They were listening! Yes! The riot was quelled5 at once by the totally unexpected fashion of the speech. Was this fellow a madman or a hoaxer6? Whoever he was, he kept his audience in hand. There was not a whisper in the meeting in which but a few minutes ago the storm was in full fury.
And Robur looked the man he said he was. Of middle height and geometric breadth, his figure was a regular trapezium with the greatest of its parallel sides formed by the line of his shoulders. On this line attached by a robust7 neck there rose an enormous spheroidal head. The head of what animal did it resemble from the point of view of passional analogy? The head of a bull; but a bull with an intelligent face. Eyes which at the least opposition8 would glow like coals of fire; and above them a permanent contraction9 of the superciliary muscle, an invariable sign of extreme energy. Short hair, slightly woolly, with metallic10 reflections; large chest rising and falling like a smith's bellows11; arms, hands, legs, feet, all worthy of the trunk. No mustaches, no whiskers, but a large American goatee, revealing the attachments12 of the jaw13 whose masseter muscles were evidently of formidable strength. It has been calculated—what has not been calculated?—that the pressure of the jaw of an ordinary crocodile can reach four hundred atmospheres, while that of a hound can only amount to one hundred. From this the following curious formula has been deduced: If a kilogram of dog produces eight kilograms of masseteric force, a kilogram of crocodile could produce twelve. Now, a kilogram of, the aforesaid Robur would not produce less than ten, so that he came between the dog and the crocodile.
From what country did this remarkable14 specimen15 come? It was difficult to say. One thing was noticeable, and that was that he expressed himself fluently in English without a trace of the drawling twang that distinguishes the Yankees of New England.
He continued: "And now, honorable citizens, for my mental faculties16. You see before you an engineer whose nerves are in no way inferior to his muscles. I have no fear of anything or anybody. I have a strength of will that has never had to yield. When I have decided17 on a thing, all America, all the world, may strive in vain to keep me from it. When I have an idea, I allow no one to share it, and I do not permit any contradiction. I insist on these details, honorable citizens, because it is necessary you should quite understand me. Perhaps you think I am talking too much about myself? It does not matter if you do! And now consider a little before you interrupt me, as I have come to tell you something that you may not be particularly pleased to hear."
A sound as of the surf on the beach began to rise along the first row of seats—a sign that the sea would not be long in getting stormy again.
"Yes! I know it well! After a century of experiments that have led to nothing, and trials giving no results, there still exist ill-balanced minds who believe in guiding balloons. They imagine that a motor of some sort, electric or otherwise, might be applied20 to their pretentious21 skin bags which are at the mercy of every current in the atmosphere. They persuade themselves that they can be masters of an aerostat as they can be masters of a ship on the surface of the sea. Because a few inventors in calm or nearly calm weather have succeeded in working an angle with the wind, or even beating to windward in a gentle breeze, they think that the steering22 of aerial apparatus23 lighter24 than the air is a practical matter. Well, now, look here; You hundred, who believe in the realization25 of your dreams, are throwing your thousands of dollars not into water but into space! You are fighting the impossible!"
Strange as it was that at this affirmation the members of the Weldon Institute did not move. Had they become as deaf as they were patient? Or were they reserving themselves to see how far this audacious contradictor would dare to go?
Robur continued: "What? A balloon! When to obtain the raising of a couple of pounds you require a cubic yard of gas. A balloon pretending to resist the wind by aid of its mechanism26, when the pressure of a light breeze on a vessel's sails is not less than that of four hundred horsepower; when in the accident at the Tay Bridge you saw the storm produce a pressure of eight and a half hundredweight on a square yard. A balloon, when on such a system nature has never constructed anything flying, whether furnished with wings like birds, or membranes27 like certain fish, or certain mammalia—"
"Mammalia?" exclaimed one of the members.
"Yes! Mammalia! The bat, which flies, if I am not mistaken! Is the gentleman unaware28 that this flyer is a mammal? Did he ever see an omelette made of bat's eggs?"
The interrupter reserved himself for future interruption, and Robur resumed: "But does that mean that man is to give up the conquest of the air, and the transformation29 of the domestic and political manners of the old world, by the use of this admirable means of locomotion30? By no means. As he has become master of the seas with the ship, by the oar31, the sail, the wheel and the screw, so shall he become master of atmospherical32 space by apparatus heavier than the air—for it must be heavier to be stronger than the air!"
And then the assembly exploded. What a broadside of yells escaped from all these mouths, aimed at Robur like the muzzles33 of so many guns! Was not this hurling34 a declaration of war into the very camp of the balloonists? Was not this a stirring up of strife35 between 'the lighter' and 'the heavier' than air?
Robur did not even frown. With folded arms he waited bravely till silence was obtained.
