English
‘What?’saidPhileasFogg.‘Areyousayingthatthiswomanwantstodiewithherhusband?’
PhileasFogglookedatthetimetable.‘TheMongoliawillarriveinBombayon22ndOctober’hewroteinhislittleblackbook.
Butshearrivedtwodaysearlybecausetherewasanorth-westwindbehindher.Hewrote‘twodaysearly’inthelittleblackbook,buthedidnotsmile.
At4.30intheafternoonof20thOctober,everybodylefttheshipandwentintoBombay.
‘ThetrainfromBombaytoCalcuttaleavesat8o’clock,’PhileasFoggtoldPassepartout.’Beattherailwaystationbeforethen,Thenhewenttothepassportofficeandhaddinnerattherailwaystation.
FixwenttothepoliceinBombayandaskedaboutthewarrant.HecouldnottakePhileasFoggbacktoEnglandwithoutawarrant.Butthewarrantwasnotthere.ItwasinthepostfromEngland,soFixcoulddonothing.
PassepartoutlookedatBombay.Everythingwasinterestingtotheyoungman.HestoodoutsidethefinetempleatMalabar.Helikedit,sohewentinside.
ButPassepartoutdidn’tknowthatyoucan’tgointoatempleinIndiainyourshoes.
‘Thistempleisreallylovely,’thoughtPassepartout.Helookedatthebeautifulthingsinthere.Suddenlythreemeninorangeclothesstartedtohithim.Thentheythrewhimtothefloorandtookhisshoes.Theywereveryangry.Theyshoutedsomething,butPassepartoutdidn’tunderstandthelanguage.ButtheFrenchmanwasyoungandstrong.Hepushedthemenawayandranoutofthetempleintothestreet.
At7.55,fiveminutesbeforethetrainleft,Passepartoutarrivedatthestationwithouthisshoes,withoutahat,andwithoutthebagofnewclothes.HefoundPhileasFoggatthedinnertable.
Fixwasatthestationrestauranttoo.HesatbehindPhileasFoggandwatchedhim.HelistenedtoPassepartoutandPhileasFogg.PassepartoutmovedhisarmsupanddownwhenhetoldPhileasFoggaboutthetemple.
Thedetectivesmiled.’Sotheservantdidsomethingwronginthiscountry,’hethought.’Icanusethat.ThethiefwillhavetostayinIndia.AndIcanwaitforthewarrantfromEngland.’
PhileasFoggandPassepartoutsatonthetrainthroughthenight,thenextdayandthenextnight.Everythingwasdifferentoutsidefromoneminutetothenextminute.Passepartoutwatchedthemanychangesthroughthewindow.Theywereveryinterestingtohim.PhileasFoggwasnotinterested.
At8o’clockinthemorning,on22ndOctober,thetrainstoppednearthestationatRothal.Amanfromtherailwaycametothetrainwindow.
‘Everybody,getoutofthetrainplease,’hecalled.‘
Whydowehavetogetout?’askedPhileasFogg.
‘Becausethereisnomorerailwayafterthis.ItbeginsagainatAllahabad,aboutfiftymilesfromhere.’
‘Butit’sinTheTimes’,saidPhileasFogg.Hehadthecentrepageofthenewspaperwithhim.‘Look.Thepapersays”TherailwaybetweenRothalandAllahabadisopennow.”‘
‘Thepaperiswrong.’
‘ButyourcompanysellsticketsfromBombaytoCalcutta,’theEnglishmansaid.
‘Oh,yes,’therailwaymananswered.’ButeverybodyknowsthattheyhavetogofromRothaltoAllahabadonfootoronahorse.’
Hewasright.Theotherpeopleinthetrainknewabouttherailway.Theyleftthetrainquicklyandwenttothevillage.Theytookallthehorses.
‘We’llwalk,’saidPhileasFogg.
Passepartoutlookeddownathisfeet.Hedidn’thaveanyshoes.HisshoeswereintheMalabartempleinBombay.
‘There’sanelephantoverthere,’hesaid.
Themanwiththeelephantsmiledawidesmile.Amanwithanelephantisarichmanwhenthereisn’tarailway.PhileasFoggstartedattenpoundsanhour.No?Twenty?No?Forty?No.
Intheend,themansoldtheelephanttoPhileasFoggfortwothousandpounds.
‘Elephantmeatisexpensive,’Passepartoutthought.
Next,theyhadtofindaguide.Theydidn’tknowthewaytoAllahabad.Thatwaseasier.AyoungIndianfromthevillagesawthemwiththeelephant.
‘Doyouwantaguide?’heasked.HespokeEnglish,too.
Everytwohours,theguidestoppedtheelephant.Itateanddranksomewater.PhileasFogg,Passepartoutandtheguidesatunderatree,outofthesun.Thentheystartedagain.Theymovedquickly,andclimbedhigher.
By8o’clockintheevening,theywereovertheVindhiamountains.Theywerehalf-waytoAllahabad.Theguidestoppedforthenight.
Theystartedagainat6o’clockthenextmorning,andat4o’clockintheafternoontheywerenearAllahabad.
Theywereinsometreeswhensuddenlytheelephantstopped.Theyheardthesoundofsingingandloudmusic.Theguidedrovetheelephantintothethickesttrees.
‘Itisadeadman,’saidtheguide,quietly.’Theyaretakingadeadmantoatemple.Tomorrowtheywillstartafireandputthedeadmanonthefire.’
Throughthetrees,theysawalotofpeople.SomemenworethesameorangeclothesasthethreemenattheMalabartemple.Somemenplayedmusic.Somewomenandchildrenwalkedbehindthem.Thentheysawayoungwoman.Somemenpushedherinfrontofthem.Shewasverybeautiful,butshewasveryweak.Shecouldn’twalkverywell.Menatthebackcarriedadeadmaninfineclothes.
‘Thedeadmanwasimportant,’saidtheguide.‘Theyoungwomanwashiswife,andtheywillputheronthefiretomorrowwithherdeadhusband.’
‘What?’saidPhileasFogg.‘Areyousayingthatthiswomanwantstodiewithherhusband?’
‘Sometimesawifewantstodiewhenherhusbanddies,’answeredtheguide.‘Butthisyoungwomandoesnotwanttodie.Thosepeople,thepeopleintheorangeclothes,sayshehastodoit.’
‘No!’saidPassepartout.’Butcan’tshegetawayfromthem?’
‘Theyputsomethinginherfood,’theguidesaid.’Look—sheisverytired.Thenshewillsleep.’
‘We’llgetheroutofhere,’saidPhileasFogg.
‘Pleasethinkbeforeyoutrythat,’saidtheguide.‘Thesepeoplearedangerous.’
‘But,Mr.Fogg,thebet...’saidPassepartout.
PhileasFogglookedatthetimetable.‘Iamonedayearly.Wecanusethedaywell,andgettheyoungwomanawayfromhere.’
‘Well,’saidtheguide.‘Wecanfollowthem,butwecannotgotoonear.Theyaregoingtoatempleabouttwomilesfromhere.Iknowabouttheyoungwife,too.HernameisAouda.HerfatherhadabigcompanyinBombay.Butherfatherandmotherdiedandshehadtomarrythatoldman.Wecannotdoanythingnow.ButIwillhelpyouwhenitgetsdark.’
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