[00:01.41]Chapter five, from a dream to a nightmare.
[00:07.21]Cheer up, sunny boy!
[00:09.71]Roared Professor Challenger, clapping his great paw on my shoulder.
[00:15.01]There are worse places to be trapped.
[00:17.51]It's a golden opportunity.
[00:21.31]Let us go out and explore this new world.
[00:27.61]He was like a child with a marvelous present he can't wait to unwrap.
[00:34.61]His enthusiasm was catching.
[00:38.21]I felt my terrors disappear.
[00:41.31]You're right, professor, I said eagerly.
[00:46.21]Let's start at once.
[00:50.81]Lord John, practical as ever, reminded us to take care.
[00:58.61]First, we must build a camp, he said.
[01:03.91]A safe place we can retreat to.
[01:09.31]His sharp eyes narrowed as he gazed out over the trees and bushes of the plateau.
[01:16.71]Who knows what's waiting out there?
[01:20.71]Will it be friend or foe?
[01:25.91]I felt a flicker of fear again, but my excitement took over.
[01:33.31]Whatever it is, I cried, we'll be ready for it!
[01:39.51]That's the spirit, young fellow, boomed Challenger.
[01:46.91]To make our camp safe, we built a fence of thorn bushes around it.
[01:53.81]Inside, we put our stores, some tins of meat, knives, blankets, and a few other things.
[02:08.61]I was stacking tins of meat when I noticed something strange on my leg.
[02:16.41]It was a lump, like a fat purple grape, stuck to the skin above my sock.
[02:26.31]What's that?
[02:28.91]I wondered.
[02:31.41]I bent down for a close to look.
[02:35.41]I tried to pick it off.
[02:39.31]Ugh!
[02:40.91]I cried, shuddering with horror.
[02:46.11]The thing had burst between my fingers, squirting blood all over the place.
[02:55.21]It was an enormous swollen insect.
[02:59.91]It had bitten through my skin and had been drinking my blood.
[03:07.41]My cries brought the professors running.
[03:11.81]Most interesting, said Summerly, kneeling down to examine what was left of the insect.
[03:19.71]Some kind of tick, I believe, and a giant species, unknown to science.
[03:30.11]Congratulations, Malone, boomed Professor Challenger sarcastically.
[03:37.81]We have just found our first new species on this plateau, and you've squashed it.
[03:49.51]Filthy creature!
[03:52.91]I cried, stomping it into the ground.
[03:57.91]Then the professor spoke to me in his most pompous tones.
[04:03.91]My dear young sir, he said, we men of science do not call a tick a filthy creature.
[04:16.41]We have wiser and cooler heads.
[04:21.71]To us, a tick is a beautiful work of nature, to be studied, not stamped on.
[04:34.51]He shook his head crossly.
[04:37.41]Now we'll have to find a new specimen.
[04:44.81]That'll be easy, Summerly told him, because one has just crawled down your shirt collar.
[04:54.71]Aah!
[04:55.81]Yelled Professor Challenger.
[04:59.31]He sprang into the air, bellowing like a wild bull, and tore at his shirt, ripping it open.
[05:09.01]Where is it?
[05:10.91]Where is the filthy creature?
[05:17.01]He danced about, slapping at his neck.
[05:21.41]Have I killed it yet?
[05:26.31]Perhaps Summerly and I should have helped him, but we couldn't because we were laughing too much.
[05:36.91]The next morning, we left our camp and set out into our new world.
[05:44.91]Lord John was in the lead, looking out for danger.
[05:52.81]We followed a little stream, so we didn't get lost.
[05:59.71]We pushed our way through chest high reeds, great ferns grew around us, higher than our heads.
[06:09.91]Summerly dropped to his knees in the boggy ground.
[06:15.71]His usually scornful voice was full of wonder.
[06:21.11]Look here!
[06:23.41]He cried.
[06:26.61]I saw an enormous three-toed claw track in the mud.
[06:33.81]A 10-year-old child could have sat in it.
[06:41.41]By George!
[06:44.51]Marvelled Lord John.
[06:47.91]That bird must be as tall as a tree, and the print is fresh, too.
[06:57.11]He looked around, gripping his rifle.
[07:01.41]It's not a bird, said Challenger, beaming with happiness.
[07:09.91]See, there's the print of its forepaw.
[07:14.61]It's a dinosaur.
[07:20.81]He went bursting through the reeds, following the tracks.
[07:27.11]As we caught up with him, he turned round and whispered, shh.
[07:37.01]All of us ducked down.
