Journey To The Center of The Earth: by Jules Vern
Journey To The Center of The Earth: by Jules Vern
By Jules Vern
Retold be Elizabet Gray
Chapter 1: A Strange Message
Chapter 2: Grauben
Chapter 3: Iceland
Chapter 4: Inside the Volcano
Chapter 5: Lost in the Tunnels
Chapter 6: An Underground Water-World
Chapter 7: A Terrible Storm
Chapter 8: A Lost World
Chapter 9: The Last Tunnel
Chapter 10: Rack Home
Chapter 2 Grauben
There is a seventeen-year-old girl living in our town. I think she is the most beautiful girl in Germany. She's got long
blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her name is Grauben, and we are in love. We want to get married. That's why I didn't want to
go with my uncle on his mysterious trip. But he couldn't understand that.
"Are you in love with Grauben?"
"Yes."
"And you want to marry her?"
"Yes."
The professor was silent. He was a good man, but he could not understand love because his only interest was science. He
forgot what I said and began to talk about our journey.
"Today is the 26th of May. We have one month to get to Sneffells. We're going to take the train to Denmark, and then we'll
take a boat to Iceland. The whole trip is going to take twelve days, then we have to walk to the volcano."
I could not listen to him anymore. My heart felt heavy. The professor needed an assistant and he did not want anyone else
to know about this secret. But how could I leave my Grauben?
I went for a walk through the beautiful city of Hamburg. I walked along the Elbe river thinking of Grauben. I stopped for a
moment to look at a fishing boat sailing on the calm water. Then I turned and, like magic, she was there. Grauben, my
Grauben, stood twenty feet away, looking at the river.
"Grauben!" She looked like an angel.
We ran into each other's arms and kissed.
"Oh, Axel! I'm so excited!" She sounded very happy, but I couldn't understand why.
"Excited? Why are you excited, my love?"
"I was at your house. I heard about your journey. Isn't it wonderful?"
For a moment, I felt sad. So, Grauben wanted me to go away from her!
"But, Grauben, we want to get married. I don't know when I'm coming back." She looked at me lovingly and held my hand.
"It doesn't matter. I'll still wait for you. Don't you understand? This is the kind of journey all great men must make. When
you come back, you're going to be famous like your uncle. Then, our life will be perfect together."
"Do you really mean that?" She touched my face and smiled.
"Of course I do."
"Oh, Grauben, you are the most wonderful girl in the world!"
Back at my uncle's house, I felt excited. Then, I thought of something. Maybe this adventure was too dangerous. Maybe we
wouldn't come back. I ran into the library where my uncle was. "Uncle, is it possible that we won't come back from this
journey?" His answer didn't make me feel any better.
"There's only one way to find out, Axel ..."
Chapter 3 Iceland
It was very early in the morning when the boat got to Iceland. We could see the round body of the Sneffells Yokul volcano
going up into the sky through the clouds. It had snow near the top, and it looked like an angry monster waiting for someone to
try and climb it.
The boat stopped at Reykjavik. It was a small town with small brick houses. Mr Fridriksson, a professor from the university
there, met us at the boat. He looked very friendly and smiled when he saw us.
"You must be professor Lidenbrock."
"And you must be professor Fridriksson. This is my assistant, Axel." We shook hands.
"You got my letter, then."
"Oh, yes, professor, and everything is ready for you. Please, come with me."
My uncle did not tell anyone the real reason for our journey. He wanted the two of us to be the only ones to travel to the
centre of the earth. But we needed someone to go along with us as we didn't know the area, and the ice and snow around the
volcano was too dangerous. So, Mr Fridriksson found us a guide. His name was Hans and he looked perfect for the job. He
was tall and very strong. He had small blue eyes and long red hair. He almost never smiled or spoke.
Mr Fridriksson introduced us.
"Professor Lidenbrock, this is Hans. Hans, professor Lidenbrock and his assistant, Axel."
Hans moved his head just a little to say hello.
"Hans is a very quiet man, like most Icelanders, but he is the strongest and best climber in Reykjavik." My uncle smiled at
Mr Fridriksson's words.
"He's just perfect, Mr Fridriksson."
