October 28, 2025 • 14 mins
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twenty Water, Where is it? A bitter disappointment? During
a long, long, weary hour, there crossed my wildly delirious brain.
All sorts of reasons as to what could have aroused
our quiet and faithful guide. The most absurd and ridiculous
(00:23):
ideas passed through my head, each more impossible than the other.
I believe I was either half or wholly mad. Suddenly, however,
there arose, as it were, from the depths of the earth,
a voice of comfort. It was the sound of footsteps.
Hans was returning. Presently, the uncertain light began to shine
(00:47):
upon the walls of the passage, and then it came
in view far down the sloping tunnel. At length Hans
himself appeared. He approached my uncle, placed his hand upon
his shoulder, and gently awakened him. My uncle, as soon
as he saw who it was, instantly arose well, exclaimed
(01:11):
the professor. Vatten said the hunter. I did not know
a single word of the Danish language, and yet by
a sort of mysterious instinct, I understood what the guide
had said. Water Water, I cried in a wild and
(01:31):
frantic tone, clapping my hands and gesticulating like a madman.
Water murmured my uncle, in a voice of deep emotion
and gratitude, clar where neddet below, where below? I understood
(01:52):
every word. I had caught the hunter by the hands,
and I shook them heartily, while he looked on with
perfect calm. The preparations for our departure did not take long,
and we were soon making a rapid descent into the tunnel.
An hour later, we had advanced a thousand yards and
descended two thousand feet. At this moment I heard an
(02:17):
accustomed and well known sound running along the floors of
the granite rock, a kind of dull and sullen roar
like that of a distant waterfall. During the first half
hour of our advance, not finding the discovered spring, my
feelings of intense suffering appeared to return once more. I
(02:40):
began to lose all hope. My uncle, however, observing how
downhearted I was again becoming, took up the conversation. Hans
was right, he exclaimed enthusiastically. That is the dull roaring
of a torrent. A torrent I cried, delighted at even
here the welcome words. There is not the slightest doubt
(03:03):
about it, he replied, a subterranean river is flowing beside us.
I made no reply, but hastened on. Once more, animated
by hope, I began not even to feel the deep
fatigue which hitherto had overpowered me. The very sound of
this glorious murmuring water already refreshed me. We could hear
(03:27):
it increasing in volume every moment. The torrent, which for
a long time could be heard flowing over our heads,
now ran distinctly along the left wall, roaring, rushing, spluttering,
and still falling. Several times I passed my hand across
the rock, hoping to find some trace of humidity of
(03:50):
the slightest percolation, alas in Vain. Again, a half hour
passed in the same weary toil. Again we advanced. It
now became evident that the hunter, during his absence had
not been able to carry his researches any farther. Guided
(04:12):
by an instinct peculiar to the dwellers in mountain regions
and water finders, he smelt the living spring through the rock.
Still he had not seen the precious liquid. He had
neither quenched his own thirst nor brought us one drop
in his gourd. Moreover, we soon made the disastrous discovery that,
(04:36):
if our progress continued, we should soon be moving away
from the Torrent, the sound of which gradually diminished. We
turned back. Hans halted at the precise spot where the
sound of the Torrent appeared nearest I could bear the
suspense and suffering no longer, and I seated myself against
(04:57):
the wall, behind which I could hear hear the water
seething and effervescing, not two feet away, but a solid
wall of granite still separated us from it. Hans looked
keenly at me, and strange enough for once I thought
I saw a smile on his imperturbable face. He rose
(05:20):
from a stone on which he had been seated and
took up the lamp. I could not help rising and following.
He moved slowly along the firm and solid granite wall.
I watched him with mingled curiosity and eagerness. Presently he
halted and placed his ear against the dry stone, moving
(05:43):
slowly along and listening with the most extreme care and attention.
I understood at once that he was searching for the
exact spot where the Torrent's roar was most plainly heard.
This point, he said, found in the lateral wall on
the left side, about three feet above the level of
(06:05):
the tunnel floor. I was in a state of intense excitement.
I scarcely dared believe what the eider duck hunter was
about to do. It was, however, impossible, in a moment
more not to both understand and applaud and even smother
him in my embraces. When I saw him raise the
(06:26):
heavy crowbar and commence an attack upon the rock itself saved,
I cried, yes, cried my uncle, even more excited and
delighted than myself. Hans is quite right, oh, the worthy,
excellent man. We should never have thought of such an idea,
(06:47):
and nobody else, I think, would have done so. Such
a process, simple as it seemed, would most certainly not
have entered our heads. Nothing could be more dangerous than
to begin to work with pickaxes in that particular part
of the globe. Supposing while he was at work, a
(07:08):
break up were to take place, and supposing the torrent,
once having gained an inch, were to take an l
and come pouring bodily through the broken rock. Not one
of these dangers was chimerical. They were only too real,
But at that moment, no fear of falling in of
the roof, or even of inundation, was capable of stopping us.
