The weather, if, under the circumstances, we may use such an expression, is about to change very suddenly. The atmosphere is being gradually loaded with vapors2, which carry with them the electricity formed by the constant evaporation4 of the saline waters; the clouds are slowly but sensibly falling towards the sea, and are assuming a dark-olive texture5; the electric rays can scarcely pierce through the opaque6 curtain which has fallen like a drop scene before this wondrous7 theater, on the stage of which another and terrible drama is soon to be enacted8. This time it is no fight of animals; it is the fearful battle of the elements.
I feel that I am very peculiarly influenced, as all creatures are on land when a deluge9 is about to take place.
The cumuli, a perfectly10 oval kind of cloud, piled upon the south, presented a most awful and sinister11 appearance, with the pitiless aspect often seen before a storm. The air is extremely heavy; the sea is comparatively calm.
In the distance, the clouds have assumed the appearance of enormous balls of cotton, or rather pods, piled one above the other in picturesque12 confusion. By degrees, they appear to swell13 out, break, and gain in number what they lose in grandeur14; their heaviness is so great that they are unable to lift themselves from the horizon; but under the influence of the upper currents of air, they are gradually broken up, become much darker, and then present the appearance of one single layer of a formidable character; now and then a lighter15 cloud, still lit up from above, rebounds16 upon this grey carpet, and is lost in the opaque mass.
There can be no doubt that the entire atmosphere is saturated17 with electric fluid; I am myself wholly impregnated; my hairs literally18 stand on end as if under the influence of a galvanic battery. If one of my companions ventured to touch me, I think he would receive rather a violent and unpleasant shock.
About ten o'clock in the morning, the symptoms of the storm became more thorough and decisive; the wind appeared to soften19 down as if to take breath for a renewed attack; the vast funereal20 pall21 above us looked like a huge bag—like the cave of AEolus, in which the storm was collecting its forces for the attack.
I tried all I could not to believe in the menacing signs of the sky, and yet I could not avoid saying, as it were involuntarily:
"I believe we are going to have bad weather."
The Professor made me no answer. He was in a horrible, in a detestable humor—to see the ocean stretching interminably before his eyes. On hearing my words he simply shrugged22 his shoulders.
"We shall have a tremendous storm," I said again, pointing to the horizon. "These clouds are falling lower and lower upon the sea, as if to crush it."
A great silence prevailed. The wind wholly ceased. Nature assumed a dead calm, and ceased to breathe. Upon the mast, where I noticed a sort of slight ignis fatuus, the sail hangs in loose heavy folds. The raft is motionless in the midst of a dark heavy sea—without undulation, without motion. It is as still as glass. But as we are making no progress, what is the use of keeping up the sail, which may be the cause of our perdition if the tempest should suddenly strike us without warning.
"No—no," cried my uncle, in an exasperated24 tone, "a hundred times, no. Let the wind strike us and do its worst, let the storm sweep us away where it will—only let me see the glimmer25 of some coast—of some rocky cliffs, even if they dash our raft into a thousand pieces. No! keep up the sail—no matter what happens."
These words were scarcely uttered when the southern horizon underwent a sudden and violent change. The long accumulated vapors were resolved into water, and the air required to fill up the void produced became a wild and raging tempest.
It came from the most distant corners of the mighty cavern26. It raged from every point of the compass. It roared; it yelled; it shrieked27 with glee as of demons28 let loose. The darkness increased and became indeed darkness visible.
The raft rose and fell with the storm, and bounded over the waves. My uncle was cast headlong upon the deck. I with great difficulty dragged myself towards him. He was holding on with might and main to the end of a cable, and appeared to gaze with pleasure and delight at the spectacle of the unchained elements.
Hans never moved a muscle. His long hair driven hither and thither29 by the tempest and scattered30 wildly over his motionless face, gave him a most extraordinary appearance—for every single hair was illuminated31 by little sparkling sprigs.
His countenance32 presents the extraordinary appearance of an antediluvian33 man, a true contemporary of the Megatherium.
