Journey to the Center of the Earth
What if a secret message led you deep underground to a lost world of giant mushrooms and prehistoric creatures? This classic adventure has been adapted in modern English for learners at CEFR B2 · Lexile 1050L.
Jules Verne · Level: B2 · 44 Chapters
Read the English chapter; select your language in the interactive lesson.
- Chapter 1. MY UNCLE MAKES A GREAT DISCOVERY
Professor Hardwigg discovers an ancient Icelandic manuscript and a mysterious parchment inside, becoming obsessed with deciphering its cryptic runes.
Start learning - Chapter 2. THE MYSTERIOUS PARCHMENT
Professor Hardwigg discovers a cryptic Runic parchment and obsessively attempts to decipher it, identifying its author as the alchemist Arne Saknussemm.
Start learning - Chapter 3. AN ASTOUNDING DISCOVERY
Axel discovers the parchment's secret by reading it backwards, revealing directions to Earth's center, but hesitates to tell his obsessed uncle.
Start learning - Chapter 4. WE START ON THE JOURNEY
Professor Hardwigg convinces his skeptical nephew Henry to embark on a journey to the Earth's center via the extinct volcano Sneffels.
Start learning - Chapter 5. First Lessons in Climbing
The travelers journey from Hamburg to Copenhagen, where Professor Lidenbrock forces his nephew to climb a church steeple to overcome his fear of heights.
Start learning - Chapter 6. Our Voyage to Iceland
Professor Lidenbrock and Axel sail from Denmark to Iceland, arriving in Reykjavik after a rough voyage.
Start learning - Chapter 7. Conversation and Discovery
Professor Hardwigg learns about Arne Saknussemm's persecution and the volcano Sneffels, securing a guide for his expedition.
Start learning - Chapter 8. THE EIDER-DOWN HUNTER--OFF AT LAST
The narrator and his uncle hire a stoic eider-down hunter named Hans as their guide, then meticulously pack supplies for their upcoming journey.
Start learning - Chapter 9. OUR START--WE MEET WITH ADVENTURES BY THE WAY
The expedition begins its journey across Iceland, encountering desolate landscapes and a challenging fjord crossing by ferry.
Start learning - Chapter 10. TRAVELING IN ICELAND
The travelers stay with a large Icelandic family, then journey across a bleak, marshy landscape, encountering lepers and volcanic terrain before reaching Stapi.
Start learning - Chapter 11. WE REACH MOUNT SNEFFELS--THE "REYKIR"
The expedition arrives at Stapi, meets the Rector, and prepares to ascend Mount Sneffels, with Harry voicing fears about volcanic activity.
Start learning - Chapter 12. THE ASCENT OF MOUNT SNEFFELS
The expedition ascends Mount Sneffels, facing treacherous terrain, a dangerous sandstorm, and exhaustion before reaching the summit at midnight.
Start learning - Chapter 13. THE SHADOW OF SCARTARIS
The group descends into the crater, finds Saknussemm's marker, and waits for the shadow of Scartaris to reveal the correct shaft.
Start learning - Chapter 14. THE REAL JOURNEY COMMENCES
The trio begins their descent into the volcanic shaft, using a clever rope system to lower themselves and their supplies into the darkness.
Start learning - Chapter 15. WE CONTINUE OUR DESCENT
The explorers begin their horizontal journey through a lava tube, marveling at crystalline formations while calculating their depth and temperature.
Start learning - Chapter 16. THE EASTERN TUNNEL
The explorers choose the eastern tunnel, encountering changing rock formations and fossil evidence that suggests they are ascending.
Start learning - Chapter 17. DEEPER AND DEEPER--THE COAL MINE
The explorers descend through a coal mine, facing thirst and exhaustion, until they reach a dead end.
Start learning - Chapter 18. THE WRONG ROAD!
Exhausted and out of water, the explorers reach a junction. The Professor uses his last water to revive Harry and insists on continuing the journey.
Start learning - Chapter 19. THE WESTERN GALLERY--A NEW ROUTE
The explorers descend through a dazzling granite fissure, but Axel collapses from thirst, and Hans mysteriously departs deeper into the darkness.
Start learning - Chapter 20. WATER, WHERE IS IT? A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT
Hans returns with news of water, leading the group to a hidden underground torrent, which they access by breaking through a rock wall.
