EA OO, POA rz CLASSICS SPANISH-ENGLISH Journey to ti. Centre of the Earth Ilustraciones / Illustrations: Francesc Rafolsreccon enon Mt Jests Diaz “agartacion osefo/ ADAPTATION & DESI delicado diseno poison) TeaxsiaTiOn Robert Steane & Steve ‘Owen Rewsion Isabel LOPE? Fewsion o€ TexrO nates Carole Patton Maoueracon /Lay-ouT Lourdes Gonzlez tlusrpacones /LusTRATioNs Francesc Rafols ‘© SUSAETA EDICIONES, S.A. - Obra colectiva C/Campezo, 13- 28022 Madrid Tel: 91 3009100 - 91 3009118 worw.susaeta.com Impreso y encuadernado en Espafta CLASICOS ESPANOL-INGLIS © CLASSICS SPANISH-ENGLISH 'S_ ESPANOL-INGLE: 'S SPANISH=ENGLI Viaje al centro de la Tierra Journey to the Centre of the Earth Julio Verne Tlustraciones / Illustrations: Francesc RafolspERSONAJES / tidenbrock / otto Lidenbrock oreo profesor de inegiay pet bien n e008 que ama lacey os descubrinientos. Tene un carer dif, pe un gan corn. rks of ino rd ako an expert in geology, who loves mangas He hs ova character, but good heart. Graiiben J Graiiben Nei de ely cia go cratic cys A cae som tacos joercioae nbn (3 compart su aficn por YS los minerals ‘Axl’ fancée and god daughter of Lidenbrock. She ives in the same house and isa delight! young lady who shares his fondness of minerals. ee Hans / Hans Islands que sine de guia al profesor yu sobrino en A suvigje al von, Hs un hombre tranquilo que nose Inguieta por nada y sabe see fil ala ver que valent Icelandic man who acts as ude othe professor and his nephew on their Journey to the volcano, He isa calm man who oes not get upset about anything and knows ‘oe faithful and atthe same tie, brave, CHARACTERS Axel / Axel Sobrino y ayudante de profesor Lidenbrock. Noes tan intrépido como él, pero es de dejato sola. Sq deseo es casarse verdad con st novia, Lidenbrock's ni and also his assistant, He isnot so intrepid as his uncle, buts incapable of leaving him alone. His true desire is to ma Fridriksson / Fridriksson Pr nd naturales que vive Reikiavikyaloja al profesor aiy Lidenbrocky su sobrino. También les proporconz ef fa para irl vole. a professor of nat sciences, who lives ke puts Professor Lidenorack an Arne Saknussemm / Arne Saknussemm guimista islands del igo x que consiguié de llegar al cent Jas huellas que ej6 de aquelvigjesiven de pista al profesor ysu sabrina A famous 16thcentury Icelandic alchemist who discovered a passage tothe cent ofthe Earth, The Professor and his nephew follow his tall Indice /Index Capitulo 1/ Chapter 1 El libro misterioso % The Mysterious Book capitulo 2/ Chapter 2 La expedicién a Islandia 18 The Expedition to Iceland Capitulo 3 / Chapter 3 Comienza la aventura 25 The Adventure Begins Capitulo 4/ Chapter 4 Descenso al abismo 33 Descent into the Abyss Capitulo 5 / Chapter 5 La odisea del agua 42 The Odyssey of the Water Capitulo 6 / Chapter 6 Hallazgos asombrosos 47 Amazing Finds Capitulo 7 / Chapter 7 Navegamos bajo tierra 56 We Sail below GroundCapitulo 1 / Chapter 1 El libro misterioso The Mysterious Book E domingo 24 de mayo de 1863, mi tio, el profesor Lidenbrock, volvi6 deprisa a su casa de Kénigstrasse, en el barrio viejo de Hamburgo, Nada més entrar se metié en su despacho voceando —jAxel, sfgueme! No habia tenido tiempo de overme cuando me grit6 1 impaciencia: ¢Pero atin no estas aqui? eché a correr hacia su acho. )tto Lidenbrock no era mal 1ombre, pero sf extravagante y testarudo, Daba clases de mineralogia, aunque no le preocupaba si sus alumnos aprendian; era un sabio egoista, No tenja facilidad de palabra y se encolerizaba cuando fallaba al hablar en publico. Todos se burlaban por ello, pero reconocian que 1 Sunday, 24th May 1863, my uncle, Professor Lidenbrock, returned hurriedly to his house on the K@nigstrasse in the old district of Hamburg. No sooner had he come in than he went into his study, crying: “Axel, follow mel" | had had no time to move before he shouted impatiently: “But aren't you here yet?” And Iran to his study. Otto Lidenbrock was not a bad man, but he was eccentric and obstinate. He gave classes in mineralogy, although he did not worry whether his students learned anything. He was a selfish sage. He was not good with words, and would get furious when he broke down when speaking in public. Everyone laughed at this, but they recognised thatera un auténtico experto en geologia ymineralogéa, Y los cientificos le consultaban. Alto y delgado, tenia una salud de hierro a sus cincuenta aftos. Sus ojos eran grandes, con galas, y