Doctor Ox's Experiment by Jules Verne

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapters one through three of Doctor Ox's Experiment. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Alan Winteroud. Doctor Ox's Experiment by Jules Verne.

(00:22):
Chapter one, how it is useless to seek, even on
the best maps for the small town of ke Condone.
If you try to find on any map of Flanders,
ancient or modern, the small town of ke Condone, probably
you will not succeed. Is key Condone, then, one of
those towns which have disappeared. No a town of the future,

(00:45):
by no means. It exists in spite of geographies, and
has done so for some eight or nine hundred years.
It even numbers two thousand, three hundred and ninety three souls,
allowing one soul to each inhabitant. It is situated thirteen
and a half kilometers northwest of Unard and fifteen and
a quarter kilometers southeast of Bruges, in the heart of Flanders.

(01:10):
The Var, a small tributary of the Shelt, passes beneath
its three bridges, which are still covered with a quaint
medieval roof like that at Tournay. An old chateau is
to be seen there, the first stone of which was
laid so long ago as eleven ninety seven by Count Baldwin,
afterwards Emperor of Constantinople. And there is a town hall

(01:32):
with Gothic windows, crowned by a chapelt of battlements, and
surrounded by a turreted belfry, which rises three hundred and
fifty seven feet above the soil. Every hour you may
hear there a chime of five octaves, a veritable aerial piano,
the renown of which surpasses that of the famous chimes
of Bruges. Strangers, if any ever come to kikindone, do

(01:56):
not quit the curious old town until they have visited
its stone holders Hall, adorned by a full length portrait
of William of Nassau by Brandon. The loss of the
Church of Saint maguelire a masterpiece of sixteenth century architecture.
The cast iron well in the spacious place Saint Ernouf,

(02:17):
the admirable ornamentation of which is attributed to the artist
Blacksmith Quintin metsis the tomb formerly erected to Mary of Burgundy,
daughter of Charles the Bold who now reposes in the
church of Notre Dame at Bruges and so on. The
principal industry of Kirkandone is the manufacture of whipped creams

(02:37):
and barley sugar on a large scale. It has been
governed by the Vontrikases from father to son for several centuries.
And yet Quekandone is not on the map of Flanders.
Has the geographer's forgotten it? Or is it an intentional
omission that I cannot tell? But Quakandone really exists, with

(02:57):
its narrow streets, its fortified walls, its Spanish looking houses,
its market and its burgomaster, so much so that it
has recently been the theater of some surprising phenomena, as extraordinary
and incredible as they are true, which are to be
recounted in the present narration. Surely there is nothing to

(03:18):
be said or thought against the Flemings of Western Flanders.
They are well to do, folk wise, prudent, sociable with
even tempers, hospitable, perhaps a little heavy in conversation as
in mind. But this does not explain why one of
the most interesting towns of their district has yet to
appear on modern maps. The omission is certainly to be regretted.

(03:40):
If only history, or in default of history, the chronicles,
or in default of chronicles, the traditions of the country
made mention of quikin Doone. But no neither atlases, guides
nor itineraries speak of it. Monsieur Joanne himself, that energetic
hunter actor small towns, says not a word of it.

(04:00):
It might be readily conceived that this silence would injure
the commerce the industries of the town. But let us
hasten that quakan Doone has neither industry nor commerce, and
that it does very well without them. Its barley, sugar
and whipped cream are consumed on the spot. None is exported.
In short, the Quikandonians have no need of anybody. Their

(04:22):
desires are limited. Their existence is a modest one. They
are calm, moderate, phlegmatic. In a word, they are flemings,
such as are still to be met with sometimes between
the Shelt and the North Sea. Chapter two, in which
the Burgomaster of van Tricas and the councilor Nicholas consult

(04:42):
about the affairs of the town. You think so, asked
the burgomaster. I think so, replied the Councilor. After some
minutes of silence. You see we must not act hastily,
resumed the Burgomaster. We have been talking over this grave
matter for ten years, replied the Councilor Nicholas, and I

(05:06):
confess to you, my worthy Vntrechass, that I cannot yet
take it upon myself to come to a decision. I
quite understand your hesitation, said the Burgomaster, who did not
speak until after a good quarter of an hour of reflection.
I quite understand it, and I fully share it. We

(05:26):
shall do wisely to decide upon nothing without a more
careful examination of the question. It is certain, replied Nicholas,
that this post of civil commissary is useless in so
peaceful a town as Quakeandone. Our predecessor, said Vantrikass gravely.

(05:47):
Our predecessor never said, never would have dared to say
that anything is certain. Every affirmation is subject to awkward qualifications.
The council nodded his head slowly in token of assent.
Then he remained silent for nearly half an hour. After
this lapse of time, during which neither the Counselor nor

(06:10):
the Burgomaster moved so much as a finger Nicholas asked
Van Tricass whether his predecessor of some twenty years before
had not thought of suppressing this office of civil commissary,
which each year cost the town of Pekandone the sum
of thirteen hundred and seventy five francs and some sontines.

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I believe he did, replied the Burgomaster, carrying his hand
with majestic deliberation to his ample brow. But the worthy
man died without having dared to make up his mind
either as to this or any other administrative gesture. He
was a sage. Why should I not do as he did?

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Counselor Nicholas was incapable of originating any objection to the
Burgomaster's opinion. The man who dies, added Vontrekass, solemnly, without
ever having decided upon anything during his life, has very
nearly attained to perfection. This said, The Burgomaster pressed a
bell with the end of his little finger, which gave

(07:14):
forth a muffled sound, which seemed less a sound than
a sigh. Presently, some light steps glided softly across the
tile floor. A mouse would not have made less noise
running over a thick carpet. The door of the room opened,
turning on its well oiled hinges, a young girl with
long blonde tresses made her appearance. It was Suzel Vanstrikass,

(07:39):
the Burgomaster's only daughter. She handed her father a pipe
filled to the brim and a small copper brazier. Spoke
not a word and disappeared at once, making no more
noise at her exit than at her entrance. The worthy
burgomaster lighted his pipe and was soon hidden in a
cloud of bluish smoke, leaving Councilor Nicholas plunged in the

(08:02):
most absorbing thought. The room in which these two notable
personages charged with the government of quakandone were talking was
a parlor richly adorned with carvings in dark wood. A
lofty fireplace in which an oak might have been burned
or an ox roasted occupied the whole of one of
the sides of the room. Opposite to it was a

(08:25):
trellised window, the painted glass of which toned down the
brightness of the sunbeams. In an antique frame above the
chimney piece appeared the portrait of some worthy man attributed
to Memling, which no doubt represented an ancestor of the
Van Tricasses, whose authentic genealogy dates back to the fourteenth century,

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the period when the Flemings and GUIs de d'ampierre were
engaged in wars with the Emperor Rudolph of Habsburg. The
parlor was the principal apartment of the Burgomaster's house, which
was one of the pleasantest in quakandone built in the
Flemish style, with all the abruptness, quaintness and picturesqueness of

(09:06):
pointed architecture. He was considered one of the most curious
monuments of the town. A Carthusian convent or, a deaf
and dumb asylum was not more silent than this mansion.
Noise had no existence there. People did not walk, but
glided about in it. They did not speak, they murmured.

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There was not, however, any lack of women in the house, which,
in addition to the Burgomaster Vantrikas himself sheltered his wife,
Madame Bridget Vantrikas, his daughter Suzel Vantrikas, and his domestic
latchki jianshu. We may also mention the Burgomaster's sister Antrmans,

(09:47):
an elderly maiden who still bore the nickname of tantanmants
which her niece Suzl had given her when a child.
But in spite of all these elements of discord and noise,
the Burgomaster's house was as calm as a desert. The
Burgomaster was some fifty years old, neither fat nor lean,
neither short nor tall, neither rubicun nor pale, neither gay

(10:10):
nor sad, neither contented nor discontented, neither energetic nor dull,
neither proud nor humble, neither good nor bad, neither generous
nor miserly, neither contagious nor cowardly, neither too much nor
too little of anything. A man notably moderate in all respects,
whose invariable slowness of motion, slight hanging lower jaw, prominent eyebrows,

(10:35):
massive forehead, smooth as a copper plate without a wrinkle,
would at once have betrayed to a physiognomist that the
Burgomaster Vontrikas was phlim personified. Never, either from anger or passion,
had any emotion whatever hastened the beating of this man's
heart or flushed his face, Never had his pupils contracted

(10:57):
under the influence of any irritation. However, he fell He
invariably wore good clothes, neither too large nor too small,
which he never seemed to wear out. He was shod
with large square shoes with triple souls and silver buckles,
which lasted so long that his shoemaker was in despair.

(11:17):
Upon his head he wore a large hat which dated
from the period when Flanders was separated from Holland, so
that this venerable masterpiece was at least forty years old.
But what would you have? It is the passions which
wear out body as well as soul, the clothes as
well as the body. And our worthy burgomaster, apathetic, indolent, indifferent,

(11:39):
was passionate in nothing. He wore nothing out, not even himself,
and he considered himself the very man to administer the
affairs of Quickendone and its tranquil population. The town, indeed,
was not less calm than the Van Tricost mansion. It
was in this peaceful dwelling that the burgomaster reckoned on
itsaining the utmost limit of human existence. After having however,

(12:04):
seen the good Madame Bridget Vantrikass, his wife precede him
to the tomb, where surely she would not find a
more profound repose than she had enjoyed on earth for
sixty years. This demands explanation. The vontre Coast family might
well call itself the Jeneaux family. This is why everyone

(12:26):
knows that the knife of this typical personage is as
celebrated as its proprietor, and not less incapable of wearing out,
thanks to the double operation incessantly repeated, of replacing the
handle when it is worn out and the blade when
it becomes worthless. A precisely similar operation had been going
on from time immemorial in the van Tricast family, to

(12:49):
which nature had lent herself with more than usual complacency.
From thirteen forty, it had invariably happened that a vantri Kass,
when left a widower, had remarried to Vontrecass younger than himself, who,
becoming in turn a widow, had married again a Vontrecas
younger than herself, and so on, without a break in

(13:10):
the continuity. From generation the generation, each died in his
or her turn with mechanical regularity. Thus, the worthy Madame
Bridget Vontrekass had now her second husband, and unless she
violated her every duty would precede her spouse, he being
ten years younger than herself, to the other world to

(13:31):
make room for a new madame vontrecass. Upon this, the
burgomaster calmly counted that the family tradition might not be broken.
Such was this mansion, peaceful and silent, of which the
doors never creaked, the windows never rattled, the floors never groaned,
the chimneys never roared, the weather cocks never grated, the

(13:53):
furniture never squeaked, the locks never clanked, and the occupants
never made more noise than their Shadowidos, the god Hypocrates,
would certainly have chosen it for the Temple of Silence
Chapter three, in which the commissary Passuf enters as noisily
as unexpectedly. When the interesting conversation which has been narrated began,

(14:17):
it was a quarter before three in the afternoon. It
was at a quarter before four that Van Trikas lighted
his enormous pipe, which could hold a quart of tobacco,
and it was at thirty five minutes past five that
he finished smoking it. All this time the two comrades
did not exchange a single word. About six o'clock, the counselor,

(14:38):
who had a habit of speaking in a very summary
manner resumed in these words, So we decide to decide nothing,
replied the Burgomaster. I think on the whole that you
are right von Trichas. I think so too, Nicholas. We
will take steps with reference to the civil Commissary when

(14:59):
we have more life on the subject later on. There
is no need for a month, yet, not even for
a year, replied Nicholas, unfolding his pocket handkerchief and calmly
applying it to his nose. There was another silence of
nearly a quarter of an hour. Nothing disturbed this repeated
pause in the conversation, not even the appearance of the

(15:20):
house dog Lnto, who not less phlegmatic than his master,
came to pay his respects in the parlor. Noble dog,
a model for his race. Had he been made of
pasteboard with wheels on his paws, he would not have
made less noise during his stay. Toward eight o'clock, after
Latchkey had brought the antique lamp of polished glass, the

(15:43):
burgomasters said to the councilor, we have no other urgent
matter to consider, No vontre kas, none that I know of.
Have I not been told, though, asked the Burgomaster that
the tower of the Udenard Gate is likely to tumble down, Ah,
replied the Councilor, Really, I should not be astonished if

(16:05):
it fell on some passerby any day. Oh, before such
a misfortune happens, I hope we shall have come to
a decision on the subject of this tower. I hope so, entrekass.
There are more pressing matters to decide, no doubt the
question of the leather market, for instance, what is it

(16:26):
still burning? Still burning, and has been for the last
three weeks? Have we not decided, the counsel to let
it burn? Yes, vontrecass on your motion? Was not that
the surest and simplest way to deal with it? Without doubt? Well,
let us wait? Is that all? All? Replied the Councilor,

(16:48):
scratching his head as if to assure himself that he
had not forgotten anything important. Ah exclaimed the Burgomaster. Haven't
you also heard something of an escape of water which
threatens to inundate the low quarter of San Jacques? I
have It is indeed unfortunate that this escape of water
did not happen above the leather market. It would naturally

(17:11):
have checked the fire, and would thus have saved us
a good deal of discussion. What can you expect, Nicholas,
There is nothing so illogical as accidents. They are bound
by no rules, and we cannot profit by one as
we might wish to remedy another. It took Vontrikasa's companion
some time to digest this fine observation well, but resumed

(17:36):
the councilor Nicholas, after the lapse of some moments. We
have not spoken of our great affair. What great affair
have we? Then? A great affair, asked the burgomaster. No
doubt about lighting the town. Oh yes, if my memory
serves me, you are referring to the lighting plan of

(17:58):
doctor Ox. Decisely it is going on, Nicholas, replied the Burgomaster.
They are already laying the pipes, and their works are
entirely completed. Perhaps we have hurried a little in this matter,
said the Councilor, shaking his head. Perhaps, but our excuse
is that doctor Ox bears the whole expense of his experiment.

