive there, frantic for the most part and many burned and scalded. He was turned aside by the fire, and hid among some almost scorching heaps of broken wall as one of the Martian giants returned. He saw this one pursue a man, catch him up in one of its steely tentacles, and knock his head against the trunk of a pine tree. At last, after nightfall, the artilleryman made a rush for it and got over the railway embankment.

Since then he had been skulking along towards Maybury, in the hope of getting out of danger Londonward. People were hiding in trenches and cellars, and many of the survivors had made off towards Woking village and Send. He had been consumed with thirst until he found one of the water mains near the railway arch smashed, and the water bubbling out like a spring upon the road.

That was the story I got from him, bit by bit. He grew calmer telling me and trying to make me see the things he had seen. He had eaten no food since midday, he told me early in his narrative, and I found some mutton and bread in the pantry and brought it into the room. We lit no lamp for fear of attracting the Martians, and ever and again our hands would touch upon bread or meat. As he talked, things about us came darkly out of the darkness, and the trampled bushes and broken rose trees outside the window grew distinct. It would seem that a number of men or animals had rushed across the lawn. I began to see his face, blackened and haggard, as no doubt mine was also.

When we had finished eating we went softly upstairs to my study, and I looked again out of the open window. In one night the valley had become a valley of ashes. The fires had dwindled now. Where flames had been there were now streamers of smoke; but the countless ruins of shattered and gutted houses and blasted and blackened trees that the night had hidden stood out now gaunt and terrible in the pitiless light of dawn. Yet here and there some object had had the luck to escape—a white railway signal here, the end of a greenhouse there, white and fresh amid the wreckage. Never before in the history of warfare had destruction been so indiscriminate and so universal. And shining with the growing light of the east, three of the metallic giants stood about the pit, their cowls rotating as though they were surveying the desolation they had made.

It seemed to me that the pit had been enlarged, and ever and again puffs of vivid green vapour streamed up and out of it towards the brightening dawn—streamed up, whirled, broke, and vanished.

Beyond were the pillars of fire about Chobham. They became pillars of bloodshot smoke at the first touch of day.

The War of the Worlds: Chapter 11 Der Krieg der Welten: Kapitel 11 La guerra de los mundos: Capítulo 11 La guerra dei mondi: capitolo 11

Chapter Eleven At the Window

I have already said that my storms of emotion have a trick of exhausting themselves. Já disse que minhas tempestades de emoção costumam se exaurir. After a time I discovered that I was cold and wet, and with little pools of water about me on the stair carpet. Depois de um tempo, descobri que estava com frio e molhado, e com pequenas poças de água ao meu redor no tapete da escada. I got up almost mechanically, went into the dining room and drank some whiskey, and then I was moved to change my clothes. Levantei-me quase mecanicamente, fui para a sala de jantar e bebi um pouco de uísque, e então fui movido a trocar de roupa. [:]

After I had done that I went upstairs to my study, but why I did so I do not know. Depois de fazer isso, subi para o meu escritório, mas não sei por que o fiz. The window of my study looks over the trees and the railway towards Horsell Common. A janela do meu escritório dá para as árvores e a ferrovia em direção a Horsell Common. In the hurry of our departure this window had been left open. Na pressa de nossa partida, esta janela foi deixada aberta. The passage was dark, and, by contrast with the picture the window frame enclosed, the side of the room seemed impenetrably dark. A passagem estava escura e, em contraste com a imagem que a moldura da janela fechava, o lado da sala parecia impenetravelmente escuro. I stopped short in the doorway. Eu parei na porta.

The thunderstorm had passed. A tempestade havia passado. :] The towers of the Oriental College and the pine trees about it had gone, and very far away, lit by a vivid red glare, the common about the sand pits was visible. :] As torres do Oriental College e os pinheiros ao redor haviam desaparecido e, muito longe, iluminados por um clarão vermelho vivo, o comum sobre os poços de areia era visível. Across the light huge black shapes, grotesque and strange, moved busily to and fro. Através da luz, enormes formas pretas, grotescas e estranhas, moviam-se ativamente de um lado para outro. В свете огромные черные фигуры, гротескные и странные, деловито двигались взад и вперед.