la nariz, larga. Su mal genio e impaciencia resultaban insoportables, pero en el fondo me querfa. Yo, huérfano, era su sobrino y ayudante. En su casa vivian también su joven ahijada Graiiben y la criada Martha. Obedeef enseguida y entré en su despacho, un verdadero museo lleno de muestras he was a true expert in geology and mineralogy, and scientists would consult him. He was tall and thin, fifty years old, and enjoyed robust health, His eyes were big behind his spectacles, and his nose was long, His bad temper and impatience were at times unbearable, but deep down he loved me. |, an orphan, was his nephew and assistant. In his house lived his young god- daughter Graiiben and the servant, Martha. Ihad obeyed straigh y and gone into his study. hich was a veritable muset of minerales etiquetadas, Mi tio se hallaba en su sillén con un libro, — (Mira qué tesoro! Es Ja crénica de los principes noruegos de Islandia, esorita en elsiglo xit por el famoso Snorre ‘Turleson. (Es el manuscrito original en islandést —Se leen bien los caracteres? —dije indiferente, pues me esperaba otra cosa —jIgnorante! Es un manuscrito rinico; las runas las letras que se usaban amente en Islandia. 6 entonces al suelo un riento pergamino salido mineral samples, all labelled. My uncle was in is armchair holding a book. “Look at this treasure! Itis, the chronicle of the Norwegian princes of Iceland, written in the twelfth century by the famous Snorri Sturluson. tis the original manuscript in Icelandic!" "sit easy to follow?”, | said indifferently, but he expected more of me. “Ignorant boy! Itis a runic manuscript, and the runes are the letters which they used in the olden days in Iceland.” Then there fell on the floor a grimy scrap of parchment which had fallen out of the book— ude esto? —tlio asombrado—. S00 letras rinicas como las otras. nese momento la Entre criada: La sopa est servida —jAl diablo la sopat —exclamé él. Yo me fui a comer, pero en los postres of un grito demi tio y acudi veloz —Siéntate y escribe —ne dijo—. Voy a dictarte las letras nuestras que corresponden a esas runas; a ver si sacamos algo. jY no te equivoques! De aquello sali6é un conglomerado de pala incomps “What is this?” he said in astonishment. "They are runic letters like the others.” At that moment the servant came in. “The soup is on the table.” "To the devil with the soupi” he exclaimed. | went off to eat, and when eating my pudding, | heard a shout from my uncle and Nay he KF Teh hit LARAAR Aa 4 AMEN Febul quickly went through to him. “Sit down and write,” he said. “Lam going to dictate the letters that correspond to those runes, and see if we get something. And don't make any mistakes!” hay una letra que se afiadié al alfabeto islandés dos siglos después. Debi6 de escribirlas alguien que fue duefio del libro. ;Habrd puesto su nombre en él? that was added to the Icelandic alphabet two centuries later. They must have been written by someone who owned the book. Has he put his name in it?” The professor looked at the first pages of the book with a magnifying glass and deciphered a smudge ame Saknussemm!" he said, “A celebrated sixteenth century Icelandic alchemist.” “He must have hidden some discovery among those letters. | shall neither eat nor sleep until discover it, nor you either,No contesté, porque estaba embobado mirando un retrato de Graiiben. La ahijada de mi tio se hallaba con unos parientes. Yo la adoraba: era una chica rubia de ojos azules que me ayudaba a ordenar Jos minerales y estudiaba conmigo. Nos queriamos en seereto, De repente, mi tio me devolvi6 a la realidad, —Vamos a probar a escribir algo verticalmente —dijo— Pon una frase cualquiera en Varias columnas verticales y luego escribe en horizontal los B8nupos de letras que salen en cada Ifnea, El resultado fue: ‘edb eve aeGn mrr oda dati. Mi tio CoB el papel y afirmé: 14 | did not answer, as | was staring, fascinated, at a picture of Gratiben. M' god-daughter wes standing uncle's with some relatives. | adored her; she was a fair airl with blue eyes, who he 2d me to classify the r and studied with me tly, we were in love, Sud: ¥y my undle retumed me 0 reality "Well try writing something vertically’, he said. “Write any sentence you like in several vertical columns, and then write horizontally the groups of letters that fall in each line.” The result was: Iy/a lolti ou,b wwGe eern, My uncle grabbed the piece of paper and cried —Esto ya se parece al