(18:22):
It will not cost us a soup. That true, enough
is our excuse. Moreover, we must advance with the age.
If the experiment succeeds quaken Done will be the first
town in Flanders to be lighted with the oxy What
is the gas called oxyhydric gas? Well, oxy hydrate gas.

(18:45):
Then at this moment the door opened and Latchki came
in to tell the Burgomaster that his supper was ready.
Councilor Nicholas rose to take leave of Antrikas, whose appetite
had been stimulated by so many Many affairs discussed and
decisions taken, and it was agreed that the Council of
Notables should be convened after a reasonably long delay to

(19:08):
determine whether decision should be provisionally arrived at with reference
to the really urgent matter of the Udnard Gate. The
two worthy administrators then directed their steps towards the street door,
the one conducting the other. The Councilor, having reached the
last step, lighted a little lantern to guide him through

(19:29):
the obscure streets of Quekendon, which doctor Ox had not
yet lighted. It was a dark October night, and a
light fog overshadowed the town. Nicholas's preparations for departure consumed
at least a quarter of an hour. For having lighted
his lantern, he had to put on his big cowskin
socks and his sheepskin gloves. Then he put up the

(19:52):
furred collar of his overcoat, turned the brim of his
felt hat down over his eyes, grasped his heavy crow
beaked umbrella, and ready to start. When Latchki, however, who
is lighting her master, was about to draw the bars
of the door, and unexpected noise arose outside. Yes, strange
as the thing seems, a noise, a real noise, such

(20:15):
as the town had certainly not heard since the taking
of the dungeon by the Spaniards in fifteen thirteen. Terrible
noise awoke the long dormant echoes of the venerable Vontrikass mansion.
Someone knocked heavily upon this door, hitherto virgin to brutal touch.
Redoubled knocks were given with some blunt implement, probably a

(20:36):
nazy stick, wielded by a vigorous arm. With the strokes
were mingled cries and calls. These words were distinctly heard,
Monsieur Vantrikas Monsieur the Burgomaster open open quickly. The Burgomaster
and the councilor, absolutely astonished, looked at each other speechless.

(20:58):
This passed their comprehension. If the old culverin of the chateau,
which had not been used since thirteen eighty five, had
been let off in the parlor, the dwellers in the
von Trecas mansion would not have been more dumbfounded. Meanwhile,
the blows and cries were redoubled. Latchkey, recovering her coolness,
had plucked up courage to speak, Who is there? It

(21:21):
is I, I I Who are you? The Commissary Passouf,
The Commissary Passouf, the very man whose office it had
been contemplated to suppress for ten years. What had happened? Then?
Could the Burgundians have invaded quick and done as they
did in the fourteenth century. No event of less importance

(21:42):
could have so moved Commissary Passuf, who in no degree
yielded the palm to the burgomaster himself for calmness and
phlegm on a sign from Van Sri Kass for the
worthy man would not have articulated a syllable. The bar
was pushed back and the door opened. Amisari Passuf flung
himself into the ante chamber. One would have thought there

(22:04):
was a hurricane. What's the matter Monsieur the commissary asked Lotchki,
a brave woman who did not lose her head under
the most trying circumstances. What's the matter, replied Passouf, whose
big round eyes expressed a genuine agitation. The matter is
that I have just come from doctor Ox's, who has

(22:25):
been holding a reception, and that there there, there, I
have witnessed such an altercation as Monsieur the burgermaster. They
have been talking politics, politics, repeated Van tri Kas, running
his fingers through his wig. Politics, resumed Commissary Passouf, which

(22:47):
has not been done for perhaps one hundred years at quickendon.
Then the discussion got warm, and the advocate Andre Schut
and the doctor Dominique Custos became so violent that it
may be they will call each other out. Call each
other out, cried the Councilor a duel, a duel, a

(23:08):
quaken done. And what did advocat shoot and doctor Gusto say?
Just this, Monsieur advocate, said the doctor to his adversary.
You go too far, it seems to me, and you
do not take sufficient care to control your words. The
Burgomaster of Vanrekass clasped his hands the Councilor turned pale

(23:29):
and let his lantern fall. The Commissary shook his head
that a phrase so evidently irritating should be pronounced by
two of the principal men in the country. This doctor
Gustos muttered, Vantikass is decidedly a dangerous man, a hair
brained fellow. Come gentlemen on this Counselor Nicholas and the

(23:51):
Commissary accompanied the Burgomaster into the parlor end of chapter three.
Recording by Alan went Around boom coach dot blogspot dot
com chapters four through six of Doctor Ox's Experiment. This

(24:14):
LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Alan
Winteroud Doctor Ox's Experiment by Jules Verne, Chapter four, in
which Doctor Ox reveals himself as a physiologist of the
first rank and as an audacious experimentalist who then was

(24:36):
this personage known by the singular name of doctor Ox,
an original character for certain, but at the same time
a bold savant, a physiologist whose works were known and
highly esteemed throughout learned Europe. A happy rival of the Davies,
the Daltons, the boast Ox, the Menzies, the Godwins, the

(24:57):
Vierdorts of all those noble minds to have placed physiology
among the highest of modern sciences. Doctor Ox was a
man of medium size and height, aged, but we cannot
state his age any more than his nationality. Besides, it
matters little. Let it suffice that he was a strange personage,

(25:19):
impetuous and hot blooded, a regular oddity out of one
of Hoffman's volumes, and one who contrasted amusingly enough with
a good people of Kikindon. He had an imperturbable confidence,
both in himself and in his doctrines, always smiling, walking
with head erect and shoulders thrown back in a free

(25:41):
and unconstrained manner, with a steady gaze, large open nostrils,
a vast mouth which inhaled the air in liberal drafts.
His appearance was far from unpleasing. He was full of animation,
well proportioned in all parts of his bodily mechanism, with
quicksilver in his veins and a most elastic step. He

(26:04):
could never stop still in one place, and relieved himself
with impetuous words and a superabundance of gesticulations. Was doctor
Ox rich then, that he should undertake to light a
whole town at his expense, probably as he permitted himself
to indulge in such extravagance. And this is the only

(26:24):
answer we can give to this indiscreet question. Doctor Ox
had arrived at Kekandone five months before, accompanied by his assistant,
who answered to the name of Gideon Eugene, a tall,
dried up, thin man, haughty but not less vivacious than
his master. And next, why had doctor Ox made the

(26:47):
proposition to light the town at his own expense? Why
had he, of all the Flemings, selected the peaceable Kekandonians
to endow their town with the benefits of an unheard
of system of lighting. Did he, not, under this pretext,
designed to make some great physiological experiment by operating in anamavilla.

(27:11):
In short, what was this original personage about to attempt?
We know not, as Doctor Ox had no confidant except
his assistant Eugene, who moreover obeyed him blindly. In appearance.
At least, Doctor Ox had agreed to light the town,
which had much need of it, especially at night. As

(27:32):
Commissary Passuf wittily said, works for producing a lighting gas
had accordingly been established, The gasometers were ready for use,
and the main pipes running beneath the street pavements would
soon appear in the form of burners in the public
edifices and the private houses of certain friends of progress.

(27:53):
Von Trecass and Nicholas in their official capacity, and some
other worthies, thought they ought to allow this more modern
light to be introduced into their dwellings. If the reader
is not forgotten, it was said during a long conversation
of the councilor and the burgomaster that the lighting of
the town was to be achieved not by the combustion

(28:14):
of common carbureted hydrogen produced by distilling coal, but by
the use of more modern and twentyfold more brilliant gas oxyhydrate,
gas produced by mixing hydrogen and oxygen. The doctor, who
was an able chemist as well as an ingenious physiologist,
knew how to obtain this gas in great quantity and

(28:37):
of good quality, not by using manganate of soda according
to the method of Monsieur Tessi de Mote, but by
the direct decomposition of slightly acciduated water by means of
a battery made of new elements invented by himself. Thus
there were no costly materials, no platinum, no retorts, no

(28:58):
combustibles no odelicate machinery. To produce the two gases separately,
an electric current was sent through large basins full of water,
and the liquid was decomposed into its two constituent parts,
oxygen and hydrogen. The oxygen passed off at one end,
the hydrogen of double the volume of its late associate

(29:20):
at the other. As a necessary precaution, they were collected
in separate reservoirs, for their mixture would have produced a
frightful explosion if it had become ignited. Thence the pipes
were to convey them separately to the various burners, which
would be so placed as to prevent all chance of explosion.
Thus a remarkably brilliant flame would be obtained, whose light

(29:43):
would rival the electric light, which, as everybody knows, is,
according to Castleman's experiments, equal to that of eleven hundred
and seventy one wax candles, not one more nor one less.
It was certain that the town of Picando and Wood,
by this liberal contrivance, gain a splendid lighting. But doctor

(30:04):
Ox and his assistant took little account of this, as
will be seen in the sequel. The day after that,
on which Commissary Passouf had made his noisy entrance into
the Burgomaster's parlor. Gideon, Eugene and Doctor Ox were talking
in the laboratory, which both occupied in common, on the
ground floor of the principal building of the gas works. Well, Eugene, well,

(30:27):
cried the doctor, rubbing his hands. You saw it my
reception yesterday, the cold bloodedness of these worthy Kekindonians for animation.
They are midway between sponges and coral. You saw them
disputing and irritating each other by voice and gesture. They
are already metamorphosed morally and physically, and this is only

(30:50):
the beginning. Wait till we treat them to a big dose. Indeed, Master,
replied Eugene, scratching his sharp nose with the end of
his forefinger. The experiment begins, well, and if I had
not prudently closed a supply tap, I know not what
would have happened. You heard shoot the advocate and custos,

(31:12):
the doctor resumed, Doctor Ox. The phrase was by no
means ill natured in itself, but in the mouth of
a Chickandonian. It is worth all the insults which the
Homeric heroes hurled at each other before drawing their swords. Ah,
these flemings, you'll see what we shall do. Someday we

(31:32):
shall make them ungrateful, replied Eugene, in the tone of
a man who esteems the human race at its just worth. Bah,
said the doctor. What matters it whether they think well
or ill of us, so long as our experiment succeeds. Besides,
returned the assistant, smiling with a malicious expression. Is it

(31:53):
not to be feared that in producing such an excitement
in their respiratory organs, we shall somewhat injure the lungs
of these good people of quakeandone so much the worse
for them. It is in the interests of science. What
would you say if the dogs or frogs refused to
lend themselves to the experiments of vivisection. It is probable

(32:16):
that if the frogs and dogs were consulted, they would
offer some objection. But doctor Ox imagined that he had
stated an unanswerable argument, for he heaved a great sigh
of satisfaction. After all, Master, you are right, replied Eugene,
as if quite convinced. We could not have hit upon
better subjects than these people of quakeandone for our experiment

(32:39):
we could not, said the doctor, slowly articulating each word.
Have you felt the pulse of any of them? Some hundreds?
What is the average pulsation? You found? Not fifty per minute. See,
this is a town where there has not been the
shadow of a discussion for a century. Where the carmen

(33:01):
don't swear, where the coachmen don't insult each other, where
horses don't run away, where the dogs don't bite, where
the cats don't scratch. A town where the police court
has nothing to do from one year's end to another.
A town where people do not grow enthusiastic about anything,
either about art or business. A town where the gendarmes

(33:24):
are a sort of myth, and in which an indictment
has not been drawn up for a hundred years. A town,
in short, where for three centuries nobody has struck a
blow with its fist, or so much as exchanged a
slap in the face. You see, Eugene, that this cannot last,
and that we must change it all perfectly perfectly, cried

(33:47):
the enthusiastic assistant. And have you analyzed the air of
this town, master, I have not failed to do so.
Seventy nine parts of azote and twenty one of oxygen,
carbonic acid, and steam in a variable quantity. These are
the ordinary proportions good. Doctor Good replied Eugene. The experiment

(34:09):
will be made on a large scale and will be decisive.
And if it is decisive, added Doctor Ox triumphantly, we
shall reform the world. Chapter five, in which the Burgomaster
and the Councilor pay a visit to doctor Ox, and
what follows. The Councilor Nicholas and the Burgomaster of Antikas

(34:32):
at last knew what it was to have an agitated night.
The grave event which had taken place at doctor Ox's
house actually kept them awake. What consequences was this affair
destined to bring about? They could not imagine. Would it
be necessary for them to come to a decision, Would
the municipal authority whom they represented, be compelled to interfere?

