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26 - A Rapid Recovery - Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne · Science Fiction Books

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty six, A rapid recovery. When I returned to
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  Speaker 1: the consciousness of existence, I found myself surrounded by a
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  Speaker 1: kind of seemi obscurity. Lying on some thick and soft coverlets.
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  Speaker 1: My uncle was watching, his eyes fixed intently on my countenance,
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  Speaker 1: a grave expression on his face, a tear in his eye.
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  Speaker 1: At the first sigh which struggled from my bosom, he
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  Speaker 1: took hold of my hand. When he saw my eyes
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  Speaker 1: open and fixed themselves upon his, he uttered a loud
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  Speaker 1: cry of joy. He leaves, he leaves. Yes, my good uncle,
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  Speaker 1: I whispered, My dear boy, continued the grim professor, clasping
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  Speaker 1: me to his heart, yours saved. I was deeply and
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  Speaker 1: unaffectedly touched by the tone in which these words were uttered,
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  Speaker 1: and even more by the kindly care which accompanied them.
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  Speaker 1: The professor, however, was one of those men who must
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  Speaker 1: be severely tried in order to induce any display of
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  Speaker 1: affection or gentle emotion. At this moment, our friend Hans
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  Speaker 1: the Guide joined us. He saw my hand in that
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  Speaker 1: of my uncle, and I venture to say that taciturn
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  Speaker 1: as he was, his eyes beamed with lively satisfaction. Kurd
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  Speaker 1: dog He said, good day, Hans, Good day, I replied,
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  Speaker 1: in as hearty a tone as I could assume. And now, uncle,
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  Speaker 1: that we are together, tell me where we are. I
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  Speaker 1: have lost all idea of our position, as of everything else.
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  Speaker 1: To morrow, hurry to morrow, he replied, to day, you
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  Speaker 1: are far too weak. Your head is surrounded with bandages
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  Speaker 1: and poultices that must not be touched. Sleep, my boy, sleep,
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  Speaker 1: and to morrow you will know all that you require.
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  Speaker 1: But I cried, let me know what o'clock it is,
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  Speaker 1: what day it is? It is now eleven o'clock at night,
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  Speaker 1: and this is once more Sunday. It is now the
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  Speaker 1: ninth of the month of August. And I distinctly prohibit
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  Speaker 1: you from asking any more questions until the tenth of
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  Speaker 1: the same. I was, if the truth were told, very weak, indeed,
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  Speaker 1: and my eyes soon closed involuntarily. I did require a
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  Speaker 1: good night's rest, and I went off, reflecting at the
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  Speaker 1: last moment that my perilous adventure in the interior of
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  Speaker 1: the earth in total darkness had lasted four days. On
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  Speaker 1: the morning or the next day, at my awakening, I
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  Speaker 1: began to look round me. My sleeping place, made of
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  Speaker 1: all our traveling bedding, was in a charming rotto, adorned
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  Speaker 1: with magnificent stalagmites, glittering in all the colors of the rainbow,
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  Speaker 1: the floor of soft and silvery sand. A dim obscurity prevailed,
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  Speaker 1: no torch, no lamp was lightly and yet certain unexplained
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  Speaker 1: beams of light penetrated from without and made their way
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  Speaker 1: through the opening of the beautiful grotto. I moreoverheard a
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  Speaker 1: vague and indefinite murmur, like the ebb and flow of
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  Speaker 1: waves upon a strand, and sometimes I verily believed I
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  Speaker 1: could hear the sighing of the wind. I began to
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  Speaker 1: believe that instead of being awake, I must be dreaming.
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  Speaker 1: Surely my brain had not been affected by my fall,
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  Speaker 1: and all that occurred during the last twenty four hours
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  Speaker 1: was not the frenzied visions of madness. And yet, after
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  Speaker 1: some reflection, a trial of my faculties, I came to
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  Speaker 1: the conclusion that I could not be mistaken. Eyes and
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  Speaker 1: ears could not surely both deceive me. It is a
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  Speaker 1: ray of the blessed daylight, I said to myself, which
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  Speaker 1: has penetrated through some mighty ficire in the rocks. But
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  Speaker 1: what is the meaning of this murmur of waves, this
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  Speaker 1: unmistakable moaning of the salt sea bellows. I can hear
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  Speaker 1: too plainly enough the whistling of the wind. But can
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  Speaker 1: I be altogether mistaken? If my uncle, during my illness,
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  Speaker 1: has but carried me back to the service of the earth,
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  Speaker 1: has he, on my account given up his wondrous expedition,
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  Speaker 1: or in some strange manner, has it come to an end.
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  Speaker 1: I was puzzling my brain over these and other questions
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  Speaker 1: when the professor joined me. Good day, hurry, he cried,
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  Speaker 1: in a joyous tone. I fancy you are quite well.
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  Speaker 1: I'm very much better, I replied, actually sitting up in
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  Speaker 1: my bed. I knew that would be the end of it.
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  Speaker 1: As you slept both soundly and tranquility. Hans and I
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  Speaker 1: have each taken turn to watch, and every hour we
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  Speaker 1: have seen visible signs of amelioration. You must be right, uncle,
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  Speaker 1: was my reply, For I feel as if I could
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  Speaker 1: do justice to any meal you could put before me.