(07:33):
Our thirst was so intense that to quench it we
would have dug below the bed of the old ocean itself.
Hans went quietly to work, a work which neither my
uncle nor I would have undertaken at any price. Our
impatience was so great that if we had once begun
(07:54):
with pickaxe and crowbar, the rock would have soon split
into a hundred fragments. The guide, on the contrary, calm
ready moderate, wore away at the hard rock by little,
steady blows of his instrument, making no attempt at a
larger hole than about six inches. As I stood, I heard,
(08:19):
or I thought I heard, the roar of the torrent,
momentarily increasing in loudness, and at times I almost felt
the pleasant sensation of water upon my parched lips. At
the end of what appeared an age, Hans had made
a hole which enabled his crowbar to enter two feet
into the solid rock. He had been at work exactly
(08:43):
an hour, it appeared a dozen. I was getting wild
with impatience. My uncle began to think of using more
violent measures. I had the greatest difficulty in checking him.
He had indeed just got hold of his crow when
a loud and welcome hiss was heard. Then a stream,
(09:05):
or rather jet of water burst through the wall and
came out with such force as to hit the opposite side.
Hans the guide, who was half upset by the shock,
was scarcely able to keep down a cry of pain
and grief. I understood his meaning. When plunging my hands
(09:25):
into the sparkling jet, I myself gave a wild and
frantic cry. The water was scalding, hot, boiling, I cried
in bitter disappointment. Well, never mind, said my uncle, It
will soon get cool. The tunnel began to be filled
(09:46):
by clouds of vapor, while a small stream ran away
into the interior of the earth. In a short time
we had some sufficiently cool to drink. We swallowed it
in huge mouthfuls. Oh, what exalted delight, What rich and
incomparable luxury? What was this water? Whence did it come
(10:11):
to us? What was that? The simple fact was it
was water, And though still with a tingle of warmth
about it, it brought back to the heart that life,
which but for it, must surely have faded away. I
drank greedily, almost without tasting it. When, however, I had
(10:35):
almost quenched my ravenous thirst, I made a discovery. Why
it is chalybeate water a most excellent stomachic, replied my uncle,
and highly mineralized. Here is a journey worth twenty to spa.
It's very good, I replied, I should think so. Water
(10:59):
found six miles underground. There is a peculiarly inky flavor
about it, which is by no means disagreeable. Hans may
congratulate himself on having made a rare discovery. What do
you say, nephew, According to the usual custom of travelers
to name the stream after him, good, said I, And
(11:24):
the name of hans Bach, that is Hans Brook, was
at once agreed upon. Hans was not a bit more
proud after hearing our determination than he was before. After
having taken a very small modicum of the welcome refreshment,
he had seated himself in a corner with his usual
(11:47):
imperturbable gravity. Now said I, it is not worth while
letting this water run to waste. What is the use,
replied my uncle. The source from which this river rises
is inexhaustible. Never mind, I continued, let us fill our
(12:08):
goat skin and gourds, and then try to stop the
opening up my advice. After some hesitation was followed, or
attempted to be followed, Hans picked up all the broken
pieces of granite he had knocked out, and, using some
tow he happened to have about him, tried to shut
up the fissure he had made in the wall. All
(12:31):
he did was to scald his hands. The pressure was
too great, and all our attempts were utter failures. It
is evident, I remarked that the upper surface of these
springs is situated at a very great height above as
we may fairly infer from the great pressure of the jet.
(12:52):
That is, by no means doubtful, replied my uncle. If
this column of water is about thirty two thousand feet high,
the atmospheric pressure must be something enormous. But a new
idea has just struck me. And what is that? Why
be it so much trouble to close this aperture? Because
(13:16):
I hesitated and stammered, having no real reason. When our
water bottles are empty, we are not at all sure
that we shall be able to fill them, observed my uncle.
I think that is very probable. Well, then, let this
water run. It will of course naturally follow in our track,
(13:38):
and will serve to guide and refresh us. I think
the idea a good one, I cried in reply. And
with this rivulet as a companion, there is no further
reason why we should not succeed in our marvelous project. Ah,
my boy, said the professor, laughing, After all, you are
(14:00):
coming around more than that. I am now confident of
ultimate success. One moment, nephew mine, let us begin by
taking some hours of repose. I had utterly forgotten that
it was night. The chronometer, however, informed me of the fact.