(34:55):
Would they be obliged to order a rest to be
made that so great a scandal should not be repeated?
All these doubts could not but trouble these soft natures,
And on that evening, before separating, the two notables had
decided to see each other the next day. On the
next morning, then before dinner, the Burgomaster von Trecas proceeded

(35:17):
in person to the Councilor Nicholas's house. He found his
friend more calm, he himself had recovered his equanimity. Nothing new,
asked Vontrecas. Nothing new since yesterday, replied Nicholas and the
doctor Dominique Custos. I have not heard anything either of

(35:38):
him or of the advocate Andre Schute. After an hour's conversation,
which consisted of three remarks which it is needless to repeat,
the Councilor and the Burgomaster had resolved to pay a
visit to doctor Ox, so as to draw from him,
without seeming to do so, some details of the affair,

(35:59):
contrary to all their habits. After coming to this decision,
the two notables set about putting it into execution. Forthwith,
they left the house and directed their steps towards doctor
Ox's laboratory, which was situated outside the town, near the
Udnard Gate, the gate whose tower threatened to fall in ruins.

(36:20):
They did not take each other's arms, but walked side
by side, with a slow and solemn step, which took
them forward but thirteen inches per second. This was indeed
the ordinary gait of the Quickandonians, who had never, within
the memory of man, seen anyone run across the streets
of their town. From time to time, the two notables

(36:42):
would stop at some calm and tranquil crossway, or at
the end of a quiet street to salute the passers.
By good morning, Monsieur, the burgomaster said one good morning,
my friend, responded van tri Kass, Anything new, Monsieur, Counselor
asked another, Nothing new, answered Nicholas. But by certain agitated

(37:06):
motions and questioning looks, it was evident that the altercation
of the evening before was known throughout the town. Observing
the direction taken by von Trcas, the most obtuse Quickandonians
guessed that the Burgomaster was on his way to take
some important step. The Custos and chutefair was talked of everywhere,

(37:29):
but the people had not yet come to the point
of taking the part of one or the other. The
advocate Shoot, never having had occasion to plead in a
town where attorneys and bailiffs only existed in tradition, had
consequently never lost a suit. As for the doctor Custos,
he was an honorable practitioner who, after the example of

(37:51):
his fellow doctors cured all the illnesses of his patients,
except those of which they died, a habit unhappily acquired
by all the members of all the faculties in whatever
country they may practice. On reaching the Udenard gate, the
Councilor and the Burgomaster prudently made a short detour so
as not to pass within reach of the tower in

(38:13):
case it should fall. Then they turned and looked at
it attentively. I think that it will fall, said von Trecass.
I think so, too, replied Nicholas, unless it is propped up,
added von Trecass. But must it be propped up? That
is the question, that is in fact the question. Some

(38:35):
moments after they reached the door of the gas works.
Can we see doctor Ox, they asked. Doctor Ox could
always be seen by the first authorities of the town,
and they were at once introduced into the celebrated physiologist's study.
Perhaps the two notables waited for the doctor at least
an hour, at least, it is reasonable suppose so as

(38:58):
the Burgomaster the thing that had never before happened in
his life, betrayed a certain amount of impatience from which
his companion was not exempt. Doctor Ox came in at
last and began to excuse himself for having kept them waiting.
But he had to approve a plan for the gasometer,
rectify some of the machinery. But everything was going on well.

(39:23):
The pipes intended for the oxygen were already laid. In
a few months the town would be splendidly lighted. The
two notables might even now see the orifices of the
pipes which were laid on in the laboratory. Then the
doctor begged to know to what he was indebted for
the honor of this visit. Only to see you, doctor,

(39:43):
to see you, replied Van Tricas it is long since
we have had the pleasure. We go abroad, but little
in our good town of Quickendoone. We count our steps
and measure our walks. We are happy when nothing disturbs
the uniformity of our habits. Nicholas looked to his friend.
His friend had never said so much at once, at

(40:04):
least without taking time and giving long intervals between his sentences.
It seemed to him that Von Trecass expressed himself with
a certain volubility which was by no means common with him.
Nicholas himself experienced a kind of irresistible desire to talk.
As for doctor Ox, he looked at the Bergamaster with

(40:25):
sly attention. Von Trecass, who had never argued until he
had snugly ensconced himself in a spacious armchair, had risen
to his feet. I know not what nervous excitement, quite
foreign to his temperament, had taken possession of him. He
did not gesticulate as yet, but this could not be
far off. As for the counselor, he rubbed his legs

(40:49):
and breathed with slow and long gasps. His look became
animated little by little, and he had decided to support
at all hazards, if need be, his trusty friend, the
burgham Von Trecass got up and took several steps. Then
he came back and stood facing the doctor. And in
how many months? He asked, in a somewhat emphatic tone,

(41:12):
do you say that your work will be finished in
three or four months? Monsieur? The Burgomaster replied Doctor Ox,
three or four months. It's a very long time, said
von Tracass. Altogether too long, added Nicholas, who, not being
able to keep his seat, rose also. This lapse of

(41:32):
time is necessary to complete our work, returned Doctor Ox.
The workmen whom we have had to choose and quaken
down are not very expeditious. How not expeditious, cried the burgomaster,
who seemed to take the remark as personally offensive. No,
Monsieur von Trecass, replied Doctor Ox, Obstinately a French workman

(41:55):
would do in a day what it takes ten of
your workmen to do. You know they are regular or flemings. Flemings,
cried the councilor, whose fingers closed together. In what sense, sir,
do you use that word? Why? In the amiable sense
in which everyone uses it, replied Doctor Ox, smiling. Ah.

(42:16):
But Doctor, said the Burgomaster, pacing up and down the room,
I don't like these insinuations. The workmen of Quick and
Known are as efficient as those of any other town
in the world. You must know, and we shall go
neither to Paris nor London for our models. As for
your project, I beg you to hasten its execution. Our

(42:37):
streets have been unpaved for the putting down of your
conduit pipes, and it is a hindrance to traffic. Our
trade will begin to suffer, And I, being the responsible authority,
do not propose to incur approaches will be but too just, worthy, Burgomaster.
He spoke of trade of traffic, and the wonder was

(42:59):
that those words to which he was quite unaccustomed, did
not scorch his lips. What could be passing in his mind? Besides,
added Nicholas, The town cannot be deprived of light much longer,
but urged doctor Ox. A town which has been unlighted
for eight or nine hundred years all the more necessary,

(43:21):
it is, replied the Burgomaster, emphasizing his words. Times alter manners,
alter the world advances, and we do not wish to
remain behind. We desire our streets to be lighted within
a month, or you must pay a large indemnity for
each day of delay. And what would happen if amid
the darkness some afray should take place? No doubt, cried Nicholas.

(43:45):
It requires but a spark to inflame, a fleming, fleming flame.
A propos of this, said the Burgomaster, interrupting his friend,
Commissary Parsouf, our chief of police, reports to us that
are des discussion took place in your drawing room last evening,
Doctor Ox? Was he wrong in declaring that it was

(44:06):
a political discussion by no means, Monsieur, the Burgomaster, replied
Doctor Ox, who with difficulty repressed a sigh of satisfaction.
So an altercation did take place between Dominique Custos and
Andre Schute, Yes, counselor. But the words which pass were
of not of grave import. Not of grave import, cried

(44:29):
the Burgomaster. Not of grave import when one man tells
another that he does not measure the effect of his words.
But of what stuff are you made of, monsieur? Do
you not know that in quake and known, nothing more
is needed to bring about extremely disastrous results? But monsieur,
if you or anyone else presumes to speak thus to

(44:51):
me or to me, added Nicholas, as they pronounced these
words with a menacing air, the two notables, with arms
folded then bristling air, confronted Doctor Ox, ready to do
him some violence if by gesture or even the expression
of his eye he manifested any intention of contradicting them.

(45:12):
But the doctor did not budge at all events, Monsieur
resumed the Burgomaster. I propose to hold you responsible for
what passes in your house. I am bound to insure
the tranquility of this town, and I do not wish
it to be disturbed. The events of last evening must
not be repeated, or I shall do my duty. Sir,

(45:32):
do you hear, then, reply sir. The burgermaster, as he spoke,
under the influence of extraordinary excitement, elevated his voice to
the pitch of anger. He was furious, though worthy of Antrekas,
and might certainly be heard outside. At last, beside himself,
and seeing that doctor Ox did not reply to his challenge, come, Nicholas,

(45:55):
said he, and slamming the door with a violence which
shook the Housegamaster drew his friend after him. Little by little.
When they had taken twenty steps on their road, the
worthy notables grew more calm. Their pace slackened, their gait
became less feverish. The flush on their faces faded away.

(46:15):
From being crimson, they became rosy. A quarter of an
hour after quitting the gas works, Vantrekas said softly to Nicholas,
an amiable man, doctor Ox, it is always a pleasure
to see him. Chapter six, in which Franz Nicholas and
Suzel Van Tricas formed certain projects for the future, Our

(46:36):
readers know that the burgomaster had a daughter Susel, But
shrewd as they may be, they cannot have divined that
the councilor Nicholas had a son Friends, and had they
divined this, nothing could have led them to imagine that
Franz was the betrothed lover of Suzl. We will add
that these young people were made for each other, and
that they loved each other as folks did love. At Quakindone,

(47:00):
it must not be thought that young hearts did not
beat in this exceptional place. Only they beat with a
certain deliberation. There were marriages there, as in every other
town in the world, but they took time about it.
Betrothed couples, before engaging in these terrible bonds, wished to
study each other. And these studies lasted at least ten years.

(47:21):
As at college, it was rare that anyone was accepted
before this lapse of time. Yes, ten years. The courtships
last ten years. And is it, after all too long
when the being bound for life is in consideration. One
studies ten years to become an engineer or physician, an
advocate or attorney, and should less time be spent in

(47:45):
acquiring the knowledge to make a good husband, is it
not reasonable? And whether due to temperament or reason, with them,
the Quickandonians seemed to us to be in the right
in thus prolonging their courtship. When marriages and other more
lively and excitable cities are seen taking place within a
few months, we must shrug our shoulders and hasten to

(48:07):
send our boys to the schools and our daughters to
the pansions of quackandoon. For half a century but a
single marriage was known to have taken place after the
lapse of two years only of courtship, and that turned
out badly. Franz Nicholas then loved susel Vmtrikas, but quietly,

(48:28):
as a man would love when he has ten years
before him in which to obtain the beloved object. Once
every week, at an hour agreed upon, Franz went to
fetch Suzle and took a walk with her along the
banks of the var He took good care to carry
his fishing tackle, and Suzle never forgot her canvas, on
which her pretty hands embroidered the most unlikely flowers. Franz

(48:53):
was a young man of twenty two, whose cheeks betrayed
a soft, peachy down and whose voice had scarcely compass
of one octave. As for Susle, she was blonde and rosy.
She was seventeen and did not dislike fishing a singular occupation,
this which forces you to struggle craftily with a bible.

