“It was in the year 79 of our era. Contemporaries of our Savior were still living. Vesuvius was then a peaceful mountain. It was not terminated then, as to-day, by a smoking cone3, but by a table-land slightly concave, the remains4 of an old filled-up crater5 where thin grasses and wild vines grew. Very fertile crops covered its sides; two populous6 towns, Herculaneum and Pompeii, lay stretched at its base.
“The old volcano, which seemed forever lulled7, and whose last eruptions8 went back to times beyond the memory of man, suddenly awakened9 and began to smoke. On the 23d of August, about one o’clock in the afternoon, an extraordinary cloud, sometimes white, sometimes black, was seen hovering10 over Vesuvius. Impelled11 violently by some subterranean12 force, it first rose straight up in the form of a tree-trunk; then, after attaining13 a great height, it sank down under its own weight and spread out over a wide area.
“Now, there was at that time at Messina, a seaport14 not far from Vesuvius, an uncle of the author who has handed down these things to us. He was called Pliny, like his nephew. He commanded the Roman fleet stationed at this port. He was a man of great courage, never retreating from any danger if he could gain new knowledge or render aid to others. Surprised at the singular cloud that hovered15 over Vesuvius, Pliny immediately set out with his fleet to go to the aid of the menaced coast towns and to observe the terrible cloud from a nearer point. The people at the foot of Vesuvius were fleeing in haste, wild with fear. He went to the side where all were in flight and where the peril16 appeared the greatest.”
“Fine!” cried Jules. “Courage comes to you when you are with those who are not afraid. I love Pliny for hastening to the volcano to learn about the danger. I should like to have been there.”
“Alas! my poor child, you would not have found it a picnic. Burning cinders mixed with calcined stones were falling on the vessels17; the sea, lashed18 to fury, was rising from its bed; the shore, encumbered19 with debris20 from the mountain, was becoming inaccessible21. There was nothing to do but retreat. The fleet came to land at Stabi?, where the danger, still distant, but all the time approaching, had already caused consternation22. In the meantime, from several points on Vesuvius great flames burst forth23, their terrifying glare rendered more frightful24 by the darkness caused by the cloud of cinders. To reassure25 his companions Pliny told them that these flames came from some abandoned villages caught by the fire.”
“He told them that to give them courage,” Jules conjectured26, “but he himself well knew the truth of the matter.”
“He knew it well, he knew the danger was great; nevertheless, overcome by fatigue27, he fell into a deep sleep. Now, while he slept, the cloud reached Stabi?. Little by little the court leading to his apartment was filled with cinders, so that in a short time he would not have been able to get out. They woke him to prevent his being buried alive and to deliberate on what was to be done. The houses, shaken by continual shocks, seemed to be torn from their foundations; they swayed from side to side. Many fell. It was decided28 to put to sea again. A shower of stones was falling—small ones, it is true, and calcined by the fire. As a protection from them, the men covered their heads with pillows, and going through the most horrible darkness, hardly relieved by the light of the torches they carried, they made their way toward the shore. There Pliny sat on the ground a moment to rest, when violent flames, accompanied by a strong smell of sulphur, put everybody to flight. He rose and then instantly fell back dead. The emanations, cinders, and smoke from the volcano had suffocated29 him.”
“Poor Pliny! To be stifled30 to death like that by the horrible mountain, and he so courageous31!” lamented32 Jules.
“Whilst the uncle was dying at Stabi?, the nephew, left at Messina with his mother, was witness of what he relates to us. ‘The night after my uncle’s departure,’ he tells us, ‘the earth began to tremble violently. My mother hastened in alarm to waken me. She found me getting up to go and waken her. As the house threatened to collapse33, we sat outside in the court, not far from the sea. With the carelessness of youth—I was then eighteen—I began to read. A friend of my uncle’s came along. Seeing my mother and me both of us seated, and me with a book in my hand, he blamed us for our confidence and induced us to look out for our safety. Although it was seven o’clock in the morning, we could hardly see, the air was so obscured. At times buildings were so shaken that their fall was imminent34 at any moment. We followed the example of the rest and left the town. We stopped some distance off in the country. The wagons35 that were brought away swayed continually with the shaking of the ground. Even with their wheels blocked with stones they could hardly be held in place. The sea flowed back on itself: driven from the shore by the earthquake shocks, it receded36 from the beach and left a multitude of fish dry on the sand. A horrible black cloud came toward us. On its flanks were serpentine37 lines of fire like immense flashes of lightning. Soon the cloud descends38, covering earth and sea. Then my mother begs me to flee with all the speed of my youth, and not to expose myself to imminent death by adapting my pace to hers, weighed down as she was by years. She would die content if she knew I was out of danger.’”
“And Pliny left his old mother behind in order to get away the faster?” queried39 Jules.
“No, my child, he did what you would all have done. He remained, sustaining and encouraging her, resolved to save himself with her or else die with her.”
“Good!” cried Jules. “The nephew was worthy40 of his uncle. And then what happened?”
“Then it was frightful. Cinders began to fall; darkness descended41, so intense that they could see nothing. There was general confusion, outcry, and moaning. Wild with terror, the people fled at random42, knocking down and treading on those who were in their way. The greater part were convinced that that night was the last, the eternal night that was to swallow the world. Mothers went groping for their children, lost in the crowd or perhaps crushed under the feet of the fugitives43; they called them with doleful cries to embrace them once more and then die. Pliny and his old mother had seated themselves apart from the crowd. From time to time they were obliged to get up and shake off the cinders which would soon have buried them. At last the cloud dispersed44 and daylight reappeared. The earth was unrecognizable; everything had disappeared under a thick shroud45 of calcined dust.”
“And the houses, were they buried in the cinders?” asked Emile.
“At the foot of the mountain the dust thrown up by the volcano lay deeper than the height of the tallest houses, and whole towns had disappeared under the enormous bed of cinders. Amongst these were Herculaneum and Pompeii. The volcano buried them alive.”
“With the inhabitants?” inquired Jules.
“With a small number, for most of them, like Pliny and his mother, had time to flee to Messina. To-day, after being buried eighteen centuries, Herculaneum and Pompeii are exhumed46 by the miner’s pick, just as they were when caught by the cloud of volcanic47 cinders. Vineyards cover them where they are not yet cleared.”
“These vineyards, then, are the roofs of houses!” said Emile.
“Higher than the roofs of houses. The traveler who visits the quarters not yet uncovered, but made accessible by means of wells dug for the purpose, descends under-ground to a great depth.”
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1
cinders
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| n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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cone
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| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
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populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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lulled
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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eruptions
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| n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 ) | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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10
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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seaport
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| n.海港，港口，港市 | |
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hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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conjectured
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| 推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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37
serpentine
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| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
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38
descends
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| v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜 | |
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39
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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40
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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41
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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42
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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43
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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44
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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45
shroud
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| n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏 | |
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46
exhumed
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| v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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