Latest / Classic Adventure Books Collection / 22 - Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey

Transcript

22 - Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey · Classic Adventure Books Collection

0:00
Chapter twenty two, The Palace of Ice in the golden sunlight, and what
0:04
I imagined it might contain, how we were halted by a couple of quaintly
0:09
clad sentinels, the coltiquerps his frigid majesty King Gelidus. More about the Ice
0:17
Palace, together with the description of the throne room, our reception by the
0:22
King and his daughter Schnimuleh brief mention of Bulbrain or Lord Hothead. Scarcely had
0:29
I advanced a hundred yards beyond the portal where I had halted, When happening
0:34
to turn my eyes to the other side, a sight met them, which
0:38
sent a thrill of wonder and delight through my form. Thereupon the highest terrace
0:43
stood a palace of ice, its slender minarets, its high lifted towers,
0:48
its rounded turrets, its spacious platform, and its broad flights of steps,
0:53
all glittering in the sunlight, as if gem studded and jewel set. It
0:58
was a spectacle to stir them most indifferent heart, let alone one so full
1:02
of ardor and buoyancy as mine. But ah, dear friends, even admitting
1:07
that I can succeed in awakening in your minds, even a faint conception of
1:11
the beauty of this ice palace, as the sunlight fell full upon it at
1:15
that moment. How can I ever hope to give you an idea of the
1:19
unearthly beauty of this palace of ice and its glorious surroundings. When the moon
1:25
went up in the outer world at a later hour, and its pale,
1:29
mysterious light was poured through the mighty lens in the mountain side and fell with
1:34
celestial shimmer upon these walls of ice. But the one thought that oppressed me
1:40
now was can this beautiful bode be without a tenant, without a living soul
1:45
within its wonderful halls and chambers? Or may not its dwellers, overtaken by
1:49
the pitiless cold, sit with wide opened eyes and icy glare stark as marble,
1:56
in chairs of ice, white frosted hair pressed against ice see cushions,
2:00
and hands stiffened around crystal cups filled with frozen wine of topaz hue, while
2:07
the harper's fingers cling cramped to the wires, stiff as the wires themselves,
2:12
and the last tones of the singer's voice lie in feathery crystals of frozen breath,
2:17
white at his feet, Come what may? I resolved to lift the
2:22
crystal knocker that might hang on the outer door of this palace of ice,
2:24
and awaken the Castellan, if his slumber were not that of death. In
2:30
a few moments, I had crossed the level space between me and the first
2:34
terrace, which it would be necessary for me to scale in order to reach
2:38
the second, and then third, upon which stood the palace of ice.
2:42
Imagine my more than surprise upon finding myself now at the foot of a magnificent
2:46
flight of steps hewn into the ice with a master hand, and leading to
2:51
the terrace above. Springing lightly up this flight with vulgar close at my heels,
2:55
I suddenly set eyes upon two of the quaintest looking humans beans that I
3:00
ever remembered seeing in all my travels. They looked, for all the world
3:04
like two big animated snowballs, being clad from top to toe in garments made
3:09
of snow white fleece, their skull caps likewise of white fur, leaving only
3:15
their faces visible. In his right hand, each of them carried a very
3:20
prettily shaped flint axe mounted upon a helve of polished bone. Striding up to
3:24
me and swinging their axes over my head, in altogether too close proximity to
3:30
my pole to be particularly pleasant. One of them cries out, halt,
3:34
sir, Unless his frigid Majesty Gelidus, king of the Cully Corpse awaits they
3:39
coming. His guards will let a signal from us roll a few thousand tons
3:44
of ice down upon thee. If thou darest proceed another step. Therefore,
3:49
stand fast and tell us who thou art and whether thou art expected, gentlemen,
3:54
said, I kindly lower those axes of yours, and I will convince
3:59
you that his frigid Majesty hath nothing to dread in me, for I am
4:03
none other than the very small, but very noble and very famous Sebastian von
4:09
Trump, commonly known as the Little Baron. Never heard of thee in all
4:13
my life, said both of the guards, as with one voice. But
4:16
I have of you, gentlemen, I continued, for now I recollected what
4:21
the learned Don Fume had said about the frozen land of the Colli Corps or
4:27
cold bodies, And as proof of my peaceful intent, like a true knight,
4:30
I now offer you my hand and beg that you will conduct me into
4:34
the presence of his frigid majesty. No sooner had the guards standing next to
4:40
me drawn off his glove and grasped my hand, than he let it loose
4:43
again with a cry of fright zounds. Man art thou on fire? Why
4:46
thy hand burned me like a flame of a lamp? Why no, my
4:50
friend, I said quietly, that's my ordinary temperature. And thy companion hath
4:57
even a warmer heart than I have? Was my reply. Well, our
5:01
word for it, little baron, exclaimed one of the guards with a chuckle.