It seemed indeed as if the whole country in that direction was on fire—a broad hillside set with minute tongues of flame, swaying and writhing with the gusts of the dying storm, and throwing a red reflection upon the cloud scud above. Na verdade, parecia que todo o país naquela direção estava em chamas - uma ampla encosta cheia de minúsculas línguas de fogo, balançando e se contorcendo com as rajadas da tempestade agonizante, e lançando um reflexo vermelho sobre a nuvem de fumaça acima. [:] Every now and then a haze of smoke from some nearer conflagration drove across the window and hid the Martian shapes. [:] De vez em quando, uma névoa de fumaça de algum incêndio mais próximo atravessava a janela e escondia as formas marcianas. I could not see what they were doing, nor the clear form of them, nor recognise the black objects they were busied upon. Eu não conseguia ver o que eles estavam fazendo, nem a forma clara deles, nem reconhecer os objetos pretos com os quais estavam ocupados. [:] Neither could I see the nearer fire, though the reflections of it danced on the wall and ceiling of the study. [:] Nem pude ver o fogo mais próximo, embora os reflexos dele dançassem na parede e no teto do escritório. A sharp, resinous tang of burning was in the air. Um cheiro forte e resinoso de queimado pairava no ar.

I closed the door noiselessly and crept towards the window. Fechei a porta silenciosamente e rastejei em direção à janela. As I did so, the view opened out until, on the one hand, it reached to the houses about Woking station, and on the other to the charred and blackened pine woods of Byfleet. Ao fazer isso, a vista se abriu até que, por um lado, alcançou as casas em torno da estação de Woking e, por outro lado, os pinheiros carbonizados e enegrecidos de Byfleet. There was a light down below the hill, on the railway, near the arch, and several of the houses along the Maybury road and the streets near the station were glowing ruins. Havia uma luz embaixo da colina, na ferrovia, perto do arco, e várias das casas ao longo da estrada Maybury e as ruas perto da estação eram ruínas brilhantes. [:] The light upon the railway puzzled me at first; there were a black heap and a vivid glare, and to the right of that a row of yellow oblongs. [:] A luz sobre a ferrovia me intrigou a princípio; havia uma pilha negra e um clarão vívido, e à direita disso uma fileira de retangulares amarelos. Then I perceived this was a wrecked train, the fore part smashed and on fire, the hinder carriages still upon the rails. Então percebi que se tratava de um trem destruído, a parte dianteira despedaçada e em chamas, os vagões traseiros ainda sobre os trilhos.

Between these three main centres of light—the houses, the train, and the burning county towards Chobham—stretched irregular patches of dark country, broken here and there by intervals of dimly glowing and smoking ground. Entre esses três principais centros de luz - as casas, o trem e o condado em chamas em direção a Chobham - estendiam-se porções irregulares de terreno escuro, interrompido aqui e ali por intervalos de terreno fumegante e com um brilho fraco. It was the strangest spectacle, that black expanse set with fire. Foi o espetáculo mais estranho, aquela extensão negra incendiada. It reminded me, more than anything else, of the Potteries at night. Isso me lembrava, mais do que qualquer outra coisa, as Olarias à noite. Больше всего на свете это напомнило мне ночные Гончарные мастерские. At first I could distinguish no people at all, though I peered intently for them. A princípio, não consegui distinguir nenhuma pessoa, embora olhasse atentamente para eles. Later I saw against the light of Woking station a number of black figures hurrying one after the other across the line. Mais tarde, vi, contra a luz da estação de Woking, várias figuras negras correndo uma após a outra pela linha.