pergamino. Ahora voy a leerlo cogiendo la primera letra de cada grupo, luego la segunda, ete. Y salié esta frase: «Te amo de verdad, Graiiben». Mi tio carraspe6 y me dijo: —{Conque quieres a Graiiben? Bueno, apliquemos ahora el método a nuestro pergamino. .. jEsto no tiene sentido! —grit6 y sali6 furioso de casa, Yo me puse a ordenar inerales, pero no dejaba de wsar en ese texto. Intenté er otras combinaciones, ‘ya me bailaban todas “This now looks like the parchment. Now | shall read it taking the first letter of each group, then the second, etc.” And he came out with the sentence: “I Jove you well, Graiiben.” My uncle cleared his throat and said "So you love Gratben? Well, let us now apply the method to ‘our parchment... This makes no sense!” he shouted, and left the house in a fury. | settled down to dassify minerals, but | did not stop thinking about ‘that text. | tried other combinations of letters, but by now all the letters ‘were dancing before me. | fannedjas leas. Ne abanique co? despeiarme Y | para youn late solv hacia mi galabrascomprensbles Claro! Esa era aca cue lerel texto fiasey + que un hombre habia ntrar.... jNo, mi tio no se enteraria! Sino, querria hacerlo también y me llevaria con él. i vialgunas al reves! me aterrorice pensé echarlo al fuego de la chimenea, pero en ese ‘momento aparecié mi = aa Sin decir nada — imelf withthe paper to de, brain and then, with the parc tumed in towards me, Isa” words which I recogni had to be read backwards) [read the sentence and... ya terrified on ering that a man had managed to penetrate to....No, my uncle should notftulo 2 / Chapter 2 : : e BI Sneffels es un voledn apagado de 1. La expedicion a Islandia halla al nore dela cata, Rela Come ol The Expedition to Iceland crateres, y antes de las calendas de julio, es decir, a finales de junio, el Scartaris, que es uno de los picos de la montafia, sefiala con su sombra el crater por el que entré Saknussemm. —Bien, pero es imposible que hiciera ese viaje y volviera, $ porque segtin las teorfas cientificas la temperatura aumenta un grado cada 20 m de profundidad. Si el radio terrestre mide 7.500 km, centro de la Tierra habra mas — de 200.000 °C. Jacomida, mi tio me llev6 a su despacho y me dijo: —Axel, gracias por tu gran ayuda. Nunca lo olvidaré y partirés conmigo la gloria dellegar al centrodela Solo te ruego que guardes el secreto. =. gqué son esos Yokul, Sneffels y Scartaris? —pregunté. Mira este atlas. Vers que en lia todos los volcanes los Yokul, que significa iar», y es que en ese elado la mayoria de los también lo estan. Snaefells is an extinct volcano 1,500 metres high to the north of the capital, Reykjavik. It consists of several craters, and before the calends of July, that is, at the end of June, Scartaris, which is one of the mountain peaks, points with its shadow to the crater through which Saknussemm entered.” : “But it is impossible for him to ly beg of you 4 \ : have made that journey : back again, because accordin. scientific theory, the temperature increases _ by one degree for every 20 metres of depth. Ifthe radius of the Earth is 7,500 kilometres, then at the centre of the Earth it must be more than 200,000 °C." (rae ae fter dinner, my uncle took me to his study and said, “Axel, thank you for your help. | ever forget it, and you shall share with me the : 4 glory of arriving at the centre of the Earth, | on 4 ‘yOu keep it a secret,” Who are those Peog iS?" | asked, this atlas i S. YOU will see that in Iceland all the the name ‘ re ae Which means ‘glacier’, and the fact 1): MOst of the volcanoes are frozen, 00 ple, Yocul, Snaefells~ —Nadie sabe con seguridad lo que sucede alli y laciencia esté llena de teorias que desmienten otras antiguas, Dejéa mito y sal ala calle A poco, divisé.a Graben, que regresaba, Me vio inquieto y Mme pregunté qué me sucedia, Cuando se lo conté, guard6 silencio y luego dijo: —Serd un gran viaje, De buena gana iri con vosotros Sino fuera un estorbo, Me sorprendié mucho su “No one really knows what happens there, and science is full of theories that contradict other older ones eft my uncle went out into the street. S fterwards I spotted Graiiber coming home. She .w that was uneasy and asd me what Was wrong. When | told her, she was silent and then said’ “Itwill be a great journey. | would very much like to go with you if | were not in the way.” Her response surprised me very much When we got home again, | found my uncle shouting, in