"DR TRIFULGAS" - читать интересную книгу автора (Verne Jules)

DR TRIFULGAS

DR TRIFULGAS: A Fantastic Tale
Jules Verne

Swish! It is the wind, let loose.
Swash! It is the rain, falling in torrents.
This shrieking squall bends down the trees of the Volsinian coast, and hurries
on, flinging itself against the sides of the mountains of Crimma. Along the
whole length of the littoral are high rocks, gnawed by the billows of the vast
Sea of Megalocrida.
Swish! swash!
Down by the harbour nestles the little town of Luktrop; perhaps a hundred
houses, with green palings, which defend them indifferently from the wild wind;
four or five hilly streets - ravines rather than streets - paved with pebbles
and strewn with ashes thrown from the active cones in the background. The
volcano is not far distant; it is called the Vauglor. During the day it sends
forth sulphurous vapours; at night, from time to time, great outpourings of
flame. Like a lighthouse carrying a hundred and fifty kertzes, the Vauglor
indicates the port of Luktrop to the coasters, felzans, verliches, and balanzes,
whose keels furrow the waters of Megalocrida.
On the other side of the town are ruins dating from the Crimmarian era. Then a
suburb, Arab in appearance, much like a casbah, with white walls, domed roofs,
and sun-scorched terraces, which are all nothing but accumulations of square
stones thrown together at random. Veritable dice are these, whose numbers will
never be effaced by the rust of Time.
Among others we notice the Six-four, a name given to a curious erection, having
six openings on one side and four on the other.
A belfry overlooks the town, the square belfry of Saint Philfilena, with bells
hung in the thickness of the walls, which sometimes a hurricane will set in
motion. That is a bad sign; the people tremble when they hear it.
Such is Luktrop. Then come the scattered habitations in the country, set amid
heath and broom, as in Brittany. But this is not Brittany. Is it in France? I do
not know. Is it in Europe? I cannot tell. At all events, do not look for Luktrop
on any map.

II.

RAT-TAT! A discreet knock is struck upon the narrow door of Six-four, at the
left corner of the Rue Messagliere. This is one of the most comfortable houses
in Luktrop - if such a word is known there - one of the richest, if gaining some
millions of fretzers, by hook or by crook, constitutes riches.
The rat-tat is answered by a savage bark, in which is much a lupine howl, as if
a wolf should bark. Then a window is opened above the door of Six-four, and an
ill-tempered voice says, "Deuce take people who come bothering here!"
A young girl, shivering in the rain wrapped in a thin cloak, asks if Dr.
Trifulgas is at home.
"He is, or he is not, according to circumstances."
"I want him to come to my father, who is dying."
"Where is he dying?"