My uncle was a German, having married my mother's sister, an Englishwoman. Being very much attached to his fatherless nephew, he invited me to study under him in his home in the fatherland. This home was in a large town, and my uncle a professor of philosophy, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and many other ologies.
One day, after passing some hours in the laboratory—my uncle being absent at the time—I suddenly felt the necessity of renovating1 the tissues—i.e., I was hungry, and was about to rouse up our old French cook, when my uncle, Professor Von Hardwigg, suddenly opened the street door, and came rushing upstairs.
Now Professor Hardwigg, my worthy2 uncle, is by no means a bad sort of man; he is, however, choleric3 and original. To bear with him means to obey; and scarcely had his heavy feet resounded4 within our joint5 domicile than he shouted for me to attend upon him.
I hastened to obey, but before I could reach his room, jumping three steps at a time, he was stamping his right foot upon the landing.
Now to tell the truth, at that moment I was far more interested in the question as to what was to constitute our dinner than in any problem of science; to me soup was more interesting than soda8, an omelette more tempting9 than arithmetic, and an artichoke of ten times more value than any amount of asbestos.
But my uncle was not a man to be kept waiting; so adjourning10 therefore all minor11 questions, I presented myself before him.
He was a very learned man. Now most persons in this category supply themselves with information, as peddlers do with goods, for the benefit of others, and lay up stores in order to diffuse12 them abroad for the benefit of society in general. Not so my excellent uncle, Professor Hardwigg; he studied, he consumed the midnight oil, he pored over heavy tomes, and digested huge quartos and folios in order to keep the knowledge acquired to himself.
There was a reason, and it may be regarded as a good one, why my uncle objected to display his learning more than was absolutely necessary: he stammered13; and when intent upon explaining the phenomena14 of the heavens, was apt to find himself at fault, and allude15 in such a vague way to sun, moon, and stars that few were able to comprehend his meaning. To tell the honest truth, when the right word would not come, it was generally replaced by a very powerful adjective.
In connection with the sciences there are many almost unpronounceable names—names very much resembling those of Welsh villages; and my uncle being very fond of using them, his habit of stammering16 was not thereby17 improved. In fact, there were periods in his discourse18 when he would finally give up and swallow his discomfiture—in a glass of water.
As I said, my uncle, Professor Hardwigg, was a very learned man; and I now add a most kind relative. I was bound to him by the double ties of affection and interest. I took deep interest in all his doings, and hoped some day to be almost as learned myself. It was a rare thing for me to be absent from his lectures. Like him, I preferred mineralogy to all the other sciences. My anxiety was to gain real knowledge of the earth. Geology and mineralogy were to us the sole objects of life, and in connection with these studies many a fair specimen19 of stone, chalk, or metal did we break with our hammers.
Steel rods, loadstones, glass pipes, and bottles of various acids were oftener before us than our meals. My uncle Hardwigg was once known to classify six hundred different geological specimens20 by their weight, hardness, fusibility, sound, taste, and smell.
He corresponded with all the great, learned, and scientific men of the age. I was, therefore, in constant communication with, at all events the letters of, Sir Humphry Davy, Captain Franklin, and other great men.
But before I state the subject on which my uncle wished to confer with me, I must say a word about his personal appearance. Alas21! my readers will see a very different portrait of him at a future time, after he has gone through the fearful adventures yet to be related.
My uncle was fifty years old; tall, thin, and wiry. Large spectacles hid, to a certain extent, his vast, round, and goggle22 eyes, while his nose was irreverently compared to a thin file. So much indeed did it resemble that useful article, that a compass was said in his presence to have made considerable N (Nasal) deviation23.
The truth being told, however, the only article really attracted to my uncle's nose was tobacco.
Another peculiarity24 of his was, that he always stepped a yard at a time, clenched26 his fists as if he were going to hit you, and was, when in one of his peculiar25 humors, very far from a pleasant companion.
It is further necessary to observe that he lived in a very nice house, in that very nice street, the Konigstrasse at Hamburg. Though lying in the centre of a town, it was perfectly27 rural in its aspect—half wood, half bricks, with old-fashioned gables—one of the few old houses spared by the great fire of 1842.
When I say a nice house, I mean a handsome house—old, tottering28, and not exactly comfortable to English notions: a house a little off the perpendicular29 and inclined to fall into the neighboring canal; exactly the house for a wandering artist to depict30; all the more that you could scarcely see it for ivy31 and a magnificent old tree which grew over the door.
My uncle was rich; his house was his own property, while he had a considerable private income. To my notion the best part of his possessions was his god-daughter, Gretchen. And the old cook, the young lady, the Professor and I were the sole inhabitants.
I loved mineralogy, I loved geology. To me there was nothing like pebbles—and if my uncle had been in a little less of a fury, we should have been the happiest of families. To prove the excellent Hardwigg's impatience32, I solemnly declare that when the flowers in the drawing-room pots began to grow, he rose every morning at four o'clock to make them grow quicker by pulling the leaves!
Having described my uncle, I will now give an account of our interview.
