Вокруг света за 80 дней / Around the World in 80 Days

Жюль Верн / Jules Verne

Вокруг света за 80 дней / Around the World in 80 Days

© Матвеев С. А., адаптация текста, словарь, 2018

© ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2018

Chapter I

Mr. Phileas Fogg[1] lived in 1872, at No. 7, Saville Row[2]. He was one of the most noticeable members of the Reform Club[3]. Certainly an Englishman, it was more doubtful whether Phileas Fogg was a Londoner[4]. He was never seen on Change[5], nor at the Bank, nor in the “City”; no ships ever came into London docks of which he was the owner; he had no public employment; nor had his voice ever resounded in the Court of Chancery[6]. He certainly was not a manufacturer, nor was he a merchant or a gentleman farmer. His name was strange to the scientific and learned societies. He belonged, in fact, to none of the numerous societies in the English capital. Phileas Fogg was a member of the Reform, and that was all.

Was Phileas Fogg rich? Undoubtedly. But those who knew him best could not imagine how he had made his fortune[7], and Mr. Fogg was the last person to whom to apply for this information. He was not lavish, nor avaricious; for, whenever he knew that money was needed for a noble, useful, or benevolent purpose, he supplied it quietly and sometimes anonymously. He talked very little. His daily habits were quite open to observation.

Had he travelled? It was likely, for no one seemed to know the world more familiarly. He must have traveled everywhere, at least in the spirit[8].

His sole pastimes were reading the papers and playing whist. He often won, which harmonised with his nature; but his winnings never went into his purse, being reserved as a fund for his charities. Mr. Fogg played, not to win, but for the sake of[9] playing. The game was in his eyes a contest, a struggle with a difficulty.

Phileas Fogg was not known to have either wife or children. He lived alone in his house in Saville Row. He breakfasted and dined at the club, at hours mathematically fixed, in the same room, at the same table, never taking his meals[10] with other members, and went home at exactly midnight, only to retire at once to bed. He passed ten hours out of the twenty-four in Saville Row. His mansion was exceedingly comfortable, and to achieve this, Phileas Fogg required his servant to be almost superhumanly prompt and regular. On this very 2nd of October he had dismissed James Forster[11], because that luckless youth had brought him shaving-water at eighty-four degrees Fahrenheit[12] instead of eighty-six[13], and he was awaiting his successor, who was due at the house between eleven and half-past.

Phileas Fogg was seated squarely in his armchair, his feet close together, his hands resting on his knees, his body straight, his head erect; he was steadily watching a complicated clock which indicated the hours, the minutes, the seconds, the days, the months, and the years. A rap sounded on the door and James Forster, the dismissed servant, appeared, along with a stranger.

“The new servant,” said he.

A young man of thirty advanced and bowed.

“You are a Frenchman, I believe,” asked Phileas Fogg, “and your name is John?”

“Jean, if monsieur pleases,” replied the newcomer, “Jean Passepartout[14]. I believe I’m honest, monsieur, but I’ve had several trades. I’ve been an itinerant singer[15], a circus-rider[16], when I used to dance on a rope. Then I got to be a professor of gymnastics; and then I was a sergeant fireman[17] at Paris. But I quitted France five years ago, and took service as a valet here in England.”

“Passepartout,” responded Mr. Fogg, “you are well recommended to me; I hear a good report of you. You know my conditions?”

“Yes, monsieur.”

“Good! What time is it?”

“Twenty-two minutes after eleven,” returned Passepartout, drawing an enormous silver watch from the depths of his pocket.

“Your watch is too slow,” said Mr. Fogg.

“Pardon me, monsieur, it is impossible—”

“Four minutes slow. No matter; it’s enough to mention the error. Now from this moment, twenty-nine minutes after eleven, a.m., this Wednesday, 2nd October, you are in my service.”

Phileas Fogg got up, took his hat in his left hand, put it on his head with an automatic motion, and went off without a word. Passepartout remained alone in the house in Saville Row.

Chapter II

“Oh,” muttered Passepartout, “I’ve seen people at Madame Tussaud’s[18] as lively as my new master!” Madame Tussaud’s “people,” let it be said, are of wax, and are much visited in London.

