Frycollin, the valet, was quartered forward in a cabin adjoining that of the cook. The neighborhood did not displease5 him; he liked to rub shoulders with the great in this world. But if he finally went to sleep it was to dream of fall after fall, of projections6 through space, which made his sleep a horrible nightmare.
However, nothing could be quieter than this journey through the atmosphere, whose currents had grown weaker with the evening. Beyond the rustling7 of the blades of the screws there was not a sound, except now and then the whistle from some terrestrial locomotive, or the calling of some animal. Strange instinct! These terrestrial beings felt the aeronef glide8 over them, and uttered cries of terror as it passed. On the morrow, the 14th of June, at five o'clock, Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans were walking on the deck of the "Albatross."
Nothing had changed since the evening; there was a lookout9 forward, and the helmsman was in his glass cage. Why was there a look-out? Was there any chance of collision with another such machine? Certainly not. Robur had not yet found imitators. The chance of encountering an aerostat gliding10 through the air was too remote to be regarded. In any case it would be all the worse for the aerostat—the earthen pot and the iron pot. The "Albatross" had nothing to fear from the collision.
But what could happen? The aeronef might find herself like a ship on a lee shore if a mountain that could not be outflanked or passed barred the way. These are the reefs of the air, and they have to be avoided as a ship avoids the reefs of the sea. The engineer, it is true, had given the course, and in doing so had taken into account the altitude necessary to clear the summits of the high lands in the district. But as the aeronef was rapidly nearing a mountainous country, it was only prudent to keep a good lookout, in case some slight deviation11 from the course became necessary.
Looking at the country beneath them, Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans noticed a large lake, whose lower southern end the "Albatross" had just reached. They concluded, therefore, that during the night the whole length of Lake Erie had been traversed, and that, as they were going due west, they would soon be over Lake Michigan. "There can be no doubt of it," said Phil Evans, "and that group of roofs on the horizon is Chicago."
He was right. It was indeed the city from which the seventeen railways diverge12, the Queen of the West, the vast reservoir into which flow the products of Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, and all the States which form the western half of the union.
Uncle Prudent, through an excellent telescope he had found in his cabin, easily recognized the principal buildings. His colleague pointed13 out to him the churches and public edifices14, the numerous "elevators" or mechanical, granaries, and the huge Sherman Hotel, whose windows seemed like a hundred glittering points on each of its faces.
"If that is Chicago," said Uncle Prudent, "it is obvious that we are going farther west than is convenient for us if we are to return to our starting-place."
And, in fact, the "Albatross" was traveling in a straight line from the Pennsylvania capital.
But if Uncle Prudent wished to ask Robur to take him eastwards15 he could not then do so. That morning the engineer did not leave his cabin. Either he was occupied in some work, or else he was asleep, and the two colleagues sat down to breakfast without seeing him.
The speed was the same as that during last evening. The wind being easterly the rate was not interfered16 with at all, and as the thermometer only falls a degree centigrade for every seventy meters of elevation17 the temperature was not insupportable. And so, in chatting and thinking and waiting for the engineer, Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans walked about beneath the forest of screws, whose gyratory movement gave their arms the appearance of semi-diaphanous disks.
The State of Illinois was left by its northern frontier in less than two hours and a half; and they crossed the Father of Waters, the Mississippi, whose double-decked steam-boats seemed no bigger than canoes. Then the "Albatross" flew over Iowa after having sighted Iowa City about eleven o'clock in the morning.
A few chains of hills, "bluffs18" as they are called, curved across the face of the country trending from the south to the northwest, whose moderate height necessitated19 no rise in the course of the aeronef. Soon the bluffs gave place to the large plains of western Iowa and Nebraska—immense prairies extending all the way to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Here and there were many rios, affluents20 or minor21 affluents of the Missouri. On their banks were towns and villages, growing more scattered22 as the "Albatross" sped farther west.
Nothing particular happened during this day. Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans were left entirely23 to themselves. They hardly noticed Frycollin sprawling24 at full length in the bow, keeping his eyes shut so that he could see nothing. And they were not attacked by vertigo25, as might have been expected. There was no guiding mark, and there was nothing to cause the vertigo, as there would have been on the top of a lofty building. The abyss has no attractive power when it is gazed at from the car of a balloon or deck of an aeronef. It is not an abyss that opens beneath the aeronaut, but an horizon that rises round him on all sides like a cup.
