Whilst these reflections were occupying me, Professor Liedenbrock had launched into a somewhat rhapsodical eulogium, of which Arne Saknussemm was, of course, the hero.
"Thou marvellous genius!" he cried, "thou hast not forgotten one indication which might serve to lay open to mortals the road through the terrestrial crust; and thy fellow-creatures may even now, after the lapse3 of three centuries, again trace thy footsteps through these deep and darksome ways. You reserved the contemplation of these wonders for other eyes besides your own. Your name, graven from stage to stage, leads the bold follower4 of your footsteps to the very centre of our planet's core, and there again we shall find your own name written with your own hand. I too will inscribe5 my name upon this dark granite6 page. But for ever henceforth let this cape7 that advances into the sea discovered by yourself be known by your own illustrious name—Cape Saknussemm."
Such were the glowing words of panegyric8 which fell upon my attentive9 ear, and I could not resist the sentiment of enthusiasm with which I too was infected. The fire of zeal10 kindled11 afresh in me. I forgot everything. I dismissed from my mind the past perils12 of the journey, the future danger of our return. That which another had done I supposed we might also do, and nothing that was not superhuman appeared impossible to me.
"Forward! forward!" I cried.
I was already darting13 down the gloomy tunnel when the Professor stopped me; he, the man of impulse, counselled patience and coolness.
"Let us first return to Hans," he said, "and bring the raft to this spot."
I obeyed, not without dissatisfaction, and passed out rapidly among the rocks on the shore.
I said: "Uncle, do you know it seems to me that circumstances have wonderfully befriended us hitherto?"
"You think so, Axel?"
"No doubt; even the tempest has put us on the right way. Blessings14 on that storm! It has brought us back to this coast from which fine weather would have carried us far away. Suppose we had touched with our prow15 (the prow of a rudder!) the southern shore of the Liedenbrock sea, what would have become of us? We should never have seen the name of Saknussemm, and we should at this moment be imprisoned16 on a rockbound, impassable coast."
"Yes, Axel, it is providential that whilst supposing we were steering17 south we should have just got back north at Cape Saknussemm. I must say that this is astonishing, and that I feel I have no way to explain it."
"What does that signify, uncle? Our business is not to explain facts, but to use them!"
"Certainly; but—"
"Well, uncle, we are going to resume the northern route, and to pass under the north countries of Europe—under Sweden, Russia, Siberia: who knows where?—instead of burrowing18 under the deserts of Africa, or perhaps the waves of the Atlantic; and that is all I want to know."
"Yes, Axel, you are right. It is all for the best, since we have left that weary, horizontal sea, which led us nowhere. Now we shall go down, down, down! Do you know that it is now only 1,500 leagues to the centre of the globe?"
"Is that all?" I cried. "Why, that's nothing. Let us start: march!"
All this crazy talk was going on still when we met the hunter.
Everything was made ready for our instant departure. Every bit of
cordage was put on board. We took our places, and with our sail set,
The wind was unfavourable to a species of launch not calculated for shallow water. In many places we were obliged to push ourselves along with iron-pointed sticks. Often the sunken rocks just beneath the surface obliged us to deviate20 from our straight course. At last, after three hours' sailing, about six in the evening we reached a place suitable for our landing. I jumped ashore21, followed by my uncle and the Icelander. This short passage had not served to cool my ardour. On the contrary, I even proposed to burn 'our ship,' to prevent the possibility of return; but my uncle would not consent to that. I thought him singularly lukewarm.
"At least," I said, "don't let us lose a minute."
"Yes, yes, lad," he replied; "but first let us examine this new gallery, to see if we shall require our ladders."
My uncle put his Ruhmkorff's apparatus22 in action; the raft moored23 to the shore was left alone; the mouth of the tunnel was not twenty yards from us; and our party, with myself at the head, made for it without a moment's delay.
The aperture24, which was almost round, was about five feet in diameter; the dark passage was cut out in the live rock and lined with a coat of the eruptive matter which formerly25 issued from it; the interior was level with the ground outside, so that we were able to enter without difficulty. We were following a horizontal plane, when, only six paces in, our progress was interrupted by an enormous block just across our way.
"Accursed rock!" I cried in a passion, finding myself suddenly confronted by an impassable obstacle.
Right and left we searched in vain for a way, up and down, side to side; there was no getting any farther. I felt fearfully disappointed, and I would not admit that the obstacle was final. I stopped, I looked underneath26 the block: no opening. Above: granite still. Hans passed his lamp over every portion of the barrier in vain. We must give up all hope of passing it.
I sat down in despair. My uncle strode from side to side in the narrow passage.
"But how was it with Saknussemm?" I cried.
"Yes," said my uncle, "was he stopped by this stone barrier?"
"No, no," I replied with animation27. "This fragment of rock has been shaken down by some shock or convulsion, or by one of those magnetic storms which agitate28 these regions, and has blocked up the passage which lay open to him. Many years have elapsed since the return of Saknussemm to the surface and the fall of this huge fragment. Is it not evident that this gallery was once the way open to the course of the lava29, and that at that time there must have been a free passage? See here are recent fissures30 grooving31 and channelling the granite roof. This roof itself is formed of fragments of rock carried down, of enormous stones, as if by some giant's hand; but at one time the expulsive force was greater than usual, and this block, like the falling keystone of a ruined arch, has slipped down to the ground and blocked up the way. It is only an accidental obstruction32, not met by Saknussemm, and if we don't destroy it we shall be unworthy to reach the centre of the earth."
Such was my sentence! The soul of the Professor had passed into me. The genius of discovery possessed33 me wholly. I forgot the past, I scorned the future. I gave not a thought to the things of the surface of this globe into which I had dived; its cities and its sunny plains, Hamburg and the Königstrasse, even poor Gräuben, who must have given us up for lost, all were for the time dismissed from the pages of my memory.
"Well," cried my uncle, "let us make a way with our pickaxes."
"Too hard for the pickaxe."
"Well, then, the spade."
"That would take us too long."
"What, then?"
"Oh, yes, it is only a bit of rock to blast!"
"Hans, to work!" cried my uncle.
The Icelander returned to the raft and soon came back with an iron bar which he made use of to bore a hole for the charge. This was no easy work. A hole was to be made large enough to hold fifty pounds of guncotton, whose expansive force is four times that of gunpowder.
I was terribly excited. Whilst Hans was at work I was actively35 helping36 my uncle to prepare a slow match of wetted powder encased in linen37.
"This will do it," I said.
"It will," replied my uncle.
By midnight our mining preparations were over; the charge was rammed38 into the hole, and the slow match uncoiled along the gallery showed its end outside the opening.
A spark would now develop the whole of our preparations into activity.
"To-morrow," said the Professor.
I had to be resigned and to wait six long hours.
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1
engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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2
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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3
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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4
follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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5
inscribe
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| v.刻；雕；题写；牢记 | |
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6
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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7
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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8
panegyric
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| n.颂词，颂扬 | |
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9
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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10
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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11
kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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12
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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13
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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14
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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15
prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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16
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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18
burrowing
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的现在分词 )；翻寻 | |
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19
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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20
deviate
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| v.(from)背离，偏离 | |
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21
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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22
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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23
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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24
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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25
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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26
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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27
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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28
agitate
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| vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动 | |
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29
lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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30
fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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31
grooving
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| n.（轧辊）孔型设计v.沟( groove的现在分词 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏 | |
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32
obstruction
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| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
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33
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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34
gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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35
actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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36
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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37
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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38
rammed
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| v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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