the midst of some porters who Were loading baggage. S — iQue hacfas de paseo? Tu maleta esta sin hacer y yo debo ordenat cosas! Salimos pasado mafiana de madrugada Esa noche fue horrible; no podia dormir. Al dia siguiente, Graiiben me dijo: “What were you doing going ‘out for a walk? Your bags are not packed and I have to ‘organise things. We leave the day after tomorrow at first light.” That night was awful. | could not sleep. The next day, Graiiben said to me: 1 profesor me ha contado an. Lo conseguir, sin duda. {Qué gloria 0s espera! Cuando vuelvas, seras todo un hombre, libre para hablar, hacer. . Se sonrojé y no siguié, Ese dia fue todo preparativos para el viaje. Ala manana siguiente nos recogié un carruaje. Graiiben se despidio de mi, asegurdndome que se casaria conmigo a la vuelta. “The professor has told me his plan. He will achieve it, without any douiot. What glory awaits us! When you return, you will be a man, free to speak, free to...” She blushed and did not go on. That day was filled with preparations for the jourmey. The next morning a carriage picked sup. Graiiben said goodbye to ‘me and assured me she would marry me when we returned PaFuimosen tren a Kiel; de allien barco a Dinamarca, Y denvevo en tren asu capital, Conseguimos que el velero Valkiria nos llevase a Reikiavik en diez dias. Cuando llegamos al puerto de Reikiavik, mi tio sefial6 una montafia de dos picos, cubierta de nieves eternas. — El Sneffels! —exclamoé. Yaen Reikiavik, conocimos al sefior Fridriksson, profesor de ciencias naturales, quien nos ofrecié su casa. Mi tio acept6 y se fue a la Biblioteca Nacional en busca de algtin manuscrito de Saknussemm. We went by train to Kiel, then by boat to Denmark, and again by train to its capital, Copenhagen. We arranged for the schooner Valkyrie to take us to Reykjavik in ten days. When we reached the port of Reykjavik, my uncle pointed to a mountain wi in peaks, permanently snow ered "Snaefell simed. In Reykjavik Mr Fridriksson, profess: of natural sciences, who offered us rooms in his house. My uncle accepted, and he went off to the National Library in search of any manuscripts of Saknussemm’s orefert conocer la capital ‘0 recorri sus dos calles, de tiendas y otra de s, con los edificios de «era y barro, No vi étboles vegetacién. Las gentes, cde aspecto pensativo y triste, secaban el bacalao. Durante la cena en casa del sefior Fridriksson, mi tio coment6 que la biblioteca estaba vacia de libros. — iN contrario! —dijo Fridriksson—. Poseemos 8.000 libros, Lo que sucede es que Jos islandeses son amantes de la lectura y el estudio, y cast todos los libros estén prestados. {Buscaba alguno en especial? —Si, las obras de Ame Saknussemm. | preferred to get to know the town. | had soon explored its two streets, one of shops and another of dwellings, with thelr houses of wood and clay. saw neither trees or vegetation. The people, pensive and sad- looking, were drying cod. Over dinner at Mr. Fridriksson’s house, my uncle remarked that the Library had hardly any books. “Not so”, said Fridriksson, We have 8,000 books. But the fact is that Icelandic people are great lovers of reading and studying, and almost all the 4 books are lent out. Were you looking for anything special?” "Yes, the works of Arne Saknussemm.”islandés, pues mi tio sabia varios idiomas, pero alteraban en aleman 0 en. a que yo pudiera los. Hablando de nerales, Fridriksson dijo e habia muchos volcanes en Islandia sin estudiar y mencion6 el Sneffels. —Pues empezaré por ese —dijo mi tio, ocultando su verdadero interés, Tle ‘Proporcionaré un guia que habla danés, "The great sage of the sixteenth century? Sadly, we do not have them. He was accugaq of heresy, and they were burney in Copenhagen in 1573." The conversation went forward in Icelandic, as my Ung knew several languages, but they switched into German or Latin so that | might understand Speaking of min: Fridriksson said that there were a lot of volcanoes i: iceland which had not bee but | did not find them. | called to them, but nothing | remembered that when following a stream one could not get lost, and to my horror I saw that the floor was dry. This meant that | had entered another gallery, anc’ “ow was | going to retrace eps if my foot left no m y the granite? | was lost (had food for thre slays, and water. The only thing ' could do was to go up until | found the fork where | had taken the wrong Way. This | did, but this Gallery