Verne once said: "Amiens are rational, stable in character, harmonious in social atmosphere and quite literary." It was before and after he moved to Amiens that he successively completed the most famous marine science fiction trilogy Captain Grant's Children, Two Wan Li under the Sea and Mysterious Island.
The bearded conductor's smile has a fairy-tale kindness. The train passed the rain curtain quietly. Five minutes later, it has left Paris in the industrial age and entered the rolling countryside. 1869, in the spring of the same year, Verne went north with his family and took this railway to the small town of Amiens.
The billboard on Amiens Street rolls in front of my eyes every 30 seconds. In addition to fashion, there are the words "Verne 2005". Verne researchers and his fanatical followers from other French cities, Britain, French-speaking Canada, the United States and other places gathered in the learning center in university of amiens. The sacred feast in my heart is going on in an unexpected way-Verne's researchers filled the gap between long tables, and the French and English with French accent from dozens of mouths turned the restaurant into a lively dining hall. Besides academic forums, university of amiens is also a big show for private collectors. The wine bottles displayed by Mr. Dolariccio, a wine merchant, are all labeled with the covers or illustrations of Verne's novels. This wine should be his special preference before his death, right? The old man winked at me: "Just like Verne and I-nothing!"
Different from the current steaming atmosphere, Verne left the bustling Paris and came to Amiens, choosing a quiet residence not far from the sea. "Amiens are rational, stable in character, harmonious in social atmosphere and quite literary." He once said, "It's not far from Paris, but it's influenced by it, but there is no tormenting noise." It was before and after he moved to Amiens that he completed his most famous marine trilogy, Captain Grant's Children, Two Wan Li under the Sea and Mysterious Island.
"The ocean is everything." Verne once said in the tone of Captain Nemo, "On the ocean, people will never feel lonely, because no matter where they are, they can feel the activities of life. The ocean does not belong to an autocratic monarch, where I am alone and unrestrained. I am completely free there. "
Verne asked the resolute and brave Captain Nemo to sail his Nautilus across the Wan Li, and he bought three ships one after another. "I fell in love with this combination of nails and boards, just like a 20-year-old boy who fell madly in love with his lover." He named them after his son and the sacred Michelle 1, 2, 3. On one occasion, Verne wore fishermen's clothes like this and drove his Saint Michel himself. The crew is two old sailors: Alexander Lelong and Alfredo Bello. They are all experienced deep-sea sailors and can tell many stories about the ocean. Verne once traveled to new york with his younger brother Paul in the East via Cork. The sailor's story and his own sailing experience have accumulated a lot of material for him to write novels about ocean exploration, which has aroused his desire to explore the mysteries of the ocean.
The cover of Captain Grant's children.
1969, after the American Apollo spacecraft landed on the moon successfully, some people compared this scientific exploration with Verne's science fiction "From the Earth to the Moon" written 100 years ago and found amazing similarities.
We visited the Amiens Coast in this spring, and the mild atmosphere is sometimes a little gloomy, just like the lead gray of the waves with the soil. To be sure, the hostility of the sea in northern France, far from disappointing Verne, aroused deep repercussions in his heart, and his fantasy even brought him into contact with the Arctic Ocean and mysterious glaciers. 1875, he wrote to his bookseller hessel. hessel especially liked the sunny and charming scenery along the Mediterranean coast, and said, "I like the softness of the foggy scenery."
In Captain Grant's Children, the "ocean" is the traditional enemy. It kills the children's fathers and puts them in danger when they look for their fathers. On the two Wan Li under the sea, the ocean is the source of energy and freedom, and it is also an extremely generous donor. In The Minister, Verne described the ocean as a cold place, where the survivors killed each other and the same kind repelled each other. Until the book "The Invasion of the Ocean", the sea water flooded into the desert of North Africa, and Verne was still full of cognition and emotion about the love-hate intersection of the ocean.
"I use the sea to generate electricity and provide heat and light for Nautilus, so that it can sail. In short, electricity gives it life. " Captain Nemo explained the power source of the submarine like this. Verne was not a prophet who touched a crystal ball, but a person who deduced the future with formulas. "As soon as I came up, I extracted all the things that I was interested in or might be useful for my book writing ... I read 15 different newspapers from beginning to end every day ... If I find anything useful, I will extract it ... Up to now, at least 20,000 excerpts in my hand have not been used, and writing may come in handy in the future."
With a full understanding of natural elements and following the scientific reality mastered in19th century, Verne's works are full of three-dimensional imagination: the Victoria balloon in Five Weeks in a Balloon soars in the air; The shells in two moon novels flew away; The hero of Journey to the Center of the Earth explores the interior of the earth; In the Adventures of Captain Hatteras, the polar volcano erupted under the impetus of the geocentric fire ... Some scientific predictions were realized in the following year 100: the working principle of modern submarines is almost exactly the same as his description; The cosmic gun that sent man to the moon is the prototype of the launch vehicle; Man-made aircraft is the predecessor of modern spacecraft.