During his brief interview with Mr. Fogg, Passepartout had been carefully observing him. He appeared to be a man about forty years of age, with fine, handsome features, and a tall, well-shaped figure; his hair and whiskers were light, his forehead compact and unwrinkled, his face rather pale, his teeth magnificent. Calm and phlegmatic, with a clear eye, Mr. Fogg seemed a perfect type of that English composure. He was so exact that he was never in a hurry, was always ready, and was economical alike of his steps and his motions. He always went to his destination by the shortest cut; he made no superfluous gestures, and was never seen to be moved or agitated. He was the most deliberate person in the world. He lived alone, and, so to speak, outside of every social relation.

As for Passepartout, he was a true Parisian of Paris[19]. Since he had abandoned his own country for England, taking service as a valet, he had in vain searched for a master after his own heart. Passepartout was an honest fellow, with a pleasant face, soft-mannered and serviceable, with a good round head, such as one likes to see on the shoulders of a friend. His eyes were blue, his complexion rubicund, his figure almost portly and well-built, his body muscular, and his physical powers fully developed by the exercises of his younger days[20].

It would be rash to predict how Passepartout’s lively nature would agree with Mr. Fogg. Hearing that Mr. Phileas Fogg was looking for a servant, and that his life was one of unbroken regularity, that he neither travelled nor stayed from home overnight, he felt sure that this would be the place he was after. He presented himself, and was accepted.

At half-past eleven, then, Passepartout found himself alone in the house in Saville Row. He began its inspection without delay. So clean, well-arranged, solemn a mansion pleased him; it seemed to him like a snail’s shell, lighted and warmed by gas. He suddenly observed a card—a programme of the daily routine of the house. It comprised all that was required of the servant, from eight in the morning, exactly at which hour Phileas Fogg rose, till half-past eleven, when he left the house for the Reform Club—all the details of service, the tea and toast at twenty-three minutes past eight, the shaving-water at thirty-seven minutes past nine, and the toilet at twenty minutes before ten. Everything was regulated and foreseen.

“This is just what I wanted!” said Passepartout to himself. “Ah, we shall get on together[21], Mr. Fogg and I! What a domestic and regular gentleman! A real machine; well, I don’t mind serving a machine.”

Chapter III

Phileas Fogg, having shut the door of his house at half-past eleven, reached the Reform Club, and took his place at the habitual table. He rose at thirteen minutes to one, and directed his steps towards the large hall. Half an hour later several members of the Reform came in and drew up to the fireplace. They were Mr. Fogg’s usual partners at whist: Andrew Stuart[22], an engineer; John Sullivan[23] and Samuel Fallentin[24], bankers; Thomas Flanagan[25], a brewer; and Gauthier Ralph[26], one of the Directors of the Bank of England—all rich and highly respectable personages.

“Well, Ralph,” said Thomas Flanagan, “what about that robbery?”

“Oh,” replied Stuart, “the Bank will lose the money.”

“On the contrary,” broke in Ralph, “I hope we may put our hands on the robber. Skilful detectives have been sent to all the principal ports of America and the Continent, and he’ll be a clever fellow if he slips through their fingers.”

“But have you got the robber’s description?” asked Stuart.

“In the first place, he is no robber at all,” returned Ralph, positively.

“What! A fellow who makes off[27] with fifty-five thousand pounds, no robber?”

“No.”

“Perhaps he’s a manufacturer, then.”

“The Daily Telegraph[28] says that he is a gentleman.”

Phileas Fogg bowed to his friends, and entered into the conversation about the affair which had occurred three days before at the Bank of England. A package of banknotes, to the value of fifty-five thousand pounds, had been taken from the principal cashier’s[29] table, who was engaged in registering the receipt of three shillings and sixpence. Of course, he could not have his eyes everywhere. Let it be known[30] that the Bank of England has no guards, nor gratings to protect its treasures, showing a touching confidence in the honesty of the public.

As soon as the robbery was discovered, many detectives hastened off to Liverpool, Glasgow, Havre, Suez, Brindisi, New York[31], and other ports, inspired by the proffered reward of two thousand pounds, and five per cent on the sum that might be recovered[32]. Detectives were watching all who arrived at or left London.

