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The War of the Worlds, The War of the Worlds: Chapter 8

The War of the Worlds: Chapter 8

Chapter Eight Friday Night

The most extraordinary thing to my mind, of all the strange and wonderful things that happened upon that Friday, was the dovetailing of the commonplace habits of our social order with the first beginnings of the series of events that was to topple that social order headlong. If on Friday night you had taken a pair of compasses and drawn a circle with a radius of five miles round the Woking sand pits, I doubt if you would have had one human being outside it, unless it were some relation of Stent or of the three or four cyclists or London people lying dead on the common, whose emotions or habits were at all affected by the new-comers. Many people had heard of the cylinder, of course, and talked about it in their leisure, but it certainly did not make the sensation that an ultimatum to Germany would have done.

In London that night poor Henderson's telegram describing the gradual unscrewing of the shot was judged to be a canard, and his evening paper, after wiring for authentication from him and receiving no reply—the man was killed—decided not to print a special edition.

Even within the five-mile circle the great majority of people were inert. I have already described the behaviour of the men and women to whom I spoke. All over the district people were dining and supping; working men were gardening after the labours of the day, children were being put to bed, young people were wandering through the lanes love-making, students sat over their books.

Maybe there was a murmur in the village streets, a novel and dominant topic in the public-houses, and here and there a messenger, or even an eye-witness of the later occurrences, caused a whirl of excitement, a shouting, and a running to and fro; but for the most part the daily routine of working, eating, drinking, sleeping, went on as it had done for countless years—as though no planet Mars existed in the sky. Even at Woking station and Horsell and Chobham that was the case.

In Woking junction, until a late hour, trains were stopping and going on, others were shunting on the sidings, passengers were alighting and waiting, and everything was proceeding in the most ordinary way. A boy from the town, trenching on Smith's monopoly, was selling papers with the afternoon's news. The ringing impact of trucks, the sharp whistle of the engines from the junction, mingled with their shouts of “Men from Mars!” Excited men came into the station about nine o'clock with incredible tidings, and caused no more disturbance than drunkards might have done. People rattling Londonwards peered into the darkness outside the carriage windows, and saw only a rare, flickering, vanishing spark dance up from the direction of Horsell, a red glow and a thin veil of smoke driving across the stars, and thought that nothing more serious than a heath fire was happening. It was only round the edge of the common that any disturbance was perceptible. There were half a dozen villas burning on the Woking border. There were lights in all the houses on the common side of the three villages, and the people there kept awake till dawn.

A curious crowd lingered restlessly, people coming and going but the crowd remaining, both on the Chobham and Horsell bridges. One or two adventurous souls, it was afterwards found, went into the darkness and crawled quite near the Martians; but they never returned, for now and again a light-ray, like the beam of a warship's searchlight swept the common, and the Heat-Ray was ready to follow. Save for such, that big area of common was silent and desolate, and the charred bodies lay about on it all night under the stars, and all the next day. A noise of hammering from the pit was heard by many people.

So you have the state of things on Friday night. In the centre, sticking into the skin of our old planet Earth like a poisoned dart, was this cylinder. But the poison was scarcely working yet. Around it was a patch of silent common, smouldering in places, and with a few dark, dimly seen objects lying in contorted attitudes here and there. Here and there was a burning bush or tree. Beyond was a fringe of excitement, and farther than that fringe the inflammation had not crept as yet. In the rest of the world the stream of life still flowed as it had flowed for immemorial years. The fever of war that would presently clog vein and artery, deaden nerve and destroy brain, had still to develop.

All night long the Martians were hammering and stirring, sleepless, indefatigable, at work upon the machines they were making ready, and ever and again a puff of greenish-white smoke whirled up to the starlit sky.