1969, after the American Apollo spacecraft landed on the moon successfully, some people compared this scientific exploration with Verne's science fiction "From the Earth to the Moon" written 100 years ago and found amazing similarities. There are three astronauts in Apollo spacecraft, and Verne's novels are also three people who took shells to heaven; The speed of Apollo spacecraft is 35,533 feet per second, while the speed of the great ship in Verne's novels is 36,000 feet per second. Apollo spacecraft landed on the moon in 103 hours and 30 minutes, while Verne's shell landed on the moon in 97 hours 13 minutes and 20 seconds, only a difference of 6 hours. The protagonist of the novel is launched from Florida in a huge shell, and the space shuttle of NASA is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Researchers believe that this is no coincidence, because it has been verified that the equator is the ideal launch site for aircraft, which enables the aircraft to get rid of gravity at the fastest speed, so Guyana is the launch site chosen by the European Space Agency.
The cover of two Wan Li under the sea.
In Nantes Port, gorgeous cloth from the East, sailors with strange accents and anecdotes about crossing the sea became the main pictures of Verne's childhood. His love for the sea can be traced back to an adventure in his childhood.
"Verne spent his childhood here," said Briggette, a tour guide from Nantes, France, pointing to an ordinary three-story building on the roadside. "At that time, the place where we were standing now was water, a tributary of the Loire River." 1834, 6-year-old Verne was lying in front of the window, watching the ships passing slowly in the river. My hair was blown up by the tram passing slowly behind me-the tram lane has become an extremely convenient and fast clean energy vehicle on the road in this port town.
As a major port in western France, Nantes has become an important maritime hub by virtue of the Sevres, Erdol and Loire rivers. Port trade appeared in the Middle Ages and reached its peak in18th century. Ship owners exchanged Nantes' crude products for slaves in West Africa, and then went to the West Indies to fill their cabins with tropical crops such as sugar, cigars, coffee, cotton and cocoa. In Nantes Port, gorgeous fabrics from the East, mysterious spices, sailors with strange accents, and anecdotes about crossing the ocean became the main pictures of boys' childhood. His love for the sea can be traced back to an adventure in his childhood.
Verne, who was attending elementary school, skipped classes and boarded a three-masted ship alone. At that time, the guard on duty went to a nearby pub for a drink. He circled the boat from top to bottom and turned the rudder. He felt that the ship was about to leave the dock, the cable was about to loosen, and the sail on the mast was about to pull. He, an 8-year-old helmsman, will sail the boat out of the sea! Naturally, he was severely reprimanded for boarding the voyage ship so boldly and venturously, but this time he skipped class and was exaggerated by his family's imagination as running away from home. So in a far-reaching biography, the author mentioned that Verne, aged 1 1, tried to board a cargo ship bound for India in order to get his first love cousin carolina. This sudden adventure failed to come true, and was discovered by anxious parents and severely punished, which led him to "lie in bed and make up his mind to travel only in fantasy" in the future.
"At that time, we only had large commercial sailboats. How many memories they bring me! In my imagination, I climbed up the side brace of the mast, climbed up the mast building and hugged the top of the mast tightly! How I want to walk on the springboard swinging between the dock and the ship's rail! " Verne described Nantes' memory like this in Memories of Childhood. This is a free port open to all outsiders, which cultivated Verne's passion for freedom, music and the ocean.
Bridget walks through the ups and downs of the city, and we still meet the Loire River and its tributaries from time to time, and it seems that we can still smell the smell of seawater dozens of kilometers away. In recent decades, the rise of modern modes of transportation has gradually weakened the status of trading ports. The bleak scene on the muddy green water of the Loire River is in great contrast with the glory of history, and Nantes can no longer be proud of his golden signboard. The floating city dried up because it gradually broke away from the water vein. In the past, an island shipyard was officially closed in the 1990s, and enthusiastic French people kept a crane painted bright yellow as a memory of a lost era.
The urban area is compact and dense, and there are many shops on both sides of the street, ranging from intimate and warm chocolate workshops to international brands that seize the golden position of the Champs Elysé es in Paris. Tourists from far and near who come to attend the Easter feast swim in the cracks of the city like salmon. The next day, it will become an empty city ―― French people who love freedom and leisure will enjoy extremely comfortable time in bed. Tourism has become the second signboard for Nantes to make a living in 2 1 century, and literary masters have naturally become Nantes' proud capital.
Travel around the world in 80 days
Verne's statue can never be separated from the shape of a child who reads with relish. However, there are many unknown aspects in Verne's life, from the first germination of young love to his dependence on morphine due to physical pain before his death.