(49:14):
But Franz loved it. The pastime was congenial to his temperament,
as patient as possible, content to follow with his rather
dreamy eye the cork which bobbed on top of the water.
He knew how to wait, and when, after sitting for
six hours, a modest bible taking pity on him, consented
at last to be caught, he was happy, but he

(49:37):
knew how to control his emotion. On this day, the
two lovers, one might say the two betrothed, were seated
upon the verdant bank. The limpid var murmured a few
feet below them. Susal quietly drew her needle across the canvas.
Franz automatically carried his line from left to right, then

(49:57):
permitted it to descend the current from right to left.
The fish made capricious rings in the water which crossed
each other around the cork, while the hook hung useless
near the bottom. From time to time Franz would say,
without raising his eyes. I think I have a bite. Susal,
do you think so? Franz replied Suzal, who, abandoning her

(50:20):
work for an instant, followed her lover's line with earnest eye.
No returned Franz. I thought I felt a little twitch.
I was mistaken. You will have a bite, Franz replied
Suzle in her pure soft voice. But do not forget
to strike at the right moment. You are always a

(50:40):
few seconds too late, and the barble takes advantage to escape.
Would you like to take my line, Susal willingly Franz.
Then give me your canvas. We shall see whether I
am more adroit with the needle than with the hook.
And the young girl took the line with trembling hand,
while her swaying implied the needle across the stitches of

(51:02):
the embroidery. For hours together they thus exchanged soft words,
and their hearts palpitated when the cork bobbed on the water.
Ah could they ever forget those charming hours during which,
seated side by side, they listened to the murmurs of
the river. The sun was fast approaching the western horizon,

(51:22):
and despite the combined skill of Suzl and Franz. There
had not been a bite. The barbles had not shown
themselves complacent, and seemed to scoff at the two young people,
who were too just to bear them malice. We shall
be more lucky another time, Franz said Suzal, as the
young angler put up his still virgin hook. Let us hope,

(51:44):
so replied Franz. Then, walking side by side, they turned
their steps towards the house without exchanging a word, as
mute as their shadows which stretched out before them. Suzal
became very very tall under the oblique rays of the
setting sun. Franz appeared very very thin, like the long

(52:05):
rod which he held in his hand. They reached the
Burgomaster's house, green tufts of grass bordered the shining pavement,
and no one would have thought of tearing them away,
for they deadened the noise made by the passers by.
As they were about to open the door, Franz thought
it his duty to say to Susele, you know, Susel,

(52:25):
the great day is approaching. It is indeed, Franz replied
the young girl with downcast eyes. Yes, said Franz in
five or six years, goodbye, Franz, said Susele. Goodbye. Susele
replied Franz, and after the door had been closed, the
young man resumed the way to his father's house with

(52:47):
a calm at equal pace. End of chapter six. Recording
by Alan went a Round boom Coach dot blogspot dot
com Chapters seven to eight of Doctor Ox's experiment. This

(53:13):
LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Alan
went rout Doctor Ox's experiment by Jules Verne, chapter seven,
in which the Adantes become Allegros and the Allegros vivacees.
The agitation caused by the Schuten Custos affair had subsided.

(53:36):
The affair led to no serious consequences. It appeared likely
that quicken done would return to its habitual apathy, which
the unexpected event had for a moment disturbed. Meanwhile, the
laying of the pipes destined to conduct the oxyhydric gas
into the principal edifices of the town was proceeding rapidly.

(53:57):
The main pipes and branches gradually crept beneath the pavements,
but the burners were still wanting for as it required
delicate skill to make them, it was necessary that they
should be fabricated abroad. Doctor Ox was here, there and everywhere.
Neither he nor Eugene, his assistant, lost a moment, but

(54:19):
they urged on. The workmen completed the delicate mechanisms of
the gasometer, fed day and night, the immense piles which
decomposed the water under the influence of a powerful electric current. Yes,
the doctor was already making his gas, though the pipe
laying was not yet done, a fact which between ourselves

(54:40):
might have seemed a little singular. But before long, at
least there was a reason to hope. So before long
doctor Ox would inaugurate the splendors of his invention in
the theater of the town. For quick and done possessed
a theater, a really fine edifice, in truth, the interior
and extra interior arrangement of which combined every style of architecture.

(55:04):
It was at once Byzantine, Roman, Gothic Renaissance, with semi
circular doors, pointed windows, flamboyant rose windows, fantastic bell turrets,
in a word, a specimen of all sorts, half a Parthenon,
half a Parisian grand cafe. Nor was this surprising, the

(55:25):
theater having been commissioned under the Burgomaster Ludwig Vantrikas in
eleven seventy five, and only finished in eighteen thirty seven
under the Burgomaster Natalis von Trekas. It had required seven
hundred years to build it, and it had been successively
adapted to the architectural style in vogue in each period.

(55:47):
But for all that, it was an imposing structure, the
Roman pillars and Byzantine arches of which would appear to
advantage lit up by the oxyhydrate gas. Pretty well everything
was acted at the Theatre of Quakandone, but the opera
and the opera comique were especially patronized. It must, however,

(56:07):
be added that the composers would never have recognized their
own works, so entirely changed were the movements of the music.
In short, as nothing was done in a hurry in Quacandone.
The dramatic pieces had to be performed in harmony with
the peculiar temperament of the Quakandonians. Though the doors of

(56:28):
the theatre were regularly thrown open at four o'clock and
closed again at ten, and had never been known that
more than two acts were playable during the six intervening hours.
Robert Le diable Les Huguenot or Guillaume Tell usually took
up three evenings. So slow was the execution of these masterpieces.

(56:50):
The vivaces at the Theatre of Quakandone lagged like Rio
la Daggio's. The allegros were long drawn out. Indeed, the
semi semiquavers were scarcely equal to the ordinary semibreeve of
other countries. The most rapid runs performed, according to Quikandonian taste,

(57:11):
had the solemn march of a chant. The gayest shiks
were languishing and measured that they might not shock the
ears of the dilettante. To give an example, the rapid
air sung by Figaro on his entrance in the last
act of Le Bobier de Seville lasted fifty eight minutes
when the actor was particularly enthusiastic. Artists from abroad, as

(57:36):
might be supposed, were forced to conform themselves to Quikandonian fashions,
but as they were well paid, they did not complain
and willingly obeyed the leader's baton, which never beat more
than eight measures to the minute in the allegros. But
what applause greeted these artists who enchanted without ever wearying

(57:56):
the audiences of Quakandone, all hands clapped one after another
at tolerably long intervals, which the papers characterized as frantic applause,
and sometimes nothing but the lavish prodigality with which mortar
and stone had been used in the twelfth century save
the roof of the hall from falling in. Besides, the

(58:20):
theater had only won performance a week that these enthusiastic
Flemish folk might not be too much excited, and this
enabled the actors to study their parts more thoroughly, and
the spectators to digest more at leisure, the beauties of
the masterpieces brought out. Such had long been the drama
at Quakendone. Foreign artists were in the habit of making

(58:44):
engagements with the director of the town when they wanted
to rest after their exertions in other scenes, and it
seemed as if nothing could ever change these inveterate customs.
When a fortnight after the shoot Custos affair, an unlooked
for incident occurred to throw the population into fresh agitation.
It was on a Saturday, an opera day. It was

(59:06):
not yet intended, as may well be supposed, to inaugurate
the new illumination. No the pipes had reached the hall,
but for reasons indicated above, the burners had not yet
been placed, and the wax candles still shed their soft
light upon the numerous spectators who filled the theater. The
doors had been opened to the public at one o'clock,

(59:28):
and by three the hall was half full. A queue
had at one time been formed which extended as far
as the end of the place Senterneuf, in front of
the shop of jos Lintnik, the apothecary. This eagerness was
significant of an unusually attractive performance. Are you going to

(59:49):
the theater this evening? Inquired the councilor the same morning
of the Burgomaster. I shall not fail to do so,
returned von Trekas, and I shall take Madame Vontrek, as
well as our daughter Susel and our dear Tantanmonts, who
all dote on good music. Mademoiselle Suzl is going, then, certainly, Nicholas.

(01:00:10):
Then my son Franz will be one of the first
to arrive, said Nicholas. A spirited boy. Nicholas replied the Burgomaster,
sententiously but hot headed. He will require watching. He loves
Von Trecass, he loves your charming susele well, Nicholas, he
shall marry her. Now that we have agreed on this marriage.

(01:00:33):
What more can he desire? He desires nothing. Von trecass
the dear boy. But in short, we'll say no more
about it. He will not be the last to get
his ticket at the box office. Ah, vivacious and ardent
youth replied to Bergamaster, recalling his own past. We have
also been thus, my worthy counselor. We have loved we two.

(01:00:57):
We have dance attendants in our day till tonight, then
till tonight by the bye. Do you know this? Fiavarante
is a great artist, and what a welcome he has
received among us. It will be long before he will
forget the applause of quakeandone the tenor Fiovorante, was indeed
going to sing. Fiovoranti, who, by his talents as a virtuoso,

(01:01:20):
his perfect method, his melodious voice, provoked a real enthusiasms
among the lovers of music in the town. For three weeks,
Fiavoranti had been achieving a brilliant success in Les Huguenot,
the first act, interpreted according to the taste of the Quickandonians,
had occupied an entire evening of the first week of

(01:01:43):
the month. Another evening in the second week, prolonged by
infinite Adantes, had elicited for the celebrated singer, a real ovation.
His success had been still more marked in the third
act of Meyerbeer's masterpiece. But now Fiavorante was to appear
in the fourth act, which was to be performed on

(01:02:05):
this evening before an impatient public. Ah, the duel between
Raoul and Valentine, that pathetic love song for two voices
that strain so full of crescendos, stringendos, and Pio Creascindo's
all this sung slowly, compendiously, interminably, Ah, how delightful. At

(01:02:30):
four o'clock the hall was full, the boxes, the orchestra,
the pit were overflowing. In the front stalls sat the
Burgomaster van Tricas, Mademoiselle Vantricas, Madame Vandricas, and the Abel
Tatan Montz in a green bonnet. Not far off were
the Councilor Nicholas and his family, not forgetting the amorous France,

(01:02:54):
the families of Coustos, to doctor of Shoot, the advocat
of Honore s Tacks, the chief Judge of Norbey Sentmann,
the insurance director of the banker Collart gone mad On
German music, and himself somewhat of an amateur, and the
teacher Rupp, and the master of the academy Jerome Resh,

(01:03:16):
and the civil commissary, and so many other notabilities of
the town that they could not be enumerated here without wearying.
The reader's patients were visible in different parts of the hall.
It was customary for the quickandonians, while awaiting the rise
of the curtain, to sit silent, some reading the paper,

(01:03:37):
others whispering low to each other, some making their way
to their seats slowly and noiselessly, others casting timid looks
toward the bewitching beauties in the galleries. But on this
evening a looker on might have observed that even before
the curtain rose, there was unusual animation among the audience.

(01:03:58):
People were restless, who were never known to be restless
before the ladies, fans fluttered with abnormal rapidity. All appeared
to be inhaling air of exceptional stimulating power. Everyone breathed
more freely. The eyes of some became unwontedly bright and
seemed to give forth a light equal to that of

(01:04:18):
the candles, which themselves certainly threw a more brilliant light
over the hall. It was evident that people saw more clearly,
though the number of candles had not been increased. Ah
if doctor Ox's experiment were being tried, but it was
not being tried as yet. The musicians of the orchestra
at last took their places. The first violin had gone

(01:04:42):
to the stand to give a modest law to his colleagues.
The stringed instruments, the wind instruments, the drums and cymbals
were in accord. The conductor only waged the sound of
the bell to beat the first bar. The bell sounds,
the fourth act begins. The allegro apassionato of the interact

(01:05:03):
is played, as usual, with a majestic deliberation which would
have made Meyerbeer frantic, and all the majesty of which
was appreciated by the Quicandonian dilettante. But soon the leader
perceived that he was no longer master of his musicians.
He found it difficult to restrain them. Though usually so

(01:05:23):
obedient and calm, the wind instruments betrayed a tendency to
hasten the movement, and it was necessary to hold them
back with a firm hand, for they would otherwise outstrip
the stringed instruments, which from a musical point of view
would have been disastrous. The bassoon himself, the son of
Joss Lindtrich, the Apothecary, a well bred young man, seemed

(01:05:46):
to lose his self control. Meanwhile, Valentine had begun her
assentative I am alone, et cetera, but she hurries it.
The leader and all his musicians perhaps unconsciously follow her
in the contabille, which should be taken deliberately like a
twelve eight, as it is when Raoul appears at the

(01:06:06):
door at the bottom of the stage. Between the moment
when Valentine goes to him and that when she conceals
herself in the chamber at the side, a quarter of
an hour does not elapse. While formerly, according to the
traditions of the Quicckandonian theater, this recitative of thirty seven
bars was wont to last just thirty seven minutes. Sombri Nevere,

(01:06:31):
Cavan and the Catholic nobles have appeared somewhat prematurely, perhaps
upon the scene the composer has marked Allegro Pomposo on
the score. The orchestra and the lords proceed allegro, indeed,
but not at all pomposo. And at the chorus in
the famous scene of the Benediction of the Poniards, they

(01:06:51):
no longer keep to the enjoined allegro. Singers and musicians
broke away impestuously. The leader does not even attempt to
restrain them, nor do the public protest. On the contrary,
that people find themselves carried away and see that they
are involved in the movement, and that the movement responds
to the impulses of their souls. Will you with me

(01:07:13):
deliver the land from troubles increasing and impious band, they promise,
they swear. Nevers has scarcely time to protest and to
sing that among his ancestors were many soldiers, but never
an assassin. He is arrested. The police and the aldermen
rush forward and rapidly swear to strike all at once.

