PROLOGUE

In the prologue of “At the Earth’s Core,” the narrator introduces his tale with a prelude of disbelief, recounting an interaction with a Fellow of the Royal Geological Society in London, where his experiences and story met profound skepticism. The narrator vividly describes the dismissal and incredulity he faced, which led to dashed hopes of recognition and honor within the scientific community. Despite the cold reception, the narrator insists on the truth of his account, underpinned by the sincerity and earnestness witnessed in his informant, whose story is so extraordinary yet compelling that it commands belief. This informant, discovered unexpectedly at the Sahara Desert’s edge, brought back a creature from an inner world, offering tangible proof of his incredible journey.

While hunting lion in the Sahara with a group of desert dwellers, the only white man in the party, the narrator encounters a man beside a goat-skin tent in an oasis, surrounded by date palms and near an Arab encampment. The stranger, elated at the sight of another white man, immediately inquires about the current year, revealing his long isolation and anticipation. This meeting sets the stage for a narrative that challenges the boundary between the credible and the incredible, between known science and the realms of unfathomable truth. The prologue, with its emphasis on the dramatic collision between conventional scientific wisdom and the fantastical truth of personal experience, promises a story that transcends ordinary belief through the sheer force of its extraordinary evidence and the conviction of its teller.