had no way out. | came Up against a wall and stumbled. My lantern broke and | was left in the most absolute darkness. In desperation, | ran, shouting, feeling my way, arafiéndomelas con las rocas, Finalmente, caf desmayado, Me desperté lleno de sangre, De pronto, of un ruido como de trueno, y lnego, apoyado en la pared, cref oft unas vyooes. Pegué la oreja al muro yescuché palabras. jEran cellos! Entonces grité: «{Tio!», Pasaron tnos segundos y of: «Axel! Eres t@2 ;Cudnto he suftido por til». Me dijo que me habjan buscado y avisado con Jos fusiles. Ellos estaban en una ggruta conde desembocaban varia: —lcvias, de modo quest baja) varfaalli, «Camina ydes en las pendientes fuer: -nedijo. Bn la parte final scratching my hands on the rocks. Finally, | fainted. | woke up covered in blood, Suddenly | heard a noise like thunder, and then, leaning against the wall, | thought heard voices. | put my ear to the well and | heard words. twas them! I then shouted ‘Uncle! A Tew seconds passed and then ‘heard “Axell, is it you? How | have suffered for you!” He told me that they had searched for me and fired guns. They were in a cavern where several galleries met, so that if | went downwards I would get there, ‘Walk, and let yourself slide down the steep slopes,’ he said to me This | did. At the end let rmyseff slide, but | picked upCuando volvien mf, mi tio ‘me cogié la mano y grit6: «jVive!». Luego me dejaron dormir. Aldia siguiente, vi que ~ estaba en una gruta de estalagmitas con el suelo de arena fina. Entraba algo de | Iuzyy ofa un rumor de olas. -Crei estar sofiando. —Yeo que ya estis bien, Axel. Hans te puso un ungiiento en las heridas. Tras devorar el desayuno, Pregunté a qué se debia esa speed, | rolled over and hit my head against a rock. When | came to, my uncle took my hand and cried: ‘He's alive!’ Then they let me sleep. The next day, | saw that | was ina cavern with stalagmites, with a floor of fine sand. Some light entered, and | could hear the sound of waves. | thought | was dreaming Isee that you are « ' right, Axel, Hans put some stment on your wounds. After devourin akfast, lasked where the lig’ and the solind were coming fm *You shall see. Today you Must rest, but tomorr shall set sai Quise saber mas y mi tio me dejé salir de la gruta cubierto con una manta, Me quedé asombrado: jera e] mar! —El mar Lidenbrock. ‘Tengo derecho a ponerle mi nombre —afirmé mi tio, No se vefa el limite de aquella masa de agua, Las 1 sobre la arena olas roi yaalos lados habia enormes rocas Lal procedia del sol, si se debia a un. fenoi éctrico. Arriba solos: an grandes mubes muy ¢ | wanted to know more and my uncle allowed me to leave the cavern, wrapped in a blan | was astounded. It was the seal } "The Lidenbrock Sea. have the right to give it my name,” my uncle declared. i The extent of that great mass of water could not be seen, The waves broke on the sand, and at the side there were enormous rocks. The light did not come from the sun, but was dueto an electrical phenomenon. Above, all that could be seen were enormots, very high cots # ;was delight tome et 47 days of being shut in. We walked along the beach. Over giant rocks waterfalls cascaded down, while from other rocks came steam from “my uncle Here is the of the second period, hose bones...” f Antediluvian mandibula de un mastodonte y esos los dientes del dinoterio, y mira este fémur de megaterio, Pero ,c6mo vivieron en este mar subterrdneo? La vida animal solo existié cuando el terreno de sedimentos sustituy a las rocas ardientes. —Piensa que al principio la Tierra era una corteza elstica en continuo movimiento. Es probable que una parte de ese suelo sedimentario se hundiera. —1Y quién nos dice que ulguno de esos monstruos nO ga viviendo aqui? Me di un buen bafio en aquel rary mi tio me llevé a donde ans construfa una balsa de vadera, que no estaba del todo ssilizada y por eso podia flotar. 