"Where are we?" asked my uncle irascibly, as if he felt much injured by being landed upon the earth again.
The hunter shook his head in token of complete ignorance.
"Is it Iceland?" I asked.
"Nej," replied Hans.
"What! Not Iceland?" cried the Professor.
"Hans must be mistaken," I said, raising myself up.
This was our final surprise after all the astonishing events of our wonderful journey. I expected to see a white cone6 covered with the eternal snow of ages rising from the midst of the barren deserts of the icy north, faintly lighted with the pale rays of the arctic sun, far away in the highest latitudes7 known; but contrary to all our expectations, my uncle, the Icelander, and myself were sitting half-way down a mountain baked under the burning rays of a southern sun, which was blistering8 us with the heat, and blinding us with the fierce light of his nearly vertical9 rays.
I could not believe my own eyes; but the heated air and the sensation of burning left me no room for doubt. We had come out of the crater half naked, and the radiant orb10 to which we had been strangers for two months was lavishing11 upon us out of his blazing splendours more of his light and heat than we were able to receive with comfort.
When my eyes had become accustomed to the bright light to which they had been so long strangers, I began to use them to set my imagination right. At least I would have it to be Spitzbergen, and I was in no humour to give up this notion.
The Professor was the first to speak, and said:
"Well, this is not much like Iceland."
"But is it Jan Mayen?" I asked.
"Nor that either," he answered. "This is no northern mountain; here are no granite12 peaks capped with snow. Look, Axel, look!"
Above our heads, at a height of five hundred feet or more, we saw the crater of a volcano, through which, at intervals13 of fifteen minutes or so, there issued with loud explosions lofty columns of fire, mingled14 with pumice stones, ashes, and flowing lava15. I could feel the heaving of the mountain, which seemed to breathe like a huge whale, and puff16 out fire and wind from its vast blowholes. Beneath, down a pretty steep declivity17, ran streams of lava for eight or nine hundred feet, giving the mountain a height of about 1,300 or 1,400 feet. But the base of the mountain was hidden in a perfect bower18 of rich verdure, amongst which I was able to distinguish the olive, the fig19, and vines, covered with their luscious20 purple bunches.
I was forced to confess that there was nothing arctic here.
When the eye passed beyond these green surroundings it rested on a wide, blue expanse of sea or lake, which appeared to enclose this enchanting21 island, within a compass of only a few leagues. Eastward22 lay a pretty little white seaport23 town or village, with a few houses scattered24 around it, and in the harbour of which a few vessels25 of peculiar26 rig were gently swayed by the softly swelling27 waves. Beyond it, groups of islets rose from the smooth, blue waters, but in such numbers that they seemed to dot the sea like a shoal. To the west distant coasts lined the dim horizon, on some rose blue mountains of smooth, undulating forms; on a more distant coast arose a prodigious28 cone crowned on its summit with a snowy plume29 of white cloud. To the northward30 lay spread a vast sheet of water, sparkling and dancing under the hot, bright rays, the uniformity broken here and there by the topmast of a gallant31 ship appearing above the horizon, or a swelling sail moving slowly before the wind.
This unforeseen spectacle was most charming to eyes long used to underground darkness.
"Where are we? Where are we?" I asked faintly.
Hans closed his eyes with lazy indifference32. What did it matter to him? My uncle looked round with dumb surprise.
"Well, whatever mountain this may be," he said at last, "it is very hot here. The explosions are going on still, and I don't think it would look well to have come out by an eruption33, and then to get our heads broken by bits of falling rock. Let us get down. Then we shall know better what we are about. Besides, I am starving, and parching34 with thirst."
Decidedly the Professor was not given to contemplation. For my part, I could for another hour or two have forgotten my hunger and my fatigue35 to enjoy the lovely scene before me; but I had to follow my companions.
The slope of the volcano was in many places of great steepness. We slid down screes of ashes, carefully avoiding the lava streams which glided36 sluggishly37 by us like fiery38 serpents. As we went I chattered39 and asked all sorts of questions as to our whereabouts, for I was too much excited not to talk a great deal.
"We are in Asia," I cried, "on the coasts of India, in the Malay Islands, or in Oceania. We have passed through half the globe, and come out nearly at the antipodes."
"But the compass?" said my uncle.
"Ay, the compass!" I said, greatly puzzled. "According to the compass we have gone northward."
"Has it lied?"
"Surely not. Could it lie?"
"Unless, indeed, this is the North Pole!"
"Oh, no, it is not the Pole; but—"
Well, here was something that baffled us completely. I could not tell what to say.
But now we were coming into that delightful40 greenery, and I was suffering greatly from hunger and thirst. Happily, after two hours' walking, a charming country lay open before us, covered with olive trees, pomegranate trees, and delicious vines, all of which seemed to belong to anybody who pleased to claim them. Besides, in our state of destitution41 and famine we were not likely to be particular. Oh, the inexpressible pleasure of pressing those cool, sweet fruits to our lips, and eating grapes by mouthfuls off the rich, full bunches! Not far off, in the grass, under the delicious shade of the trees, I discovered a spring of fresh, cool water, in which we luxuriously42 bathed our faces, hands, and feet.
