Chapter 1. The Finding of the Copper Cylinder Chapter 1. The Finding of the Copper Cylinder Capítulo 1. A descoberta do cilindro de cobre Розділ 1. Відкриття мідного циліндра

It occurred as far back as February 15, 1850. Cela remonte au 15 février 1850. Het gebeurde al op 15 februari 1850. It happened on that day that the yacht Falcon lay becalmed upon the ocean between the Canaries and the Madeira Islands. 那天，獵鷹號遊艇平靜地停泊在加那利群島和馬德拉群島之間的海面上。 This yacht Falcon was the property of Lord Featherstone, who, being weary of life in England, had taken a few congenial friends for a winter’s cruise in these southern latitudes. They had visited the Azores, the Canaries, and the Madeira Islands, and were now on their way to the Mediterranean.

The wind had failed, a deep calm had succeeded, and everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, the water was smooth and glassy. The yacht rose and fell at the impulse of the long ocean undulations, and the creaking of the spars sounded out a lazy accompaniment to the motion of the vessel. Le yacht montait et descendait sous l'impulsion des longues ondulations océaniques, et le grincement des espars résonnait comme un accompagnement paresseux du mouvement du navire. All around was a watery horizon, except in the one place only, toward the south, where far in the distance the Peak of Teneriffe rose into the air.

The profound calm, the warm atmosphere, the slow pitching of the yacht, and the dull creaking of the spars all combined to lull into a state of indolent repose the people on board. Le calme profond, l'atmosphère chaleureuse, le tangage lent du yacht et le grincement sourd des espars se sont combinés pour endormir dans un état de repos indolent les gens à bord. Forward were the crew; some asleep, others smoking, others playing cards. At the stern were Oxenden, the intimate friend of Featherstone, and Dr. Congreve, who had come in the double capacity of friend and medical attendant. A la poupe se trouvaient Oxenden, l'ami intime de Featherstone, et le docteur Congreve, qui était venu en double qualité d'ami et de médecin. Aan de achtersteven waren Oxenden, de intieme vriend van Featherstone, en Dr. Congreve, die in de dubbele hoedanigheid van vriend en medisch verzorger was gekomen. These two, like the crew, were in a state of dull and languid repose. Suspended between the two masts, in an Indian hammock, lay Featherstone, with a cigar in his mouth and a novel in his hand, which he was pretending to read. The fourth member of the party, Melick, was seated near the mainmast, folding some papers in a peculiar way. Le quatrième membre du groupe, Melick, était assis près du grand mât, pliant des papiers d'une manière particulière. Het vierde lid van het gezelschap, Melick, zat bij de grote mast en vouwde op een eigenaardige manier wat papieren op. His occupation at length attracted the roving eyes of Featherstone, who poked forth his head from his hammock, and said in a sleepy voice: Son occupation attira enfin les yeux vagabonds de Featherstone, qui sortit la tête de son hamac et dit d'une voix endormie :

"I say, Melick, you’re the most energetic fellah I ever saw. "Ik zeg, Melick, je bent de meest energieke kerel die ik ooit heb gezien. By Jove! you’re the only one aboard that’s busy. What are you doing?" "Paper boats," said Melick, in a business-like tone. "Paper boats! By Jove!" said Featherstone. "What for?" "I’m going to have a regatta," said Melick. "Anything to kill time, you know." "By Jove!" exclaimed Featherstone again, raising himself higher in his hammock, "that’s not a bad idea. A wegatta! Een wegat! By Jove! glowious! gloeiend! glowious! I say, Oxenden, did you hear that?" "What do you mean by a regatta?" asked Oxenden, lazily.

"Oh, I mean a race with these paper boats. We can bet on them, you know." At this Featherstone sat upright, with his legs dangling out of the hammock. À ce moment, Featherstone s'assit debout, les jambes pendantes hors du hamac.