The iron gate of Verne Archives was opened layer by layer, and the archives preserved various manuscripts of this literary master before his death. The person in charge, Ms. Marcetteau, showed us the fragments of this proud master's life, from the poetic content of young love after its first germination to the heartfelt praise inspired by his dependence on morphine because of physical pain. There are many unknown aspects of Verne's life.
Suffering from bulimia for a long time, Verne's eating habits make ordinary people look amazing. His chair legs were sawed short, making his face as high as the plate. He wolfed down his meal and stunned his family. Even once, the whole roast leg of lamb prepared for guests was eaten up in advance. He refused any food on his plate, which made his Honorine deeply headache, because no matter whether the food was carefully cooked or not, it would be swallowed at the same speed. In addition, he has suffered from facial paralysis since college. In 1855, he described his symptoms like this: "As long as I don't open my mouth, close my eyes, inhale through my nose and frown, others can't see anything."
Verne's statue can never be separated from the shape of a child who reads with relish. 1886 On the poster designed by a publishing house, a group of energetic boys are climbing a big tree, and one of them is holding a book with J.Verne (jules verne) in his hand; Perhaps the books of Strange Travel are so heavy that the little girls outside the fence have to put the bookshelves on their legs. While Verne tried his best to create reading pleasure for the vast number of "children readers", his relationship with his son was quite disharmonious. This is largely due to the mother's pampering and father's connivance. One day he was impatient with his son's crying and went out of the room and asked, "What does he want?" "He wants a chandelier!" "Give it to him and tell him to be quiet!" When Michelle was 16 years old, Verne had to put him on a three-masted ship bound for India as a "father's punishment". 1878, Michelle wrote a sad letter to her father in Kolkata, India: "I don't think going out to sea can make people feel the passion of" endless terror "and" endless worry "about the sea. What I said makes sense! That's what you should say! ..... sailed for 10 months, and never felt the beauty of the sea. I hate quiet time, because the boat is not moving; When it is angry, it scares me; Water, water, water always makes me feel extremely monotonous. "
Perhaps only when Verne saw how the descendants were crazy about him and his works could he slightly alleviate the great pain caused by the contradiction between father and son.
From the riverside cafe in Nantes to the Catholic church in the bustling area, from the island in the middle of the river to the shipyard, Verne's footprints used to be all over here. The regular stone road at the foot has been bearing the silent weight for centuries, and now it is playing the most complicated movement. In this city where Verne once lived for nearly 20 years, many local children inadvertently passed us by. The seaside and sunshine brought them healthy red, and their faces were glowing red. Those ignorant and young people, who knows how they will embark on their own life journey.
Cover of Five Weeks in a Balloon
A big hand threw a dice full of lead, which made Verne meet the most important element in his life in Paris. Dumas made a solid criticism on Verne's immature drama creation. The turning point of fate came from meeting the explorer Jacques arago.
Paris is lying proudly on its back in the land of geomantic omen on the European continent. In my eyes, spring in Paris is not as pleasant as I thought. After a precious sunny day, the thick dark clouds gathered over the city again, just like 158 years ago, it casually greeted the pilgrims who could not resist the temptation. 1847 19-year-old Verne came to Paris from his hometown to study law. However, he had no interest in law, but fell in love with literature and drama. While working in a law firm, he began to try to write plays. Then, a big hand threw a dice full of lead, which made Verne meet the two most important elements in his life in Paris.
Under the Eiffel Tower, there is a small sign "Verne Restaurant". It is said that Verne's restaurant's signature dish "Nantes scrambled eggs" witnessed Verne's acquaintance with Dumas. In France, this version has been used many times: Verne, who was childlike, wanted to leave early at a party, but slipped down the handrail of the stairs and ran into a fat gentleman. After apologizing, he casually asked if the other party had eaten, and Mr. Fat replied that he had just eaten Nantes scrambled eggs. Verne shook his head and said that there were no authentic Nantes scrambled eggs in Paris, because he was from Nantes and happened to be good at it. Hearing this, Mr. Fat invited him to perform. This fat gentleman is Dumas. A close relationship has been established between them, and the master is very interested in this student. He read all the plays Verne gave him and left one of them.
With the kindness of Dumas, The Broken Straw was staged at the Paris Grand Theatre on 1850, which was warmly welcomed. This one-act play depicts a coquettish woman and a jealous husband. The husband refused to give his wife a necklace that she liked. The two agreed to take the popular betting method at that time: "a straw broke." From then on, whoever accepts anything from the other side is considered a loser. The two men tried their best to catch each other off guard. Later, the husband went out and the wife recruited another former suitor. The maid hid him in the closet, and her husband became suspicious, so he asked the maid for the key to the closet. The husband got the key, but lost the bet and had to give the necklace.