(14:23):
Soon we were sufficiently restored and refreshed, and had all
fallen into a profound sleep. End of Chapter twenty
Chapter twenty Water, Where is it? A bitter disappointment? During
a long, long, weary hour, there crossed my wildly delirious brain.
All sorts of reasons as to what could have aroused
our quiet and faithful guide. The most absurd and ridiculous
(00:23):
ideas passed through my head, each more impossible than the other.
I believe I was either half or wholly mad. Suddenly, however,
there arose, as it were, from the depths of the earth,
a voice of comfort. It was the sound of footsteps.
Hans was returning. Presently, the uncertain light began to shine
(00:47):
upon the walls of the passage, and then it came
in view far down the sloping tunnel. At length Hans
himself appeared. He approached my uncle, placed his hand upon
his shoulder, and gently awakened him. My uncle, as soon
as he saw who it was, instantly arose well, exclaimed
(01:11):
the professor. Vatten said the hunter. I did not know
a single word of the Danish language, and yet by
a sort of mysterious instinct, I understood what the guide
had said. Water Water, I cried in a wild and
(01:31):
frantic tone, clapping my hands and gesticulating like a madman.
Water murmured my uncle, in a voice of deep emotion
and gratitude, clar where neddet below, where below? I understood
(01:52):
every word. I had caught the hunter by the hands,
and I shook them heartily, while he looked on with
perfect calm. The preparations for our departure did not take long,
and we were soon making a rapid descent into the tunnel.
An hour later, we had advanced a thousand yards and
descended two thousand feet. At this moment I heard an
(02:17):
accustomed and well known sound running along the floors of
the granite rock, a kind of dull and sullen roar
like that of a distant waterfall. During the first half
hour of our advance, not finding the discovered spring, my
feelings of intense suffering appeared to return once more. I
(02:40):
began to lose all hope. My uncle, however, observing how
downhearted I was again becoming, took up the conversation. Hans
was right, he exclaimed enthusiastically. That is the dull roaring
of a torrent. A torrent I cried, delighted at even
here the welcome words. There is not the slightest doubt
(03:03):
about it, he replied, a subterranean river is flowing beside us.
I made no reply, but hastened on. Once more, animated
by hope, I began not even to feel the deep
fatigue which hitherto had overpowered me. The very sound of
this glorious murmuring water already refreshed me. We could hear
(03:27):
it increasing in volume every moment. The torrent, which for
a long time could be heard flowing over our heads,
now ran distinctly along the left wall, roaring, rushing, spluttering,
and still falling. Several times I passed my hand across
the rock, hoping to find some trace of humidity of
(03:50):
the slightest percolation, alas in Vain. Again, a half hour
passed in the same weary toil. Again we advanced. It
now became evident that the hunter, during his absence had
not been able to carry his researches any farther. Guided
(04:12):
by an instinct peculiar to the dwellers in mountain regions
and water finders, he smelt the living spring through the rock.
Still he had not seen the precious liquid. He had
neither quenched his own thirst nor brought us one drop
in his gourd. Moreover, we soon made the disastrous discovery that,
(04:36):
if our progress continued, we should soon be moving away
from the Torrent, the sound of which gradually diminished. We
turned back. Hans halted at the precise spot where the
sound of the Torrent appeared nearest I could bear the
suspense and suffering no longer, and I seated myself against
(04:57):
the wall, behind which I could hear hear the water
seething and effervescing, not two feet away, but a solid
wall of granite still separated us from it. Hans looked
keenly at me, and strange enough for once I thought
I saw a smile on his imperturbable face. He rose
(05:20):
from a stone on which he had been seated and
took up the lamp. I could not help rising and following.
He moved slowly along the firm and solid granite wall.
I watched him with mingled curiosity and eagerness. Presently he
halted and placed his ear against the dry stone, moving
(05:43):
slowly along and listening with the most extreme care and attention.
I understood at once that he was searching for the
exact spot where the Torrent's roar was most plainly heard.
This point, he said, found in the lateral wall on
the left side, about three feet above the level of
(06:05):
the tunnel floor. I was in a state of intense excitement.
I scarcely dared believe what the eider duck hunter was
about to do. It was, however, impossible, in a moment
more not to both understand and applaud and even smother
him in my embraces. When I saw him raise the
(06:26):
heavy crowbar and commence an attack upon the rock itself saved,
I cried, yes, cried my uncle, even more excited and
delighted than myself. Hans is quite right, oh, the worthy,
excellent man. We should never have thought of such an idea,
(06:47):
and nobody else, I think, would have done so. Such
a process, simple as it seemed, would most certainly not
have entered our heads. Nothing could be more dangerous than
to begin to work with pickaxes in that particular part
of the globe. Supposing while he was at work, a
(07:08):
break up were to take place, and supposing the torrent,
once having gained an inch, were to take an l
and come pouring bodily through the broken rock. Not one
of these dangers was chimerical. They were only too real,
But at that moment, no fear of falling in of
the roof, or even of inundation, was capable of stopping us.