And this was the little world in which I had been living securely for years, this fiery chaos!an> What had happened in the last seven hours I still did not know; nor did I know, though I was beginning to guess, the relation between these mechanical colossi and the sluggish lumps I had seen disgorged from the cylinder. E esse era o pequeno mundo em que vivi com segurança por anos, esse caos ígneo! E> O que acontecera nas últimas sete horas eu ainda não sabia; nem sabia, embora estivesse começando a adivinhar, a relação entre esses colossos mecânicos e os pedaços preguiçosos que eu vira despejando do cilindro. With a queer feeling of impersonal interest I turned my desk chair to the window, sat down, and stared at the blackened country, and particularly at the three gigantic black things that were going to and fro in the glare about the sand pits. Com um sentimento estranho de interesse impessoal, virei a cadeira da escrivaninha para a janela, sentei-me e olhei para a região enegrecida, especialmente para as três coisas pretas gigantescas que iam e vinham sob a claridade dos poços de areia. Со странным чувством безличного интереса я повернул стул к окну, сел и уставился на почерневшую местность и особенно на трех гигантских черных тварей, которые ходили взад и вперед в ярком свете песчаных карьеров.

They seemed amazingly busy. Eles pareciam incrivelmente ocupados. I began to ask myself what they could be. Comecei a me perguntar o que eles poderiam ser. Я начал спрашивать себя, что они могут быть. Were they intelligent mechanisms? Eles eram mecanismos inteligentes? Such a thing I felt was impossible. Senti que era impossível. Or did a Martian sit within each, ruling, directing, using, much as a man's brain sits and rules in his body? Ou um marciano se sentou dentro de cada um, governando, dirigindo, usando, tanto quanto o cérebro de um homem se senta e governa seu corpo? I began to compare the things to human machines, to ask myself for the first time in my life how an ironclad or a steam engine would seem to an intelligent lower animal. Comecei a comparar as coisas a máquinas humanas, a me perguntar pela primeira vez na vida como um couraçado ou uma máquina a vapor pareceria para um animal inferior inteligente. Я начал сравнивать вещи с человеческими машинами, впервые в жизни спрашивая себя, чем бронированный или паровой двигатель покажется разумному низшему животному.

The storm had left the sky clear, and over the smoke of the burning land the little fading pinpoint of Mars was dropping into the west, when a soldier came into my garden. Буря прояснила небо, и над дымом горящей земли маленькая угасающая точка Марса опускалась на запад, когда в мой сад вошел солдат. I heard a slight scraping at the fence, and rousing myself from the lethargy that had fallen upon me, I looked down and saw him dimly, clambering over the palings. At the sight of another human being my torpor passed, and I leaned out of the window eagerly.

“Hist!” said I, in a whisper.

He stopped astride of the fence in doubt. Он остановился верхом на заборе в сомнении. Then he came over and across the lawn to the corner of the house. Então ele se aproximou e atravessou o gramado até o canto da casa. [:] He bent down and stepped softly. [:] Ele se abaixou e pisou suavemente.

“Who's there?” he said, also whispering, standing under the window and peering up. "Quem está aí?" ele disse, também sussurrando, parado sob a janela e olhando para cima. “Where are you going?” I asked.>[:] “God knows.” [:]

“Are you trying to hide?” [:]

“That's it.” “Come into the house,” I said.

I went down, unfastened the door, and let him in, and locked the door again. Desci, abri a porta, deixei-o entrar e tranquei a porta novamente. I could not see his face. Não pude ver seu rosto. He was hatless, and his coat was unbuttoned. Ele estava sem chapéu e seu casaco estava desabotoado.

">“My God!” he said, as I drew him in. ">“ Meu Deus! ” ele disse, enquanto eu o atraía. [:]

“What has happened?” I asked.

“What hasn't?” In the obscurity I could see he made a gesture of despair. "O que não foi?" Na obscuridade, pude ver que ele fez um gesto de desespero. “They wiped us out—simply wiped us out,” he repeated again and again. “Eles nos exterminaram - simplesmente nos exterminaram”, ele repetiu várias vezes.

He followed me, almost mechanically, into the dining room. Ele me seguiu, quase mecanicamente, até a sala de jantar.

“Take some whiskey,” I said, pouring out a stiff dose. “Tome um pouco de uísque,” eu disse, despejando uma dose forte.