[07:41.11]I peeped out and saw the most extraordinary creatures.
[07:49.71]There were five of them in a clearing, two adults and three babies.
[07:58.51]Even the babies were the size of kangaroos.
[08:05.81]How shall I describe them?
[08:10.21]Like giant upright lizards, like dragons without wings?
[08:20.21]They had scaly skin that shimmered in the sun, and long, powerful tails.
[08:32.21]One swish of those tails could knock over a London bus.
[08:41.41]They bounded about on their huge back legs.
[08:49.41]But I didn't feel at all afraid.
[08:53.71]They seemed like gentle creatures, pulling down branches from trees and grazing on the leaves.
[09:04.51]Then something startled them.
[09:08.51]They bounded away.
[09:11.61]We saw their heads above the trees, and then they vanished.
[09:19.71]We all stood up.
[09:22.91]For a moment, none of us spoke.
[09:28.81]Then Professor Summerly whispered, magnificent.
[09:37.51]Iguanadons, I believe, said Challenger in an awe-stricken voice.
[09:47.01]I couldn't help grinning.
[09:50.61]The two famous professors, like little children, hugged each other with glee.
[09:59.41]I have never seen them smile so much.
[10:04.31]What will they say at home about this?
[10:09.11]I cried.
[10:11.11]Secretly, I thought, I'm going to be famous, the most famous reporter in London.
[10:23.21]They won't believe you, warned Challenger, just as they didn't believe me.
[10:35.11]I expect it will seem like a dream to us too when we get back to London, said Lord John.
[10:45.51]But we were about to go from a dream into a nightmare.
[10:54.71]We came out of the woods, still following that little stream, and were crossing a plane scattered with huge rocks.
[11:08.51]Suddenly, we heard a strange whistling noise.
[11:14.01]It was coming from somewhere ahead of us.
[11:17.71]Then a gabbling sound filled the air.
[11:23.21]Lord John was in front.
[11:26.11]We saw him run and peer over a line of rocks.
[11:33.81]What he saw seemed to fascinate him.
[11:41.41]Still staring down, he held up his hand, as if to say, be careful.
[11:49.81]We crept up and looked down too.
[11:54.81]What I saw almost froze me with shock.
[12:01.21]A huge shallow bowl in the rock lay below us.
[12:07.31]It was a nesting place for pterodactyls.
[12:13.81]Hundreds of them.
[12:17.31]At the bottom of the bowl was a scummy lake.
[12:23.11]Around it, adults sat on eggs, their wings wrapped around them like gray shawls, their fierce, snaky heads poking up.
[12:38.11]Young ones crawled about like giant bats.
[12:45.81]From this flapping, croaking mass rose a stink that almost choked us.
[12:55.31]Then Summerly, in his eagerness to see, knocked down a small rock.
[13:06.51]It rattled into their nesting place.
[13:11.11]Instantly, the creatures rose up into the air.
[13:16.61]Their great leathery wings spread wide as they soared over us.
[13:23.31]Make for the woods!
[13:26.51]Yelled Lord John, they're going to attack!
[13:34.31]We ran, but the pterodactyls dived low.
[13:40.71]Their long necks shot out, their crocodile teeth snapped.
[13:48.61]Ah!
[13:50.41]I felt a stab at the back of my neck.
[13:55.71]Summerly gave a cry.
[13:58.81]I saw blood streaming down his face.
[14:04.01]The air above us boiled with squawking beaks and clattering wings.
[14:12.41]Then Challenger fell as a wing struck him.
[14:18.21]We helped him up and staggered on.
[14:25.01]Now we were among the trees.
[14:29.01]We were safe.
[14:32.41]Looking up, we saw them turn away, soaring high into the sky until they seemed no bigger than bats.
[14:45.01]Then they were gone, back to their nesting place.
[14:53.31]Most interesting, said Professor Summerly as we limped, battered and bloody back to camp.
[15:06.41]There, another shock was waiting for us.
[15:12.41]Something or someone had broken into our camp.
[15:20.01]They had scattered all our stores about, torn open a tin and eaten the meat inside.
[15:31.01]I looked around fearfully.
[15:35.61]It seemed as if dark shadows were gathering round us.
[15:42.31]I shivered.
[15:44.71]Were there eyes in those shadows?
[15:49.61]I couldn't get over the feeling we were being watched.
[15:57.21]Lord John felt the same.
[16:00.71]He too gazed into the shadows.
[16:06.91]This is not good, he said, his thin face serious.
[16:15.81]Whoever lives here seems to know where to find us.