Off on a Comet Book 1 Chapter 6

**SPEAKER_1** (0:21)
Off on a Comet, by Jules Verne Translated by Anonymous Book 1 Chapter 6 THE CAPTAIN MAKES AN EXPLORATION Hector Servadac was not the man to remain long unnerved by any untoward event. It was part of his character to discover the why and the wherefore of everything that came under his observation, and he would have faced a cannonball the more unflinchingly from understanding the dynamic force by which it was propelled. Such being his temperament, it may well be imagined that he was anxious not to remain long in ignorance of the cause of the phenomena which had been so startling in their consequences. We must inquire into this tomorrow, he exclaimed, as darkness fell suddenly upon him. Then, after a pause, he added, That is to say, if there is to be a tomorrow, for if I were to be put to the torture, I could not tell what has become of the sun. May I ask, sir, what are we to do now? put in Ben Zoof. Stay where we are for the present. And when daylight appears, if it ever does appear, we will explore the coast to the west and south, and return to the Gourby. If we can find out nothing else, we must at least discover where we are. Meanwhile, sir, may we go to sleep? Certainly, if you like, and if you can. Nothing loathed to avail himself of his master's permission, Ben Zoof crouched down in an angle of the shore, threw his arms over his eyes, and very soon slept the sleep of the ignorant, which is often sounder than the sleep of the just.
Overwhelmed by the questions that crowded upon his brain, Captain Servadac could only wander up and down the shore. Again and again he asked himself what the catastrophe could pretend. Had the towns of Algiers, Oran, and most of Ganon, escaped the inundation? Could he bring himself to believe that all the inhabitants, his friends, and conrads had perished? Or was it not more probable that the Mediterranean had merely invaded the region of the mouth of the Chalife? But this supposition did not in the least explain the other physical disturbances. Another hypothesis that presented itself to his mind was that the African coast might have been suddenly transported to the equatorial zone.
But although this might get over the difficulty of the altered altitude of the sun and the absence of twilight, yet it would neither account for the sun setting in the east nor the length of the day being reduced to six hours. We must wait till tomorrow, he repeated, adding, for he had become distrustful of the future, that is to say, if tomorrow ever comes.
Although not very learned in astronomy, Servadac was acquainted with the position of the principal constellations.
It was therefore a considerable disappointment to him that, in consequence of the heavy clouds, not a star was visible in the firmament. To have ascertained the pole star had become displaced would have been an undeniable proof that the earth was revolving on a new axis, but not a rift appeared in the lowering clouds, which seemed to threaten torrents of rain.
It happened that the moon was new on that very day. Naturally, therefore, it would have set at the same time as the sun. What then was the captain's bewilderment when, after he had been walking for about an hour and a half, he noticed on the western horizon a strong glare that penetrated even the masses of the clouds. The moon in the west? he cried aloud. But suddenly, be thinking himself, he added. But no, that cannot be the moon. Unless she has shifted very much nearer the earth, she could never give a light as intense as this. As he spoke, the screen of vapor was illuminated to such a degree that the whole country was, as it were, bathed in twilight. What can this be, soliloquized the captain? It cannot be the sun, for the sun has set in the east only an hour and a half ago. Would that those clouds would disclose what enormous luminary lies behind them! What a fool I was not to have learned more astronomy! Perhaps after all, I am racking my brain over something that is quite in the ordinary course of nature.
But, reason has he might, the mysteries of the heavens still remained impenetrable. For about an hour some luminous body, its disk evidently of gigantic dimensions, shed its rays upon the upper strata of the clouds. Then, marvelous to relate, instead of obeying the ordinary laws of celestial mechanism, and descending upon the opposite horizon, it seemed to retreat farther off, grew dimmer, and vanished. The darkness that returned to the face of the earth was not more profound than the gloom which fell upon the captain's soul. Everything was incomprehensible. The simplest mechanical rules seemed falsified. The planets had defied the laws of gravitation. The motions of the celestial spheres were erroneous as those of a watch with a defective mainspring. And there was reason to fear that the sun would never again shed his radiance upon the earth. But these last fears were groundless. In three hours' time, without any intervening twilight, the morning sun made its appearance in the west, and day once more had dawned. On consulting his watch, Servadac found that night had lasted precisely six hours. Ben Zoof, who was unaccustomed to so brief a period of repose, was still slumbering soundly. Come wake up, said Servadac, shaking him by the shoulder. It is time to start. Time to start? exclaimed Ben Zoof, rubbing his eyes. I feel as if I had only just gone to sleep. You have slept all night at any rate, replied the captain. It has only been for six hours. But you must make it enough. Enough it shall be, sir, was the submissive rejoinder. And now, continued Servadac, we will take the shortest way back to the Ghorbi, and see what our horses think about it all. They will think that they ought to be groomed, said the orderly. Very good. You may groom them and saddle them as quickly as you like. I want to know what has become of the rest of Algeria. If we cannot get round, by the south, to most Agenon, we must go eastwards to Teneze. And forthwith they started. Beginning to feel hungry, they had no hesitation in gathering figs, dates, and oranges from the plantations that formed the continuous rich and luxuriant orchard along their path. The district was quite deserted, and they had no reason to fear any legal penalty. In an hour and a half, they reached the Gourby. Everything was just as they had left it, and it was evident that no one had visited the place during their absence. All was desolate as to sure they had quitted.