He drank it.<span class="mceAudioTime">[:] Then abruptly he sat down before the table, put his head on his arms, and began to sob and weep like a little boy, in a perfect passion of emotion, while I, with a curious forgetfulness of my own recent despair, stood beside him, wondering. Ele bebeu. [:] Então, abruptamente, ele se sentou diante da mesa, colocou a cabeça nos braços e começou a soluçar e chorar como um menino, em uma perfeita paixão de emoção, enquanto eu, com um curioso esquecimento de meu próprio desespero recente, ficou ao lado dele, imaginando. It was a long time before he could steady his nerves to answer my questions, and then he answered perplexingly and brokenly. Demorou muito até que ele pudesse acalmar os nervos para responder às minhas perguntas, e então ele respondeu de forma perplexa e entrecortada. He was a driver in the artillery, and had only come into action about seven. Ele era um motorista da artilharia e só entrou em ação por volta das sete. At that time firing was going on across the common, and it was said the first party of Martians were crawling slowly towards their second cylinder under cover of a metal shield. Naquela época, disparavam contra o campo comum e dizia-se que o primeiro grupo de marcianos se arrastava lentamente em direção ao segundo cilindro, coberto por um escudo de metal.

[:]r="Type the lesson text here...">Later this shield staggered up on tripod legs and became the first of the fighting-machines I had seen. The gun he drove had been unlimbered near Horsell, in order to command the sand pits, and its arrival it was that had precipitated the action. Орудие, которым он управлял, было снято с передка возле Хорселла, чтобы контролировать песчаные карьеры, и именно его появление ускорило действие. As the limber gunners went to the rear, his horse trod in a rabbit hole and came down, throwing him into a depression of the ground. Когда передние артиллеристы пошли в тыл, его лошадь наступила на кроличью нору и упала, швырнув его в углубление земли. At the same moment the gun exploded behind him, the ammunition blew up, there was fire all about him, and he found himself lying under a heap of charred dead men and dead horses. No mesmo momento, a arma explodiu atrás dele, a munição explodiu, havia fogo por toda parte e ele se viu deitado sob uma pilha de homens e cavalos mortos carbonizados.

“I lay still,” he said, “scared out of my wits, with the fore quarter of a horse atop of me. “Eu fiquei quieto”, disse ele, “morrendo de medo, com a parte dianteira de um cavalo em cima de mim. We'd been wiped out. Nós tínhamos sido dizimados. And the smell—good God! Like burnt meat! Como carne queimada! I was hurt across the back by the fall of the horse, and there I had to lie until I felt better. Fui ferido nas costas pela queda do cavalo e tive de ficar deitado até me sentir melhor. Just like parade it had been a minute before—then stumble, bang, swish!” Exatamente como no desfile um minuto antes - então tropece, bang, swish! " Прямо как парад, который был за минуту до этого — споткнись, бац, свист!

“Wiped out!” he said. "Apagado!" ele disse.

He had hid under the dead horse for a long time, peeping out furtively across the common. Ele havia se escondido sob o cavalo morto por um longo tempo, espiando furtivamente através do terreno comum. The Cardigan men had tried a rush, in skirmishing order, at the pit, simply to be swept out of existence. Os homens do Cardigan haviam tentado uma corrida, em ordem de escaramuça, no fosso, simplesmente para serem varridos para fora da existência. [:] Then the monster had risen to its feet and had begun to walk leisurely to and fro across the common among the few fugitives, with its headlike hood turning about exactly like the head of a cowled human being. [:] Затем чудовище встало на ноги и начало неторопливо ходить взад и вперед по пустырю среди нескольких беглецов, с головоподобным капюшоном, вращающимся точно так же, как голова человека в капюшоне. A kind of arm carried a complicated metallic case, about which green flashes scintillated, and out of the funnel of this there smoked the Heat-Ray. Uma espécie de braço carregava uma caixa metálica complicada, sobre a qual cintilavam flashes verdes, e do funil deste fumegava o Raio de Calor. Что-то вроде руки держало сложный металлический футляр, вокруг которого мерцали зеленые вспышки, а из воронки этого дымился Тепловой Луч.