Mr Fridriksson let us stay at his house until we were ready to leave. We needed many things for our adventure. We took
four horses to travel to the mountain. The professor and I each rode one, but Hans walked. The other two horses carried our
bags.
We took a lot of things with us: rope for climbing, tools, lights, guns, medicine and enough food for six months. The only
problem was we could only carry enough water for one week. The professor believed there was water under the volcano, but
what if there wasn't?
We left Reykjavik on the 15th of June, early in the morning. We travelled along the sea and it was a wonderful journey. The
land had a dark colour from the explosions of the volcano, and the beautiful blue sea next to it made it look fantastic. The
journey to Sneffels took us six days, and each day we stopped in a different village for the night. The villages were small and
very pretty, built at the foot of the volcano, next to the sea. The villagers were very nice, but, like Hans, they did not talk much.
When we got closer to the top of Sneffels, I thought of something.
"Uncle, what happens if the volcano explodes again?"
"No, that's impossible. This volcano had its last explosion in 1229. I checked the ground. It's impossible."
"But..."
"Axel, I am a scientist. This is a fact. There is nothing more to say."
It was now eleven o'clock at night and we were at the top.We stopped and found a small place inside the opening of the
volcano where we could sleep. That night, I had a dream. I saw that I was alone inside the volcano. I was lost and very scared.
Suddenly, the volcano exploded and I was shot out of its top like a rock!
Chapter 4 Volcano
The mouth of the volcano was one mile wide. We tied a rope around each other and began to climb down. Hans went first.
The inside of the volcano looked like the inside of an ice-cream cone. Its opening became smaller as we went down because of
the rocks left there after explosions.
The bottom of the volcano was 2,000 feet down. When we got there, I looked up and saw the opening at the top. It was a
perfect circle of clear blue sky.
There were three holes in the floor of the volcano. Each of them was about a hundred feet wide. The explosion of rocks and
hot lava once came through these holes and then out through the top. Now, they looked like dark caves. I looked at the holes
and then turned to my uncle.
"Which one do we take?"
"I don't know. Arne Saknussemm said the sun touches one of them at the end of June. Today is June 25th. It is too late to
see the sun today. We must wait until tomorrow."
"What if it's cloudy tomorrow?"
"Then, we will wait again. But we only have five more days. In July, the sun is too low. It cannot reach the bottom of the
volcano."
"Then, we can go home?"
"Axel, don't say such things! Tomorrow will be sunny, and we are going to the centre of the earth."
The next day it was cloudy. The professor could not believe it.
"Four days. We only have four days. Please, please, sun, come out, come out!"
The professor looked up at the sky with his arms open. The only thing he wanted now was to see the sun shine. I thought of
Grauben and the danger waiting for my uncle and myself inside those holes. I hoped for rain.
Hans built a small house from the large rocks he found on the floor of the volcano. He never said much, but he always
thought of something useful to do. I checked the rock of the volcano walls to see how old they were. Drops of water from the
ice and the snow outside ran down the wall, and the sound they made inside was like music. Suddenly, the professor called out
my name.
"Axel! Axel, come here." I ran to him curious to see what was there.
"What is it?"
"Look at this!"
There were two words on the wall of the volcano in the old Icelandic language.
"What does it say?"
"Arne Saknussemm. He was here. We're in the right place."
The next day, the sun came out, and at 1:13 in the afternoon, it touched the hole in the centre of the floor.
"That's it. That's the hole to the centre of the earth. Let's go."
Hans brought our bags, but there was one problem. We could not carry all of them and climb down the hole at the same
time.
"What must we do now?"
The professor took off his glasses and cleaned them while he tried to think of a solution.
"Well, we'll throw everything we don't need down the hole and we'll find it when we get to the bottom."
Hans threw the bags down the hole in front of us. We listened, but we never heard them hit the bottom.
inside something like a giant cave. The top of it is a few miles high. There are even clouds because of the water."
I looked up and saw the clouds. I could not see the top of this cave, but it was difficult to believe that all of this was under
the earth.
When I felt strong again, I took a walk along the beach. There were shells there from a time before man walked on the
earth. I saw the bones of something which looked like a huge elephant. I thought, 'Can things live under the earth? Are there
any animals alive down here?'
