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C1 · Advanced

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

by Jules Verne · complete original text

  • 45 chapters
  • 72,442 words
  • about 560 min
  • science fiction

An impatient German professor finds an old secret message in a book. It says that a hidden path leads down through a volcano in Iceland to the centre of the earth. With his nervous nephew and a calm Icelandic guide, he sets out to follow it.

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On the 24th of May, 1863, my uncle, Professor Liedenbrock, rushed into his little house, No. 19 Königstrasse, one of the oldest streets in the oldest portion of the city of Hamburg.

Martha must have concluded that she was very much behindhand, for the dinner had only just been put into the oven.

"Well, now," said I to myself, "if that most impatient of men is hungry, what a disturbance he will make!"

"M. Liedenbrock so soon!" cried poor Martha in great alarm, half opening the dining-room door.

"Yes, Martha, but very likely the dinner is not half cooked, for it is not two yet. Saint Michael's clock has only just struck half-past one."

"Then why has the master come home so soon?"

"Perhaps he will tell us that himself."

"Here he is, Monsieur Axel. I will run and hide myself while you argue with him."

And Martha retreated in safety into her own dominions.

Words you will learn

Common C1 words in this book. Tap one for its note and the sentence it comes from.

Chapters

  1. The Professor and His Family · 11 min
  2. A Mystery to Be Solved at Any Price · 10 min
  3. The Runic Writing Exercises the Professor · 15 min
  4. The Enemy to Be Starved Into Submission · 10 min
  5. Famine, Then Victory, Followed By Dismay · 13 min
  6. Exciting Discussions About an Unparalleled Enterprise · 19 min
  7. A Woman's Courage · 14 min
  8. Serious Preparations for Vertical Descent · 16 min
  9. Iceland! But What Next? · 16 min
  10. Interesting Conversations with Icelandic Savants · 11 min
  11. A Guide Found to the Centre of the Earth · 14 min
  12. A Barren Land · 13 min
  13. Hospitality Under the Arctic Circle · 13 min
  14. But Arctics Can Be Inhospitable, Too · 14 min
  15. Snæfell at Last · 14 min
  16. Boldly Down the Crater · 14 min
  17. Vertical Descent · 11 min
  18. The Wonders of Terrestrial Depths · 12 min
  19. Geological Studies in Situ · 11 min
  20. The First Signs of Distress · 11 min
  21. Compassion Fuses the Professor's Heart · 10 min
  22. Total Failure of Water · 7 min
  23. Water Discovered · 12 min
  24. Well Said, Old Mole! Canst Thou Work I' the Ground So Fast? · 9 min
  25. De Profundis · 10 min
  26. The Worst Peril of All · 6 min
  27. Lost in the Bowels of the Earth · 9 min
  28. The Rescue in the Whispering Gallery · 11 min
  29. Thalatta! Thalatta! · 8 min
  30. A New Mare Internum · 18 min
  31. Preparations for a Voyage of Discovery · 10 min
  32. Wonders of the Deep · 16 min
  33. A Battle of Monsters · 16 min
  34. The Great Geyser · 11 min
  35. An Electric Storm · 15 min
  36. Calm Philosophic Discussions · 13 min
  37. The Liedenbrock Museum of Geology · 11 min
  38. The Professor in His Chair Again · 14 min
  39. Forest Scenery Illuminated By Electricity · 16 min
  40. Preparations for Blasting a Passage to the Centre of the Earth · 12 min
  41. The Great Explosion and the Rush Down Below · 12 min
  42. Headlong Speed Upward Through the Horrors of Darkness · 13 min
  43. Shot Out of a Volcano at Last! · 15 min
  44. Sunny Lands in the Blue Mediterranean · 15 min
  45. All's Well That Ends Well · 9 min

Translations

Word notes in Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. More languages are being added.

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