5S teeth of the deinotherium; and look at this femur of a megatherium. But how could they have lived in this subterranean sea? Animal life only existed once the sediment of soil had taken the place of the burning rocks.” “Think that at first the Earth was an elastic crust or bark, in continuous movement. Itis likely that part of that sedimentary soil would fallin.” “And who is to say that some of those monsters are not still living here?” I had a long bathe in that sea, and my uncle took me to where Hans was building a raft out ‘of wood which was not totally fossilised and which would therefore float. ‘Capitulo 7 / Chapter 7 Navegamos bajo tierra We Sail below Ground 1 13 de agosto embarcamos en una balsa que tenfa por vela nuestras mantas. Mi tio quiso poner un nombre al puerto del que salimos y yo propuse Gratiben. El viento nos empujé con rapidez y pronto perdimos de vista la tierra, Hans dirigfa habilmente el timén entre las algas gigantes. Probo a pescar con un anzuelo y sacé un pez, Parecia un esturién, pero no tenia ojos ni dientes. Segtin mi tio, era una especie extinguida, 1 13th August we set sap O!, a raft which had our blankets for a sail. My uncle wanted to give a name to the harbour we sailed from, and | suggested Graiiben The wind blew us ong swiftly, and we soor sight of land. Hans moved *he rudder skillfully through the “ormous algae. He tried fishir. vith a hook and caught... It looked like a sturg) ut it had neither eyes nor 2th According to my uncle, it was an extinct species. Al segundo dfa, mi tio se impacient6 pues no divisabamos tierra. La noche del quinto dia me desperté con una fuerte sacu en la balsa. Hans bicho negruzco. i marsopa gigante! -. iY alli hayun lage umenso! —,. un gran cocodrilo! —dijo mi tio. Aquellos monstruos marinos se sumergian y volvian a aparecer, girando en torno a la balsa. Cogi un arma pero Hans me detuvo. Segtin él, solo eran dos serie animales, Mi tio lo confirmé. —Uno es un ictiosaurio, con su hocico de marsopa, cabeza de lagarto ydientes st On the second day, my uncle Got impatient as we did not sight land. On the night ofthe fifth day, @ strong blow to the raft woke me. Hans pointed to a blackish creature. “A giant porpoise!” | shouted. "And over there is an. immense sea lizard.” : “And a great big crocodile,” said my uncle. ‘The marine monsters submerged and reappeared, circling round and round the raft. | picked up a gun, but Hans stopped me. According to him, there were only two creatures, My uncle confirmed this. One is an ichthyosaurus, with its porpoise’ snout, lizard's head and crocodlle’srilo, Yel otro es un plesiosaurio: una serpiente con caparazon de tortuga. Estos seres antediluvianos eran terribles enemigos y pelearon dos horas hasta que se hundieron. Al poco salio el plesiosaurio retorciéndose enel agua por las heridas y murié minutos después. Otro dia oimos un ruido Iejano, como de una catarata, pero no divisamos nada, Al fin vimos un inmenso chorro de agua. Nos acercamos y Hans dijo que era el géiser de una isla. El agua salia a 163 °C. —Eso prueba que sale de un centro ardiente —le dije, pero mi tio call6. teeth. And the other is a plesiosauirus, @ serpent with the carapace of @ turtle.” These Antediluvian beings were terrible enemies and fought for two hours until they sank. Soon after, the plesiosaurus surfaced, thrashing in the water from its wounds, and died minutes |. Another day we heard a noise in the distance, ike a waterfall, but we saw nothing. Finally we saw an immense jet of water We got nearer and Hans said it was @ geyser on and, The water that came ou’ 163 °C. “That proves it ing from a burning fu "| said to him, but my unc’. vas silent. He christened the island with my name, Axel, and v Bautiz6 la isla con mi nombre, Axel, y embareamos de nuevo. Estébamos a 3,100 km de Islandia, bajo Inglaterra, Al dia siguiente el aire estaba pesado y amenazaba tormenta. Propuse quitar la vela, pero mi io exclamé furioso: — (No! jQue nos arrastre el viento, a yer si asi nos lleva a alguna orilla! Comenzé a lover y un tayal inflé la vela y nos stro velozmente. Tuvimos 2mnos a la balsa para con esas olas ‘oscas, y lo peor tormenta, ca de rayos, | suggested taking the sail down, but my uncle exclaimed angrily “No! Let the wind blow us, and see if it takes us toa shore!” It began to rain, and a strong ‘wind filed the sail and swept us along forcefully. We had to tie ourselves to the raft'so asmot to fall off, with those gigantic a waves, and the worst ‘thing was therelampagos y truends ensordecedores. De repent, una bola de fuego blanquecina vino hack nosotros. Partié el mastil y Tuego roz6 nuestras cosas. La bola eléctrica imanto el hierro de a bordo, y todo quedaba pegado. Por fin, la bola estallé echando chispa La tormenta continu6 y terminamos estrellandonos con las rocas de la costa, Hans me salv6 la vida y me lley6 a la playa, donde estaba ya mi tio, y luego recuperé lo que pudo del naufragio. Al dia siguiente, el profesor calculé d6nde