tion by several other massive stones, but with its
end protruding below the rest. So, without wasting any time, I leaped up
and caught hold of it with both hands, and then, adopting the tactics of
a gymnast, I began slowly working my way through the hole feet foremost,
like an acrobat going over a horizontal bar. This feat, which required
great muscular strength, flexibility, and tenaciousness, was the very
hardest physical performance I ever accomplished, for, besides being
unable to get a firm grip on it, I found, to my dismay, that the great
pillar I clung to was insecure in its position, and threatened to fall
and crush me beneath its weight. And as inch by inch I slowly and
persistently worked my way upward and outward, so inch by inch did it
slowly, but surely, work its way downward. Passing my feet and legs
beyond the brink of the opening, I doubled myself up in such a way that
the lower half of my body rested upon a sort of a level platform, and,
with head downward, I pushed my way up until I found myself kneeling
upon the crust I had previously broken through, and which I subsequently
decided must have been a great pane of glass, covered by the coagulated
settlings of the air, which for centuries had been forming a solid
coating. I remained in a kneeling position for several moments, catching
my breath and regaining strength. I feared to move, lest the thin layer
upon which I rested would once more give way beneath me. It appeared to
waver, as did everything else around me. After a short rest, I carefully
arose to a standing position, and then observed that I was located in a
sort of a pit, surrounded by rocks of various shapes and sizes. As I
cautiously climbed upward, each one of them appeared to tremble at my
very touch, until just as I reached the topmost point the whole mass
apparently gave way at once, I lost my balance and fell forward, there
was a terrible crash, and after that I became dizzy and confused.

The most peculiar and disconnected sensations then passed through my
mind. First I thought there was a great hole in the side of my head,
which I tried to fill with small stones. Then my head became full of
holes, and finally I fancied that I possessed a half dozen heads and all
of them were cut and bleeding. And then apparently all of these heads
were suddenly and mysteriously severed from my body, and floated away in
space like a lot of toy balloons. Following that, it felt as if every
bone in my bo