Chapter1 绮丽海盗船 A Gorgeous Corsair02（第1页）
Chapter1绮丽海盗船AGeousCorsair02
‘Hush！’saidAndreoli；‘doyouhear?’
‘liedZambecarri。
‘Asingularnoise！’
‘Youaremistaken！’
‘No！-Doyouseethosemidnighttravellers，listeningtothatinprehensiblesourustarower?Aretheyabouttobeprecipitatedontheroofs?Doyouhearit?Itislikethesoundoftheo！’
‘Impossible！’
‘Itistherofthe>
‘Thatistrue！-Light！Llight！’
Afterfvefruitlessattempts，Aaiwasthreeoclock。Thesoundofthewaveswasheardwithvioletouchedthesurfaceofthesea。
&！’exclaimedZambecarri，seizingabagofballast。
‘Help！’dreoli。
&ouchedthewater，andthewavescoveredthembreasthigh。Totheseawithis，garmeheaeronautsstrippedehelightenedballoohfrightfulrapidity。Zambecarriwasseizedwithviolentvomitiibledfreely。Theunhappymenotspeak；theirrespirationwasshort。Theywereseizedwithdicoveredwithacoatofice。Themoohemredasbltraversedthesehighregihalfanhour，themaeagaihesea。Itwasfourothem：thebodiesofthewretautswerehalfiheballoon，agasasail，draggedthemabseveralhours。Atdaybreak，theyfoundthemselvesoppositePesaro，fvemilesfromtheshore；theywereabouttoland，whenasuddenfawofwihembacktotheopeheywerelost！Theaffrightedbarksfledattheirapproaately，amoreinavigatorhailedthem，tookthemonboard；andtheylahatwasfrightful！Zambecarriwasabraveman。Scarcelyrecoveredfromhissufferings，hereencedhisass。Ihem，hestrustatree；hislamp，flledwithspiritsofilledoverhisclothes，afre；hewascoveredwithfame，hismaewasbeginningtokindle，whenhedesded，halfburSeptember，1812，hemadeanotherasatBologna；hisballoonatree；hislampsetfretoit。Zambecarrifell，andwaskilled！
“Andihesehighfacts，shallwestillhesitate?No！Thehigherwegloriouswillbeourdeath。”
Theballooirelyunballasted，wewereborois。Theaerostatvibratedimosphere；theslightestsouhroughthecelestialvaults；theglobe，theowhichstruckmysightiy，seemedabouttobeannihilated，aheheightsofheavenlostthemselvesintheprofounddarkness！
Isawtheunknownrisebeforeme。
“Thisisthehour！”saidhetome。“Wemustdie！Wearerejectedbymen！Theydespiseus!letuscrushthem！”
“Mercy！”exclaimedI。
&thecords!letthiscarbeabandonediractiveforcewillgeitsdiredweshalllandinthesun！”
Despairgavemestreedmyselfuponthemadman，andafrightfulstruggletookplace！ButIn!andwhileheheldmebehhiskhecordsofthecar！
“One！”saidhe。
“Mercy！O，God！”
“Two！Three！”
Oneore，andthecarwassustainedonlyononeside。Imadeasuperhuma，rose，alyrepulsedthisie。
“Four！”saidhe。
Thecarwasoverset。Iinstinctivelygtothecordswhichheldit，aheoutside。
Theunknoearedinspace！
Inatwinklingtheballoooanimmeasurableheight！Ahorriblecrashwasheard。Thedilatedgashadburstitsenvelope！Iyeyes。
&safterwards，amoistwarmthreanimatedme；Iwasiofferyclouds！Theballoonithfearfulrapidity！Ifeltmyselfswoohewind，Itravelledahundredleaguesanhourinmyhorizontalcourse；thelightningsfashedaroundme！
Meanwhilemyfallid。WhenIopenedmyeyes，Iperceivedthetry。Iwastwomilesfromthesea，thehurrigmeoforce。Iwaslost，whenasuddenshockmademeletgo；myhandsopened，acordslippedrapidlybetweenmyfngers，andIfouheground。Itwasthecordoftheanchor，which，sweepingthesurfaceoftheground，hadacrevited，andmylightenedballitsfight，waslostbeyondthesea。
WhenIreysenses，Iwasinthehouseofapeasant，atHarderwick，alittletoweenleaguesfromAmsterdam，onthebanksoftheZuyderzee。
Amiraclehadsavedme。ButmyvoyagehadbeenbutaseriesofimprudewhichIhadbeeodefendmyself。
Maythisterrifcrecital，whileitinstructsthosewhoreadit，netheexplorersoftheroutesofair。
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。