Back and forth, Verne created many serious plays like a real writer, including five poetic tragedies Alexander VI, five poetic tragedies The Conspiracy of Gunpowder Merchants, one poetic comedy Da Vinci, and even the opera script One Thousand and One Nights. But none of them brought him the glory and wealth in hope. Since he devoted himself to literary creation, "Lawyer Verne" has disappeared from the law firm in Paris, and he often needs help from his hometown in Nantes. "Broken Straw" performed 12 performances, but Verne only got 15 francs (in the most difficult days in Paris, he needed 150 francs a month).
Dumas made a solid criticism on Verne's immature drama creation. Verne's life has not improved significantly. He must tighten his belt and endure it. When Verne met the explorer Jacques arago, luck came.
Arago is an old explorer. He is eccentric and enthusiastic. His experience of "sailing from northern China to Antarctica and Cape Horn at both ends of the Pacific Ocean" is really attractive to enthusiastic young people. To be sure, Verne won the friendship of such a person and was inevitably influenced by it. At his home in arago, he often met other explorers, geographers and scientists.
Verne was a frequent visitor to the boulevard in Paris, but he was taken away from the boulevard. In the contact with this great traveler, he aroused his childhood fantasy and saw the big ship moored around fedor Island again. Arago's narrative made him interested in geography, but as a Frenchman who was familiar with his own history, Verne really didn't know much about geography. All these distant lands only appeared in his childhood fantasies, like pieces of clouds, wrapped around the bow of a big sailing boat from Nantes to the mysterious other side.
The cover of the mysterious island
In 1863, Verne described the night scene of Paris in the 20th century: "A lighthouse with almost no practical value pierces the night sky, which is the tallest building in the world." Twenty-six years later, the Eiffel Tower was built not far from the location described in the novel!
Geography seems to be the first subject that the young man began to study seriously, and the interrelationship of everything in the world broadened his horizons. During this period, Verne's life quietly took a turning point unconsciously, and this turning point began to lead him to a bigger plan.
The novella The First Fleet of the Mexican Navy is a veritable "trial work". At the beginning of the novel, Verne often uses the later method, which immediately brings the reader into contact with the sea: "In June, 1825, 10, 18, the Spanish multi-deck battleship Asia and the eight-cannon sloop Perseverance were released in Guadao.
In the first few lines of "Floating City", we encountered this method of recalling the smell of the sea again. "1867 March 18, I arrived in Liverpool, and the' Dadong' was about to pull out the anchor and set sail ..." In A 15-year-old captain, he used the same technique, "1February 2, 873, the schooner sailed. The author immediately created a mysterious maritime adventure atmosphere: "Tomorrow, the low tide, with K.Z as the captain and Richard Shangdong as the first mate, will set sail from the New Prince's Wharf and sail for a strange place. "
In The First Fleet of the Mexican Navy, we feel the author's attention to information, the charm of describing volcanic phenomena, storms and blizzards, lively dialogue, clever layout art and simple and clear style for direct contact. However, it was not until several years later that these qualities were affirmed and perceived by discerning publishers. He bought Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon-the story of the fearless explorer Dr. Ferguson flying over Africa in a balloon with the support of the Royal Geographical Society of London-and published a solo book in 1863. This work has been greatly welcomed by adults and children.
The publisher who is 14 years older than Verne is Jules hessel, another Jules. He found Verne to be the right person to realize his plan, and he has been trying to find talents who can combine science and literature. After signing the contract, the young Jules promised to provide three volumes of works to the old Jules every year, and the old Jules obtained the full ownership of these works at the price of 1925 francs per volume. The manuscript fee is not high, but the young Jules only saw one thing, that is, he will earn 500 francs a month, and he will be able to make a living with pens!
Maybe no one knew at the time. In the near future, this young man who yearns for the unknown and freedom will predict in his works that human beings will land on the moon in a hundred years, and nuclear-powered submarines will dominate the seabed and enjoy comfortable travel between cities in France by "bullet train". Today, the TGV high-speed train in France can connect Paris and Nantes, which are nearly 400 kilometers apart, within two hours. Many of Verne's fantastic ideas have become today's reality.
1863, Verne described the night scene of Paris in the 20th century 100 years later: "A lighthouse with almost no practical value pierces the night sky, reaching 5000 elevation (about150m), which is the tallest building in the world." Twenty-six years later, not far from the location described in the novel, the Eiffel Tower, a giant tower of 300 meters (now 3 15 meters high) was built! The book also mentions bicycles, calculators, fax machines, and even the gasoline-powered Internet. This manuscript was discovered and published in 1994, otherwise the famous landmark in Paris might be named after another name.
The night in Paris is gorgeous and open, full of its fascinating memories and dreams. When we arrived at the famous Paris Opera House, it had just been decorated with gold powder, the door was closed, a wonderful drama performance was brewing, and fate was waiting for the young Verne to open the door to the future himself.