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  Speaker 1: You shall eat, my boy, you shall eat. The fever
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  Speaker 1: has left you. Our excellent friend Hans has rubbed your
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  Speaker 1: wounds and bruises with I know not what ointment of
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  Speaker 1: which the Icelanders alone possesses the secret and they have
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  Speaker 1: healed your bruises in the most marvelous manner. Ah. He
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  Speaker 1: is a wise fellow, is Master Hans. While he was speaking,
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  Speaker 1: my uncle was placing before me several articles of food, which,
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  Speaker 1: despite his earnest injunctions, I readily devoured. As soon as
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  Speaker 1: the first rage of hunger was appeast, I overwhelmed him
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  Speaker 1: with questions to which he now no longer hesitated to
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  Speaker 1: give answers. I then learned for the first time that
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  Speaker 1: my providential fall had brought me to the bottom of
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  Speaker 1: an almost perpendicular gallery. As I came down amidst the
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  Speaker 1: perfect shower of stones, the least of which, falling on me,
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  Speaker 1: would have crushed me to death, they came to the
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  Speaker 1: conclusion that I had carried with me an entire dislocated rock.
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  Speaker 1: Riding as it were, on this terrible chariot, I was
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  Speaker 1: cast headlong into my uncle's arms and into them. I
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  Speaker 1: felt insensible and covered with blood. It is, indeed a miracle,
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  Speaker 1: was the professor's final remark, that you were not killed
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  Speaker 1: a thousand times over. But let us take care never
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  Speaker 1: to separate, for surely we should risk never meeting again.
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  Speaker 1: Let us take care never again to separate. These words
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  Speaker 1: fell with a sort of chill upon my heart. The journey,
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  Speaker 1: then was not over. I looked at my uncle with
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  Speaker 1: surprise and astonishment. My uncle, after an instant's examination of
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  Speaker 1: my countenance, said, what is the matter? Hurry? I want
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  Speaker 1: to ask you a very serious question. You say that
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  Speaker 1: I am all right in health, certainly you are, And
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  Speaker 1: all my limbs are sound and capable of new exertion,
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  Speaker 1: I asked, most undoubtedly. But what about my head? Was
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  Speaker 1: my next anxious question. Well, your head, except that you
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  Speaker 1: have one or two contusions, is exactly where it ought
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  Speaker 1: to be on your shoulders, said my uncle, laughing. Well,
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  Speaker 1: my own opinion is that my head is not exactly right.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, I believe myself slightly delirious. What makes you think? So?
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  Speaker 1: I will explain why I fancy I have lost my senses,
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  Speaker 1: I cried. Have we not returned to the surface of
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  Speaker 1: mother Earth? Certainly not? Then truly I must be mad,
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  Speaker 1: For do I not see the light of day? Do
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  Speaker 1: I not hear the whistling of the wind? And can
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  Speaker 1: I not distinguish the wash of a great sea? And
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  Speaker 1: that is all that makes you uneasy? Said my uncle
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  Speaker 1: with a smile. Can you explain. I will not make
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  Speaker 1: any attempt to explain, for the whole matter is utterly inexplicable.
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  Speaker 1: But you shall see and judge for yourself. You will
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  Speaker 1: then find that geological silence is as yet in its infancy,
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  Speaker 1: and that we are doomed to enlighten the world. Let
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  Speaker 1: us advance, then, I cried eagerly, no longer able to
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  Speaker 1: restrain my curiosity. Wait a moment, my dear arie, he responded,
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  Speaker 1: you must take precautions after your illness before going into
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  Speaker 1: the open air. The open air. Yes, my boy, I
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  Speaker 1: have to warn you that the wind is rather violent,
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  Speaker 1: and I have no wish for you to expose yourself
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  Speaker 1: without necessary precautions. But I beg to show you that
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  Speaker 1: I am perfectly recovered from my illness. I have just
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  Speaker 1: a little patience, my boy. A relapse would be inconvenient
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  Speaker 1: to all parties. We have no time to lose, as
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  Speaker 1: our prorouching sea voyage may be of long duration sea voyage,
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  Speaker 1: I cried, more bewildered than ever. Yes, you must take
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  Speaker 1: another day's rest, and we shall be ready to go
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  Speaker 1: on board by to morrow, replied my uncle, with a
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  Speaker 1: peculiar smile. Go on board. The words utterly astonished me.
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  Speaker 1: Go on board? And what and how had we come
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  Speaker 1: upon a river? A lake? Had we discovered some inlancy
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  Speaker 1: was a vessel line at anchor in some part of
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  Speaker 1: the interior of the earth. My curiosity was worked up
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  Speaker 1: to the very highest pitch. My uncle made vain attempts
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  Speaker 1: to restrain me. When at last, however, he discovered that
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  Speaker 1: my feverish impatience would do more harm than good, and
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  Speaker 1: that the satisfaction of my wishes could alone restore me
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  Speaker 1: to a calm state of mind, he gave way. I
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  Speaker 1: dressed myself rapidly, and then, taking the precaution to please
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  Speaker 1: my uncle, of wrapping myself in one of the coverlets,
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  Speaker 1: I rushed out of the grotto. End of Chapter twenty six.