酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

Off on a Comet-Part35_JULES VERNE(1828-1905)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页
"Idiot!" exclaimed Rosette. "Your head is too light already;

a puff of wind would blow it away."



"I must take care of my head, then, and hold it on,"

replied the irrepressible orderly.



Unable to get the last word, the professor was about to retire,

when Servadac detained him.



"Permit me to ask you one more question," he said.

"Can you tell me what is the nature of the soil of Gallia?"



"Yes, I can answer that. And in this matter I do not think your

impertinent orderly will venture to put Montmartre into the comparison.



This soil is of a substance not unknown upon the earth."

And speaking very slowly, the professor said: "It contains 70 per cent.



of tellurium, and 30 per cent. of gold."

Servadac uttered an exclamation of surprise.



"And the sum of the specific gravities of these two substances is 10,

precisely the number that represents Gallia's density."



"A comet of gold!" ejaculated the captain.

"Yes; a realization of what the illustrious Maupertuis has already



deemed probable," replied the astronomer.

"If Gallia, then, should ever become attached to the earth, might it



not bring about an important revolution in all monetary affairs?"

inquired the count.



"No doubt about it!" said Rosette, with manifest satisfaction.

"It would supply the world with about 246,000 trillions of francs."



"It would make gold about as cheap as dirt, I suppose," said Servadac.

The last observation, however, was entirely lost upon the professor,



who had left the hall with an air almost majestic, and was already

on his way to the observatory.



"And what, I wonder, is the use of all these big figures?"

said Ben Zoof to his master, when next day they were alone together.



"That's just the charm of them, my good fellow," was the captain's cool reply,

"that they are of no use whatever."



CHAPTER VIII

JUPITER SOMEWHAT CLOSE



Except as to the time the comet would take to revolve round the sun,

it must be confessed that all the professor's calculations had comparatively



little interest for anyone but himself, and he was consequently left

very much to pursue his studies in solitude.



The following day was the 1st of August, or, according to Rosette, the 63rd

of April. In the course of this month Gallia would travel 16,500,000 leagues,



attaining at the end a distance of 197,000,000 leagues from the sun.

This would leave 81,000,000 leagues more to be traversed before reaching



the aphelion of the 15th of January, after which it would begin once more

to approach the sun.



But meanwhile, a marvelous world, never before so close

within the range of human vision, was revealing itself.



No wonder that Palmyrin Rosette cared so little to quit

his observatory; for throughout those calm, clear Gallian nights,



when the book of the firmament lay open before him, he could

revel in a spectacle which no previousastronomer had ever been



permitted to enjoy.

The glorious orb that was becoming so conspicuous an object



was none other than the planet Jupiter, the largest of all

the bodies existing within the influence of solar attraction.



During the seven months that had elapsed since its collision

with the earth, the comet had been continuously approaching



the planet, until the distance between them was scarcely more

than 61,000,000 leagues, and this would go on diminishing until



the 15th of October.

Under these circumstances, was it perfectly certain that no



danger could accrue? Was not Gallia, when its pathway

led it into such close proximity to this enormousplanet,



running a risk of being attracted within its influence?

Might not that influence be altogether disastrous?



The professor, it is true, in his estimate of the duration

of his comet's revolution, had represented that he had made



all proper allowances for any perturbations that would be caused

either by Jupiter, by Saturn, or by Mars; but what if there



were any errors in his calculations? what if there should be

any elements of disturbance on which he had not reckoned?



Speculations of this kind became more and more frequent,

and Lieutenant Procope pointed out that the danger incurred






文章总共2页
文章标签:翻译  译文  翻译文  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号