"By Jove!" he exclaimed again. "Betting! So we can. Do you know, Melick, old chap, I think that’s a wegular piece of inspiration. Weet je, Melick, ouwe kerel, ik denk dat dat een veelvoorkomend stuk inspiratie is. A wegatta! and we can bet on the best boat." "But there isn’t any wind," said Oxenden. "Well, you know, that’s the fun of it," said Melick, who went solemnly on as he spoke, folding his paper boats; "that’s the fun of it. For you see if there was a wind we should be going on ourselves, and the regatta couldn’t come off; but, as it is, the water is just right. Car, voyez-vous, s'il y avait du vent, nous irions de notre côté, et la régate ne pourrait pas se dérouler ; mais, en l'état, l'eau est juste. You pick out your boat, and lay your bet on her to race to some given point." Vous choisissez votre bateau et vous misez sur lui pour qu'il coure jusqu'à un point donné." "A given point? "Een gegeven punt? But how can we find any?" "Oh, easily enough; something or anything--a bubble’ll do, or we can pitch out a bit of wood." « Oh, assez facilement ; quelque chose ou n'importe quoi--une bulle fera l'affaire, ou nous pouvons lancer un peu de bois. » "O, gemakkelijk genoeg; iets of iets - een luchtbel is voldoende, of we kunnen een beetje hout werpen." Upon this Featherstone descended from his perch, and came near to examine the proceedings, while the other two, eager to take advantage of the new excitement, soon joined him. Sur ce, Featherstone descendit de son perchoir et s'approcha pour examiner la procédure, tandis que les deux autres, désireux de profiter de la nouvelle excitation, le rejoignirent bientôt. By this time Melick had finished his paper boats. There were four of them, and they were made of different colors, namely, red, green, yellow, and white.

"I’ll put these in the water," said Melick, "and then we can lay our bets on them as we choose. But first let us see if there is anything that can be taken as a point of arrival. Mais voyons d'abord s'il y a quelque chose qui peut être pris comme point d'arrivée. If there isn’t anything, I can pitch out a bit of wood, in any direction which may seem best." Saying this, he went to the side, followed by the others, and all looked out carefully over the water.

"There’s a black speck out there," said Oxenden. "Il y a un point noir là-bas", a déclaré Oxenden. "So there is," said Featherstone. "That’ll do. I wonder what it is?" "Oh, a bit of timber," said Melick. "Probably the spar of some ship." "Probablement l'espar d'un navire." 'Waarschijnlijk de rondhouten van een of ander schip.' "It don’t look like a spar," said the doctor; "it’s only a round spot, like the float of some net." « Cela ne ressemble pas à un espar, » a dit le docteur ; « ce n'est qu'une tache ronde, comme le flotteur d'un filet. 'Het ziet er niet uit als een spar,' zei de dokter; "het is maar een ronde plek, zoals de dobber van een net." "Oh, it’s a spar," said Melick. "It’s one end of it, the rest is under water." The spot thus chosen was a dark, circular object, about a hundred yards away, and certainly did look very much like the extremity of some spar, the rest of which was under water. Whatever it was, however, it served well enough for their present purpose, and no one took any further interest in it, except as the point toward which the paper boats should run in their eventful race.

Melick now let himself down over the side, and placed the paper boats on the water as carefully as possible. Melick se laissa alors tomber sur le côté et plaça les bateaux en papier sur l'eau aussi soigneusement que possible. After this the four stood watching the little fleet in silence. The water was perfectly still, and there was no perceptible wind, but there were draughts of air caused by the rise and fall of the yacht, and these affected the tiny boats. Gradually they drew apart, the green one drifting astern, the yellow one remaining under the vessel, while the red and the white were carried out in the direction where they were expected to go, with about a foot of space between them.

"Two to one on the red!" cried Featherstone, betting on the one which had gained the lead.

"Done," said Melick, promptly taking his offer. Oxenden made the same bet, which was taken by Melick and the doctor.