(01:07:35):
Sambri shouts the recinative, which summons the Catholics to vengeance.
The three monks with white scarves hasten in by the
door at the back of Navere's room, without making any
account of the stage directions which enjoin them to advance slowly.
Already the artists have drawn sword or poniard, which the
three monks bless in a trice. The soprani tenors basso's

(01:07:59):
a attack the Allegro Furioso with cries of rage and
of a dramatic six ' eighth time. They make it
six ' eight quadrille time. Then they rush out, bellowing
at midnight noiselessly, God wills it yes at midnight. At
this moment the audience start to their feet. Everybody is
agitated in the boxes, the pit, the galleries. It seems

(01:08:24):
as if the spectators are about to rush upon the stage.
The burgomaster vantricas at their head to join with the
conspirators and annihilate the Huguenots, whose religious opinions, however they share.
They applaud call before the curtain, make loud acclamations. Tottenmnts
grasps her bonnet with feverish hand. The candles throw out

(01:08:46):
a lurid glow of light. Raoul, instead of slowly raising
the curtain, tears it apart with a superb gesture and
finds himself confronting Valentine. At last, it is the grand
Duet and it starts off allegro vivace. Raoul does not
wait for Valentine's pleading, and Valentine does not wait for

(01:09:07):
Raoul's responses. The fine passage beginning, danger is passing, time
is flying becomes one of those rapid airs which have
made Offenbach famous. When he composes a dance for conspirators,
the adante amoroso thou hast said it aye, thou lovest
me becomes a real vivace furioso, and the villancello ceases

(01:09:32):
to imitate the inflections of the singer's voice, as indicated
in the composer's score. In Vain, Raoul cries, speak on
and prolong the ineffable slumber of my soul. Valentine cannot prolong.
It is evident that an unaccustomed fire devours her. Her
bees and her seas above the stave were dreadfully shrill.

(01:09:55):
He struggles, he gesticulates, he is all in a glow.
The alarm is heard, The bell resounds, But what a
panting bell. The bell ringer has evidently lost his self control.
It is a frightful toxin which violently struggles against the
fury of the orchestra. Finally, the air which ends this

(01:10:16):
magnificent act begins no more love, no more intoxication. Oh,
the remorse that oppresses me, which the composer marks allegro conmoto,
becomes a wild prestissimo. You would say an express train
was whirling by. The alarm resounds again. Valentine falls fainting.

(01:10:37):
Raoul precipitates himself from the window. It was high time.
The orchestra, already intoxicated, could not have gone on. The
leader's baton is no longer anything but a broken stick
on the prompter's box. The violin strings are broken and
their necks twisted in his fury. The drummer has burst
his drum. The counter bassist has perched on top of

(01:11:00):
the musical monster. The first clarionette has swallowed the reed
of his instrument, and the second hoot boy is chewing
his reed keys. The groove of the trombone is strained,
And finally, the unhappy cornice cannot withdraw his hand from
the bell of his horn, into which he had thrust
it too far. And the audience, the audience, panting all

(01:11:22):
in a heat, gesticulates and howls. All the faces are
as red as if a fire were burning within their bodies.
They crowd each other, hustle each other to get out,
the men without hats, the women without mantles. They elbow
each other in the corridors, crush between the doors, quarrel,
and fight. There are no longer any officials, any burgomaster.

(01:11:45):
All are equal amid this infernal frenzy. Some moments after,
when olive reached the street, each one resumes his habitual
tranquility and peaceably enters his house, with a confused remembrance
of what he has just ex experienced. The fourth act
of the Huguenots, which formerly lasted six hours, began on

(01:12:06):
this evening at half past four and ended at twelve
minutes before five. It had only lasted eighteen minutes. Chapter eight,
in which the ancient and solemn German waltz becomes a whirlwind.
But if the spectators, on leaving the theater, resumed their
customary calm, if they quietly regained their homes, preserving only

(01:12:29):
a sort of passing stupefication, they had nonetheless undergone a
remarkable exaltation, and overcome and weary, as if they had
committed some excess of dissipation, they fell heavily upon their beds.
The next day, each Quickandonian had a kind of recollection
of what had occurred the evening before. One missed his

(01:12:51):
hat lost in the hubbub, another a coat flap torn
in the brawl, one her delicately fashioned shoe, another her
best man. To memory returned to these worthy people, and
with it a certain shame for their unjustifiable agitation. It
seemed to them an orgy in which they were the
unconscious heroes and heroines. They did not speak of it,

(01:13:14):
they did not wish to think of it. But the
most astounded personage in the town was Van tri Kas,
the burgomaster. The next morning, on waking, he could not
find his wig. Latchki looked everywhere for it, but in
vain the wig had remained on the field of battle.
As for having it publicly claimed by Jean Mistraul, the

(01:13:36):
town crier, no it would not do. It were better
to lose the wig than to advertise himself. Thus, as
he had the honor to be the first magistrate of Quakendom,
the worthy Vanrekas was reflecting upon this, extended beneath his sheets,
with bruised body, heavy head, furred tongue, and burning breast.

(01:13:58):
He felt no desire to get up on the con
and his brain worked more during this morning than it
had probably worked before for forty years. The worthy magistrate
recalled to his mind all the incidents of the incomprehensible performance.
He connected them with the events which had taken place
shortly before at doctor Ox's reception. He tried to discover

(01:14:21):
the causes of the singular excitability, which, on two occasions
had betrayed itself in the best citizens of the town.
What can be going on? He asked himself, What giddy
spirit has taken possession of my peaceable town of quick
and known? Are we about to go mad? And must
we make the town one vast asylum? For yesterday we

(01:14:44):
were all there, notables, counselors, judges, advocates, physicians, schoolmasters, and all,
if my memory serves me, all of us were assailed
by this excess of furious folly. But what was there
in that infernal music? It is inexplicable. Yet I certainly
ate or drank nothing which could have put me in

(01:15:06):
such a state. No, yesterday I had for dinner a
slice of overdone veal, several spoonfuls of spinach with sugar, eggs,
and a little beer and water that couldn't get into
my head. No, there is something that I cannot explain,
and as after all I am responsible for the conduct
of the citizens, I will have an investigation. But the investigation,

(01:15:30):
though decided upon by the municipal council, produced no result.
If the facts were clear, the causes escaped the sagacity
of the magistrates. Besides, tranquility had been restored in the
public mind, and with tranquility forgetfulness of the strange scenes
of the theater. The newspapers avoided speaking of them, and

(01:15:52):
the account of the performance, which appeared in the Quick
and Done Memorial, made no allusion to this intoxication of
the entire audience. Meanwhile, though the town resumed its habitual
phlegm and became apparently Flemish as before, it was observable
that at bottom the character and temperament of the people

(01:16:13):
changed little by little. One might have truly said, with
Dominique Custos the doctor, that their nerves were affected. Let
us explain this undoubted change only took place under certain conditions.
When the Quackandonians passed through the street of the town,
walked in the squares or along the var They were

(01:16:35):
always the cold and methodical people of former days. So
too when they remained at home, some working with their
hands and others with their heads, these doing nothing, these
thinking nothing. Their private life was silent, inert, vegetating as before.
No quarrels, no household squabbles, no acceleration in the beating

(01:16:58):
of the heart, no excitement of the brain. The mean
of their pulsations remained as it was of old, from
fifty to fifty two per minute. But strange and inexplicable phenomenon,
though it was, which would have defied the sagacity of
the most ingenious physiologists of the day. If the inhabitants
of Quackendom did not change in their home life, they

(01:17:20):
were visibly changed in their civil life and in their
relations between man and man, to which it leads. If
they met together in some public edifice, it did not
work well, As Commissary Paseuf expressed it on change at
the town hall, in the amphitheater of the Academy, at
the sessions of the Council, as well as at the

(01:17:41):
reunions of the savants, a strange excitement seized the assembled citizens.
Their relations with each other became embarrassing before they had
been together an hour. In two hours, the discussion degenerated
into an angry dispute. Heads became heated, and personalities were used.
At church during the sermon, the faithful could not listen

(01:18:03):
to vunstable the minister in patience, and he threw himself
about in the pulpit and lectured his flock with far
more than its usual severity. At last, this state of
things brought about altercations more grave alas than the one
between Gustos and Schute. And if they did not require
the interference of the authorities, it was because the antagonists,

(01:18:24):
after returning home, found there with its calm forgetfulness of
the offenses offered and received. This peculiarity could not be
observed by these minds, which were absolutely incapable of recognizing
what was passing in them. One person only in the town,
he whose office the council had thought of suppressing for

(01:18:45):
thirty years, Michael Passouf had remarked that this excitement, which
was absent from private houses, quickly revealed itself in public edifices.
And he asked himself, not without a certain anxiety, what
would happen. If this infection should ever develop itself in
the family mansions, and if the epidemic this was the

(01:19:06):
word he used, should extend through the streets of the town,
then there would be no more forgetfulness of insults, no
more tranquility, no intermission in the delirium, but a permanent
inflammation which would inevidently bring the Quackandonians into collision with
each other. What would happen, then, Commissary Passouf asked himself
in terror, How could these furious savages be arrested? How

(01:19:31):
check these goaded temperaments? My office would be no longer
a sinicere, and the council would be obliged to double
my salary unless it should arrest me myself for disturbing
the public peace. These very reasonable fears began to be realized.
The infection spread from change the theater, the church, the

(01:19:52):
town hall, the academy, the market into private houses, and
that in less than a fortnight after the terrible performances
of the Huguenots, its first symptoms appeared in the house
of Colaire the banker. That wealthy personage gave a ball,
or at least a dancing party to the notabilities of
the town. He had issued some months before a loan

(01:20:16):
of thirty thousand francs, three quarters of which had been subscribed,
and to celebrate this financial success he had opened his
drawing rooms and given a party to his fellow citizens.
Everybody knows that Flemish parties are innocent and tranquil enough,
the principal expense of which is usually in beer and syrups.

(01:20:37):
Some conversation on the weather, the appearance of the crops,
the fine condition of the garden, the care of flowers,
and especially of tulips. A slow and measured dance, from
time to time, perhaps a minuet, sometimes a waltz, but
one of those German waltzes which achieve a turn and
a half per minute, and during which the dancers hold

(01:20:58):
each other as far apart as their own arms will permit,
such as the usual fashion of the balls attended by
the aristocratic society of quakend Ome. The polka, after being
altered toforetime had tried to become accustomed to it, but
the dancers always lagged behind the orchestra, no matter how
slow the measure, and it had to be abandoned. These

(01:21:20):
peaceable reunions in which the youths and maidens enjoyed an
honest and moderate pleasure, had never been attended by any
outburst of ill nature. Why, then, on this evening at
Colaire the bankers did the syrups seem to be transformed
into heady wines, into sparkling champagne, into heating punches. Why

(01:21:40):
toward the middle of the evening did a sort of
mysterious intoxication take possession of the guests. Why did the
minuet become a jig. Why did the orchestra hurry with
its harmonies. Why did the candles, just as at the theater,
burn with unwonted refulgence. What electric current invaded the banker
drawing rooms. How happened it that couples held each other

(01:22:04):
so closely and clasped each other's hands so convulsively that
the cavalier's souls made themselves conspicuous by certain extraordinary steps
in that figure usually so grave, so solemn, so majestic,
so very proper alas What Oedipus could have answered these
unsolvable questions. Commissary Passouf, who was present at the party,

(01:22:28):
saw the storm coming distinctly, but he could not control
it or fly from it, and he felt kind of
intoxication entering his own brain. All his physical and emotional
faculties increased in intensity. He was seen several times to
throw himself upon the confectionery and devour the dishes, as
if he had just broken along fast. The animation of

(01:22:51):
the ball was increasing. All this while a long murmur,
like a dull buzzing, escaped from all breasts. They danced, danced,
The feet were agitated by increasing frenzy. The faces became
as purple as those of Silenus, their eyes shone like carbuncles.
The general fermentation rose to the highest pitch, and when

(01:23:14):
the orchestra thundered out the waltz in deir Frereschutz. When
this waltz so German and with a movement so slow,
was attacked with wild arms by the musicians, Aha, it
was no longer a waltz, but an insensate whirlwind, a
giddy rotation, a gyration worthy of being led by some mephistopheles,

(01:23:36):
beating the measure with a firebrand. Then a gallop, an
infernal gallop, which lasted an hour without anyone being able
to stop. It whirled off in its windings across the halls,
the drawing rooms, the anti chambers, by the staircases from
the cellar to the garret of this opulent mansion. The
young people and young girls, the fathers and mothers, people

(01:23:59):
of every age, of every weight, of both sexes. Colaire,
the fat Banker, and Madame Colaire, and the counselors, and
the magistrates, and the Chief Justice, and Nicholas, and Madame Vonsikass,
and the Burgomaster Vanstriekass, and the Commissary Pasouf himself, who
never could recall afterwards who had been his partner on

(01:24:20):
that terrible evening. But she did not forget, And ever
since that day she has seen in her dreams the
fiery Commissary in folding her in an impassioned embrace, and
she was the amiable Tottenmants. End of chapter eight. Recording
by Alan went around Boomcoach dot blogspot dot com chapters

(01:24:56):
nine through twelve of Doctor Ox's experiment. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain. Recording by Alan Winter out
Doctor Ox's Experiment by Jules Verne, chapter nine, in which
Doctor Ox and Eugene, his assistant, say a few words.