podfamos estar, contando los cuatro dfas de tempestad en la misma direccién sureste, y afirmé electric storm, with flashes of lightning and deafening thunder Suddenly, a ball of whitish ia _ fire came towards us. It split the mast in two and rubbed against our things. The electric ball magnetised all the iron on board, and every’ ng wa stuck together, Fina! the bal exploded ina show: f sparks The storm went o° ndin the end we crashed 0 the rocks on the coast. | s saved my life and carried me to the beach, where my uncle already was, and then he recov what he could from the wreck. The next day, the professor alculated where we might be, counting the four days of the storm in the same south-eastern direction, and he said that the 60 que el mar Mediterréneo se hallaba sobre nosotros. Sin embargo, cuando consulté la prijula, la aguja mareaba el norte, Eso nos hizo pensar que durante la tempestad habia cambiado la direccién del viento. El enfado de mi tio no pudo ser mayor: jhabfamos, retrocedido! Pero su voluntad de seguir le hizo explorar la 1a playa estaba lena de = ochas, fésiles y zones de gliptodontes. ur debid de cubrir t a en otro tiempo. \elante vimos un » leno de esqueletos: ierios, megaterios, Mediterranean Sea would be found above us, However, when he consulted the compass, the needle pointed to the north, ‘This made us think that during the storm the direction of the wind had changed. My uncle's anger could not hhave been greater: we had gone backwards! But his will to go on led him to explore the coast. The seashore was full of shells and fossils, and the shells of glyptodonts. ‘The sea must have covered this area in another age. Further on we encountered a field full of bones: leptotheria, megatheria, mastodons, eejyun créneo humano! Lo jeso confirmaba que hubo seres humanos en el Cuaternario! Hallamos luego un bosque del Terciario: palmeras, pinos, musgos, helechos. eto descoloridos por la falta de sol. jY vimos una manada de mastodontes vivos! Su pastor era jun hombre de 3,5 my enorme cabeza! ;Fue un suefio? Huimos corriendo. En la playaencontramos un pufial oxidado. Mi tio penso que seria de Ame Saknussemm. Buscamos alguna marca y alli cerca, en ‘mastodontes, pterodactilos. .. Gescubri6 mi to, asombrado: some mark, and nearly pterodactyls... and a human skull! My uncle discovered this, to his astonishment; this confirmed that there had been human beings during the Quaternary period Later we came to a forest of the Tertiary period: palm trees, pines, moss and ferns, but discoloured through lack of sunlight. And we s live mastodons! Thei was a man 3.5 m tall and ahuge head. W-: chis a dream? We ran aw On the shore we fo rusty dagger. My unc’ ought una roca donde se abria un ttinel, vimos sus dos iniciales, Entonces ya no dudé de aquel je. Mi tio llam6 cabo Saknussemm a ese saliente rocoso y nos adentramos en. el ttinel con Hans. A los pocos pasos, un bloque de piedra nos impidis seguir. Deduje que se habria ido después de pasar Saknussemm y propuse volarlo con pélvora. agosto encendi la y corri hasta la balsa, estaban ellos. close to the opening of a tu we saw his two initials, From the on |had no more douibts about Our journey, My uncle named the rocky promontory Cape Seknussemm and we went inside the tunnel with Hans. q After a few steps, a block of stone prevented us continuing. | deduced that it would have fallen after Saknussemm had passed through, and | suggested blowing it up with gunpowder. On 27 August | lit the fuse and ran towards the raft, where the others were. wa it might have been A\ issemm's. We |o | for In a FockP Nos alejamos de la orilla a esperar, Las ras se abrieron yel ‘mar se convirli6 en una ola enorme que nos elev, La explosion habia producido un terremoto yel mar nos arrastraba a ese gran agujero donde no habia luz. Hans encendi6 una linterna y nos yimos girando en remolinos y _ chocando contra las paredes de roca. jBajabamos a 150 km por hora! Habiamos a cosas y solo 10s la breijula. De repente se apagé la linterna, Nos agarramos unos aotrosy al poco sentimos que subfamos, Hans encendid una antorcha. We sailed away from the shorg to wait. The rocks blew up, ang the sea became an enormoys wave which lifted us up The explosion had caused an earthquake, and the sea swept us to that great hole ‘where there was no light. Hans lita lantern and we could see ourselves whirling round and crashing into the walls of rock We were going down