Latest / Daily Sci-Fi Books / 28 - Launching the Raft - Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne

Transcript

28 - Launching the Raft - Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne · Daily Sci-Fi Books

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty eight, launching the raft. On the morning of
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the next day, to my great surprise, I awoke completely restored.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: I thought a bath would be delightful after my long
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: illness and sufferings. So soon after rising I went and
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: plunged into the waters of this new Mediterranean. The bath
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: was cool, fresh and inviduating. I came back to breakfast
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: with an excellent appetite. Hans, our worthy guide, thoroughly understood
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: how to cook such eatables as we were able to provide.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: He had both fire and water, a discretion, so that
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: he was enabled slightly to weary monotony of our ordinary repast.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Our morning meal was like a capital English breakfast, with
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: coffee by way of a wind up. And never had
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: this delicious bever, which been so welcome and refreshing. My
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: uncle had sufficient regard for my state of health not
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: to interrupt me in the enjoyment of the meal, But
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: he was evidently delighted when I had finished. Now then
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: said he come with me. It is the height of
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the tide, and I am anxious to study its curious phenomenon.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: What I cried, rising in astonishment, Did you say the tide? Uncle?
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Certainly I did you do not mean to say, I replied,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: in a tone of respectful doubt, that the influence of
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: the Sun and moon is felt here below. And pray,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: why not are not all bodies influenced by the law
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: of universal attraction? Why should this vast underground see be
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: exempt from the general law the rule of the universe. Besides,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: there is nothing like that which is proved and demonstrated.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Despite the great atmospheric pressure down here, you will notice
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: that this inland sea rises and falls with as much
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: regularity as the Atlantic itself has. My uncle spoke, we
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: reached the sand on the shore and so and heard
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: the waves breaking monotonously on the beach. They were evidently rising.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: This is truly the flood, I cried, looking at the
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: water at my feet. Yes, my excellent nephew, replied my uncle,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: rubbing his hands with the gusto of a philosopher. And
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: you see by these several streaks of foam that the
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: tide rises at least ten or twelve feet. It is
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: indeed marvelous. By no means, he responded, on the contrary,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: it is quite natural. It may appear so in your eyes,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: my dear uncle, was my reply. But all the phenomena
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: of the place appeared to me to partake of the
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: marvelous It is almost impossible to believe that which I see.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Who in his wildest dreams could have imagined that beneath
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: the crust of our earth there could exist a real ocean,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: with ebbing and flowing tides, with its change of winds,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: and even its storms, I, for one, should have left
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: the suggestion to scorn. But hurry, my boy, why not,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: inquired my uncle with a pitying smile. Is there any
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: physical reason in opposition to it? Well, if we give
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: up the great theory of the central heat of the Earth,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: I certainly can offer no reasons why anything should be
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: looked upon as impossible. Then you will own He added,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: that the system of Sir Humphrey Davy is fully justified
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: by what we have seen. I allow that it is,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: and that point, once granted, I certainly can see no
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: reason for doubting the existence of seas and other wonders,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: even countries in the interior of the globe. That is so,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: But of course these varied countries are uninhabited. Well, I
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: grant that it is more likely than not. Still I
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: do not see why this sea should not have given
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: shelter to some species of unknown fish. Hitherto we have
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: not discovered any, and the probabilities are rather against our
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: ever doing so, observed the professor. I was losing my
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: skepticism in the presence of these wonders. Well, I am
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: determined to solve the question. It is my intention to
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: try my luck with my fishing line and hook. Certainly
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: make the experiment, said my uncle, pleased with my enthusiasm.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: While we are about it, it will certainly be only
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: proper to discover all the secrets of this extraordinary region.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: But after all, where are we now? I asked, All
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: this time, I have quite forgotten to ask you a
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: question which doubtless your philosophical instruments have long since answered. Well,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: replied the professor, examining the situation from only one point
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: of view. We are now distant three hundred and fifty
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: leagues from Iceland, So much was my exclamation. I have
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: gone over the matter several times, and I am sure
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: not to have made a mistake of five hundred yards,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: replied my uncle positively. And as to the direction, are
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: we still going to the southeast? Yes, with the western
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: declination of nineteen degrees forty two minutes, just as it
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: is above. The declination is the variation of the needle
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: from the true meridian of a place. As for the inclination,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: I have discovered a very curious fact. Inclination is the
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: dip of the magnetic needle with a tendency to incline
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: towards the Earth. What may that be, Uncle? Your information
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: interests me. Why that the needle, instead of dipping towards
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: the pole as it doth on Earth in the northern hemisphere,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: has an upward tendency. This proves I cried that the
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: great point of magnetic attraction lies somewhere between the surface
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: of the Earth and the spot. We have succeeded in
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: reaching exactly, my observant nephew exclaimed, My uncle, elated and delighted.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: And it is quite probable that if we succeed in
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: getting toward the polar regions somewhere near the seventy third
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: degree of latitude where Sir James Ross discovered the magnetic pole,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: we shall behold the needle point directly upward. We have
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: therefore discovered by analogy that this great center of attraction
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: is not situated at a very great depth. Well said
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I rather surprised. This discovery will astonish experimental philosophers. It