By a gesture Uncle Prudent ordered the firing to cease.
"Yes," continued Robur, "the future is for the flying machine. The air affords a solid fulcrum36. If you will give a column of air an ascensional movement of forty-five meters a second, a man can support himself on the top of it if the soles of his boots have a superficies of only the eighth of a square meter. And if the speed be increased to ninety meters, he can walk on it with naked feet. Or if, by means of a screw, you drive a mass of air at this speed, you get the same result."
What Robur said had been said before by all the partisans37 of aviation, whose work slowly but surely is leading on to the solution of the problem. To Ponton d'Amécourt, La Landelle, Nadar, De Luzy, De Louvrié, Liais, Beleguir, Moreau, the brothers Richard, Babinet, Jobert, Du Temple, Salives, Penaud, De Villeneuve, Gauchot and Tatin, Michael Loup, Edison, Planavergne, and so many others, belongs the honor of having brought forward ideas of such simplicity38. Abandoned and resumed times without number, they are sure, some day to triumph. To the enemies of aviation, who urge that the bird only sustains himself by warming the air he strikes, their answer is ready. Have they not proved that an eagle weighing five kilograms would have to fill fifty cubic meters with his warm fluid merely to sustain himself in space?
This is what Robur demonstrated with undeniable logic40 amid the uproar41 that arose on all sides. And in conclusion these are the words he hurled42 in the faces of the balloonists: "With your aerostats you can do nothing—you will arrive at nothing—you dare do nothing! The boldest of your aeronauts, John Wise, although he has made an aerial voyage of twelve hundred miles above the American continent, has had to give up his project of crossing the Atlantic! And you have not advanced one step—not one step—towards your end."
"Sir," said the president, who in vain endeavored to keep himself cool, "you forget what was said by our immortal43 Franklin at the first appearance of the fire balloon, 'It is but a child, but it will grow!' It was but a child, and it has grown."
"No, Mr. President, it has not grown! It has got fatter—and this is not the same thing!"
This was a direct attack on the Weldon Institute, which had decreed, helped, and paid for the making of a monster balloon. And so propositions of the following kind began to fly about the room: "Turn him out!" "Throw him off the platform!" "Prove that he is heavier than the air!"
But these were only words, not means to an end.
Robur remained impassible, and continued: "There is no progress for your aerostats, my citizen balloonists; progress is for flying machines. The bird flies, and he is not a balloon, he is a piece of mechanism!"
"Yes, he flies!" exclaimed the fiery44 Bat T. Fynn; "but he flies against all the laws of mechanics."
"Indeed!" said Robur, shrugging his shoulders, and resuming, "Since we have begun the study of the flight of large and small birds one simple idea has prevailed—to imitate nature, which never makes mistakes. Between the albatross, which gives hardly ten beats of the wing per minute, between the pelican45, which gives seventy—"
"And the bee, which gives one hundred and ninety-two per second—"
"And, the common house fly, which gives three hundred and thirty—"
"And a half!"
"And the mosquito, which gives millions—"
"No, milliards!"
But Robur, the interrupted, interrupted not his demonstration48. "Between these different rates—" he continued.
"There is a difference," said a voice.
"There is a possibility of finding a practical solution. When De Lucy showed that the stag beetle49, an insect weighing only two grammes, could lift a weight of four hundred grammes, or two hundred times its own weight, the problem of aviation was solved. Besides, it has been shown that the wing surface decreases in proportion to the increase of the size and weight of the animal. Hence we can look forward to such contrivances—"
"Which would never fly!" said secretary Phil Evans.
"Which have flown, and which will fly," said Robur, without being in the least disconcerted, "and which we can call streophores, helicopters, orthopters—or, in imitation of the word 'nef,' which comes from 'navis,' call them from 'avis,' 'efs,'—by means of which man will become the master of space. The helix—"
"Ah, the helix!" replied Phil Evans. "But the bird has no helix; that we know!"
"So," said Robur; "but Penaud has shown that in reality the bird makes a helix, and its flight is helicopteral. And the motor of the future is the screw—"
"From such a maladee Saint Helix keep us free!" sung out one of the members, who had accidentally hit upon the air from Herold's "Zampa."
And they all took up the chorus: "From such a maladee Saint Helix keep us free!" with such intonations50 and variations as would have made the French composer groan51 in his grave.
As the last notes died away in a frightful52 discord53 Uncle Prudent took advantage of the momentary54 calm to say, "Stranger, up to now, we let you speak without interruption." It seemed that for the president of the Weldon Institute shouts, yells, and catcalls were not interruptions, but only an exchange of arguments.