Still the mast holds good against the storm. The sail spreads out and fills like a soap bubble about to burst. The raft rushes on at a pace impossible to estimate, but still less swiftly than the body of water displaced beneath it, the rapidity of which may be seen by the lines which fly right and left in the wake.
"Let it alone!" said my uncle, more exasperated than ever.
"Nej," said Hans, gently shaking his head.
Nevertheless, the rain formed a roaring cataract35 before this horizon of which we were in search, and to which we were rushing like madmen.
But before this wilderness36 of waters reached us, the mighty veil of cloud was torn in twain; the sea began to foam37 wildly; and the electricity, produced by some vast and extraordinary chemical action in the upper layer of cloud, is brought into play. To the fearful claps of thunder are added dazzling flashes of lightning, such as I had never seen. The flashes crossed one another, hurled38 from every side; while the thunder came pealing39 like an echo. The mass of vapor3 becomes incandescent40; the hailstones which strike the metal of our boots and our weapons are actually luminous41; the waves as they rise appear to be fire-eating monsters, beneath which seethes42 an intense fire, their crests43 surmounted44 by combs of flame.
My eyes are dazzled, blinded by the intensity45 of light, my ears are deafened46 by the awful roar of the elements. I am compelled to hold onto the mast, which bends like a reed beneath the violence of the storm, to which none ever before seen by mariners47 bore any resemblance.
Here my traveling notes become very incomplete, loose and vague. I have only been able to make out one or two fugitive48 observations, jotted49 down in a mere50 mechanical way. But even their brevity, even their obscurity, show the emotions which overcame me.
Sunday, August 23rd. Where have we got to? In what region are we wandering? We are still carried forward with inconceivable rapidity.
The night has been fearful, something not to be described. The storm shows no signs of cessation. We exist in the midst of an uproar51 which has no name. The detonations52 as of artillery53 are incessant54. Our ears literally bleed. We are unable to exchange a word, or hear each other speak.
The lightning never ceases to flash for a single instant. I can see the zigzags55 after a rapid dart56 strike the arched roof of this mightiest57 of mighty vaults58. If it were to give way and fall upon us! Other lightnings plunge59 their forked streaks60 in every direction, and take the form of globes of fire, which explode like bombshells over a beleaguered61 city. The general crash and roar do not apparently62 increase; it has already gone far beyond what human ear can appreciate. If all the powder magazines in the world were to explode together, it would be impossible for us to hear worse noise.
There is a constant emission63 of light from the storm clouds; the electric matter is incessantly64 released; evidently the gaseous65 principles of the air are out of order; innumerable columns of water rush up like waterspouts, and fall back upon the surface of the ocean in foam.
Whither are we going? My uncle still lies at full length upon the raft, without speaking—without taking any note of time.
The heat increases. I look at the thermometer, to my surprise it indicates—The exact figure is here rubbed out in my manuscript.
Monday, August 24th. This terrible storm will never end. Why should not this state of the atmosphere, so dense66 and murky67, once modified, again remain definitive68?
We are utterly69 broken and harassed70 by fatigue71. Hans remains72 just as usual. The raft runs to the southeast invariably. We have now already run two hundred leagues from the newly discovered island.
About twelve o'clock the storm became worse than ever. We are obliged now to fasten every bit of cargo73 tightly on the deck of the raft, or everything would be swept away. We make ourselves fast, too, each man lashing74 the other. The waves drive over us, so that several times we are actually under water.
We had been under the painful necessity of abstaining75 from speech for three days and three nights. We opened our mouths, we moved our lips, but no sound came. Even when we placed our mouths to each other's ears it was the same.
The wind carried the voice away.
My uncle once contrived76 to get his head close to mine after several almost vain endeavors. He appeared to my nearly exhausted77 senses to articulate some word. I had a notion, more from intuition than anything else, that he said to me, "We are lost."
I took out my notebook, from which under the most desperate circumstances I never parted, and wrote a few words as legibly as I could:
"Take in sail."
With a deep sigh he nodded his head and acquiesced78.