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: was never suspected. Science great, mighty, and in the end honoring,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: replied my uncle dogmatically, science has fallen into many errors,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: errors which have been fortunate and useful rather than otherwise,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: for they have been the stepping stones to truth. After
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: some further discussion, I turned to another man. Have you
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: any idea of the depth we have reached? We are now,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: continued the professor, exactly thirty five leagues above a hundred
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: miles down into the interior of the earth, So said I,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: after measuring the distance on the map. We are now
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: beneath the Scottish Highlands and have over our heads the
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: lofty Grampian hills. You are quite right, said the professor, laughing.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: It sounds very alarming, the weight being heavy. But the
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: vault which supports this vast mass of earth and rock
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: is solid and safe. The mighty architect of the universe
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: has constructed it of solid materials. Man, even in his
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: highest flights of vivid and poetic imagination, never thought of
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: such things. What are the finest arches of our bridges,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: What the vaulted roofs of our cathedrals to that mighty
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: dome above us and beneath which floats an ocean, with
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: its storms and calms and tides. I admire it all
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: as much as you can, uncle, and have no fear
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: that our granite sky will fall upon our heads. But
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: now that we have discussed matters of science and discovery,
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: what are your future intentions? Are you not thinking of
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: getting back to the surface of our beautiful earth? This
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: was said more as a feeler than with any hope
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: of success. Go back, nephew, cried my uncle, in a
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: tone of alarm. You are not surely thinking of anything
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: so absurd or cowardly. No, my intention is to advance
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: and continue our journey. We have as yet been singularly fortunate,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: and henceforth I hope we shall be more so. But
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: said I, how are we to cross yonder liquid plain?
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: It is not my intention to leap into it head foremost,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: or even to swim across it light ly under over
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: the Hellespont. But as oceans are after all only great
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: lakes inasmuch as they are surrounded by land, so does
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: it stand to reason that this central sea is circumscribed
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: by granite surroundings. Doubtless, was my natural reply. Well, then,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: do you not think that when once we reached the
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: other end, we shall find some means of continuing our journey? Probably,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: but what extent do you allow to this internal lotion? Well,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: I should fancy to extend about forty or fifty leagues
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: more or less. But even supposing this approximation to be
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: a correct one, what, then, I asked, my dear boy.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: We have no time for further discussion. We shall embark
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: to morrow. I looked round with surprise and incredulity. I
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: could see nothing in the shape of boat or vessel. What,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: I cried, We are about to launch out upon an
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: unknown sea. And where, if I may ask, is the
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: vessel to carry? Well, my dear boy, it will not
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: be exactly what you would call a vessel. For the present.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: We must be content with a good and solid raft,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: A raft, I cried incredulously. But down here a raft
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: is as impossible a construction as a vessel. And I
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: am at last to imagine, my good Harry, if you
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: were to listen instead of talking so much, you would hear,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: said my uncle, waxing a little impatient, I should hear, Yes,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: certain knocks with the hammer which Hans is now employing
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: to make the raft. He has been at work for
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: many hours making a raft. Yes, but where has he
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: found trees suitable for such a construction. He found the
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: trees already to his hand. Come, and you shall see
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: your excellent guide at work. More and more amazed at
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: what I heard and saw, I followed my uncle like
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: one in a dream. After a walk of about a
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: quarter of an hour, I saw hands at work on
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: the other side of the promontory which formed our natural port.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: A few minutes more and I was beside him. To
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: my great surprise, on the sandy shore lay half finished raft.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: It was made from beams of a very peculiar wood,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: and a great number of limbs, joins, bows and pieces
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: lay about, sufficient to have constructed the fleet of ships
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: and boats. I turned to my uncle, silent with astonishment,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: and ave, where did all this wood come from? I cried?
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: What wood is it? Well? There is pine wood, fir
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: and the palms of the northern regions, mineralized by the
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: action of the sea. He replied, sententiously. Can it be possible, Yes,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: said the learned professor. What you see is called fossil wood.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: But then cried I, after reflecting for a moment, Like
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: the lignites, it must be as hard and as heavy
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: as iron, and therefore will certainly not float. Sometimes that
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: is the case. Many of these woods have become true untracites.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: But others, again, like those you see before, you have
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: only undergone one face of fossil transformation. But there is
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: no proof like demonstration, added my uncle, picking one or
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: two of these precious waves and casting them into the sea.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: The piece of wood, after having disappeared for a moment,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: came to the surface and floated about with the oscillation
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: produced by wind and tide. Are you convinced, said my
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: uncle with a self satisfied smile. I am convinced, I
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: cried that what I see is incredible. The fact was
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: that my journey into the interior of the Earth was
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: rapidly changing all preconceived notions, and day by day, preparing
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: me for the marvelous I should not have been surprised
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: to have seen a fleet of native canoes afloat upon
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: that silent sea. The very next evening, thanks to the
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: industry and ability of hands, the raft was finished. It
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: was about ten feet long and five feet wide. The
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: beams bound together with stout ropes, were solid and firm,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: and once launched by our united efforts, the improvised vessel
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: floated tranquility upon the waters for what the Professor had
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: well named the Central Sea. End of Chapter twenty eight