Even if it were to close behind us, what would it matter? Let's go.

Ox: All right, then. To the center of the earth!

(Enter Master Volsius, disguised as Professor Lidenbrok.)

Volsius: To the center of the earth! Ah! Those are great and resounding words. And the hope of getting there, it seems to me, is a wonderful madness. Ah!

George: To whom have we the honor of speaking, sir?

Volsius: Professor Lidenbrok.

George: Professor Lidenbrok! You're the one who went....

Volsius: Several hundred leagues under the earth, and no more, because it would have been impossible to go farther. And you find me here in Naples, within sight of Vesuvius, because a lava eruption carried me back up to the surface of the earth. It looked like a beautiful country to me, and I've decided to stay here for a while.

Ox: So, then, professor, you declare that it's impossible to go beyond the limits where you yourself were forced to stop.

Volsius (laughing): Exactly, sir. Exactly.

George: Is it forbidden, then, to try to win glory by a route that others have not been able to follow?

Volsius: Ah! That route is already marked out, sir. Parallel to the crater of Vesuvius, whose smoke you can see from here, there is another crater, an extinct one, which will take you where I went, if you feel so inclined.

Ox: We have to go in farther than that.

Volsius (laughing): Farther! Ah!

George: And we will.

Volsius: I stopped, gentlemen, when it was impossible to go any farther.

Ox (sarcastically): When you didn't dare go any farther.

Volsius: You think so! Upon my word, gentlemen, you are very brave. Your bold attempt fills me with enthusiasm and makes me want to start the journey over again with you.

George: Please do.

Eva: Oh yes, come, sir, do come. I don't know why, but I find your presence reassuring.

Volsius (hesitating): Well, it's decided, then. You want to go....

Ox: To the center of the globe.

Volsius: I don't know why you risk your lives in such ventures, but I'll go with you and be your guide.

Ox: Come, then.

Eva: George, in heaven's name!

Volsius (aside to Eva): Let him go, miss. There are limits at which they will be forced to acknowledge human frailty, and they will not go beyond them. Come, my child, come.

(Exit all.)

The stage represents an immense crypt, with depressions and openings on all sides, as far as the eye can see. Stalactites hang everywhere. Negotiable rocks, at the reap; make it possible to get down to the floor of these natural catacombs. George, Ox, Volsius, and Eva are standing on the rocks.

(Enter Tartelet and Valdemar)

Tartelet: Hurry along, young Valdemar.

Valdemar (appearing at the top of the rocks): Here I am! Here I am!

Tartelet: Damn! This road isn't good for a dancer's legs. (To Valdemar): Be very careful not to twist an ankle.

Valdemar: Don't worry.

Ox: Come on, George Hatteras, onward, ever onward!

George: I'm right behind you, doctor. This is the abyss. It draws me on, and I'll go down to the very bottom of it.

(They begin to descend.)

Volsius (to Eva): Don't be afraid, my child. This is not where the danger lies.

Eva: I'm not afraid for myself, but only for him.

Volsius: We are going to stop here for a bit.

George: Where are we?

Volsius: Why, at my home.

Ox: Indeed! This, I believe, is the farthest point reached by Master Lidenbrok.

Volsius: I might mention, if anyone is interested, that these caverns lie under central Europe, under France, and more precisely, at the point where we are standing now, under Paris.

Valdemar: Under Paris! Directly over my head is Paris, which I have visited with great affection, and the noise of that great city cannot be heard. (A few distant rumblings are heard.) Yes, it can! It sounds like a great rattling of carriages. We must be right under "accident corner."22

Eva (to Volsius): But what is this noise?

Volsius: It's a rumbling that occurs at intervals deep inside the earth.

Valdemar: It's an earthquake! Let's get away from here. (Exit)

Ox: Well, George Hatteras, what do you think of these immense spaces going on and on forever under oceans and continents, and containing cities and mountains? Did you expect to find a whole underground vegetation here, where the warm and humid environment turns the humblest of earth's plants into trees? Or this air, made luminous by pressure, which lights up the silent catacombs?

Volsius: Surely the contemplation of these wonders is enough to satisfy your ambitions for travel.

George: What would be the use of the new vital power that Dr. Ox has given our bodies if we were only going where others have gone before, where you yourself have gone? This is simply the extraordinary,23 not the impossible.

Ox (aside): Good, good!

(Valdemar utters a loud shout offstage)

Eva: What can that be?

Tartelet: It's Valdemar's voice.

(Enter Valdemar)

Valdemar (terrified): Ah! Here you are!

Tartelet: What happened?

Valdemar (showing him a stone): This stone.... Do you see this stone?

Tartelet: That's a funny-looking stone.

Valdemar: It's not an ordinary stone, so I'm keeping it. But another thing that's unusual is the force with which it was thrown at my back.

Tartelet: Thrown? By whom?

Valdemar: By whom? That's what I'd like to know. There must be people here. And feel how heavy it is for its size.

Volsius: Everything is heavy here, young man.

Valdemar: What do you mean, everything is heavy here?

Ox: Of course. It's the natural effect of gravity.

Valdemar: Gravity?

Volsius: And if we reached the center, even your wallet would become so heavy it would make a hole in your pocket.

Valdemar: My wallet? Mine? As heavy as that? Now that would be a surprise.

Ox: And that's not all. Even the acoustics are different in this place where the air is under enormous pressure.

George: You mean that noises and sounds take on a tremendous intensity here?

Tartelet: So they do! When young Valdemar shouted just now, it sounded like cattle bellowing.

Valdemar: Cattle bellowing!

Tartelet: Well then, the violin I use for my dancing lessons would have a completely different tone here.

Volsius: Try it.

Tartelet: Right away.