As the Daily Telegraph said, the thief did not belong to a professional band. On the day of the robbery a well-dressed gentleman of polished manners[33] was going to and fro[34] in the paying room where the crime was committed. A description of him was easily procured and sent to the detectives. Everywhere people were discussing the probabilities of a successful pursuit; and the Reform Club was especially agitated.

“I maintain,” said Stuart, “that the chances are in favour of the thief, who must be a shrewd fellow.”

“Well, but could he go, then?” asked Ralph. “No country is safe for him.”

“Oh, I don’t know that. The world is big enough.”

“It was once,” said Phileas Fogg, in a low tone, handing the cards to Thomas Flanagan.

“What do you mean by ‘once’? Has the world grown smaller?”

“Certainly,” returned Ralph. “I agree with Mr. Fogg. The world has grown smaller, since a man can now go round it ten times more quickly than a hundred years ago. And that is why the search for this thief will be more likely to succeed.”

“And also why the thief can get away more easily.”

Stuart said eagerly: “So, because you can go round the world in three months—”

“In eighty days,” interrupted Phileas Fogg.

“That is true, gentlemen,” added John Sullivan. “Only eighty days, now that the section between Rothal[35] and Allahabad[36], on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway[37], has been opened. Here is the estimate made by the Daily Telegraph:

“From London to Suez via Mont Cenis[38] and Brindisi, by rail and steamboats, 7 days.

“From Suez to Bombay[39], by steamer, 13 days.

“From Bombay to Calcutta[40], by rail, 3 days.

“From Calcutta to Hong Kong[41], by steamer, 13 days.

“From Hong Kong to Yokohama[42], by steamer, 6 days.

“From Yokohama to San Francisco, by steamer, 22 days.

“From San Francisco to New York, by rail, 7 days.

“From New York to London, by steamer and rail, 9 days.

“Total 80 days.”

“Yes, in eighty days!” exclaimed Stuart. “But that doesn’t take into account bad weather, contrary winds, shipwrecks, railway accidents, and so on.”

“All included[43],” returned Phileas Fogg, continuing to play despite the discussion.

“But suppose the Hindoos or Indians pull up the rails,” replied Stuart; “suppose they stop the trains, pillage the luggage-vans[44], and scalp the passengers!”

“All included,” calmly retorted Fogg.

“You are right, theoretically, Mr. Fogg, but practically—”

“Practically also, Mr. Stuart.”

“I’d like to see you do it in eighty days.”

“It depends on you. Shall we go?”

“No! But I would wager four thousand pounds that such a journey, made under these conditions, is impossible.”

“Quite possible, on the contrary,” returned Mr. Fogg.

“Well, make it, then!”

“The journey round the world in eighty days?”

“Yes.”

“I should like nothing better.”

“When?”

“At once. Only I warn you that I shall do it at your expense.”

“It’s absurd!” cried Stuart, who was beginning to be annoyed at the persistency of his friend. “Come, let’s go on with the game.”

“Deal over again, then,” said Phileas Fogg.

“Well, Mr. Fogg,” said Stuart “it shall be so: I will wager the four thousand on it.”

“Calm yourself, my dear Stuart,” said Fallentin. “It’s only a joke.”

“When I say I’ll wager,” returned Stuart, “I mean it.”

“All right,” said Mr. Fogg; and, turning to the others, he continued: “I have a deposit of twenty thousand at Baring’s[45] which I will willingly risk upon it.”

“Twenty thousand pounds!” cried Sullivan. “Twenty thousand pounds, which you would lose by a single accidental delay!”

“The unforeseen does not exist,” quietly replied Phileas Fogg.

“But, Mr. Fogg, eighty days are only the estimate of the least possible time in which the journey can be made. In order not to exceed it, you must jump mathematically from the trains upon the steamers, and from the steamers upon the trains again.”

“I will jump—mathematically.”

“You are joking.”

“A true Englishman doesn’t joke when he is talking about so serious a thing as a wager,” replied Phileas Fogg, solemnly. “I will bet twenty thousand pounds against anyone who wishes that I will make the tour of the world in eighty days or less; in nineteen hundred and twenty hours, or a hundred and fifteen thousand two hundred minutes. Do you accept?”

After consulting each other, the gentlemen agreed to accept the wager.