"But I may remind you, all the same, that the theory of aviation is condemned55 beforehand, and rejected by the majority of American and foreign engineers. It is a system which was the cause of the death of the Flying Saracen at Constantinople, of the monk56 Volador at Lisbon, of De Leturn in 1852, of De Groof in 1864, besides the victims I forget since the mythological57 Icarus—"
"A system," replied Robur, "no more to be condemned than that whose martyrology contains the names of Pilâtre de Rozier at Calais, of Blanchard at Paris, of Donaldson and Grimwood in Lake Michigan, of Sivel and of Crocé-Spinelli, and others whom it takes good care, to forget."
"Besides," continued Robur, "With your balloons as good as you can make them you will never obtain any speed worth mentioning. It would take you ten years to go round the world—and a flying machine could do it in a week!"
Here arose a new tempest of protests and denials which lasted for three long minutes. And then Phil Evans look up the word.
"Mr. Aviator," he said "you who talk so much of the benefits of aviation, have you ever aviated?"
"I have."
"And made the conquest of the air?"
"Not unlikely."
"Well, yes! Robur the Conqueror! I accept the name and I will bear it, for I have a right to it!"
"We beg to doubt it!" said Jem Chip.
"Gentlemen," said Robur, and his brows knit, "when I have just seriously stated a serious thing I do not permit anyone to reply to me by a flat denial, and I shall be glad to know the name of the interrupter."
"My name is Chip, and I am a vegetarian61."
"Citizen Chip," said Robur, "I knew that vegetarians62 had longer alimentary63 canals than other men—a good foot longer at the least. That is quite long enough; and so do not compel me to make you any longer by beginning at your ears and—"
"Throw him out."
"Into the street with him!"
"Lynch him!"
"Helix him!"
The rage of the balloonists burst forth64 at last. They rushed at the platform. Robur disappeared amid a sheaf of hands that were thrown about as if caught in a storm. In vain the steam whistle screamed its fanfares65 on to the assembly. Philadelphia might well think that a fire was devouring66 one of its quarters and that all the waters of the Schuyllkill could not put it out.
Suddenly there was a recoil67 in the tumult68. Robur had put his hands into his pockets and now held them out at the front ranks of the infuriated mob.
In each hand was one of those American institutions known as revolvers which the mere39 pressure of the fingers is enough to fire—pocket mitrailleuses in fact.
And taking advantage not only of the recoil of his assailants but also of the silence which accompanied it.
"Decidedly," said he, "it was not Amerigo that discovered the New World, it was Cabot! You are not Americans, citizen balloonists! You are only Cabo—"
Four or five shots cracked out, fired into space. They hurt nobody. Amid the smoke, the engineer vanished; and when it had thinned away there was no trace of him. Robur the Conqueror had flown, as if some apparatus of aviation had borne him into the air.
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1
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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ostrich
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| n.鸵鸟 | |
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quelled
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| v.（用武力）制止，结束，镇压( quell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hoaxer
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| n.欺诈者，戏弄者 | |
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robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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contraction
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| n.缩略词，缩写式，害病 | |
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10
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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11
bellows
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| n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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12
attachments
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| n.（用电子邮件发送的）附件( attachment的名词复数 )；附着；连接；附属物 | |
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13
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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14
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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15
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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17
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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18
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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19
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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20
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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22
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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24
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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25
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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27
membranes
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| n.（动物或植物体内的）薄膜( membrane的名词复数 )；隔膜；（可起防水、防风等作用的）膜状物 | |
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28
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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29
transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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30
locomotion
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| n.运动，移动 | |
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31
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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32
atmospherical
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| adj.空气的，气压的 | |
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33
muzzles
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| 枪口( muzzle的名词复数 )； （防止动物咬人的）口套； （四足动物的）鼻口部； （狗）等凸出的鼻子和口 | |
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34
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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35
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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fulcrum
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| n.杠杆支点 | |
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partisans
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| 游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙 | |
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38
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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39
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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40
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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41
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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42
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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43
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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44
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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45
pelican
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| n.鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟 | |
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46
scoffer
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| 嘲笑者 | |
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47
facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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48
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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49
beetle
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| n.甲虫，近视眼的人 | |
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50
intonations
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| n.语调，说话的抑扬顿挫( intonation的名词复数 )；（演奏或唱歌中的）音准 | |
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51
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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52
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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53
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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54
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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55
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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56
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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57
mythological
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| adj.神话的 | |
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58
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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59
conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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60
ironical
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| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
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61
vegetarian
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| n.素食者；adj.素食的 | |
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62
vegetarians
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| n.吃素的人( vegetarian的名词复数 )；素食者；素食主义者；食草动物 | |
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63
alimentary
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| adj.饮食的，营养的 | |
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64
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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65
fanfares
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| n.仪式上用的短曲( fanfare的名词复数 ) | |
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66
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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67
recoil
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| vi.退却，退缩，畏缩 | |
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68
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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