In a few minutes there was, so far as the soldier could see, not a living thing left upon the common, and every bush and tree upon it that was not already a blackened skeleton was burning. Em poucos minutos não havia, pelo que o soldado podia ver, nenhum ser vivo sobrando no campo, e cada arbusto e árvore nele que não fosse um esqueleto enegrecido estava queimando. The hussars had been on the road beyond the curvature of the ground, and he saw nothing of them. Os hussardos estavam na estrada além da curvatura do solo e ele não os viu. He heard the Martians rattle for a time and then become still. Ele ouviu os marcianos chacoalharem por um tempo e depois ficarem imóveis. The giant saved Woking station and its cluster of houses until the last; then in a moment the Heat-Ray was brought to bear, and the town became a heap of fiery ruins. O gigante salvou a estação Woking e seu aglomerado de casas até o fim; então, em um momento, o Raio de Calor foi acionado, e a cidade se tornou um monte de ruínas de fogo. Гигант спасал станцию Уокинг и ее группу домов до последнего; затем в мгновение ока пустили в ход Тепловой Луч, и город превратился в груду огненных руин. Then the Thing shut off the Heat-Ray, and turning its back upon the artilleryman, began to waddle away towards the smouldering pine woods that sheltered the second cylinder. Então o Coisa desligou o Raio de Calor e, virando as costas para o artilheiro, começou a gingar em direção ao bosque de pinheiros fumegante que abrigava o segundo cilindro. Затем Существо выключило «Тепловой луч» и, повернувшись спиной к артиллеристу, побрело к дымящимся сосновым лесам, укрывавшим второй цилиндр. As it did so a second glittering Titan built itself up out of the pit. Ao fazê-lo, um segundo Titã cintilante se ergueu do poço. При этом из ямы вырос второй сверкающий Титан.

The second monster followed the first, and at that the artilleryman began to crawl very cautiously across the hot heather ash towards Horsell. O segundo monstro seguiu o primeiro e, com isso, o artilheiro começou a rastejar com muito cuidado pelas cinzas de urze quente em direção a Horsell. Второе чудовище последовало за первым, и тут артиллерист начал очень осторожно ползти по раскаленной вересковой золе к Хорселлу. He managed to get alive into the ditch by the side of the road, and so escaped to Woking. Ele conseguiu entrar com vida na vala ao lado da estrada e, assim, escapou para Woking. There his story became ejaculatory. Lá sua história tornou-se ejaculatória. Там его рассказ стал восторженным. The place was impassable. O lugar estava intransitável. It seems there were a few people alive there, frantic for the most part and many burned and scalded. Parece que havia algumas pessoas vivas lá, frenéticas na maior parte e muitas queimadas e escaldadas. He was turned aside by the fire, and hid among some almost scorching heaps of broken wall as one of the Martian giants returned. Ele foi desviado pelo fogo e se escondeu entre alguns montes de parede quebrada quase escaldantes enquanto um dos gigantes marcianos retornava. Он был отброшен огнем и спрятался среди почти раскаленных груд разбитых стен, когда вернулся один из марсианских гигантов. He saw this one pursue a man, catch him up in one of its steely tentacles, and knock his head against the trunk of a pine tree. Ele viu este perseguir um homem, pegá-lo com um de seus tentáculos de aço e bater sua cabeça contra o tronco de um pinheiro. Он видел, как этот преследовал человека, поймал его одним из своих стальных щупалец и ударил его головой о ствол сосны. At last, after nightfall, the artilleryman made a rush for it and got over the railway embankment. Por fim, após o cair da noite, o artilheiro correu para lá e saltou o dique da ferrovia.

Since then he had been skulking along towards Maybury, in the hope of getting out of danger Londonward. Desde então, ele vinha se esgueirando em direção a Maybury, na esperança de escapar do perigo em direção a Londres. С тех пор он крался к Мэйбери, надеясь выбраться из опасности в сторону Лондона. People were hiding in trenches and cellars, and many of the survivors had made off towards Woking village and Send. As pessoas estavam se escondendo em trincheiras e porões, e muitos dos sobreviventes fugiram em direção à aldeia de Woking e Send. He had been consumed with thirst until he found one of the water mains near the railway arch smashed, and the water bubbling out like a spring upon the road. Ele tinha sido consumido pela sede até que encontrou uma das adutoras perto do arco da ferrovia quebrada, e a água borbulhando como uma nascente na estrada.