About eleven a company of soldiers came through Horsell, and deployed along the edge of the common to form a cordon. Later a second company marched through Chobham to deploy on the north side of the common. Several officers from the Inkerman barracks had been on the common earlier in the day, and one, Major Eden, was reported to be missing. The colonel of the regiment came to the Chobham bridge and was busy questioning the crowd at midnight. The military authorities were certainly alive to the seriousness of the business. About eleven, the next morning's papers were able to say, a squadron of hussars, two Maxims, and about four hundred men of the Cardigan regiment started from Aldershot.

A few seconds after midnight the crowd in the Chertsey road, Woking, saw a star fall from heaven into the pine woods to the northwest. It had a greenish colour, and caused a silent brightness like summer lightning. This was the second cylinder.

The War of the Worlds: Chapter 8 Der Krieg der Welten: Kapitel 8 La guerra de los mundos: capítulo 8 La guerra dei mondi: capitolo 8 A Guerra dos Mundos: Capítulo 8 Dünyalar Savaşı: Bölüm 8

Chapter Eight Friday Night

The most extraordinary thing to my mind, of all the strange and wonderful things that happened upon that Friday, was the dovetailing of the commonplace habits of our social order with the first beginnings of the series of events that was to topple that social order headlong. A coisa mais extraordinária para mim, de todas as coisas estranhas e maravilhosas que aconteceram naquela sexta-feira, foi o encaixe dos hábitos corriqueiros de nossa ordem social com os primeiros começos da série de eventos que viriam a derrubar essa ordem social de cabeça. Самым необычным, на мой взгляд, из всех странных и чудесных вещей, происшедших в ту пятницу, было совпадение обычных привычек нашего общественного порядка с первыми зачатками ряда событий, которые должны были сломить этот общественный порядок. If on Friday night you had taken a pair of compasses and drawn a circle with a radius of five miles round the Woking sand pits, I doubt if you would have had one human being outside it, unless it were some relation of Stent or of the three or four cyclists or London people lying dead on the common, whose emotions or habits were at all affected by the new-comers. Se na sexta-feira à noite você tivesse pegado uma bússola e desenhado um círculo com um raio de cinco milhas ao redor dos poços de areia de Woking, eu duvido que você teria um ser humano fora dela, a menos que fosse algum parente de Stent ou do três ou quatro ciclistas ou londrinos mortos no parque, cujas emoções ou hábitos foram afetados pelos recém-chegados. Если бы в пятницу вечером вы взяли циркуль и начертили круг радиусом в пять миль вокруг песчаных карьеров Уокинга, я сомневаюсь, что за его пределами находился бы хоть один человек, если бы это не был кто-нибудь из родственников Стента или трое или четверо велосипедистов или лондонцы, лежащие мертвыми на пустыре, на чьи эмоции или привычки ничуть не повлияли вновь прибывшие. Many people had heard of the cylinder, of course, and talked about it in their leisure, but it certainly did not make the sensation that an ultimatum to Germany would have done. Muitas pessoas tinham ouvido falar do cilindro, é claro, e falaram sobre ele em seu lazer, mas certamente não causou a sensação de que um ultimato à Alemanha teria feito. Многие, конечно, слышали о цилиндре и говорили о нем на досуге, но это, конечно, не произвело той сенсации, которую произвел бы ультиматум Германии.

In London that night poor Henderson’s telegram describing the gradual unscrewing of the shot was judged to be a canard, and his evening paper, after wiring for authentication from him and receiving no reply—the man was killed—decided not to print a special edition. Em Londres, naquela noite, o telegrama do pobre Henderson descrevendo o desenroscamento gradual do tiro foi considerado um canardo, e seu jornal vespertino, depois de enviar a autenticação dele e não receber resposta - o homem foi morto - decidiu não imprimir uma edição especial. Той ночью в Лондоне телеграмма бедняги Хендерсона, описывающая постепенное отвинчивание пули, была сочтена уткой, а его вечерняя газета, получив от него телеграмму для подтверждения подлинности и не получив ответа — человек был убит — решила не печатать специальный выпуск.