(01:25:19):
Well Eugene, well, Master all is ready. The laying of
the pipes is finished at last. Now then we are
going to operate on a large scale on the masses.
Chapter ten, in which it will be seen that the
epidemic invades the entire town, and what effect it produces.

(01:25:44):
During the following months, the evil, in place of subsiding,
became more extended from private houses. The epidemics spread into
the streets. The town of Quakendone was no longer to
be recognized a phenomenon. Yet ranger than those which had
already happened. Now appeared. Not only the animal kingdom, but

(01:26:06):
the vegetable kingdom itself became subject to the mysterious influence.
According to the ordinary course of things, epidemics are special
in their operation. Those which attack humanity spare the animals,
and those which attacked the animals spare the vegetables. A
horse was never inflicted with smallpox, nor a man with

(01:26:26):
the cattle plague, nor do sheep suffer from the potato rot.
But here all the laws of nature seemed to be overturned.
Not only were the character, temperament, and ideas of the
townsfolk changed, but the domestic animals, dogs and cats, horses
and cows, asses, and goats suffered from this epidemic influence,

(01:26:50):
as if their habitual equilibrium had been changed. The plants
themselves were infected by a similar strange metamorphosis. In the
gardens and vegetable patches and orchards, very curious symptoms manifested themselves.
Climbing plants climbed more audaciously. Tufted plants became more tufted

(01:27:11):
than ever. Shrubs became trees. Cereals scarcely sown, showed their
little green heads, and gained in the same length of
time as much in inches as formerly, under the most
favorable circumstances they had gained in fractions. Asparagus attained the
height of several feet, the artichokes swelled to the size

(01:27:34):
of melons, the melons to the size of pumpkins, the
pumpkins to the size of gorge, the gorge to the
size of the belfry bell, which measured in truth nine
feet in diameter. The cabbages were bushes, and the mushrooms umbrellas.
The fruits did not lag behind the vegetables. It required

(01:27:54):
two persons to eat a strawberry, and four to consume
a pair. The grapes also attained the enormous proportions of
those so well depicted by Poussin in his Return of
the Envoys to the Promised Land. It was the same
with the flowers. Immense violets spread the most penetrating perfumes

(01:28:15):
through the air. Exaggerated roses shone with the brightest colors,
Lilies formed in a few days, Impenetrable copses, geraniums, daisies, camellias,
rhododendrons invaded the garden walks and stifled each other. And
the tulips, those dear lilaceous plants so dear to the

(01:28:36):
Flemish heart, What emotion they must have caused to their
zealous cultivators. The worthy van Bistron nearly fell over backwards
one day on seeing in his garden an enormous Tulipia jasnaria,
a gigantic monster whose cup afforded space to a nest
for a whole family of robins. The entire town flocked

(01:29:00):
to see this floral phenomenon and renamed it the tulipa quicindonia.
But alas, if these plants, these fruits, these flowers grew
visibly to the naked eye, if all the vegetables insisted
on assuming colossal proportions. If the brilliancy of their colors
in perfume intoxicated the smell on the sight, they quickly withered.

(01:29:25):
The air which they absorbed rapidly exhausted them, and they
soon died, faded, and dried up. Such was the fate
of the famous tulip, which, after several days of splendor,
became emaciated and fell lifeless. It was soon the same
with the domestic animals, from the house dog to the
stable pig, from the canary in its cage to the

(01:29:47):
turkey of the back court. It must be said that
in ordinary times these animals were not less phlegmatic than
their masters. The dogs and cats vegetated rather than lived.
They never be trade a wag of pleasure nor a
snarl of wrath. Their tails moved no more than if
they had been made of bronze. Such a thing as

(01:30:08):
a bite or scratch from any of them had not
been known from time immemorial. As for mad dogs, they
were looked upon as imaginary beasts, like the Griffins and
the rest of the menagerie of the apocalypse. But what
a change had taken place in a few months, the
smallest incidents of which we are trying to reproduce, dogs

(01:30:31):
and cats began to show teeth and claws. Several executions
had taken place after reiterated offenses. A horse was seen
for the first time to take his bit in his
teeth and rush through the streets of Qui Condone. An
ox was observed to precipitate itself with lowered horns upon
one of his herd. An ass was seen to turn

(01:30:53):
himself over with his legs in the air, in the
place Saint enoph and Bray as Ass never brayed before.
A sheep, actually a sheep defended valiantly the cutlets within
him from the butcher's knife. Von Trecass, the Burgomaster was
forced to make police regulations concerning the domestic animals as

(01:31:14):
seas with lunacy. They rendered the streets of Quiquendone unsafe,
but alas if the animals were mad, the men were
scarcely less, so no age was spared by the scourge.
Babies soon became quite insupportable, though till now so easy
to bring up, and for the first time on Aire syntax,

(01:31:35):
the judge was obliged to apply the rod to his
youthful offspring. There was a kind of insurrection at the
high school, and the dictionaries became formidable missiles in the classes.
The scholars would not submit to be shut in, and besides,
the infection took the teachers themselves, who overwhelmed the boys

(01:31:55):
and girls with extravagant tasks and punishments. Another strange phenomenon occurred.
All these Prequandonians, so sober before, whose chief food had
been whipped creams, committed wild excesses in their eating and drinking.
Their usual regimen no longer sufficed. Each stomach was transformed

(01:32:16):
into a gulf, and it became necessary to fill this
gulf by the most energetic means. The consumption of the
town was trebled. Instead of two repass they had six.
Many cases of indigestion were reported. The councilor Nicholas could
not satisfy his hunger. Van Trakast found it impossible to

(01:32:36):
assuage his thirst and remained in a state of rabid
semi intoxication. In short, the most alarming symptoms manifested themselves
and increased from day to day. Drunken people staggered in
the streets, and these were often citizens of high position.
Dominique Custos, the physician had plenty to do with the heartburns,

(01:32:59):
inflammations and nervous afflictions, which proved to what a strange
degree the nerves of the people had been irritated. There
were daily quarrels and altercations in the once deserted but
now crowded streets of Quiquendone. For nobody could any longer
stay at home. It was necessary to establish a new
police force to control the disturbers of the public peace.

(01:33:22):
A prison cage was established in the town hall and
speedily became full night and day of refractory offenders. Commissary
Passuf was in despair. A marriage was concluded in less
than two months. Such a thing had never been seen before. Yes,
the son of Rupp, the schoolmaster, wedded the daughter of

(01:33:43):
Augustine de Rovere, and that fifty seven days only after
he had petitioned for her hand and heart. Other marriages
were decided upon, which in old times would have remained
in doubt and discussion for years. The burgomaster perceived that
his own daughter, the charming Susal, was escaping from his hands.

(01:34:04):
As for dear Tautemants, she had dared to sound Commissary Passouf,
on the subject of a union which seemed to her
to combine every element of happiness, fortune, honor, youth at
last to reach the depths of abomination. A duel took place, yes,
a duel with pistols, horse pistols at seventy five paces,

(01:34:27):
with ball cartridges, and between whom our readers will never believe,
between Monsieur Franz Nicholas, the gentle angler, and between Simon Colaire,
the wealthy banker's son. And the cause of the duel
was the burgomaster's daughter, for whom Simon discovered himself to
be fired with passion, and whom he refused to yield

(01:34:49):
to the claims of an audacious rival. Chapter eleven, in
which the Quackandonians adopt a heroic resolution. We have seen
to what a deplorable condition the people of Quakin doone
were reduced, Their heads were in a ferment. They no
longer knew or recognized themselves. The most peaceable citizens had

(01:35:11):
become Quarrelsome if you looked at them askance, they would
speedily send you a challenge. Some let their mustaches grow,
and several the most belligerent, curled them up at the ends.
This being their condition, the administration of the town and
the maintenance of order in the streets became difficult tasks,
for the government had not been organized for such a

(01:35:33):
state of things. The Burgomaster, that worthy van Tricass, whom
we have seen so placid, so dull, so incapable of
coming to any decision. The Burgomaster became intractable. His house
resounded with the sharpness of his voice. He made twenty
decisions a day, scolding his officials and himself enforcing the

(01:35:55):
regulations of his administration. Ah, what a change the amiable
and tranquil mansion of the Burgomaster, that good Flemish home.
Where was its former calm? What changes had taken place
in your household economy? Madame Vontrkass had become acrid, whimsical, harsh.
Her husband sometimes succeeded in drowning her voice by talking

(01:36:19):
louder than she, but could not silence her. The petulant
humor of this worthy dame was excited by everything. Nothing
went right. The servants offended her every moment, tatramants. Her
sister in law, who was not less irritable, replied sharply
to her, Monsieur Vontrkass naturally supported Lotchki his servant, as

(01:36:42):
is the case in all good households, And this permanently
exasperated Madame, who constantly disputed, discussed, and made scenes with
her husband. What on earth is the matter with us,
cried the unhappy burgomaster. What is this fire that is
devouring us? Are we goossessed with the devil ah, Madame Vontrecass,

(01:37:03):
Madame vontrecast, you will end by making me die before you,
and thus violate all the traditions of the family. The
reader will not have forgotten the strange custom by which
Monsieur Vontrecass would become a widower and marry again, so
as not to break the chain of dissent. Meanwhile, this

(01:37:24):
disposition of all minds produced other curious effects worthy of note.
This excitement, the cause of which has so far escaped us,
brought about unexpected physiological changes. Talents hitherto unrecognized betrayed themselves.
Aptitudes were suddenly revealed. Artists before commonplace displayed new ability,

(01:37:47):
politicians and authors arose. Orators proved themselves equal to the
most arduous debates, and on every question inflamed audiences which
were quite ready to be inflamed from the session of
the council. This movement spread to the public political meetings,
and the club was formed at Quaquindone, whilst twenty newspapers

(01:38:08):
the Quaquindone Signal, the Quiquandone Impartial, the Quaquindone Radical, and
so on, written in an inflammatory style, raised the most
important questions, But what about you will ask? Apropos of
everything and of nothing, Apropos of the ordinary tower which
was falling and which some wished to pull down, and

(01:38:29):
others to prop up. Apropos of the police regulations issued
by the Council, which some obstinate citizens threatened to resist.
Apropos of the sweeping of the gutters, repairing the sewers,
and so on. Nor did the enraged orators confine themselves
to the internal administration of their town. Carried on by

(01:38:50):
the current, they went further and essayed to plunge their
fellow citizens into the hazards of war. Quaquindone had had
for eight or nine hundred years a cost belli of
the best quality, but she had preciously laid it up
like a relic, and there had seen some probability that
it would become a feat and no longer serviceable. This

(01:39:10):
was what had given rise to the causes belli. It
is not generally known that quiquin Doone, in this cozy
corner of Flanders, lies next to the little town of Viergemen.
The territories of the two communities are contiguous. Well. In
eleven eighty five, some time before Count Baldwin's departure to
the Crusades, a vigam and cow, not a cow belonging

(01:39:34):
to a citizen, but a cow which was common property,
let it be observed, audaciously ventured to pasture on the
territory of Quaquindone. This unfortunate beast had scarcely eaten three mouthsful.
But the offense, the abuse, the crime, whatever you will,
was committed and duly indicted. For the magistrates at that

(01:39:55):
time had already begun to know how to write. We
will take revenge at the proper moment, said simply Natilis
van Tricas, the thirty second predecessor of the burgomaster of
this story. And the Virgamenians will lose nothing by waiting.
The Virgamenians were forewarned. They waited, thinking without doubt that

(01:40:16):
the remembrance of the offense would fade away with a
lapse of time, And really, for several centuries they lived
on good terms with their neighbors of Quiquendone, but they
counted without their hosts, or rather without this strange epidemic,
which radically changing the character of the Quiquandonians, aroused their
dormant vengeance. It was at the club of the Rue

(01:40:38):
Monstralais that the truculent orator shoot, abruptly, introducing the subject
to his hearers, inflamed them with the expressions and metaphors
used on such occasions. He recalled the offense, the injury
which had been done to Quiquindone, and which a nation
jealous of its rights could not admit as a precedent.

