每天五分钟听经典英文故事,读绘本,磨耳朵。一部关于时间、勇气与信念的冒险史诗,八十天环游地球的传奇旅程。
In London in 1872, Mr. Fogg lived every day like a clock
He woke up at a fixed time each morning, walked a fixed route to the Reform Club, and sat at a fixed seat to read the paper, eat, and play cards
His clothes must not wrinkle, his water must be the right temperature, his steps must not falter
Even his new French servant Passepartout thought he had finally found a master who could not be any quieter
But on this day, a timetable of the world appeared in the newspaper
Starting from London, take a train to Italy, then a steamer across the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal; to India, switch to railway; then to Hong Kong, Yokohama, cross the Pacific to America; go across the North American continent, and return to Europe from New York
All the routes, trains, and steamer schedules added together made exactly eighty days
The gentlemen at the club did not believe it
The weather could change, ships could be late, railways could break, storms could rage at sea, and people could fall ill
But Mr. Fogg only looked at that timetable and said calmly that he could do it
The wager was twenty thousand pounds
That very evening at eight forty-five, Fogg left London with Passepartout
Passepartout had wanted a quiet life, but on his very first day on the job, his master dragged him on a journey around the world
They first arrived at Suez
At the port beside the desert, ship smoke rose, passengers came ashore, and merchants, soldiers, and officials mingled together
And it was right here that Detective Fix set his sights on Fogg
The Bank of England had just been robbed, and the suspect was said to be a respectable gentleman
Fogg carried a large amount of cash and was in a hurry to travel; in Fix's eyes, he looked suspicious in every way
The arrest warrant had not yet arrived, so Fix could only follow and wait for a chance to hold up this silent Englishman
Fogg, however, did not explain
He only looked at the time, only looked at the next stretch of road
The ship crossed the Red Sea and arrived at Bombay
According to the plan, the railway would take them to Calcutta
But halfway there, they discovered that the railway on the map was not fully built
The tracks stopped in the wilderness, and a stretch of road ahead had to be crossed on foot
The timetable cracked open for the first time
Fogg did not complain
He bought an elephant, hired a guide, and pressed on
Forests, heat, earth, and the smell of wild beasts pressed in from all sides; sitting on the elephant's back, Passepartout finally understood that this was not a route on paper; this was the earth that had to be crossed inch by inch with one's own body
And in the jungles of India, they met Aouda
She was a young Parsi woman whose husband had died, and she was being held by the locals to be burned alive on her husband's funeral pyre
She was drugged and had almost no strength left to resist
That night, firelight lit up the forest, drumbeats drew closer and closer, and time was closing in too
Fogg, who valued time above all else, stopped
Passepartout risked his life, disguised himself as the dead man, leaped up from beside the pyre, and in the chaos rescued Aouda
The elephant kept moving forward, with shouts of pursuit behind them and railways and steamers ahead
Fogg had saved someone who was never part of his plan, and from that moment on, he was no longer racing only against time
They reached Calcutta and then boarded a ship bound for Hong Kong
Fix was still chasing behind them
He waited for the arrest warrant time and again, and missed chance after chance under British jurisdiction
He saw Fogg spend money like water, saw him cold and almost heartless, and grew more and more convinced that this man must have a secret
Hong Kong was a critical stop
If they could catch the ship to Yokohama, they could continue across the Pacific as planned
But Fix, to delay their journey, told part of the truth to Passepartout and threw him into confusion
Passepartout failed to warn his master, stumbled onto the ship himself by accident, while Fogg and Aouda were left behind in Hong Kong
This time, the road was cut off even more completely
Fogg still did not panic
He found a boat, negotiated a price, calculated the wind, and finally took a small vessel on a risky voyage to Shanghai to catch another steamer bound for Japan
A storm at sea whipped up waves, and the boat struggled on the water like a piece of driftwood
Watching this always silent man, Aouda slowly came to understand that his calm was not a lack of feeling, but a refusal to hand his fear to anyone
They finally reached Yokohama and found Passepartout again
The poor servant, just to survive, had already joined a traveling acrobat troupe and was performing unsteadily on stage
When his master appeared, he could hardly believe his eyes
There was no scolding, no long explanation; Fogg simply brought him back to his side and kept going
Next came the Pacific Ocean
The steamer sailed from Japan toward San Francisco, the sea stretching out as if it had no end
Every day, the sun rose from the east and sank into the sea
In Fogg's travel journal, the dates turned page by page; but unbeknownst to them, time was quietly changing because they kept moving east
In America, they boarded the transcontinental railway
Outside the window were plains, snowy mountains, canyons, and herds of wild buffalo
The railway was like a thin thread stitching unfamiliar lands together, but this thread could snap at any moment
Bridges were dangerous, a blizzard was closing in, and the train came under attack
In the chaos, Passepartout risked his life to uncouple the train cars to save everyone, but he was taken away
Fogg did not keep going
He knew full well that every minute could cost him the wager, yet he still took men back to rescue him
By the time Passepartout was rescued, they had already missed their original train
So they took a sled, raced across the ice and snow with the wind, then switched to a train and rushed toward New York
But fate seemed to be one step too slow on purpose
By the time they rushed to the harbor, the ship bound for England had just left the shore
Just a little too late
Fogg did not stand on the dock and sigh
He found another ship and paid a fortune to change its course
When the coal ran low, he bought the entire ship and tore down its timber to burn as fuel
The ship pushed across the Atlantic belching thick smoke, as if burning every piece of furniture, railing, and deck into time to get home
They finally arrived in England
But at Liverpool, Fix finally got his chance to make an arrest
He seized Fogg and locked him up
All the rushing, calculating, risk taking, and money were blocked by a single door
A short while later, word came that the real bank robber had already been caught
Fix was wrong
When Fogg was released, he did not roar or defend himself
He simply punched Fix in the face, then continued on his way to London
But he thought he was still too late
Back home, the room fell quiet
The wager was lost, his fortune was nearly gone, and the eighty day journey felt like a colossal waste
But Aouda did not leave
She looked at this man who had protected her all the way and had been chased by time all the way, and asked if he would marry her
Fogg said yes
Passepartout ran off to arrange the wedding
And it was during this very run that he suddenly realized the date in London was not what they thought it was
They had been traveling east all along, and with every meridian they crossed, they quietly gained a few extra minutes from the sun
Around the entire globe, all those minutes added up to exactly one extra day
Fogg thought he was late, but in truth he still had time
Passepartout sprinted home
Fogg left at once and rushed to the Reform Club
At a few minutes past eight forty-four in the evening, at the card table in the club, several gentlemen were waiting for the final second to tick by
The door opened and Fogg walked in, neatly dressed and calm, as if he had simply come from home for a game of cards as usual
He had won
In those eighty days, the steamers, railways, meridians, time zones, and every inch of distance on the map had not stayed merely on paper
They had carried a man so punctual he was almost cold across deserts, jungles, oceans, and snowy plains, and had also brought Aouda and Passepartout into his life
What remained in the London night was not just the wager won back
There was also a pocket watch closed once more, a journey rewritten by the world, and a man who no longer had to live alone

