Latest / Adventure Books Library / 34 - Around The World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne

Transcript

34 - Around The World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne · Adventure Books Library

• 0:00
  Chapter thirty four, in which Phileas Fogg at last reaches London. Phileas Fogg
• 0:09
  was in prison. He had been shut up in the custom house, and
• 0:13
  he was to be transferred to London the next day. Passpartout, when he
• 0:18
  saw his master arrested, would have fallen upon Fix, had he not been
• 0:22
  held back by some policeman. Aouda was thunderstruck at the suddenness of an event
• 0:28
  which she could not understand. Passepartout explained to her how it was that the
• 0:33
  honest and courageous Fogg was arrested as a robber. The young woman's heart revolted
• 0:39
  against so heinous a charge, and when she saw that she could attempt to
• 0:43
  do nothing to save her protector, she wept bitterly. As for Fix,
• 0:49
  he had arrested mister Fogg because it was his duty, whether mister Fogg were
• 0:53
  guilty or not. The thought then struck Passepartout that he was the cause of
• 0:59
  this new miss fortune. Had he not concealed Fix's errand from his master.
• 1:03
  When Fix revealed his true character and purpose, why had he not told mister
• 1:08
  Fogg. If the latter had been warned, he would no doubt have given
• 1:12
  Fix proof of his innocence and satisfied him of his mistake. At least Fix
• 1:19
  would not have continued his journey at the expense and on the heels of his
• 1:23
  master, only to arrest him the moment he set foot on English soil.
• 1:27
  Passpartout wept till he was blind and felt like blowing his brains out. auDA
• 1:34
  and he had remained, despite the cold, under the portico of the custom
• 1:38
  House. Neither wished to leave the place. Both were anxious to see mister
• 1:42
  Fogg again, that gentleman was really ruined, and that at the moment when
• 1:49
  he was about to attain his end, this arrest was fatal. Having arrived
• 1:55
  at Liverpool at twenty minutes before twelve on the twenty first of December, he
• 2:00
  had till a quarter before nine that evening to reach the Reform Club. That
• 2:05
  is nine hours and a quarter. The journey from Liverpool to London was six
• 2:09
  hours. If any one at this moment had entered the custom House, he
• 2:15
  would have found mister Fogg seated, motionless, calm and without apparent anger,
• 2:21
  upon a wooden bench. He was not, it is true, resigned,
• 2:25
  but this last blow failed to force him into an outward betrayal of any emotion.
• 2:31
  Was he being devoured by one of those secret rages, all the more
• 2:36
  terrible because contained, and which only burst forth with an irresistible force at the
• 2:42
  last moment, No one could tell. There he sat calmly waiting for what.
• 2:50
  Did he still cherish hope? Did he still believe, now that the
• 2:54
  door of this prison was closed upon him, that he would succeed? However
• 3:00
  that may have been. Mister Fogg carefully put his watch upon the table and
• 3:05
  observed its advancing hands. Not a word escaped his lips, but his look
• 3:12
  was singularly set and stern. The situation, in any event, was a
• 3:15
  terrible one, and might be thus stated. If Phileas Fogg was honest,
• 3:21
  he was ruined. If he was a knave, he was caught. Did
• 3:25
  escape occur to him? Did he examine to see if there were any practicable
• 3:30
  outlet from his prison? Did he think of escaping from it? Possibly?
• 3:36
  For once he walked slowly round the room, but the door was locked,
• 3:40
  and the window heavily barred with iron rods. He sat down again and drew
• 3:46
  his journal from his pocket. On the line where these words were written twenty
• 3:51
  first December Saturday, Liverpool. He added eightieth day, eleven forty a m.
• 3:59
  And waited. The custom house clock struck one. Mister Fogg observed that
• 4:05
  his watch was two hours too fast, two hours. Admitting that he was
• 4:12
  at this moment taking an express train, he could reach London and the Reform
• 4:16
  Club by a quarter before nine p m. His forehead slightly wrinkled. At
• 4:23
  thirty three minutes past two, he heard a singular noise outside, then a
• 4:28
  hasty opening of doors. Passepartout's voice was audible, and immediately after that of
• 4:33
  Fix. Phileas Fogg's eyes brightened. For an instant. The door swung open,
• 4:40
  and he saw Passepartout, a Uda, and Fix, who hurried towards
• 4:44
  him. Fix was out of breath and his hair was in disorder. He
• 4:48
  could not speak. Sir, he stammered, Sir, forgive me most unfortunate
• 4:57
  resemblance. Robber arrested three days ago. You were free, Phileas Fogg was
• 5:03
  free. He walked to the detective, looked him steadily in the face,
• 5:09
  and, with the only rapid motion he ever made in his life, or
• 5:13
  which he ever would make, drew back his arms, and, with the
• 5:15
  precision of a machine knocked Fixed down. Well hit, cried Passepartout. Pombleur.
• 5:24
  That's what you might call a good application of English feists. Fix,
• 5:29
  who found himself on the floor, did not utter a word. He had
• 5:32
  only received his deserts. Mister Fogg, auDA and Passepartout left the custom house
• 5:39
  without delay, got into a cab, and in a few moments descended at
• 5:43
  the station. Phileas Fogg asked if there was an express train about to leave
• 5:48
  for London. It was forty minutes past two. The express train had left
• 5:54
  thirty five minutes before. Phileas Fogg then ordered a special train. There were
• 6:00
  several rapid locomotives on hand, but the railway arrangements did not permit the special
• 6:03
  train to leave until three o'clock. At that hour, Phileas Fogg, having
• 6:10
  stimulated the engineer by the offer of a generous reward, at last, set
• 6:15
  out towards London with Aouda and his faithful servant. It was necessary to make
• 6:19
  the journey in five hours and a half, and this would have been easy
• 6:24
  on a clear road throughout, but there were forced delays, and when mister
• 6:29
  Fogg stepped from the train at the terminus, all the clocks in London were
• 6:32
  striking ten minutes before nine. Having made the tour of the world, he
• 6:39
  was behindhand five minutes he had lost the wager. End of chapter