Even within the five-mile circle the great majority of people were inert. Mesmo dentro do círculo de cinco milhas, a grande maioria das pessoas estava inerte. Даже в пределах пятимильного круга подавляющее большинство людей были инертны. I have already described the behaviour of the men and women to whom I spoke. Já descrevi o comportamento dos homens e mulheres com quem conversei. All over the district people were dining and supping; working men were gardening after the labours of the day, children were being put to bed, young people were wandering through the lanes love-making, students sat over their books. Em todo o distrito, as pessoas jantavam e jantavam; os trabalhadores faziam jardinagem depois do trabalho do dia, as crianças eram postas na cama, os jovens vagavam pelas vielas fazendo amor, os alunos sentavam-se diante de seus livros.

Maybe there was a murmur in the village streets, a novel and dominant topic in the public-houses, and here and there a messenger, or even an eye-witness of the later occurrences, caused a whirl of excitement, a shouting, and a running to and fro; but for the most part the daily routine of working, eating, drinking, sleeping, went on as it had done for countless years—as though no planet Mars existed in the sky. Talvez houvesse um murmúrio nas ruas da aldeia, um assunto novo e dominante nas tabernas, e aqui e ali um mensageiro, ou mesmo uma testemunha ocular das ocorrências posteriores, causou um turbilhão de excitação, uma gritaria e um correndo para lá e para cá; mas, na maior parte, a rotina diária de trabalhar, comer, beber, dormir continuava como havia acontecido por incontáveis anos - como se nenhum planeta Marte existisse no céu. Может быть, на деревенских улицах был ропот, в кабаках новая и господствующая тема, а кое-где посыльный или даже очевидец более поздних происшествий вызывал вихрь волнения, крик и шум. бегает туда-сюда; но по большей части ежедневная рутина работы, еды, питья, сна продолжалась так же, как и в течение бесчисленных лет, как будто на небе не существовало планеты Марс. Even at Woking station and Horsell and Chobham that was the case. Так было даже на станции Уокинг, в Хорселле и Чобэме.

In Woking junction, until a late hour, trains were stopping and going on, others were shunting on the sidings, passengers were alighting and waiting, and everything was proceeding in the most ordinary way. A boy from the town, trenching on Smith’s monopoly, was selling papers with the afternoon’s news. Um menino da cidade, explorando o monopólio de Smith, vendia jornais com as notícias da tarde. Мальчик из города, воспользовавшись монополией Смита, продавал газеты с дневными новостями. The ringing impact of trucks, the sharp whistle of the engines from the junction, mingled with their shouts of “Men from Mars!” Excited men came into the station about nine o’clock with incredible tidings, and caused no more disturbance than drunkards might have done. Звонкий удар грузовиков, резкий свист моторов с развязки смешивались с их криками «Люди с Марса!» Возбужденные люди пришли на станцию около девяти часов с невероятными новостями и вызвали не больше беспокойства, чем пьяницы. People rattling Londonwards peered into the darkness outside the carriage windows, and saw only a rare, flickering, vanishing spark dance up from the direction of Horsell, a red glow and a thin veil of smoke driving across the stars, and thought that nothing more serious than a heath fire was happening. It was only round the edge of the common that any disturbance was perceptible. Era apenas no limite do comum que qualquer perturbação era perceptível. Лишь на краю поля можно было заметить какое-либо беспокойство. There were half a dozen villas burning on the Woking border. На границе с Уокингом горело полдюжины вилл. There were lights in all the houses on the common side of the three villages, and the people there kept awake till dawn.

A curious crowd lingered restlessly, people coming and going but the crowd remaining, both on the Chobham and Horsell bridges. Uma multidão curiosa permaneceu inquieta, pessoas indo e vindo, mas a multidão permanecendo, tanto nas pontes Chobham quanto nas pontes Horsell. One or two adventurous souls, it was afterwards found, went into the darkness and crawled quite near the Martians; but they never returned, for now and again a light-ray, like the beam of a warship’s searchlight swept the common, and the Heat-Ray was ready to follow. Позже выяснилось, что одна или две предприимчивые души ушли в темноту и подползли совсем близко к марсианам; но они так и не вернулись, потому что время от времени луч света, словно луч прожектора военного корабля, пронзал равнину, и «Тепловой луч» был готов следовать за ним. Save for such, that big area of common was silent and desolate, and the charred bodies lay about on it all night under the stars, and all the next day. Exceto por isso, aquela grande área comum estava silenciosa e desolada, e os corpos carbonizados ficaram ali a noite toda sob as estrelas e durante todo o dia seguinte. A noise of hammering from the pit was heard by many people. Um barulho de marteladas vindo do poço foi ouvido por muitas pessoas.