Other bets were now made as to the direction which they would take, as to the distance by which the red would beat the white, as to the time which would be occupied by the race, and as to fifty other things which need not be mentioned. D'autres paris étaient maintenant faits quant à la direction qu'ils prendraient, quant à la distance par laquelle le rouge battrait le blanc, quant au temps qui serait occupé par la course, et quant à cinquante autres choses qui n'ont pas besoin d'être mentionnées. . All took part in this; the excitement rose high and the betting went on merrily. At length it was noticed that the white was overhauling the red. Enfin, on s'aperçut que le blanc était en train de réviser le rouge. Eindelijk werd opgemerkt dat het wit het rood aan het reviseren was. The excitement grew intense; the betting changed its form, but was still kept up, until at last the two paper boats seemed blended together in one dim spot which gradually faded out of sight. L'excitation devint intense ; le pari changea de forme, mais se maintint toujours, jusqu'à ce qu'enfin les deux bateaux en papier semblaient se confondre en un seul point obscur qui s'estompa peu à peu hors de vue.

It was now necessary to determine the state of the race, so Featherstone ordered out the boat. Il fallait maintenant déterminer l'état de la course, alors Featherstone a commandé le bateau. Het was nu nodig om de staat van de race te bepalen, dus Featherstone bestelde de boot. The four were soon embarked, and the men rowed out toward the point which had been chosen as the end of the race. Les quatre furent bientôt embarqués, et les hommes ramèrent vers le point qui avait été choisi pour la fin de la course. On coming near they found the paper boats stuck together, saturated with water, and floating limp on the surface. En s'approchant, ils trouvèrent les bateaux en papier collés les uns aux autres, saturés d'eau et flottant mollement à la surface. An animated discussion arose about this. Some of the bets were off, but others remained an open question, and each side insisted upon a different view of the case. Certains des paris étaient ouverts, mais d'autres restaient une question ouverte, et chaque partie a insisté sur une vision différente de l'affaire. In the midst of this, Featherstone’s attention was drawn to the dark spot already mentioned as the goal of the race.

"That’s a queer-looking thing," said he, suddenly. "Pull up, lads, a little; let’s see what it is. « Arrêtez, les gars, un peu ; voyons ce que c'est. It doesn’t look to me like a spar." The others, always on the lookout for some new object of interest, were attracted by these words, and looked closely at the thing in question. The men pulled. The boat drew nearer.

"It’s some sort of floating vessel," said Oxenden. "It’s not a spar," said Melick, who was at the bow. "Ce n'est pas un espar", a déclaré Melick, qui était à l'avant. And as he said this he reached out and grasped at it. Et pendant qu'il disait cela, il tendit la main et l'attrapa. He failed to get it, and did no more than touch it. Il n'a pas réussi à l'obtenir et n'a fait que le toucher. It moved easily and sank, but soon came up again. A second time he grasped at it, and with both hands. This time he caught it, and then lifted it out of the water into the boat. These proceedings had been watched with the deepest interest; and now, as this curious floating thing made its appearance among them, they all crowded around it in eager excitement.

"It looks like a can of preserved meat," said the doctor. "Cela ressemble à une boîte de conserve de viande", a déclaré le médecin. "It certainly is a can," said Melick, "for it’s made of metal; but as to preserved meat, I have my doubts." The article in question was made of metal and was cylindrical in shape. It was soldered tight and evidently contained something. Il était soudé et contenait manifestement quelque chose. Het was stevig gesoldeerd en bevatte blijkbaar iets. It was about eighteen inches long and eight wide. The nature of the metal was not easily perceptible, for it was coated with slime, and covered over about half its surface with barnacles and sea-weed. La nature du métal n'était pas facilement perceptible, car il était enduit de vase et couvert sur environ la moitié de sa surface de balanes et d'algues. It was not heavy, and would have floated higher out of the water had it not been for these encumbrances. Il n'était pas lourd et aurait flotté plus haut hors de l'eau sans ces encombrements.