“Good,” said Mr. Fogg. “The train leaves for Dover[46] at a quarter before nine. I will take it.”

“This very evening?” asked Stuart.

“This very evening,” returned Phileas Fogg. He took out and consulted a pocket calender, and added, “As today is Wednesday, the 2nd of October, I shall be due in London in this very room of the Reform Club, on Saturday, the 21st of December, at a quarter before 9 p.m., or else the twenty thousand pounds, now deposited in my name at Baring’s, will belong to you, in fact and in right, gentlemen. Here is a cheque for the amount.”

A memorandum of the wager was at once drawn up and signed by the six parties.

Chapter IV

Having won twenty guineas at whist, and taken leave of his friends, Phileas Fogg, at twenty-five minutes past seven, left the Reform Club.

When he got to his mansion, Mr. Fogg called out, “Passepartout!”

Passepartout did not reply. It could not be he who was called; it was not the right hour.

“Passepartout!” repeated Mr. Fogg, without raising his voice.

Passepartout made his appearance.

“I’ve called you twice,” observed his master.

“But it is not midnight,” responded the other, showing his watch.

“I know it; I don’t blame you. We start for Dover and Calais[47] in ten minutes.”

A puzzled grin overspread Passepartout’s round face; clearly he had not comprehended his master.

“Monsieur is going to leave home?”

“Yes,” returned Phileas Fogg. “We are going round the world.”

Passepartout opened wide his eyes, raised his eyebrows, held up his hands; he was stupefied.

“Round the world!” he murmured.

“In eighty days,” responded Mr. Fogg. “So we haven’t a moment to lose.”

“But the baggage?” gasped Passepartout, swaying his head from right to left.

“We’ll have no trunks; only a carpet-bag[48], with two shirts and three pairs of stockings for me, and the same for you. We’ll buy our clothes on the way. Make haste!”

Passepartout tried to reply, but could not. He went out, mounted to his own room, fell into a chair, and muttered: “That’s good, that is! And I, who wanted to remain quiet!”

Around the world in eighty days! Was his master a fool? No. Was this a joke, then? They were going to Dover; good! To Calais; good again!

By eight o’clock Passepartout had packed the carpet-bag; then he carefully shut the door of his room, and descended to Mr. Fogg.

Mr. Fogg was quite ready. He took the carpetbag, opened it, and slipped into it a roll of Bank of England notes.

“You have forgotten nothing?” asked he.

“Nothing, monsieur.”

“Good! Take this carpet-bag,” handing it to Passepartout. “Take good care of it, for there are twenty thousand pounds in it.”

Passepartout nearly dropped the bag.

They then descended, and at the end of Saville Row they took a cab and drove rapidly to Charing Cross[49]. The cab stopped before the railway station at twenty minutes past eight. Passepartout jumped off the box and followed his master, who, after paying the cabman, was about to enter the station, when a poor beggar-woman, with a child in her arms, approached, and mournfully asked for alms.

Mr. Fogg took out the twenty guineas he had just won at whist, and handed them to the beggar, saying, “Here, my good woman. I’m glad that I met you;” and passed on.

Passepartout saw it; his master’s action touched his susceptible heart.

Two first-class tickets for Paris having been speedily purchased, Mr. Fogg was crossing the station to the train, when he perceived his five friends of the Reform.

“Well, gentlemen,” said he, “I’m off, you see; and you will be able to examine my passport when I get back.”

“Oh, that would be quite unnecessary, Mr. Fogg,” said Ralph politely. “We will trust your word, as a gentleman of honour.”

“You do not forget when you are due in London again?” asked Stuart.

“In eighty days; on Saturday, the 21st of December, 1872, at a quarter before 9 p.m. Goodbye, gentlemen.”

Phileas Fogg and his servant seated themselves in a first-class carriage at twenty minutes before nine; five minutes later the whistle screamed, and the train slowly glided out of the station.

The night was dark, and a fine, steady rain was falling. Passepartout suddenly uttered a cry of despair.

“What’s the matter?” asked Mr. Fogg.

“Alas! In my hurry—I—I forgot—”

“What?”

“To turn off the gas in my room!”

“Very well, young man,” returned Mr. Fogg, coolly; “it will burn—at your expense.”