So you have the state of things on Friday night. Então você tem o estado das coisas na sexta à noite. In the centre, sticking into the skin of our old planet Earth like a poisoned dart, was this cylinder. No centro, cravado na pele de nosso velho planeta Terra como um dardo envenenado, estava este cilindro. But the poison was scarcely working yet. Mas o veneno mal estava funcionando ainda. Around it was a patch of silent common, smouldering in places, and with a few dark, dimly seen objects lying in contorted attitudes here and there. Ao redor havia um pedaço de terra comum silenciosa, fumegando em alguns lugares, e com alguns objetos escuros, vagamente vistos, em atitudes contorcidas aqui e ali. Вокруг него было пятно безмолвной пустыни, местами тлевшей, и с несколькими темными, смутно видимыми предметами, лежащими то тут, то там в скрюченных позах. Here and there was a burning bush or tree. Aqui e ali havia uma sarça ou árvore ardente. Beyond was a fringe of excitement, and farther than that fringe the inflammation had not crept as yet. Mais além havia uma ponta de excitação e, além dessa borda, a inflamação ainda não havia se infiltrado. In the rest of the world the stream of life still flowed as it had flowed for immemorial years. No resto do mundo, o fluxo da vida ainda fluía como havia fluído por anos imemoriais. The fever of war that would presently clog vein and artery, deaden nerve and destroy brain, had still to develop. A febre da guerra que agora obstruiria veias e artérias, enfraqueceria os nervos e destruiria o cérebro, ainda tinha que se desenvolver.

All night long the Martians were hammering and stirring, sleepless, indefatigable, at work upon the machines they were making ready, and ever and again a puff of greenish-white smoke whirled up to the starlit sky. Durante toda a noite, os marcianos martelaram e se mexeram, insones, infatigáveis, trabalhando nas máquinas que preparavam, e uma e outra vez uma nuvem de fumaça branco-esverdeada subia para o céu estrelado.

About eleven a company of soldiers came through Horsell, and deployed along the edge of the common to form a cordon. Por volta das onze, uma companhia de soldados passou por Horsell e se posicionou ao longo da orla do terreno comum para formar um cordão. Later a second company marched through Chobham to deploy on the north side of the common. Mais tarde, uma segunda companhia marchou por Chobham para se posicionar no lado norte do terreno comum. Several officers from the Inkerman barracks had been on the common earlier in the day, and one, Major Eden, was reported to be missing. Vários oficiais do quartel Inkerman estiveram no comum no início do dia, e um, Major Eden, foi relatado como desaparecido. The colonel of the regiment came to the Chobham bridge and was busy questioning the crowd at midnight. O coronel do regimento chegou à ponte Chobham e estava ocupado questionando a multidão à meia-noite. The military authorities were certainly alive to the seriousness of the business. As autoridades militares certamente estavam atentas à seriedade do negócio. About eleven, the next morning’s papers were able to say, a squadron of hussars, two Maxims, and about four hundred men of the Cardigan regiment started from Aldershot.

A few seconds after midnight the crowd in the Chertsey road, Woking, saw a star fall from heaven into the pine woods to the northwest. Poucos segundos depois da meia-noite, a multidão na estrada Chertsey, Woking, viu uma estrela cair do céu na floresta de pinheiros a noroeste. It had a greenish colour, and caused a silent brightness like summer lightning. This was the second cylinder. Este foi o segundo cilindro.