(01:40:59):
He showed the rest to be still existing, the wounds
still bleeding. He spoke of certain special headshakings on the
part of the people of Ergemen, which indicated in what
degree of contempt they regarded the people of Quiquindone. He
appealed to his fellow citizens, who unconsciously perhaps had supported

(01:41:19):
this mortal insult for long centuries. He adjured the children
of the ancient town to have no other purpose than
to obtain a substantial reparation. And lastly, he made an
appeal to all the living energies of the nation. With
what enthusiasm these words, so new to Quiquandonian ears were greeted,

(01:41:40):
may be surmised, but cannot be told. All the auditors rose,
and with extended arms, demanded war with loud cries. Never
had the advocate shoot achieved such a success, and it
must be avowed that his triumphs were not few. The Burgomaster,
the councilor all the notabilities present at this memorable meeting

(01:42:02):
would have vainly attempted to resist a popular outbursts. Besides,
they had no desire to do so, and cried as loud,
if not louder than the rest to the frontier. To
the frontier, as the frontier was but three kilometers from
the walls of Quiquindone, it is certain that the Bergamenians
ran a real danger, for they might easily be invaded

(01:42:25):
without having had time to look about them. Meanwhile, joss Leefrinck,
the worthy chemist, who alone had preserved his senses on
this grave occasion, tried to make his fellow citizens comprehend
that guns, cannons and generals were equally wanting to their design.
They replied to him, not without many impatient gestures, that

(01:42:47):
these generals cannons and guns would be improvised, that the
rights and love of country sufficed and rendered a people irresistible.
Hereupon the Bergamaster himself came forward, and a sublime harangue
made short work of those few sillanimous people who disguised
their fear under a veil of prudence, which veil he

(01:43:08):
tore off with a patriotic hand. At this sally, it
seemed as if the hall would fall in under the applause.
The vote was eagerly demanded and was taken amid acclamations,
the cries of to Virgamen, to Vergamen redoubled. The Burgomaster
then took it upon himself to put the armies in motion,

(01:43:29):
and in the name of the town he promised the
honors of a triumph such as was given in the
times of the Romans, to that one of its generals
who should return victorious. Meanwhile, joss Leefrinck, who was an
obstinate fellow and did not regard himself as beaten, though
he really had been insisted on making another observation. He

(01:43:50):
wished to remark that the triumph was only accorded at
Rome to those victorious generals who had killed five thousand
of the enemy. Well Well, cried the meeting deliriously. And
as the population of the town of Bergemann consists of
but three thousand, five hundred and seventy five inhabitants, it
would be difficult unless the same person was killed several times.

(01:44:14):
But they did not let the luckless logician finish, and
he was turned out, hustled and bruised. Citizens said Polmacher,
the grocer, who usually sold groceries by retail. Whoever this
cowardly apothecary may have been, I engaged by myself to
kill five thousand Vergaminians. If you will accept my services,

(01:44:36):
five thousand, five hundred, cried a yet more resolute patriot.
Six thousand, six hundred retorted the grocer. Seven thousand, cried
Jean Arbadeck, the confectioner of the rue Hemling, who was
on the road to a fortune by making whipped creams adjudged,
exclaimed the burgomaster of Entrecas, on finding that no one

(01:44:57):
else rose on the bid. And this was how Jean Orbideck,
the confectioner, became General in chief of the forces of
Quiquin doone Chapter twelve, in which Eugene, the assistant, gives
a reasonable piece of advice, which is eagerly rejected by
doctor Ox. Well Master, said Eugene. Next day, as he

(01:45:18):
poured the pails of sulfuric acid into the troughs of
the great battery. Well resumed Doctor Ox. Was I not
right see to what not only the physical developments of
a whole nation, but its morality, its dignity, its talent,
its political sense have come. It is only a question
of molecules, no doubt. But but do you not think

(01:45:43):
that matters have gone far enough, and that these poor
devils should not be excited beyond measure? No, No, cried
the doctor. No. I will go on to the end
as you will. Master. The experiment, however, seems to me conclusive,
and I think it time to two to close the valve.

(01:46:03):
You'd better, cried Doctor Ox. If you attempt it, I'll
throttle you. End of chapter twelve. Recording by Alan Winterroud
boom coach dot blogspot dot com. Chapters thirteen through seventeen

(01:46:26):
of Doctor Ox's experiment. This LibriVox recording is in the
public domain. Recording by Alan Winterroud Doctor Ox's Experiment by
Jules Verne, chapter thirteen, in which it is once more
proved that by taking high ground, all human littlenesses may

(01:46:47):
be overlooked. You say, asked the Burgomaster Entrecass of the
Councilor Nicholas, I say that this war is necessary, replied
Nicholas firmly, and that the time has come to avenge
this insult. Well, I repeat to you, replied the Burgomaster tartly,

(01:47:08):
that if the people of Quackandone do not profit by
this occasion to vindicate their rights, they will be unworthy
of their name. And as for me, I maintain that
we ought without delay to collect our forces and lead
them to the front. Really, monsieur really, replied Van Trecass.
And do you speak thus to me to yourself, Monsieur

(01:47:32):
the Burgomaster, and you shall hear the truth, unwelcome as
it may be, and you shall hear it yourself, Counselor,
returned Van Tricass, in a passion, for it will come
better from my mouth than from yours. Yes, monsieur, yes,
any delay would be dishonorable. The town of quakandone has
waited nine hundred years for the moment to take its revenge.

(01:47:55):
And whatever you may say, whether it pleases you or not,
we shall march upon the enemy. Ah you take it,
thus replied Nicholas, harshly, very well, monsieur, we will march
without you, if it does not please you to go.
A burgomaster's place is in the front, rank monsieur, and

(01:48:15):
that of a councilor also, monsieur. You insult me by
thwarting all my wishes, cried the burgomaster, whose fists seem
likely to hit out before long. And you insult me
equally by doubting my patriotism, cried Nicholas, who was equally
ready for a tussle. I tell you, monsieur, that the

(01:48:36):
army of Quaquin done, shall be put in motion within
two days. And I repeat to you, monsieur, that forty
eight hours shall not pass before we shall have marched
upon the enemy. It is easy to see from this
fragment of conversation. Had the two speakers supported exactly the
same idea, both wished for hostilities, but as their excitement

(01:48:59):
disposed them to altercation, Nicholas would not listen to Van Trecass,
nor Van Trecass to Nicholas. Had they been of contrary
opinions on this grave question, had the Burgomaster favored war
and the counselor insisted on peace, the quarrel would not
have been more violent. These two old friends gazed fiercely

(01:49:19):
at each other. By the quickened beating of their hearts,
their red faces, their contracted pupils, the trembling of their muscles,
their harsh voices, it might be conjectured that they were
ready to come to blows, but the striking of a
large clock happily checked the adversaries at the moment when
they seemed on the point of assaulting each other. At last,

(01:49:42):
the hour has come, cried the Burgomaster. What hour asked
the councilor the hour to go to the belfry tower.
It is true, and whether it pleases you or not,
I shall go, monsieur, and I too, Let us go,
Let us go. It might have been supposed from these
last words that a collision had occurred, and that the

(01:50:05):
adversaries were proceeding to a duel, but it was not so.
It had been agreed that the Burgomaster and the Councilor,
as the two principal dignitaries of the town, should repair
to the town hall, and there show themselves on the
high tower, which overlooked quakendone that they should examine the
surrounding country so as to make the best strategic plan

(01:50:26):
for the advance of their troops. Though they were in
accord on this subject, they did not cease to quarrel bitterly.
As they went. Their loud voices were heard resounding in
the streets, but all the passers by were now accustomed
to this. The exasperation of the dignitaries seemed quite natural,
and no one took notice of it. Under the circumstances,

(01:50:48):
a calm man would have been regarded as a monster.
The Burgomaster and the Councilor, having reached the porch of
the belfry, were in a paroxysm of fury. They were
no longer read. But this terrible discussion, though they had
the same idea, had produced internal spasms. And everyone knows
that paleness shows that anger has reached its last limits.

(01:51:12):
At the foot of the narrow tower staircase, there was
a real explosion. Who should go up first, Who should
first creep up the winding steps. Truth compels us to
say that there was a tussle, and that the councilor Nicholas,
forgetful of all that he owed to his superior to
the supreme magistrate of the town, pushed Van Trekaz violently

(01:51:34):
back and dashed up the staircase first. Both ascended, denouncing
and raging at each other at every step. It was
to be feared that a terrible climax would occur on
the summit of the tower, which rose three hundred and
fifty seven feet above the pavement. The two enemies soon
got out of breath, however, and in a little while

(01:51:55):
at the eightieth step, they began to move up heavily,
breathing loud and showing. Then was it because of their
being out of breath their wrath subsided, or at least
only betrayed itself by a succession of unseemly epithets. They
became silent and strange to say, it seemed as if
their excitement diminished. As they ascended higher above the town.

(01:52:19):
A sort of lull took place in their minds. Their
brains became cooler and simmered down like a coffee pot.
When taken away from the fire. Why we cannot answer
this why But the truth is that, having reached a
certain landing stage two hundred and sixty six feet above ground,
the two adversaries sat down, and really more calm looked

(01:52:42):
at each other without any anger in their faces. How
high it is, said the Burgomaster, passing his handkerchief over
his rubicant face. Very high, returned the Councilor do you
know that we have gone fourteen feet higher than the
Church of Saint Michael at Hamburg. I know it, replied

(01:53:02):
the Burgomaster, in a tone of vanity. Very pardonable in
the chief magistrate of Quakmandone. The two notabilities soon resumed
their ascent, casting curious glances through the loopholes pierced in
the tower walls. The Burgomaster had taken the head of
the procession without any remark on the part of the
Councilor it even happened that at about three hundred and

(01:53:24):
fourth step van Trekas, being completely tired out, Nicholas kindly
pushed him from behind. The Burgomaster offered no resistance to this,
and when he reached the platform of the tower, said graciously,
thanks Nicholas I will do the same for you one day.
A little while before, it had been two wild beasts

(01:53:45):
ready to tear each other to pieces, who had presented
themselves at the foot of the tower. It was now
two friends who reached its summit. The weather was superb.
It was the month of May. The sun had absorbed
all the vapors. What a pure and limpid atmosphere. The
most minute objects over a broad space might be discerned.

(01:54:06):
The walls of Bergamen, glistening in their whiteness, its red
pointed roofs, its belfry shining in the sunlight, appeared a
few miles off. And this was the town that was
foredoomed to all the horrors of fire and pillage. The
Burgomaster and the Councilor sat down beside each other on
a small stone bench, like two worthy people whose souls

(01:54:29):
were in close sympathy. As they recovered breath, they looked around. Then,
after a brief silence, How fine this is, cried the burgomaster.
Yes it is admirable, replied the Councilor. Does it not
seem to you, my good van tricas, that humanity is
destined to dwell rather at such heights than to crawl

(01:54:50):
about on the surface of our globe. I agree with you, honest,
Nicholas returned the Burgomaster. I agree with you. You see
sentiment better when you get clear nature, you breathe it.
In every sense. It is at such heights that philosophers
should be formed, and that sages should live above the
miseries of this world. Shall we go around the platform,

(01:55:13):
asked the Councilor let us go around the platform, replied
the Burgomaster, and the two friends, arm in arm and putting,
as formerly long pauses between their questions and answers, examined
every point of the horizon. It is at least seventeen
years since I have ascended the belfry tower, said Van Trkas.

(01:55:34):
I do not think I ever came up before, replied Nicholas,
and I regret it, for the view from this height
is sublime. Do you see, my friend, the pretty stream
of the var as it winds among the trees and
beyond the heights of Saint Hermadad. How gracefully they shut
in the horizon, observe that border of green trees which

(01:55:56):
nature has so picturesquely arranged. Aha, Nature, Nature, Nicholas could
the hand of man ever hope to rival her. It
is enchanting, my excellent friend, replied the Councilor. See the
flocks and hers lying in the verdant pastures, the oxen,
the cows, the sheep, and the laborers going to the fields.

