By horse, by rail, by land, by sea, our journey starts
Two men incensed by one man's journey from the past
In Iceland, where the mountain stood with pride
They set off with their guide
To reach the mountain side

Roped as one for safety through the long descent
Into the crater of volcanic rock they went
Look up from our telescopic lair,
One star for us to share,
We continue on our prayer.

Crystals of opaque quartz, studded limpid tears,
Forming magic chandelies, lighting blistered galleries.

(Narration 1)
Admiring shades of lava which imperceptibly passed from reddish
brown to bright yellow, their way lit by crystals appearing as
lighted globes, they continued through the lava gallery, which
gently sloped until they reached the inter section of two roads.
Without hesitation Professor Lidenbrook chose the eastern tunnel.
And the journey continued through a succession of arches, appearing
before them as if they were the aisles of a gothic cathedral; the
walls were enhanced with impressions of Rock weeds and mosses from
the Silurian epoch.

(Narration 2)
The Eastern route they had taken had come to a dead end. With three
days'walk back to the fork to find Arne Saknussemm's original
route, they found their water rations were limited to one day.
Knowing their only change of finding water was on that route, they
set off for the fork and there finally they fell almost lifeless on
the third day. After sleep, they continued down the other tunnel in
their quest for water, and whilst searching on his own, Hans, the
guide, heard the sound of water thundering behind a granite wall,
and, with a pick axe, attacked the wall so as to allow a stream of
boiling water to enter and cool in their tunnel. Not only had they
found life in the water but they had also found a flowing guide to
the Centre of the Earth. They called the stream the Hansbach.


(Narration 3)

Replenished with the water the journey continued with haste, but somehow they find themselves separated. Professor Lidenbrook's nephew Axel found himself alone. His mind was seized with unparalleled fear and he saw memories of home flashing before him. His fiancee Grauben, his house and friends in Hamburg. He saw hallucinations of all the incidents of the journey. And, unworthy as he felt, he knelt in fervent prayer and then, in panic, e ran blindly through a tunnel only to reach a dead end, where he fell panting for breath. In the darkness he cried... voices...voices... voices... He heard voices. He heard his uncle's voice. Due to the shape of the gallery and the conducting power of the rocks, his uncle's voice was uncannily travelling around the walls. By means of their chronometers they discovered they were four miles apart, so Axel set about the task of rejoining the Professor and their guide.


Memories of a life on earth go flashing past,
Of home, of Grauben, friends of whom he's seen his last
Contemplating what his life's been worth,
While trapped beneath the earth,
And embryo at birth

Pain and fear destroy the beauty I have seen,
Of caverns, where no other man has ever been
Silurian epoch hosts me as my grave,
My final bow I wave,
A life too late to save

Crystals of opaque quartz, studded limpid tears,
Forming magic chandeliers, lighting blistered galleries.

(Narration 4)

Suddenly the ground disappeared from beneath his feet. He fell down a vertical shaft, his head hitting a sharp rock. He lost consciousness. On opening his eyes, he found himself with the Professor and the guide, and, looking around him, he saw an ocean stretching as far as the eye could see, a giant forest of mushrooms, a line of huge cliffs, and strange clouds hung overhead, as he lay on a deeply indented shore of golden sand strewn with shells. For a moment, he thought he was back on the surface of the earth, but soon realised that they had reached a world within a world.