at 150 km per hour! We h « lost our de things and we had: the me compass left. s Suddenly the lar suponia: el agua, de llegar al fondo del cupera su nivel y nos 1 ella —explic6 mi to. ina hora. Subiamos out. We all held on one cor ~pidez y la temperatura another, and then a’er a little au aba; quiza hubiera while we felt that we were 40 °C. Si el tipo de roca, la ‘idad y el magnetismo habian modificado las leyes de Ja naturaleza hasta entonces, ahora se nos mostraba la teorfa del fuego central. La temperatura seguia subiendo Y nos quitamos ropa; el agua ardéa y la brdjula giraba sin cesar, Ofamos explosiones y mi tfo esperaba que fuera una erupcion, Asustado grité: going up, Hans lit a torch. ‘As | supposed, the water, on, reaching the bottom of the well, recovers its level and takes us up with it," explained my uncle One hour went by. We ‘were going up quickly and the temperature was rising, perhaps it was 40° C. Ifthe type of rock, electricity and magnetism had modified the laws of nature up to then, it was now showing us the theory of central fire. The temperature continued to rise, and we shed clothes; the water ‘was burning and the compass spun round without stopping. We heard explosions and my uncle hoped that it was an eruption. Terrified, | shouted: “We are 65 ieee—Es la tinica forma de salir —dijo él. Horas después, no nos subia el agua sino la lava ardiendo, entre vapores de azufre y Hamas, Finalmente salimos despedidos por los aires Cuando abri los ojos, estabamos tendidos en la ladera del volcan, bajo un sol abrasador. ;Dénde estabamos? Abajo se veian olivos, higueras yviias, yal fondo el mar. Bajamos andando y vimos 4.un nifio; le preguntamos qué lugar era aquel. No nos entendia y probamos Varios idiomas. Al final, en italiano, nos dijo que era la isla de Stromboli. jHabjamos salido por el volcan Etna! iEstabamos al sur de Italial Nos drigimos al puerto, Aijimos que éramos néutragos Ys pescadores nos dieron Topa y comida. El 4 de a volcano, and we shall be blown g.. amongst the burning rocks,” “itis the only way to get out,» he said. Hours later, it was not the wate, that was lifting us up, but the burning lava, amid sulphur vapours and flames, In the end, we were shot out by the winds below. When | opened my eyes, we were lying on the side of a volcano, beneath a baking sun, Where were we? Below could be s°» olive trees, fig trees andvin andat the bottom, the sea. walked down and we saw a! boy and we asked him what ti; olace was He did not understand vs, and we tried several languages. ttalian, he told us thi island of Stromboli. We had come Out of the volcano Mount Etna! ‘We were in the south of Italy! We headed to the port, said that we had been shipwrecked, and the fishermen gave us clothes and food, On 4th September we Set sail, and on 9th September We arrived in Hamburg. Everyone By septiembre eml ae Hlegamos a Hamburgo. Todos sabfan ya de nuestro visjey mi tio se hizo famoso. Hans _ regreso a Islandia. Este libro, Viaje al centro dela Tierra, fue impreso y traducido. No obstante, mi tio estaba pesaroso por no saber explicar el dato de la bréjula. Un dia que la tenfa en mis manos, me di cuenta de que ahora marcba el sur y no el norte. Se y el profesor dio co! plicacién: la bola de fue e habia imantado el hic» nloqueci6 la brijula. y se qued6 feliz, y yo mas atin al casarme con mi preciosa Graiiben.,. 98 ‘Was printed and translated. Allthe same, my uncle was restless because he did not know how to explain the data of the compass. One day when it was in my hands, | realised that it now pointed south and not north. | told him, and the professor came up with the explanation: the ball of fire which had magnetised the iron had sent the compass haywire, My uncle was happy, and, even more so when | married my precious Gfalben. ys ~aae agIie Vr, excited by the scientific progress af his age, makes us belive, n Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), that it is possible to descend into the depths of the planet, The aushor did research into . geology, mineralogy and paleontology, and My i jer astounded experks with bis descriptions of quem | prebistoric animals bd i * . ; Sg 4 Robinson Crusoe The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea The Mysterious Island Dracula » Treasure Istand * Moby Dick * The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes + Journey to the Centre of the Earth * Oliver Twist ISBN: 976-64 oot 4902-1 NI