Chapter V

Phileas Fogg did not suspect that his departure from London would create a lively sensation at the West End[50]. The news of the bet soon got into the papers throughout England. The “tour of the world” was talked about, disputed, argued. Some took sides with Phileas Fogg, but the large majority shook their heads and declared against him; it was absurd, impossible, they declared, that the tour of the world could be made, except theoretically and on paper, in this minimum of time, and with the existing means of travelling. People in general thought him a lunatic, and blamed his Reform Club friends for having accepted this wager.

A few readers of the Daily Telegraph even dared to say, “Why not, after all? Stranger things happened.” At last a long article appeared, on the 7th of October, in the bulletin of the Royal Geographical Society[51], which demonstrated the utter folly of the enterprise. Everything, it said, was against the travellers, every obstacle imposed alike by man and by nature. A miraculous agreement of the times of departure and arrival, which was impossible, was absolutely necessary to his success. There were accidents to machinery, the liability of trains to run off the line, collisions, bad weather, the blocking up by snow—were not all these against Phileas Fogg? Is it uncommon for the best ocean steamers to be two or three days behind time? But a single delay would suffice to fatally break the chain of communication. This article made a great deal of noise, and was copied into all the papers.

Everybody knows that England is the world of betting men; to bet is in the English temperament. Not only the members of the Reform, but the general public, made wagers for or against Phileas Fogg, as if he were a race-horse. But everybody was going against Fogg, and the bets stood a hundred and fifty and two hundred to one; and a week after his departure an incident occurred.

The commissioner of police was sitting in his office at nine o’clock one evening, when the following telegraphic dispatch was put into his hands:

Suez to London.

Rowan, Commissioner of Police,

Scotland Yard[52]:

I’ve found the bank robber, Phileas Fogg. Send without delay warrant of arrest to Bombay.

Fix, Detective.

The effect of this dispatch was instantaneous. The polished gentleman disappeared to give place to the bank robber. His photograph was minutely examined, and it betrayed, feature by feature, the description of the robber. The mysterious habits of Phileas Fogg were recalled; his solitary ways, his sudden departure; and it seemed clear that he had wanted to elude the detectives.

Chapter VI

The circumstances under which this telegraphic dispatch about Phileas Fogg was sent were as follows. The steamer Mongolia[53], built of iron, of two thousand eight hundred tons burden, and five hundred horse-power, was due at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, the 9th of October, at Suez. The Mongolia plied regularly between Brindisi and Bombay via the Suez Canal, and was one of the fastest steamers, always making more than ten knots an hour between Brindisi and Suez, and nine and a half between Suez and Bombay.

Two men were promenading up and down the wharves, among the crowd of natives and strangers. One was the British consul at Suez. The other was a small, slight-built personage, with a nervous, intelligent face, and bright eyes. He was just now manifesting signs of impatience, nervously pacing up and down, and unable to stand still for a moment. This was Fix, one of the detectives who had been dispatched from England in search of the bank robber; it was his task to watch every passenger who arrived at Suez, and to follow up all who seemed to be suspicious characters. The detective was evidently inspired by the hope of obtaining the splendid reward, and awaited with a feverish impatience, easy to understand, the arrival of the steamer Mongolia.

“So you say, consul,” asked he for the twentieth time, “that this steamer is never behind time?”

“No, Mr. Fix,” replied the consul.

“Does it come directly from Brindisi?”

“Directly from Brindisi; it takes on the Indian mail there, and it leaves on Saturday at five p.m. Have patience, Mr. Fix; it will not be late. But really, I don’t see how, from the description you have, you will be able to recognise your man, even if he is on board the Mongolia.”

“A man rather feels the presence of these fellows, consul, than recognises them. You must have a scent for them, and a scent is like a sixth sense which combines hearing, seeing, and smelling. I’ve arrested more than one of these gentlemen[54] in my time, and, if my thief is on board, I’ll answer for it; he’ll not slip through my fingers.”

“I hope so, Mr. Fix, for it was a heavy robbery.”

“A magnificent robbery, consul; fifty-five thousand pounds! We don’t often have such windfalls!”

“Mr. Fix,” said the consul, “I hope you’ll succeed; but don’t you see, the description which you have there has a singular resemblance to an honest man?”