That was the story I got from him, bit by bit. Essa foi a história que aprendi com ele, pouco a pouco. He grew calmer telling me and trying to make me see the things he had seen. Ele ficou mais calmo me dizendo e tentando me fazer ver as coisas que ele tinha visto. He had eaten no food since midday, he told me early in his narrative, and I found some mutton and bread in the pantry and brought it into the room. Ele não comia nada desde o meio-dia, ele me disse no início de sua narrativa, e eu encontrei um pouco de carneiro e pão na despensa e levei para o quarto. We lit no lamp for fear of attracting the Martians, and ever and again our hands would touch upon bread or meat. Não acendíamos nenhuma lâmpada por medo de atrair os marcianos, e sempre e sempre nossas mãos tocavam pão ou carne. As he talked, things about us came darkly out of the darkness, and the trampled bushes and broken rose trees outside the window grew distinct. Enquanto ele falava, coisas sobre nós surgiam sombriamente da escuridão, e os arbustos pisoteados e as roseiras quebradas do lado de fora da janela tornaram-se distintos. It would seem that a number of men or animals had rushed across the lawn. Parece que vários homens ou animais correram pelo gramado. I began to see his face, blackened and haggard, as no doubt mine was also. Comecei a ver seu rosto, enegrecido e abatido, como sem dúvida o meu também estava.

When we had finished eating we went softly upstairs to my study, and I looked again out of the open window. Quando terminamos de comer, subimos suavemente para o meu escritório, e olhei novamente pela janela aberta. In one night the valley had become a valley of ashes. Em uma noite, o vale se tornou um vale de cinzas. The fires had dwindled now. Os incêndios haviam diminuído agora. Where flames had been there were now streamers of smoke; but the countless ruins of shattered and gutted houses and blasted and blackened trees that the night had hidden stood out now gaunt and terrible in the pitiless light of dawn. Onde antes havia chamas, agora havia nuvens de fumaça; mas as incontáveis ruínas de casas destruídas e destruídas e árvores destruídas e enegrecidas que a noite havia escondido se destacavam agora magras e terríveis na luz impiedosa do amanhecer. Yet here and there some object had had the luck to escape—a white railway signal here, the end of a greenhouse there, white and fresh amid the wreckage. No entanto, aqui e ali algum objeto teve a sorte de escapar - um sinal de ferrovia branco aqui, o fim de uma estufa ali, branco e fresco em meio aos destroços. Never before in the history of warfare had destruction been so indiscriminate and so universal. Nunca antes na história da guerra a destruição foi tão indiscriminada e tão universal. And shining with the growing light of the east, three of the metallic giants stood about the pit, their cowls rotating as though they were surveying the desolation they had made. E brilhando com a luz crescente do leste, três dos gigantes metálicos estavam ao redor da cova, seus capuzes girando como se estivessem inspecionando a desolação que eles haviam criado. И, сияя растущим светом востока, три металлических гиганта стояли вокруг ямы, их капюшоны вращались, как будто они осматривали созданное ими опустошение.

It seemed to me that the pit had been enlarged, and ever and again puffs of vivid green vapour streamed up and out of it towards the brightening dawn—streamed up, whirled, broke, and vanished. Pareceu-me que o fosso tinha sido alargado, e sempre e mais uma vez, jorros de vapor verde vívido fluíam para cima e para fora em direção ao amanhecer cada vez mais claro - fluíam, rodopiavam, quebravam e desapareciam.

Beyond were the pillars of fire about Chobham. Além estavam os pilares de fogo ao redor de Chobham. They became pillars of bloodshot smoke at the first touch of day. Eles se tornaram colunas de fumaça injetada de sangue ao primeiro toque do dia. С первым прикосновением дня они превратились в столбы налитого кровью дыма.