(01:56:19):
You would say they were Arcadian shepherds. They only want
a bagpipe. And over all this fertile country, the beautiful
blue sky, which no vapor dims, Ah, Nicholas, one might
become a poet here. I do not understand why Saint
Simeon's stylites was not one of the greatest poets of
the world. It was because perhaps his column was not

(01:56:44):
high enough, replied the Councilor, with a gentle smile. At
this moment, the chimes of Quequindone rang out, their clear
bells played one of their most melodious airs. The two
friends listened in ecstasy, and then, in his calm voice,
Von Trecass said, but what, friend, Nicholas, did we come

(01:57:05):
to the top of this tower to do? In fact,
replied the Councilor, we have permitted ourselves to be carried
away by our reveries. What did we come here to do?
Repeated the Burgamaster, we came, said Nicholas, to breathe this
pure air, which human weaknesses have not corrupted. Well, shall

(01:57:26):
we descend, friend Nicholas, Let us descend, friend Vontrecas. They
gave a parting glance at the splendid panorama which was
spread before their eyes. Then the Burgamaster passed down first
and began to descend with a slow and measured pace.
The Councilor followed a few steps behind. They reached the

(01:57:46):
landing stage at which they had stopped on ascending. Already
their cheeks began to redden They tarried a moment, then
resumed their descent. In a few moments, Von Trecas begged
Nicholas to go more slowly, as he felt him on
his heels, and it worried him. It even did more
than worry him. For twenty steps lower down, he ordered

(01:58:08):
the Councilor to stop, that he might get on some
distance ahead. The council replied that he did not wish
to remain with his leg in the air to await
the good pleasure of the Burgomaster, and kept on. Van
Trecass retorted with a rude expression. The Councilor responded by
an insulting allusion to the Burgomaster's age, destined as he

(01:58:29):
was by his family traditions to marry a second time.
The Burgomaster went down twenty steps more and warned Nicholas
that this should not pass. Thus, Nicholas replied that at
all events he would pass down first, And the space,
being very narrow, the two dignitaries came into collision and
found themselves in utter darkness. The words blockhead and booby

(01:58:52):
were the mildest which they now applied to each other.
We shall see, stupid beast, cried the Burgomaster. We shall
see what figure you will make in this war, and
in what rank you will march, in the rank that
precedes yours, You silly, old fool, replied Nicholas. Then there
were other cries, and it seemed as if bodies were

(01:59:12):
rolling over each other. What was going on? Why were
these dispositions so quickly changed? Why were the gentle sheep
of the tower's summit metamorphosed into tigers two hundred feet
below it? However, this might be the guardian of the tower,
hearing the noise, opened the door just at the moment
when the two adversaries bruised and with protruding eyes, were

(01:59:35):
in the act of tearing each other's hair. Fortunately they
wore wigs. You shall give me satisfaction for this, cried
the burgomaster, shaking his fist under his adversary's nose. Whenever
you please, growled the councilor Nicholas, attempting to respond with
a vigorous kick the guardian, who was himself in a passion.

(01:59:57):
I cannot say why, thought the scene of very natural one.
I know not what excitement urged him to take part
in it, but he controlled himself and went off to
announce throughout the neighborhood that a hostile meeting was about
to take place between the Burgomaster of Antricas and the
councilor Nicholas. Chapter fourteen, in which matters go so far

(02:00:20):
that the inhabitants of quiquindone, the reader, and even the
author demands an immediate denoument. The last incident proved to
what a pitch of excitement the Quiquandonians had been wrought,
the two oldest friends in the town and the most
gentle before the advent of the epidemic to reach this
degree of violence, and that too, only a few minutes

(02:00:43):
after their old mutual sympathy, their amiable instincts, their contemplative
habit had been restored at the summit of the tower.
On learning what was going on, Doctor Ox could not
contain his joy. He resisted the arguments which Eugene, who
saw what a Serrian his turn affairs were taking, addressed
to him. Besides, both of them were infected by the

(02:01:05):
general fury. They were not less excited than the rest
of the population, and they ended by quarreling as violently
as the burgomaster and the councilor. Besides, one question eclipsed
all others, and the intended duels were postponed to the
issue of the Virgamenian difficulty. No man had the right
to shed his blood uselessly when it belonged to the

(02:01:27):
last drop to his country in danger. The affair was,
in short a grave one, and there was no withdrawing
from it. The Burgomaster of Antricas, despite the warlike ardor
with which he was filled, had not thought it best
to throw himself upon the enemy without warning him. He had, therefore,
through the medium of the rural policeman Hattering, sent to

(02:01:49):
demand reparation of the Vergamenians for the offense committed in
eleven ninety five on the Quiquandonian territory. The authorities of
Ergamen could not first imagine of what the envoy spoke,
and the latter, despite his official character, was conducted back
to the frontier. Very cavalierly van Trekas then sent one

(02:02:11):
of the aids de camp of the Confectioner General, citizen
Hildevert Schumann, a manufacturer of barley sugar, a very firm
and energetic man, who carried to the authorities of Bergemann
the original minute of the indictment drawn up in eleven
ninety five by order of the Burgomaster Nautilis van Trikas.

(02:02:31):
The authorities of Bergemann burst out laughing and served the
aide de camp in the same manner as the rural policeman.
The Burgamaster then assembled the dignitaries of the town. A
letter remarkably and vigorously drawn up, was written as an ultimatum.
The cause of the quarrel was plainly stated, and the
delay of twenty four hours was accorded to the guilty

(02:02:53):
city in which to repair the outrage done to Quikin doone.
The letter was sent off and returned to few hours afterwards,
torn to bits, which made so many fresh insults. The
Vergaminians knew of old the forbearance and equanimity of the Quiquandonians,
and made sport of them and their demand of their
causes Bellai and their ultimatum. There was only one thing

(02:03:16):
left to do, to have recourse to arms, to invoke
the God of battles, and, after the Prussian fashion, to
hurl themselves upon the Vergaminians before the latter could be prepared.
This decision was made by the Council in solemn conclave
in which cries, objurations and menacing gestures were mingled with
unexampled violence. An assembly of idiots, a congress of madmen,

(02:03:40):
a club of maniacs would not have been more tumultuous.
As soon as the declaration of war was known, General
Jean Orbideck assembled as troops and perhaps two thousand, three
hundred and ninety three combatants from a population of two thousand,
three hundred and ninety three souls. The women, the children,
the old, old men were joined with the able bodied males.

(02:04:02):
The guns of the town had been put under requisition.
Five had been found, two of which were without cocks,
and these had been distributed to the advance guard. The
artillery was composed of the old culverin of the chateau,
taken in thirteen thirty nine at the attack on Quesnoy,
one of the first occasions of the use of cannon
in history, and which had not been fired off for

(02:04:24):
five centuries. Happily, for those who were appointed to take
it in charge, there were no projectiles with which to
load it. But such as it was, this engine might
well impose on the enemy. As for side arms, they
had been taken from the Museum of Antiquities, flint hatchets, helmets,
Frankish battle axes, javelins, halberds, rape years and so on,

(02:04:47):
and also in those domestic arsenals commonly known as cupboards
and kitchens. But courage, the right hatred of the foreigner,
the yearning for vengeance were to take the place of
more perfect engines, and to replace, at least, it was
hoped so, the modern matliuses and breech loaders. The troops
were passed in review, not as citizen failed at the

(02:05:09):
roll call. General Orbadec, whose seat on horseback was far
from firm, and whose steed was a vicious beast was
thrown three times in front of the army, but he
got up again without injury, and this was regarded as
a favorable omen. The burgomaster, or the councilor the civil commissary,
the chief justice, the school teacher, the banker, the rector,

(02:05:31):
in short, all the notabilities of the town marched at
the head. There were no tears shed either by mothers,
sisters or daughters. They urged on their husbands, fathers, brothers
to the combat, and even followed them and formed the
rear guard under the orders of the courageous Madame Vantricas
the crier Jean Mistral blew his trumpet, the army moved

(02:05:54):
off and directed itself with ferocious cries towards the Udnard Gate.
At the moment, but when the head of the column
was about to pass the walls of the town, a
man threw himself before it. Stop stop fools that you are,
he cried, Suspend your blows, let me shut the valve.
You are not changed in nature. You are good citizens,

(02:06:16):
quiet and peaceable. If you are so excited, it is
my master, doctor Ox's fault. It is an experiment under
the pretext of lighting your streets with oxyhydrate gas he
has saturated. The assistant was beside himself, but he could
not finish. At the instant that the doctor's secret was
about to escape his lips, Doctor Ox himself pounced upon

(02:06:38):
the unhappy Eugene in an indescribable rage, and shut his
mouth by blows with his fist. It was a battle.
The burgomaster, the counselor of the dignitaries, who had stopped
short on Eugene's sudden appearance, carried away in turn by
their exasperation, rushed upon the two strangers, without waiting to
hear either the one or the other. Doctor Ox and

(02:07:01):
his assistant, beaten and lashed, were about to be dragged
by order of entracost to the roundhouse. When chapter fifteen,
in which the dan Neument takes place, when a formidable
explosion resounded, all the atmosphere which enveloved Quaquandones seemed on fire.
A flame of an intensity and vividness quite unwonted, shot

(02:07:24):
up into the heavens like a meteor had at bednight.
This flame would have been visible for ten leagues around.
The whole army of Quaquandonne fell to the earth like
an army of monks. Happily, there were no victims. A
few scratches and slight hurts were the only result. The confectioner, who,
as chance would have it, had not fallen from his

(02:07:45):
horse this time, had his plume singed and escaped without
any further injury. What had happened something very simple, As
was soon learned, the gas works had just blown up
during the absence of the doctor and his assistant. Some
careless mistake had, no doubt, been made. It is not
known how or why a communication had been established between

(02:08:09):
the reservoir which contained the oxygen and that which enclosed
the hydrogen. An explosive mixture had resulted from the union
of these two gases, to which fire had accidentally been applied.
This changed everything. But when the army got upon its
feet again, doctor Ox and his assistant Eugene had disappeared.

(02:08:30):
Chapter sixteen, in which the intelligent reader sees that he
has guessed correctly despite all the author's precautions. After the explosion,
Quiquindone immediately became the peaceable, phlegmatic and Flemish town it
formerly was. After the explosion, which indeed did not cause
a very lively sensation, each one without knowing why, mechanically

(02:08:55):
took his way home. The Burgomaster, leaning on the councillor's arms,
the ad pic should going arm in arm with Custos
to doctor Franz, and Nicholas walking with equal familiarity with
Simon Collart, each going tranquility, noiselessly, without even being conscious
of what had happened, and having already forgotten Bergemann and

(02:09:16):
their revenge, the general returned to his confections and his
aid de camp to the barley sugar. Thus everything had
become calm again. The old existence had been resumed by
men and beasts, beasts and plants, even by the tower
of Udenard Gate which the explosion. These explosions are sometimes astonishing,

(02:09:36):
had set upright again, and from that time never a
word was spoken more loudly than another, never a discussion
took place in the town of Queaquindone. There were no
more politics, no more clubs, no more trials, no more policemen.
The post of the Commissary Passouf became once again a
sinis here, and if his salary was not reduced, it

(02:10:00):
it was because the Burgomaster and the Counselor could not
make up their minds to decide upon it from time
to time. Indeed, Passu flitted without anyone suspecting it through
the dreams of the inconsolable Tatanemants. As for Franz's arrival,
he generously abandoned the charming susal to her lover, who

(02:10:20):
hastened to wedder five or six years after these events.
And as for Madame Vontreicass, she died ten years later
at the proper time, and the Burgomaster married Mademoiselle Pelagie Vonchreicas,
his cousin, under excellent conditions for the happy mortal who
should succeed him. Chapter seventeen, in which doctor Ox's theory

(02:10:43):
is explained. What then had this mysterious doctor Ox done?
Tried a fantastic experiment, nothing more. After having laid down
his gas pipes, he had saturated first to public buildings
than the private dwellings, finally the streets of quiquindone with
pure oxygen, without letting in the least atom of hydrogen.

(02:11:07):
This gas, tasteless and odorless, spread in generous quantity throughout
the atmosphere, causes when it is breathed, serious agitation to
the human organism. One who lives in an air saturated
with oxygen, grows excited, frantic burns, you scarcely return to
the ordinary atmosphere before you return to your usual state.

(02:11:31):
For example, the councilor and the burgomaster at the top
of the belfry were themselves again, as the oxygen is
kept by its weight in the lower strata of the air.
But one who lives under such conditions breathing this gas,
which transforms the body physiologically as well as the soul,
dies speedily like a madman. It was fortunate, then for

(02:11:53):
the Quiqandonians that, at a providential explosion put an end
to this dangerous experiment and abolished doctor Ox's gas work.
To conclude, our virtue, courage, talent, wit, imagination. Are all
these qualities or faculties only a question of oxygen? Such
is doctor Ox's theory. But we are not bound to

(02:12:15):
accept it, and for ourselves we utterly reject it, in
spite of the curious experiment of which the worthy old
town of Quiquindone was the theater. End of chapter seventeen
recording by Alan went Around Boomcoach dot blogspot dot com.
End of Doctor Ox's experiment by Jules vern