5:04
There will be no place for thee except in the meat quarry. Possibly
5:09
after thou hast been cooled off for a week or so, his frigid majesty
5:13
will be able to have thee about. This was not a very cheerful prospect,
5:17
for I had no particular desire to be laid away in the royal ice
5:20
box for a week or so. Anyway, the only thing to be done
5:26
was to insist upon being conducted at once into the presence of the King of
5:29
the Colti Corps, and abide by his decision. One of the guards,
5:32
having saluted me by presenting his battle axe in real military style, faced about
5:38
and began to ascend the grand staircase with intent to announce my arrival to his
5:42
frigid majesty, while the other informed me that he would conduct me as far
5:46
as the palace. I was wonder struck with the beauty of the three staircases
5:50
leading up to the ice Palace, massive bolustrades with curiously carved bolasters springing from
5:58
towering pedestals, crowned with beautiful lamps. All all, I say, all
6:02
in everything to the crystal clear sides of the lamps themselves was fashioned from blocks
6:08
of ice. It proved to be a good climb to the top of the
6:11
third terrace, and I was not put out when the guard solemnly lowered his
6:15
battle axe of flint to bring me to its standstill. The sun in the
6:19
upper world was, no doubt nearing the horizon for a deep and beautiful twilight
6:24
suddenly sank upon the icy dominions of King Gelidus, and to my surprise and
6:29
delight, through the great slabs of crystal clear ice which served for windows to
6:32
the palace, streamed a soft radiance, as if a thousand wax tapers were
6:38
burning in the chambers and galleries indoors. It was a sight to gladden the
6:43
eyes of any mortal. But if I had been spellbound by the beauty of
6:46
its exterior, how shall I tell you, dear friends, of the curious
6:49
splendor of the interior of Galadus's Palace of Ice as it burst upon me when
6:56
I had crossed its threshold. Hallway led into hallway chain mber, opened into
7:00
chamber, through portals, gracefully arched and winding staircases, climbing to upper rooms.
7:05
While hanging from lofty ceilings or resting on graceful pedestals, were a thousand
7:11
alabaster lamps shedding light and perfume upon this glorious home of his frigid majesty,
7:16
Galileus, King of the Colti corpse, long rows of retainers, all in
7:21
snow white fur, lying the wide hallway. As the guards conducted Bulgar and
7:26
me into the palace and bowed in silence as we passed, to my more
7:30
than wonder I saw that the inner rooms were most sumptuously furnished, chairs and
7:36
divans being scattered here and there, all covered with superb skins of white fur,
7:41
while the floor, too was carpeted with them. And as the soft
7:45
radiance of the alabaster lamps fell upon these magnificent pelts, and set ten thousand
7:49
jewels in the walls and ceilings of ice. I was ready to admit that
7:54
I had never seen anything half so beautiful, and yet I was still outside
7:58
the throne room of his frigid magic. At length we came to one end
8:01
of a broad hallway, which seemed shut off from the rest of the palace
8:05
by a wall thickly encrusted with strings of great diamonds, each as big as
8:11
a goose egg, extending from the ceiling to the floor, and turning back
8:16
the shimmer of the lamps with such a flood of crystalline radiance that my eyes
8:20
involuntarily closed before it. Think of my amazement when the two guards, laying
8:26
hold of this wall of jewels, as I deemed it, drew it to
8:30
the right and left till there was room for me to pass. What I
8:33
had taken for a wall of jewels was but a curtain made up of round
8:37
bits of ice, strung upon strings, and hanging like a shower of diamonds
8:41
there before me, as they glittered in the light of the lamps each side
8:43
of them. I now stood in the throne room of his frigid majesty,
8:48
the King of the Colti corpse. Now I realized that what I had seen
8:52
elsewhere in his palace of Ice was, in reality but a sample of its
8:56
magnificence. For here the splendor of King Gelidas's castle burst upon me in its
9:01
fullest strength. Imagine a great round chamber lighted with the soft flames of perfumed
9:09
oil streaming from a hundred alabaster lamps, the walls lined with broad divans covered
9:16
with snow white pelts, the floors thickly carpeted with the same glorious rugs.
