!’saidAndreoli;‘doyouhear?’
‘What?’reliedZambecarri。
‘Asingularnoise!’
‘Youaremistaken!’
‘No!-Doyouseethosemidnighttravellers,listeningtothatincomrehensiblesound?Havetheystruckagainstarower?Aretheyabouttobereciitatedontheroofs?Doyouhearit?Itislikethesoundoftheocean!’
‘Imossible!’
‘Itistheroaringofthewaves!’
‘Thatistrue!-Light!Llight!’
Afterfvefruitlessattemts,Andreoliobtainedit。Itwasthreeoclock。Thesoundofthewaveswasheardwithviolence;theyalmosttouchedthesurfaceofthesea。
‘Wearelost!’exclaimedZambecarri,seizingabagofballast。
‘Hel!’criedAndreoli。
Thecartouchedthewater,andthewavescoveredthembreasthigh。Totheseawithinstruments,garments,money!Theaeronautsstriedentirely。Thelightenedballoonrosewithfrightfulraidity。Zambecarriwasseizedwithviolentvomiting。Grossettibledfreely。Theunhaymencouldnotseak;theirresirationwasshort。Theywereseizedwithcold,andinamomentcoveredwithacoatofice。Themoonaearedtothemredasblood。Afterhavingtraversedthesehighregionsduringhalfanhour,themachineagainfellintothesea。Itwasfouroclockinthemorning:thebodiesofthewretchedaeronautswerehalfinthewater,andtheballoon,actingasasail,draggedthemaboutduringseveralhours。Atdaybreak,theyfoundthemselvesoositePesaro,fvemilesfromtheshore;theywereabouttoland,whenasuddenfawofwinddrovethembacktotheoensea。Theywerelost!Theaffrightedbarksfledattheiraroach。Fortunately,amoreintelligentnavigatorhailedthem,tookthemonboard;andtheylandedatFerrara。Thatwasfrightful!Zambecarriwasabraveman。Scarcelyrecoveredfromhissufferings,herecommencedhisascensions。Inoneofthem,hestruckagainstatree;hislam,flledwithsiritsofwine,wassilledoverhisclothes,andtheycaughtfre;hewascoveredwithfame,hismachinewasbeginningtokindle,whenhedescended,halfburned。The21stSetember,1812,hemadeanotherascensionatBologna;hisballooncaughtinatree;hislamsetfretoit。Zambecarrifell,andwaskilled!
“Andinresenceofthesehighfacts,shallwestillhesitate?No!Thehigherwegothemoregloriouswillbeourdeath。”
Theballoon,entirelyunballasted,wewerebornetoincredibleheights。Theaerostatvibratedintheatmoshere;theslightestsoundre-echoedthroughthecelestialvaults;theglobe,theonlyobjectwhichstruckmysightinimmensity,seemedabouttobeannihilated,andaboveustheheightsofheavenlostthemselvesintherofounddarkness!
Isawtheunknownrisebeforeme。
“Thisisthehour!”saidhetome。“Wemustdie!Wearerejectedbymen!Theydesiseus!letuscrushthem!”
“Mercy!”exclaimedI。
“Letuscutthecords!letthiscarbeabandonedinsace!Theattractiveforcewillchangeitsdirection,andweshalllandinthesun!”
Desairgavemestrength!Ireciitatedmyselfuonthemadman,andafrightfulstruggletooklace!ButIwasthrowndown!andwhileheheldmebeneathhisknee,hecutthecordsofthecar!
“One!”saidhe。
“Mercy!O,God!”
“Two!Three!”
Onecordmore,andthecarwassustainedonlyononeside。Imadeasuerhumaneffort,rose,andviolentlyreulsedthisinsensate。
“Four!”saidhe。
Thecarwasoverset。Iinstinctivelyclungtothecordswhichheldit,andclimbedutheoutside。
Theunknownhaddisaearedinsace!
Inatwinklingtheballoonascendedtoanimmeasurableheight!Ahorriblecrashwasheard。Thedilatedgashadburstitsenveloe!Iclosedmyeyes。
Afewmomentsafterwards,amoistwarmthreanimatedme;Iwasinthemidstofferyclouds!Theballoonwaswhirlingwithfearfulraidity!Ifeltmyselfswooning!Drivenbythewind,Itravelledahundredleaguesanhourinmyhorizontalcourse;thelightningsfashedaroundme!
Meanwhilemyfallwasnotraid。WhenIoenedmyeyes,Ierceivedthecountry。Iwastwomilesfromthesea,thehurricaneurgingmeonwithgreatforce。Iwaslost,whenasuddenshockmademeletgo;myhandsoened,acordsliedraidlybetweenmyfngers,andIfoundmyselfontheground。Itwasthecordoftheanchor,which,sweeingthesurfaceoftheground,hadcaughtinacrevice!Ifainted,andmylightenedballoon,resumingitsfight,waslostbeyondthesea。
WhenIrecoveredmysenses,Iwasinthehouseofaeasant,atHarderwick,alittletownofGueldre,ffteenleaguesfromAmsterdam,onthebanksoftheZuyderzee。
Amiraclehadsavedme。ButmyvoyagehadbeenbutaseriesofimrudencesagainstwhichIhadbeenunabletodefendmyself。
Maythisterrifcrecital,whileitinstructsthosewhoreadit,notdiscouragetheexlorersoftheroutesofair。
一
1850年9月,我到达了坐落在缅因河畔的法兰克福。这一次,我乘气球穿越了德国的几个主要城市,煞是引人注目。但是,直到现在,也没有一个德国人愿意和我同行。之前格林、戈达德、普瓦特温这几位先生在巴黎成功的升空经历,并没有唤起那群刻板的德国人对气球飞行的半点儿兴致。
当时,我要乘气球升空的消息刚在法兰克福传开,马上就有三个市民自告奋勇,要和我一同实现这一壮举。两天后,我们将从喜剧广场出发。我立刻开始着手做各项准备工作。我的气球体积庞大,由丝质材料制成,上面还涂了一层杜仲胶,这是为了防酸蚀和毒气。此外,气球的密闭性能特别好。我还修复了其他一些因为危险降落而损坏的小零件。
我们升空的那天正好是德国9月份的一个大集市,成千上万的人赶到了法兰克福。装燃料的大容器由六个大桶组成,被密封起来。氢气完全是由铁和稀硫酸反应制成的,然后再从第一个容器输送到第二个容器,继而送到那个大气球里。气球就是这样被充满的。我花了整整一个早晨,才完成了这些准备工作。大约11点的时候,就已经充了四分之三的气,这已经完全够用了。因为随着我们升空,空气的密度会降低,容器里的氢气也会随之膨胀,所以,如果充得太满就可能会爆炸。根据我和同伴们的重量,我计算出了到达足够飞行高度所需气体的确切体积。
我们计划正午出发。那场面极其壮观,等得不耐烦的人们在圈出的围场内外你推我搡,临近的街道也被挤得水泄不通。附近的房子,从地下室到房顶全都挤满了围观的人。前几天刮的大风今天已经平息下来,但晴朗的天空透着闷热。这种天气,你极有可能刚刚升上去就想降下来。
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