Start learning - Chapter 21. UNDER THE OCEAN
The explorers descend through a granite fissure, discovering they are now traveling under the ocean floor.
Start learning - Chapter 22. SUNDAY BELOW GROUND
The explorers rest in a vast cavern, calculating their depth and debating scientific theories about the Earth's interior.
Start learning - Chapter 23. ALONE
Axel becomes separated from his uncle and Hans in the tunnel, realizes he is lost, and discovers the guiding stream has vanished.
Start learning - Chapter 24. LOST!
The narrator, separated from his companions and lost in a dark tunnel, experiences despair and hallucinations before his lamp fails, plunging him into total darkness and madness.
Start learning - Chapter 25. THE WHISPERING GALLERY
Harry, lost and injured, hears distant voices through the rock and communicates with his uncle using acoustic properties of the cavern.
Start learning - Chapter 26. A RAPID RECOVERY
Harry awakens after his fall, recovering in a mysterious grotto with unexplained light and sea sounds, preparing to continue their journey.
Start learning - Chapter 27. THE CENTRAL SEA
The explorers discover a vast underground sea illuminated by electric light, then encounter a forest of giant mushrooms and prehistoric plants.
Start learning - Chapter 28. LAUNCHING THE RAFT
The explorers discover a vast underground sea with tides, then build a raft from fossilized wood to cross it.
Start learning - Chapter 29. ON THE WATERS--A RAFT VOYAGE
The explorers sail across the subterranean sea on a raft, discovering blind fossil fish and experiencing a vivid, feverish dream of prehistoric Earth.
Start learning - Chapter 30. TERRIFIC SAURIAN COMBAT
The raft is surrounded by prehistoric sea monsters, culminating in a titanic battle between an Ichthyosaurus and a Plesiosaurus.
Start learning - Chapter 31. THE SEA MONSTER
The travelers encounter a massive geyser they initially mistake for a sea monster, then land on the volcanic island to investigate.
Start learning - Chapter 32. THE BATTLE OF THE ELEMENTS
The raft is caught in a violent subterranean storm with thunder, lightning, and a terrifying ball of fire that magnetizes the iron on board.
Start learning - Chapter 33. OUR ROUTE REVERSED
After surviving a shipwreck, the explorers recover their supplies, but the compass reveals they have been carried back to their original shore.
Start learning - Chapter 34. A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY
The explorers discover they have returned to their starting point, then find a vast prehistoric bone field containing a human skull.
Start learning - Chapter 35. DISCOVERY UPON DISCOVERY
The explorers discover a perfectly preserved fossilized human body from the Quaternary period among the bones.
Start learning - Chapter 36. WHAT IS IT?
The explorers discover a vast forest of prehistoric plants and encounter a herd of living mastodons, then spot a gigantic humanoid figure herding them.
Start learning - Chapter 37. THE MYSTERIOUS DAGGER
Harry discovers a mysterious dagger on the shore, leading them to find Arne Saknussemm's initials carved in a tunnel.
Start learning - Chapter 38. NO OUTLET--BLASTING THE ROCK
The explorers discover Saknussemm's signature, find their path blocked by a rock, and decide to blast it with gunpowder.
Start learning - Chapter 39. THE EXPLOSION AND ITS RESULTS
The explosion opens a chasm that swallows the inland sea, sending the raft hurtling through a vast underground channel at terrifying speed.
Start learning - Chapter 40. THE APE GIGANS
Harry awakens from a nightmare about monstrous creatures to find the raft ascending rapidly in a narrow shaft.
Start learning - Chapter 41. HUNGER
The narrator recalls a childhood starvation ordeal while the group faces extreme heat and consumes their last food.
Start learning - Chapter 42. THE VOLCANIC SHAFT
The group ascends a volcanic shaft on a raft, experiencing extreme heat and tremors as they realize they are inside an active volcano.
Start learning - Chapter 43. DAYLIGHT AT LAST
The explorers emerge from a volcano onto a lush Mediterranean island, discovering they have traveled from Iceland to Stromboli.
Start learning - Chapter 44. THE JOURNEY ENDED
The travelers return home, celebrated as heroes, and finally solve the mystery of the erratic compass.
Start learning