His head had scarcely time to fall back in the position from which he had momentarily raised it than a disk or ball of fire appeared on the very edge of the raft—our devoted79, our doomed80 craft. The mast and sail are carried away bodily, and I see them swept away to a prodigious81 height like a kite.
We were frozen, actually shivered with terror. The ball of fire, half white, half azure-colored, about the size of a ten-inch bombshell, moved along, turning with prodigious rapidity to leeward82 of the storm. It ran about here, there, and everywhere, it clambered up one of the bulwarks83 of the raft, it leaped upon the sack of provisions, and then finally descended84 lightly, fell like a football and landed on our powder barrel.
Horrible situation. An explosion of course was now inevitable85.
By heaven's mercy, it was not so.
The dazzling disk moved on one side, it approached Hans, who looked at it with singular fixity; then it approached my uncle, who cast himself on his knees to avoid it; it came towards me, as I stood pale and shuddering86 in the dazzling light and heat; it pirouetted round my feet, which I endeavored to withdraw.
An odor of nitrous gas filled the whole air; it penetrated87 to the throat, to the lungs. I felt ready to choke.
No.
The fall of the electric globe has turned all the iron on board into loadstones—the instruments, the tools, the arms are clanging together with awful and horrible noise; the nails of my heavy boots adhere closely to the plate of iron incrustated in the wood. I cannot withdraw my foot.
At last, by a violent and almost superhuman effort, I tear it away just as the ball which is still executing its gyratory motions is about to run round it and drag me with it—if—
Oh, what intense stupendous light! The globe of fire bursts—we are enveloped90 in cascades91 of living fire, which flood the space around with luminous matter.
Then all went out and darkness once more fell upon the deep! I had just time to see my uncle once more cast apparently senseless on the flooring of the raft, Hans at the helm, "spitting fire" under the influence of the electricity which seemed to have gone through him.
Whither are we going, I ask? and echo answers, Whither?
.............
Tuesday, August 25th. I have just come out of a long fainting fit. The awful and hideous92 storm still continues; the lightning has increased in vividness, and pours out its fiery93 wrath94 like a brood of serpents let loose in the atmosphere.
We have passed under England, under the Channel, under France, probably under the whole extent of Europe.
Another awful clamor in the distance. This time it is certain that the sea is breaking upon the rocks at no great distance. Then—
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1
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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vapors
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| n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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evaporation
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| n.蒸发，消失 | |
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5
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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opaque
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| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
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7
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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10
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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11
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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12
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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13
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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14
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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15
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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16
rebounds
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| 反弹球( rebound的名词复数 )； 回弹球； 抢断篮板球； 复兴 | |
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saturated
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| a.饱和的，充满的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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funereal
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| adj.悲哀的；送葬的 | |
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pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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26
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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27
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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32
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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antediluvian
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| adj.史前的，陈旧的 | |
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trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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35
cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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38
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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39
pealing
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| v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的现在分词 ) | |
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incandescent
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| adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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seethes
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| （液体）沸腾( seethe的第三人称单数 )； 激动，大怒； 强压怒火； 生闷气(~with sth|~ at sth) | |
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43
crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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44
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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45
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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46
deafened
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| 使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音 | |
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mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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48
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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49
jotted
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| v.匆忙记下( jot的过去式和过去分词 )；草草记下，匆匆记下 | |
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50
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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51
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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52
detonations
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| n.爆炸 （声）( detonation的名词复数 ) | |
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53
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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54
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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55
zigzags
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| n.锯齿形的线条、小径等( zigzag的名词复数 )v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的第三人称单数 ) | |
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56
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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58
vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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60
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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61
beleaguered
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| adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰 | |
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62
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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emission
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| n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发 | |
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64
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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65
gaseous
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| adj.气体的，气态的 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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67
murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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68
definitive
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| adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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70
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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71
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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72
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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73
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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74
lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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75
abstaining
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| 戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的现在分词 )； 弃权（不投票） | |
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76
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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78
acquiesced
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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80
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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82
leeward
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| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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bulwarks
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| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
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84
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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85
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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86
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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87
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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88
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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adamant
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| adj.坚硬的，固执的 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cascades
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| 倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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