Whilst we were thus enjoying the sweets of repose43 a child appeared out of a grove44 of olive trees.
"Ah!" I cried, "here is an inhabitant of this happy land!"
It was but a poor boy, miserably45 ill-clad, a sufferer from poverty, and our aspect seemed to alarm him a great deal; in fact, only half clothed, with ragged46 hair and beards, we were a suspicious-looking party; and if the people of the country knew anything about thieves, we were very likely to frighten them.
Just as the poor little wretch47 was going to take to his heels, Hans caught hold of him, and brought him to us, kicking and struggling.
My uncle began to encourage him as well as he could, and said to him in good German:
("What is this mountain called, my little friend?")
The child made no answer.
"Very well," said my uncle. "I infer that we are not in Germany."
He put the same question in English.
We got no forwarder. I was a good deal puzzled.
"Is the child dumb?" cried the Professor, who, proud of his knowledge of many languages, now tried French: "Comment appellet-on cette montagne, mon enfant?"
Silence still.
"Now let us try Italian," said my uncle; and he said:
"Dove noi siamo?"
"Yes, where are we?" I impatiently repeated.
But there was no answer still.
"Will you speak when you are told?" exclaimed my uncle, shaking the urchin49 by the ears. "Come si noma questa isola?"
"STROMBOLI," replied the little herdboy, slipping out of Hans' hands, and scudding50 into the plain across the olive trees.
We were hardly thinking of that. Stromboli! What an effect this unexpected name produced upon my mind! We were in the midst of the Mediterranean51 Sea, on an island of the Æolian archipelago, in the ancient Strongyle, where Æolus kept the winds and the storms chained up, to be let loose at his will. And those distant blue mountains in the east were the mountains of Calabria. And that threatening volcano far away in the south was the fierce Etna.
"Stromboli, Stromboli!" I repeated.
My uncle kept time to my exclamations52 with hands and feet, as well as with words. We seemed to be chanting in chorus!
What a journey we had accomplished53! How marvellous! Having entered by one volcano, we had issued out of another more than two thousand miles from Snæfell and from that barren, far-away Iceland! The strange chances of our expedition had carried us into the heart of the fairest region in the world. We had exchanged the bleak54 regions of perpetual snow and of impenetrable barriers of ice for those of brightness and 'the rich hues55 of all glorious things.' We had left over our heads the murky56 sky and cold fogs of the frigid57 zone to revel58 under the azure59 sky of Italy!
After our delicious repast of fruits and cold, clear water we set off again to reach the port of Stromboli. It would not have been wise to tell how we came there. The superstitious60 Italians would have set us down for fire-devils vomited61 out of hell; so we presented ourselves in the humble62 guise63 of shipwrecked mariners64. It was not so glorious, but it was safer.
On my way I could hear my uncle murmuring: "But the compass! that compass! It pointed65 due north. How are we to explain that fact?"
"My opinion is," I replied disdainfully, "that it is best not to explain it. That is the easiest way to shelve the difficulty."
"Indeed, sir! The occupant of a professorial chair at the Johannæum unable to explain the reason of a cosmical phenomenon! Why, it would be simply disgraceful!"
And as he spoke66, my uncle, half undressed, in rags, a perfect scarecrow, with his leathern belt around him, settling his spectacles upon his nose and looking learned and imposing67, was himself again, the terrible German professor of mineralogy.
One hour after we had left the grove of olives, we arrived at the little port of San Vicenzo, where Hans claimed his thirteen week's wages, which was counted out to him with a hearty68 shaking of hands all round.
At that moment, if he did not share our natural emotion, at least his countenance69 expanded in a manner very unusual with him, and while with the ends of his fingers he lightly pressed our hands, I believe he smiled.
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1
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
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cone
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| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
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latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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blistering
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| adj.酷热的；猛烈的；使起疱的；可恶的v.起水疱；起气泡；使受暴晒n.[涂料] 起泡 | |
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vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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lavishing
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的现在分词 ) | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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14
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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15
lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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18
bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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fig
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| n.无花果(树) | |
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luscious
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| adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的 | |
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enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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seaport
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| n.海港，港口，港市 | |
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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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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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26
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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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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plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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34
parching
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| adj.烘烤似的，焦干似的v.（使）焦干， （使）干透( parch的现在分词 )；使（某人）极口渴 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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36
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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sluggishly
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| adv.懒惰地；缓慢地 | |
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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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39
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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40
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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41
destitution
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| n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷 | |
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luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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45
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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48
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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49
urchin
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| n.顽童；海胆 | |
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50
scudding
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| n.刮面v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的现在分词 ) | |
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51
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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52
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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53
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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54
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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55
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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56
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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57
frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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58
revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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59
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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60
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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61
vomited
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62
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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63
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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64
mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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66
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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67
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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68
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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69
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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