(07:33):
Our thirst was so intense that to quench it we
would have dug below the bed of the old ocean itself.
Hans went quietly to work, a work which neither my
uncle nor I would have undertaken at any price. Our
impatience was so great that if we had once begun
(07:54):
with pickaxe and crowbar, the rock would have soon split
into a hundred fragments. The guide, on the contrary, calm
ready moderate, wore away at the hard rock by little,
steady blows of his instrument, making no attempt at a
larger hole than about six inches. As I stood, I heard,
(08:19):
or I thought I heard, the roar of the torrent,
momentarily increasing in loudness, and at times I almost felt
the pleasant sensation of water upon my parched lips. At
the end of what appeared an age, Hans had made
a hole which enabled his crowbar to enter two feet
into the solid rock. He had been at work exactly
(08:43):
an hour, it appeared a dozen. I was getting wild
with impatience. My uncle began to think of using more
violent measures. I had the greatest difficulty in checking him.
He had indeed just got hold of his crow when
a loud and welcome hiss was heard. Then a stream,
(09:05):
or rather jet of water burst through the wall and
came out with such force as to hit the opposite side.
Hans the guide, who was half upset by the shock,
was scarcely able to keep down a cry of pain
and grief. I understood his meaning. When plunging my hands
(09:25):
into the sparkling jet, I myself gave a wild and
frantic cry. The water was scalding, hot, boiling, I cried
in bitter disappointment. Well, never mind, said my uncle, It
will soon get cool. The tunnel began to be filled
(09:46):
by clouds of vapor, while a small stream ran away
into the interior of the earth. In a short time
we had some sufficiently cool to drink. We swallowed it
in huge mouthfuls. Oh, what exalted delight, What rich and
incomparable luxury? What was this water? Whence did it come
(10:11):
to us? What was that? The simple fact was it
was water, And though still with a tingle of warmth
about it, it brought back to the heart that life,
which but for it, must surely have faded away. I
drank greedily, almost without tasting it. When, however, I had
(10:35):
almost quenched my ravenous thirst, I made a discovery. Why
it is chalybeate water a most excellent stomachic, replied my uncle,
and highly mineralized. Here is a journey worth twenty to spa.
It's very good, I replied, I should think so. Water
(10:59):
found six miles underground. There is a peculiarly inky flavor
about it, which is by no means disagreeable. Hans may
congratulate himself on having made a rare discovery. What do
you say, nephew, According to the usual custom of travelers
to name the stream after him, good, said I, And
(11:24):
the name of hans Bach, that is Hans Brook, was
at once agreed upon. Hans was not a bit more
proud after hearing our determination than he was before. After
having taken a very small modicum of the welcome refreshment,
he had seated himself in a corner with his usual
(11:47):
imperturbable gravity. Now said I, it is not worth while
letting this water run to waste. What is the use,
replied my uncle. The source from which this river rises
is inexhaustible. Never mind, I continued, let us fill our
(12:08):
goat skin and gourds, and then try to stop the
opening up my advice. After some hesitation was followed, or
attempted to be followed, Hans picked up all the broken
pieces of granite he had knocked out, and, using some
tow he happened to have about him, tried to shut
up the fissure he had made in the wall. All
(12:31):
he did was to scald his hands. The pressure was
too great, and all our attempts were utter failures. It
is evident, I remarked that the upper surface of these
springs is situated at a very great height above as
we may fairly infer from the great pressure of the jet.
(12:52):
That is, by no means doubtful, replied my uncle. If
this column of water is about thirty two thousand feet high,
the atmospheric pressure must be something enormous. But a new
idea has just struck me. And what is that? Why
be it so much trouble to close this aperture? Because
(13:16):
I hesitated and stammered, having no real reason. When our
water bottles are empty, we are not at all sure
that we shall be able to fill them, observed my uncle.
I think that is very probable. Well, then, let this
water run. It will of course naturally follow in our track,
(13:38):
and will serve to guide and refresh us. I think
the idea a good one, I cried in reply. And
with this rivulet as a companion, there is no further
reason why we should not succeed in our marvelous project. Ah,
my boy, said the professor, laughing, After all, you are
(14:00):
coming around more than that. I am now confident of
ultimate success. One moment, nephew mine, let us begin by
taking some hours of repose. I had utterly forgotten that
it was night. The chronometer, however, informed me of the fact.
(14:23):
Soon we were sufficiently restored and refreshed, and had all
fallen into a profound sleep. End of Chapter twenty
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