Around the World in Eighty Days

Author: (French) Verne/J. / Yang Xiaoguo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Around the World in Eighty Days In the National Bank of England, a major theft occurred; while discussing the possibility of the thief's escape, Phileas Fogg made a bet that, according to calculations made by The Daily Telegraph, one could travel around the world in 80 days. The newspaper also revealed that the railway line across India had been completed. To verify the accuracy of these calculations and win the bet, Fogg, accompanied by his newly hired servant Passepartout, set off immediately. Detective Fix, convinced that the thief from the National Bank was none other than Fogg, awaited him at the Suez Canal, demanding an arrest warrant from London while tracking him, ready to arrest Fogg as soon as the warrant arrived. Upon arriving in Mumbai, Fogg and his servant boarded a train to Calcutta, but they mistakenly believed the newspaper's claim that the entire railway line was completed, when in fact the last section was still under construction. The train dropped them off, and to continue their journey, Fogg had to buy an elephant. While traveling through the forest, the two travelers encountered an Indian funeral procession, where these Indians insisted that the widow of a recently deceased prince join her husband in death. Thanks to Passepartout's clever scheme, Fogg finally rescued the unconscious young woman Aouda. Aouda had been raised in the British manner and was forced to marry the elderly, dying local king. The three of them arrived in Calcutta, but Fix, using a trivial excuse, incited others to arrest them. Fogg posted bail, allowing him to continue his journey, much to the detective's disappointment. Upon reaching Hong Kong, the spy got Passepartout drunk in a smoking room, preventing him from informing his master of the departure time of the passenger ship to Yokohama, Japan, so only the half-drunk Passepartout boarded the ship. It seemed the bet was lost, but Fogg refused to give up, renting a pilot boat to the ship traveling from Shanghai to Yokohama at sea. After experiencing countless adventures, the three of them reunited and reached America. Our travelers took a train from San Francisco to New York. Along the way, the train was attacked by Native Americans, and Passepartout was kidnapped. Fogg, disregarding his journey and wealth, bravely rescued Passepartout. Various accidents caused our travelers to lose time, and the transatlantic passenger ship that was supposed to take them to Liverpool did not leave until they had already arrived in New York. Fogg had no choice but to take a freighter to Bordeaux, buying the ship and its crew as soon as they set sail. At this point, we discovered that Fogg was a shrewd and skilled retired naval officer, very adept at handling unexpected situations. He maximized the ship's firepower, burning all the coal, and then decided to set fire to the wooden superstructure of the ship. By the time they reached New York, the ship was left with nothing but an empty shell. Fogg planned to take a coach from New York to Dublin. However, he was arrested by Fix, only to be released when the real thief was captured, but this wasted several more hours. Due to these mishaps, Fogg arrived in London 24 hours late, meaning he was supposed to arrive on Saturday but was delayed until Sunday. He was bankrupt! This disaster exposed the emotions of our protagonist: Aouda proposed to Fogg to be his lifelong companion. The calm gentleman's heart, kinder than he was willing to admit, was deeply moved, and the man who had always seemed cold and detached finally confessed the love he had secretly harbored for a long time. Passepartout went to ask Father Wilson to marry them the next day.