"It’s some kind of preserved meat," said the doctor. "Perhaps something good--game, I dare say--yes, Yorkshire game-pie. « Peut-être quelque chose de bon, du jeu, j'ose le dire, oui, la tarte au gibier du Yorkshire. They pot all sorts of things now." Ils potent toutes sortes de choses maintenant." "If it’s game," said Oxenden, "it’ll be rather high by this time. "Si c'est le jeu", a déclaré Oxenden, "ce sera plutôt élevé à ce moment-là. Man alive! look at those weeds and shells. regardez ces mauvaises herbes et ces coquillages. It must have been floating for ages." "It’s my belief," said Featherstone, "that it’s part of the provisions laid in by Noah for his long voyage in the ark. "C'est ma conviction", a déclaré Featherstone, "que cela fait partie des dispositions prévues par Noé pour son long voyage dans l'arche. So come, let’s open it, and see what sort of diet the antediluvians had." Alors viens, ouvrons-le, et voyons quel genre de régime avaient les antédiluviens. » Dus kom, laten we het openen en kijken wat voor soort dieet de antediluvians hadden." "It may be liquor," said Oxenden. Melick shook his head.

"No," said he; "there’s something inside, but whatever it is, it isn’t liquor. It’s odd, too. The thing is of foreign make, evidently. I never saw anything like it before. It may be Chinese." "By Jove!" cried Featherstone, "this is getting exciting. Let’s go back to the yacht and open it." The men rowed back to the yacht.

"It’s meat of some sort," continued the doctor. "I’m certain of that. It has come in good time. We can have it for dinner." "You may have my share, then," said Oxenden. "I hereby give and bequeath to you all my right, title, and interest in and to anything in the shape of meat that may be inside." "Je vous donne et vous lègue tous mes droits, titres et intérêts sur et pour tout ce qui peut être à l'intérieur sous forme de viande." "Meat cans," said Melick, "are never so large as that." "Oh, I don’t know about that," said the doctor, "they make up pretty large packages of pemmican for the arctic expeditions." 'O, daar weet ik niets van,' zei de dokter, 'ze maken behoorlijk grote pakjes pemmican voor de poolexpedities.' "But they never pack up pemmican in copper cylinders," said Melick, who had been using his knife to scrape off the crust from the vessel. "Mais ils n'emballent jamais le pemmican dans des cylindres de cuivre", a déclaré Melick, qui avait utilisé son couteau pour gratter la croûte du récipient. "Copper!" exclaimed Oxenden. "Is it copper?" "Look for yourselves," said Melick, quietly. They all looked, and could see, where the knife had cut into the vessel, that it was as he said. It was copper.

"It’s foreign work," said Melick. "In England we make tin cans for everything. It may be something that’s drifted out from Mogadore or some port in Morocco." Het kan iets zijn dat is weggedreven uit Mogadore of een haven in Marokko." "In that case," said Oxenden, "it may contain the mangled remains of one of the wives of some Moorish pasha." 'In dat geval,' zei Oxenden, 'kan het de verminkte resten bevatten van een van de vrouwen van een Moorse pasja.' By this time they had reached the yacht and hurried aboard. All were eager to satisfy their curiosity. Search was made for a cold-chisel, but to no purpose. Une recherche a été faite pour un ciseau à froid, mais en vain. Then Featherstone produced a knife which was used to open sardine boxes, but after a faithful trial this proved useless. Ensuite, Featherstone a produit un couteau qui a été utilisé pour ouvrir les boîtes de sardines, mais après un essai fidèle, cela s'est avéré inutile. At length Melick, who had gone off in search of something more effective, made his appearance armed with an axe. Enfin Melick, parti à la recherche de quelque chose de plus efficace, parut armé d'une hache. With this he attacked the copper cylinder, and by means of a few dexterous blows succeeded in cutting it open. Then he looked in.

"What do you see?" asked Featherstone.

"Something," said Melick, "but I can’t quite make it out." « Quelque chose », a déclaré Melick, « mais je ne peux pas tout à fait le comprendre. » "If you can’t make it out, then shake it out," said Oxenden. "Si vous ne pouvez pas le comprendre, alors secouez-le", a déclaré Oxenden. Upon this Melick took the cylinder, turned it upside down, shook it smartly, and then lifted it and pounded it against the deck. Sur ce, Melick prit le cylindre, le retourna, le secoua vivement, puis le souleva et le martela contre le pont. This served to loosen the contents, which seemed tightly packed, but came gradually down until at length they could be seen and drawn forth. Cela a servi à desserrer le contenu, qui semblait étroitement emballé, mais est descendu progressivement jusqu'à ce qu'on puisse enfin les voir et les extraire. Melick drew them forth, and the contents of the mysterious copper cylinder resolved themselves into two packages. Melick les fit sortir, et le contenu du mystérieux cylindre de cuivre se résolva en deux paquets.