9:22
While on one side, glittering in the shimmer of the hundred massive lamps,
9:26
stands the icy throne of the King of the coltiqrks, decked with snow white
9:31
skins, and he upon it with schniebouleeh his fair daughter sitting at his feet,
9:37
and all around and about him, group wise a hundred coultiquorks, the
9:41
King, the princess, and the courtiers, all clad in skins whiter than
9:43
the driven snow. And you, dear friends, will have some faint idea
9:48
of the splendor of the scene which burst upon me. As the two guards
9:52
drew aside the strands of ice jewels at the end of the hallway in the
9:56
Palace of Ice. Like all his subjects, King Gelidas looked out through the
10:01
round window of his fur hood, just as a big, good natured boy
10:07
does through his skating cap. The Colti Corps were not much taller than I,
10:11
but were very stocky built, so that when broadened out by their thick
10:16
fur suits, they really took on at times the appearance of animated snowballs.
10:22
It would be hard for the fingers of the deftest hand to draw faces fuller
10:26
of kindliness and good nature than those of the Colti corpse. Their small,
10:31
honest gray eyes sparkled with a boniform glint, and so broad were their smiles
10:37
that they were only about half visible through the round holes of their fur hoods.
10:41
I was delighted with them from the very start, and the more so
10:46
when I heard King Galidas cry out in a cheery voice, a right crisp
10:50
and cold welcome to our icy court, little barren But from what our people
10:54
jell us, thou earnest a pair of hands so hot that we beg thee
10:58
to take a few days to cool off before thou touchest palms with any of
11:01
the Colti corps. And we also beg thee to be careful and not to
11:05
lean against any of our richly carved panels, or to slide down any of
11:09
our highly polished railings, or to handle the strands of our jewels, or
11:13
sit down for any length of time on the front steps of our palace.
11:18
And we make the same request of thy four footed companion, who is said
11:20
to be of even warmer disposition than thou. I bowed and kissed my hand
11:26
to his frigid majesty, and assured him that I should make every effort to
11:30
lower my temperature as speedily as possible, and in the meantime that I should
11:33
be extremely careful not to come into contact with any of the artistic carving of
11:39
his palace of ice. As I pronounced these words, the whole company began
11:43
to clap their hands, and as they did so, a cold shiver ran
11:46
down my back, for there was a sound, methought, very much like
11:50
the rattling of dry bones to that applause. But I took good care not
11:54
to let King Gelidus notice my fright. His frigid magicine now presented me to
12:01
his daughter Shniboule, a pretty little maid of about sixteen crystal winters, with
12:05
cheeks round as apples and as deeply dimpled as the furrows of a cross bun.
12:11
Her eyes twinkled as she looked upon Vulgar and me, and turning to
12:15
her frigid papa, she asked for leave to touch the tip end of my
12:18
thumb, which, being done, she gave a squeaky little scream and began
12:22
to blow on her tiny finger, as if I had blistered it. King
12:26
Galidas also presented me to several of his court favorites, all men of the
12:30
coldest blood in the nation. Their names were Jellikin, prostifs Icicle, and
12:37
Glacier Boy. They were all dreadfully slow fingers when you questioned them very closely
12:41
on any subject. It didn't take me very long to discover this. In
12:46
fact, they requested me to be less warm in my manner and not to
12:50
ask them any posers, as they invariably found that deep thought caused a rise
12:56
in their temperature. This was, to be honest about it, very annoying
13:00
to me, for you know, dear friends, what a load stone my
13:03
mind is never asleep, always in a quiver like a mariner's compass, pointing
13:09
this way and that, in search of the pole or star of wisdom.
13:13
Upon making all my trouble to his frigid majesty, King Galidas, he most
13:16
gracefully ordered one of his trusty attendants to conduct me to the triple walled ice
13:22
cell of a certain Culti corp by the name of Bulabrain, that is literally
13:26
boiling brain, a man who had been born with a hot head and consequently
13:31
with a very active brain. For fifty years, King Gelidas had been doing
13:35
his very best to refrigerate this subject of his, but without success. And
13:39
as I was just bursting with impatience to ask a whole stirring of questions concerning
13:43
the Colti corpse, you may imagine how delighted I was to make the acquaintance
13:48
of Bulbraine, or Lord hot Head, as he was called among the Colti
13:52
Corps. But dear friends, you must excuse me if I make this the
13:56
end of the chapter and stop here for a brief rest. End of Chapter twenty two