Mysterious Island

Author: Jules Verne / Zhou Wenjun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: The protagonists in The Mysterious Island include an engineer, a journalist, a sailor, a Black person, and children, who represent various strata of human society. They encounter dangers while in a balloon; these airmen are genuine victims of disaster, having barely reached a deserted island where their entire livelihood depends solely on the island. As a result, they can only rely on their own intelligence. They possess perseverance and a social concept that binds them closely together. This small group, struggling for basic necessities of life, thus regresses to the Stone Age. Fortunately, one of the victims, the engineer Cyrus Smith,. He first made a lens from two watch glasses and used it to make fire. He methodically mapped the terrain of the deserted island and named it Lincoln Island. He made bows and arrows for hunting. After discovering clay, several metal ores, and coal, he built a furnace, then a blast furnace, and finally smelted steel, using this steel to manufacture the first set of tools. After long and repeated experiments, he successfully obtained several chemical products, especially nitroglycerin; he used this powerful explosive to blast open a granite hill to divert the lake water from the other side. After entering the old overflow channel of the lake, the engineer discovered a spacious cave, which was connected to the sea and from which seawater continuously flowed out. The resourceful victims transformed this cave into a quite comfortable and spacious dwelling; to reach the beach, they even set up a simple ladder. They planted crops on the island and built pens to protect the tamed livestock. They also made a telegraph to establish communication between the settlement and the farming area.