He received me in his study; a perfect museum, containing every natural curiosity that can well be imagined—minerals, however, predominating. Every one was familiar to me, having been catalogued by my own hand. My uncle, apparently33 oblivious34 of the fact that he had summoned me to his presence, was absorbed in a book. He was particularly fond of early editions, tall copies, and unique works.
"Wonderful!" he cried, tapping his forehead. "Wonderful—wonderful!"
It was one of those yellow-leaved volumes now rarely found on stalls, and to me it appeared to possess but little value. My uncle, however, was in raptures35.
He admired its binding36, the clearness of its characters, the ease with which it opened in his hand, and repeated aloud, half a dozen times, that it was very, very old.
To my fancy he was making a great fuss about nothing, but it was not my province to say so. On the contrary, I professed37 considerable interest in the subject, and asked him what it was about.
"It is the Heims-Kringla of Snorre Tarleson," he said, "the celebrated38 Icelandic author of the twelfth century—it is a true and correct account of the Norwegian princes who reigned39 in Iceland."
My next question related to the language in which it was written. I hoped at all events it was translated into German. My uncle was indignant at the very thought, and declared he wouldn't give a penny for a translation. His delight was to have found the original work in the Icelandic tongue, which he declared to be one of the most magnificent and yet simple idioms in the world—while at the same time its grammatical combinations were the most varied40 known to students.
"The letters at all events," I said, "are rather difficult of comprehension."
"It is a Runic manuscript, the language of the original population of Iceland, invented by Odin himself," cried my uncle, angry at my ignorance.
I was about to venture upon some misplaced joke on the subject, when a small scrap43 of parchment fell out of the leaves. Like a hungry man snatching at a morsel44 of bread the Professor seized it. It was about five inches by three and was scrawled45 over in the most extraordinary fashion.
The lines shown here are an exact facsimile of what was written on the venerable piece of parchment—and have wonderful importance, as they induced my uncle to undertake the most wonderful series of adventures which ever fell to the lot of human beings.
My uncle looked keenly at the document for some moments and then declared that it was Runic. The letters were similar to those in the book, but then what did they mean? This was exactly what I wanted to know.
Now as I had a strong conviction that the Runic alphabet and dialect were simply an invention to mystify poor human nature, I was delighted to find that my uncle knew as much about the matter as I did—which was nothing. At all events the tremulous motion of his fingers made me think so.
"And yet," he muttered to himself, "it is old Icelandic, I am sure of it."
And my uncle ought to have known, for he was a perfect polyglot46 dictionary in himself. He did not pretend, like a certain learned pundit47, to speak the two thousand languages and four thousand idioms made use of in different parts of the globe, but he did know all the more important ones.
It is a matter of great doubt to me now, to what violent measures my uncle's impetuosity might have led him, had not the clock struck two, and our old French cook called out to let us know that dinner was on the table.
"Bother the dinner!" cried my uncle.
But as I was hungry, I sallied forth48 to the dining room, where I took up my usual quarters. Out of politeness I waited three minutes, but no sign of my uncle, the Professor. I was surprised. He was not usually so blind to the pleasure of a good dinner. It was the acme49 of German luxury—parsley soup, a ham omelette with sorrel trimmings, an oyster50 of veal51 stewed52 with prunes53, delicious fruit, and sparkling Moselle. For the sake of poring over this musty old piece of parchment, my uncle forbore to share our meal. To satisfy my conscience, I ate for both.
The old cook and housekeeper54 was nearly out of her mind. After taking so much trouble, to find her master not appear at dinner was to her a sad disappointment—which, as she occasionally watched the havoc55 I was making on the viands56, became also alarm. If my uncle were to come to table after all?
Suddenly, just as I had consumed the last apple and drunk the last glass of wine, a terrible voice was heard at no great distance. It was my uncle roaring for me to come to him. I made very nearly one leap of it—so loud, so fierce was his tone.
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1
renovating
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| 翻新，修复，整修( renovate的现在分词 ) | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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choleric
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| adj.易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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adjourning
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的现在分词 ) | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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diffuse
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| v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的 | |
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stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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stammering
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 ) | |
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17
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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21
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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goggle
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| n.瞪眼，转动眼珠，护目镜；v.瞪眼看，转眼珠 | |
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23
deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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24
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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28
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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30
depict
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| vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述 | |
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31
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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32
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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33
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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raptures
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| 极度欢喜( rapture的名词复数 ) | |
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36
binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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39
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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40
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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41
insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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42
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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43
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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44
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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45
scrawled
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| 乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
polyglot
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| adj.通晓数种语言的；n.通晓多种语言的人 | |
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47
pundit
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| n.博学之人；权威 | |
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48
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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49
acme
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| n.顶点，极点 | |
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50
oyster
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| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
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51
veal
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| n.小牛肉 | |
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52
stewed
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| adj.焦虑不安的，烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 )；煨；思考；担忧 | |
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53
prunes
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| n.西梅脯，西梅干( prune的名词复数 )v.修剪（树木等）( prune的第三人称单数 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分 | |
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54
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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55
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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56
viands
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| n.食品，食物 | |
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