The sight of these packages only served to intensify their curiosity. If it had been some species of food it would at once have revealed itself, but these packages suggested something more important. What could they be? Were there treasures inside--jewels, or golden ornaments from some Moorish seraglio, or strange coin from far Cathay?

One of the packages was very much larger than the other. It was enclosed in wrappers made of some coarse kind of felt, bound tight with strong cords. Il était enfermé dans des emballages faits d'une sorte de feutre grossier, étroitement liés par de solides cordes. The other was much smaller, and, was folded in the same material without being bound. This Melick seized and began to open.

"Wait a minute," said Featherstone. "Let’s make a bet on it. Five guineas that it’s some sort of jewels!" "Done," said Oxenden. Melick opened the package, and it was seen that Featherstone had lost. There were no jewels, but one or two sheets of something that looked like paper. It was not paper, however, but some vegetable product which was used for the same purpose. The surface was smooth, but the color was dingy, and the lines of the vegetable fibres were plainly discernible. La surface était lisse, mais la couleur était terne et les lignes des fibres végétales étaient clairement discernables. These sheets were covered with writing.

"Halloa!" cried Melick. "Why, this is English!" At this the others crowded around to look on, and Featherstone in his excitement forgot that he had lost his bet. There were three sheets, all covered with writing--one in English, another in French, and a third in German. It was the same message, written in these three different languages. But at that moment they scarcely noticed this. All that they saw was the message itself, with its mysterious meaning.

It was as follows:

"To the finder of this: « Au découvreur de ceci : "Sir,-- I am an Englishman, and have been carried by a series of incredible events to a land from which escape is as impossible as from the grave. I have written this and committed it to the sea, in the hope that the ocean currents may bear it within the reach of civilized man. J'ai écrit ceci et je l'ai confié à la mer, dans l'espoir que les courants océaniques puissent le porter à la portée de l'homme civilisé. Oh, unknown friend! whoever you are. I entreat you to let this message be made known in some way to my father, Henry More, Keswick, Cumberland, England, so that he may learn the fate of his son. The MS. accompanying this contains an account of my adventures, which I should like to have forwarded to him. l'accompagnant contient un récit de mes aventures, que j'aurais voulu lui faire parvenir. Do this for the sake of that mercy which you may one day wish to have shown to yourself. Faites cela pour l'amour de cette miséricorde que vous souhaiterez peut-être un jour avoir envers vous-même.

"ADAM MORE." "By Jove!" "Door jove!" cried Featherstone, as he read the above, "this is really getting to be something tremendous." s'écria Featherstone, alors qu'il lisait ce qui précède, "cela devient vraiment quelque chose d'énorme." "This other package must be the manuscript," said Oxenden, "and it’ll tell all about it." "Such a manuscript’ll be better than meat," said the doctor, sententiously. 'Zo'n manuscript zal beter zijn dan vlees,' zei de dokter volmondig. Melick said nothing, but, opening his knife, he cut the cords and unfolded the wrapper. He saw a great collection of leaves, just like those of the letter, of some vegetable substance, smooth as paper, and covered with writing.

"It looks like Egyptian papyrus," said the doctor. "That was the common paper of antiquity." "Never mind the Egyptian papyrus," said Featherstone, in feverish curiosity. "Let’s have the contents of the manuscript. « Ayons le contenu du manuscrit. You, Melick, read; you’re the most energetic of the lot, and when you’re tired the rest of us will take turns." "Read? Why, it’ll take a month to read all this," said Melick. "All the better," said Featherstone; "this calm will probably last a month, and we shall have nothing to interest us." Melick made no further objection. He was as excited as the rest, and so he began the reading of the manuscript.