I will not speak of the sufferings we endured in our return. My uncle bore them with the angry impatience1 of a man obliged to own his weakness; Hans with the resignation of his passive nature; I, I confess, with complaints and expressions of despair. I had no spirit to oppose this ill fortune.
As I had foretold2, the water failed entirely3 by the end of the first day's retrograde march. Our fluid aliment was now nothing but gin; but this infernal fluid burned my throat, and I could not even endure the sight of it. I found the temperature and the air stifling4. Fatigue5 paralysed my limbs. More than once I dropped down motionless. Then there was a halt; and my uncle and the Icelander did their best to restore me. But I saw that the former was struggling painfully against excessive fatigue and the tortures of thirst.
At last, on Tuesday, July 8, we arrived on our hands and knees, and half dead, at the junction6 of the two roads. There I dropped like a lifeless lump, extended on the lava7 soil. It was ten in the morning.
Hans and my uncle, clinging to the wall, tried to nibble8 a few bits of biscuit. Long moans escaped from my swollen9 lips.
After some time my uncle approached me and raised me in his arms.
"Poor boy!" said he, in genuine tones of compassion10.
I was touched with these words, not being accustomed to see the excitable Professor in a softened11 mood. I grasped his trembling hands in mine. He let me hold them and looked at me. His eyes were moistened.
Then I saw him take the flask12 that was hanging at his side. To my amazement13 he placed it on my lips.
"Drink!" said he.
Had I heard him? Was my uncle beside himself? I stared at, him stupidly, and felt as if I could not understand him.
"Drink!" he said again.
And raising his flask he emptied it every drop between my lips.
Oh! infinite pleasure! a slender sip14 of water came to moisten my burning mouth. It was but one sip but it was enough to recall my ebbing15 life.
I thanked my uncle with clasped hands.
"Yes," he said, "a draught16 of water; but it is the very last—you hear!—the last. I had kept it as a precious treasure at the bottom of my flask. Twenty times, nay17, a hundred times, have I fought against a frightful18 impulse to drink it off. But no, Axel, I kept it for you."
"Yes, my poor boy, I knew that as soon as you arrived at these cross roads you would drop half dead, and I kept my last drop of water to reanimate you."
"Thank you, thank you," I said. Although my thirst was only partially20 quenched21, yet some strength had returned. The muscles of my throat, until then contracted, now relaxed again; and the inflammation of my lips abated22 somewhat; and I was now able to speak. .
"Let us see," I said, "we have now but one thing to do. We have no water; we must go back."
"We must return," I exclaimed vehemently24; "we must go back on our way to Snæfell. May God give us strength to climb up the crater25 again!"
"Return!" said my uncle, as if he was rather answering himself than me.
"Yes, return, without the loss of a minute."
A long silence followed.
"So then, Axel," replied the Professor ironically, "you have found no courage or energy in these few drops of water?"
"Courage?"
"I see you just as feeble-minded as you were before, and still expressing only despair!"
What sort of a man was this I had to do with, and what schemes was he now revolving26 in his fearless mind?
"What! you won't go back?"
"Then must we resign ourselves to destruction?"
"No, Axel, no; go back. Hans will go with you. Leave me to myself!"
"Leave you here!"
"Leave me, I tell you. I have undertaken this expedition. I will carry it out to the end, and I will not return. Go, Axel, go!"
My uncle was in high state of excitement. His voice, which had for a moment been tender and gentle, had now become hard and threatening. He was struggling with gloomy resolutions against impossibilities. I would not leave him in this bottomless abyss, and on the other hand the instinct of self-preservation prompted me to fly.
The guide watched this scene with his usual phlegmatic28 unconcern. Yet he understood perfectly29 well what was going on between his two companions. The gestures themselves were sufficient to show that we were each bent30 on taking a different road; but Hans seemed to take no part in a question upon which depended his life. He was ready to start at a given signal, or to stay, if his master so willed it.
How I wished at this moment I could have made him understand me. My words, my complaints, my sorrow would have had some influence over that frigid31 nature. Those dangers which our guide could not understand I could have demonstrated and proved to him. Together we might have over-ruled the obstinate32 Professor; if it were needed, we might perhaps have compelled him to regain33 the heights of Snæfell.
I drew near to Hans. I placed my hand upon his. He made no movement. My parted lips sufficiently34 revealed my sufferings. The Icelander slowly moved his head, and calmly pointing to my uncle said:
"Master."
"Master!" I shouted; "you madman! no, he is not the master of our life; we must fly, we must drag him. Do you hear me? Do you understand?"
I had seized Hans by the arm. I wished to oblige him to rise. I strove with him. My uncle interposed.
"Be calm, Axel! you will get nothing from that immovable servant.
Therefore, listen to my proposal."
I crossed my arms, and confronted my uncle boldly.
"The want of water," he said, "is the only obstacle in our way. In this eastern gallery made up of lavas35, schists, and coal, we have not met with a single particle of moisture. Perhaps we shall be more fortunate if we follow the western tunnel."
I shook my head incredulously.
"Hear me to the end," the Professor went on with a firm voice. "Whilst you were lying there motionless, I went to examine the conformation of that gallery. It penetrates36 directly downward, and in a few hours it will bring us to the granite37 rocks. There we must meet with abundant springs. The nature of the rock assures me of this, and instinct agrees with logic38 to support my conviction. Now, this is my proposal. When Columbus asked of his ships' crews for three days more to discover a new world, those crews, disheartened and sick as they were, recognised the justice of the claim, and he discovered America. I am the Columbus of this nether39 world, and I only ask for one more day. If in a single day I have not met with the water that we want, I swear to you we will return to the surface of the earth."
In spite of my irritation40 I was moved with these words, as well as with the violence my uncle was doing to his own wishes in making so hazardous41 a proposal.
"Well," I said, "do as you will, and God reward your superhuman energy. You have now but a few hours to tempt42 fortune. Let us start!"
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1
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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nibble
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| n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵 | |
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9
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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15
ebbing
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| （指潮水）退( ebb的现在分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
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16
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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23
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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27
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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phlegmatic
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| adj.冷静的，冷淡的，冷漠的，无活力的 | |
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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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30
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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lavas
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| n.（火山喷发的）熔岩( lava的名词复数 )；（熔岩冷凝后的）火山岩 | |
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penetrates
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| v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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38
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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39
nether
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| adj.下部的，下面的；n.阴间；下层社会 | |
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40
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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41
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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42
tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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