In a couple of hours the "Albatross" was over Omaha, on the Nebraskan frontier—Omaha City, the real head of the Pacific Railway, that long line of rails, four thousand five hundred miles in length, stretching from New York to San Francisco. For a moment they could see the yellow waters of the Missouri, then the town, with its houses of wood and brick in the center of a rich basin, like a buckle26 in the iron belt which clasps North America round the waist. Doubtless, also, as the passengers in the aeronef could observe all these details, the inhabitants of Omaha noticed the strange machine. Their astonishment27 at seeing it gliding overhead could be no greater than that of the president and secretary of the Weldon Institute at finding themselves on board.
Anyhow, the journals of the union would be certain to notice the fact. It would be the explanation of the astonishing phenomenon which the whole world had been wondering over for some time.
In an hour the "Albatross" had left Omaha and crossed the Platte River, whose valley is followed by the Pacific Railway in its route across the prairie. Things looked serious for Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans.
"It is serious, then, this absurd project of taking us to the Antipodes."
"And whether we like it or not!" exclaimed the other.
"Robur had better take care! I am not the man to stand that sort of thing."
"Nor am I!" replied Phil Evans. "But be calm, Uncle Prudent, be calm."
"Be calm!"
"And keep your temper until it is wanted."
By five o'clock they had crossed the Black Mountains covered with pines and cedars28, and the "Albatross" was over the appropriately named Bad Lands of Nebraska—a chaos29 of ochre-colored hills, of mountainous fragments fallen on the soil and broken in their fall. At a distance these blocks take the most fantastic shapes. Here and there amid this enormous game of knucklebones there could be traced the imaginary ruins of medieval cities with forts and dungeons30, pepper-box turrets31, and machicolated towers. And in truth these Bad Lands are an immense ossuary where lie bleaching32 in the sun myriads33 of fragments of pachyderms, chelonians, and even, some would have us believe, fossil men, overwhelmed by unknown cataclysms34 ages and ages ago.
When evening came the whole basin of the Platte River had been crossed, and the plain extended to the extreme limits of the horizon, which rose high owing to the altitude of the "Albatross."
During the night there were no more shrill35 whistles of locomotives or deeper notes of the river steamers to trouble the quiet of the starry36 firmament37. Long bellowing38 occasionally reached the aeronef from the herds39 of buffalo40 that roamed over the prairie in search of water and pasturage. And when they ceased, the trampling41 of the grass under their feet produced a dull roaring similar to the rushing of a flood, and very different from the continuous f-r-r-r-r of the screws.
Then from time to time came the howl of a wolf, a fox, a wild cat, or a coyote, the "Canis latrans," whose name is justified42 by his sonorous43 bark.
Occasionally came penetrating44 odors of mint, and sage45, and absinthe, mingled46 with the more powerful fragrance47 of the conifers which rose floating through the night air.
At last came a menacing yell, which was not due to the coyote. It was the shout of a Redskin, which no Tenderfoot would confound with the cry of a wild beast.
该作者的其它作品
《Around the World In 80 Days八十天环游地球》
《气球上的五星期 Five Weeks in a Balloon》
该作者的其它作品
《Around the World In 80 Days八十天环游地球》
《气球上的五星期 Five Weeks in a Balloon》
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1
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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2
berths
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| n.（船、列车等的）卧铺( berth的名词复数 )；（船舶的）停泊位或锚位；差事；船台vt.v.停泊( berth的第三人称单数 )；占铺位 | |
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3
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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4
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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5
displease
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| vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气 | |
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6
projections
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| 预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物 | |
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7
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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8
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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9
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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10
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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11
deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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12
diverge
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| v.分叉，分歧，离题，使...岔开，使转向 | |
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13
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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14
edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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15
eastwards
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| adj.向东方（的），朝东（的）；n.向东的方向 | |
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16
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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17
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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18
bluffs
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| 恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁 | |
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19
necessitated
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| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
affluents
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| n.富裕的，富足的( affluent的名词复数 ) | |
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21
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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22
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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23
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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24
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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25
vertigo
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| n.眩晕 | |
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26
buckle
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| n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲 | |
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27
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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28
cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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29
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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30
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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31
turrets
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| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
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32
bleaching
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| 漂白法，漂白 | |
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33
myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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34
cataclysms
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| n.（突然降临的）大灾难( cataclysm的名词复数 ) | |
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35
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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36
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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37
firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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38
bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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39
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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40
buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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41
trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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42
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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43
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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44
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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45
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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46
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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47
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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