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The Underground City-Part16_JULES VERNE(1828-1905)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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The first physicalimpression on the girl was the purity of the air

inhaled eagerly by her lungs.



"Breathe it freely, Nell," said James Starr; "it is fragrant

with all the scents of the open country."



"What is all that smoke passing over our heads?" inquired Nell.

"Those are clouds," answered Harry, "blown along by the westerly wind."



"Ah!" said Nell, "how I should like to feel myself carried

along in that silent whirl! And what are those shining sparks



which glance here and there between rents in the clouds?"

"Those are the stars I have told you about, Nell. So many suns they are,



so many centers of worlds like our own, most likely."

The constellations became more clearly visible as the wind



cleared the clouds from the deep blue of the firmament.

Nell gazed upon the myriad stars which sparkled overhead.



"But how is it," she said at length, "that if these are suns,

my eyes can endure their brightness?"



"My child," replied James Starr, "they are indeed suns, but suns

at an enormous distance. The nearest of these millions of stars,



whose rays can reach us, is Vega, that star in Lyra which you

observe near the zenith, and that is



fifty thousand millions of leagues distant.

Its brightness, therefore, cannot affect your vision.



But our own sun, which will rise to-morrow, is only distant

thirty-eight millions of leagues, and no human eye can gaze fixedly



upon that, for it is brighter than the blaze of any furnace.

But come, Nell, come!"



They pursued their way, James Starr leading the maiden, Harry walking

by her side, while Jack Ryan roamed about like a young dog,



impatient of the slow pace of his masters. The road was lonely.

Nell kept looking at the great trees, whose branches, waving in



the wind, made them seem to her like giants gesticulating wildly.

The sound of the breeze in the tree-tops, the deep silence during



a lull, the distant line of the horizon, which could be discerned

when the road passed over open levels--all these things filled



her with new sensations, and left lastingimpressions on her mind.

After some time she ceased to ask questions, and her companions



respected her silence, not wishing to influence by any words

of theirs the girl's highly sensitiveimagination, but preferring



to allow ideas to arise spontaneously in her soul.

At about half past eleven o'clock, they gained the banks of the



river Forth. There a boat, chartered by James Starr, awaited them.

In a few hours it would convey them all to Granton. Nell looked



at the clear water which flowed up to her feet, as the waves

broke gently on the beach, reflecting the starlight.



"Is this a lake?" said she.

"No," replied Harry, "it is a great river flowing towards



the sea, and soon opening so widely as to resemble a gulf.

Taste a little of the water in the hollow of your hand, Nell,



and you will perceive that it is not sweet like the waters

of Lake Malcolm."



The maiden bent towards the stream, and, raising a little water

to her lips, "This is quite salt," said she.



"Yes, the tide is full; the sea water flows up the river as far

as this," answered Harry.



"Oh, Harry! Harry!" exclaimed the maiden, "what can that red

glow on the horizon be? Is it a forest on fire?"



"No, it is the rising moon, Nell."

"To be sure, that's the moon," cried Jack Ryan, "a fine



big silver plate, which the spirits of air hand round and round

the sky to collect the stars in, like money."



"Why, Jack," said the engineer, laughing, "I had no idea you

could strike out such bold comparisons!"



"Well, but, Mr. Starr, it is a just comparison. Don't you see

the stars disappear as the moon passes on? so I suppose they



drop into it."

"What you mean to say, Jack, is that the superior brilliancy



of the moon eclipses that of stars of the sixth magnitude,

therefore they vanish as she approaches."



"How beautiful all this is!" repeated Nell again and again,

with her whole soul in her eyes. "But I thought the moon was round?"



"So she is, when 'full,'" said James Starr; "that means when she is just




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