The boat was ready and we were ready to sail. We left the beach and a strong wind pushed us quickly out to sea. After a
few hours on this strange sea, Hans tied the pickaxe to a rope and threw it into the water. The professor wanted to know how
deep the sea was. It never touched the bottom. When Hans pulled it back into the boat, its metal head looked different. There
were large marks on it.
"What's that?"
Hans looked at it closely.
"Teeth."
Teeth? Could something so big live in these waters? The professor looked at his compass.
"We are travelling south. If I am right, we left Iceland when we went under the volcano. We travelled under the Atlantic
Ocean and now we are under Scotland."
"That's fantastic!"
"But we're still not going down. I want to go further down!"
Suddenly, there were huge waves rocking the boat.
"What's happening?"
Hans pointed to something dark about a mile away from us. It came closer and I thought I saw a giant dolphin. I was
wrong. It was an alligator. It came closer and I saw that I was wrong again. It was something with the body of a dolphin and
the head of an alligator. It was over one hundred feet long. Then, I saw a huge snake with a shell on its back like a turtle's.
We took the guns in our hands, but the animals did not care about us. They fought each other. It was a horrible fight.
We heard the snake hissing and the dolphin screaming.
They both dove under the water. Everything was quiet. Then, the snake's head came out of the water. It hissed one more
time before it died in the water. But where was the monster dolphin?
Hans swam out to save our food and equipment. The professor and I tried to understand where we were.
"I think that sea is 800 miles wide."
"That means we went under Europe. The Mediterranean sea is now over our heads!"
"Let's wait for Hans to bring back the compass." When Hans brought back the compass, the professor and I could not
believe what we saw. It said we were north and not south. That meant the wind took us back to the place where we started.
Word List
Chapter 1
blonde
get close to
it's cloudy
closely
get louder
Chapter 9
against
anymore
assistant
believe
bookcase
bookshop
calmly
carefully
centre
cook
cover
crazy
curtain
desk
dictionary
excited
fall
famous
bright
calm
dangerous
feel
find out
fishing boat
forget
get married
great
hold
interest
it doesn't matter
kind
leave
like magic
look like
lovingly
maybe
get to
ground
guide
gun
head
impossible
introduce
job
just a little
last
light
like
look
medicine
meet
monster
next to
nothing more
late
lava
low
mile
reach
run down
shine
solution
take off
the mouth of the
volcano
throw
tie
useful
wall
wide
word
Chapter 5
cloud
come close
compass
deep
difficult
dive
dolphin
even
excitement
explain
fight
get better
giant
hear
heat
hiss
horrible
huge
go on
instead of
island
land
light
line
none
place
power
push away
race car
save
second
shoot up
sink
storm
swim
temperature
bag
below
block
bring
choice
crash into
final
fly
fresh water
gun powder
hide
hold onto
it's getting hot
loud
make
move back
noise
on top of
finish
gold
hard
important
journey
jump
laboratory
moment
my heart felt heavy
mysterious
perfect
possible
sad
sail
opening
quiet
ready
real
reason
ride
rope
clearly
come along
continue
different
enjoy
finally
first
hurt
imagine
luckily
mark
mystery
point to
quickly
the Mediterranean
sea
too
understand
wave
what's happening?
probably
rise
roar
sentence
shake
strength
use
library
message
secret
silent
piece of paper
pocket
poor
prince
professor
scientist
serious
sound
still
think
through
touch
trip
walk
whole
wonderful
Chapter 4
flat
further
get lost
go back
go black
happen
in front of
mistake
move
open area
others
rock
sail across
scream
shell
snake
stand
strange
strong
suddenly
take a walk
terrible
animal skin
beach
beard
come all this way
earthquake
entrance
exciting
for long
human
Icelandic
keep
wish
never mind
personal
round
scared
shake hands
snow
stay
tool
travel
try
until
wait for
shelf
Chapter 3
arm
own
thousands
knife
clap
show
spend
surprise
turn to
almost
along with
angry
area
because of
bottom
call out
cannot
pickaxe
pull
right
shout
turtle
letter
underground life
wind
look for
Chapter 7 lost
heart
incredible
journalist
mount
university
upset
volcano
wear
what do you mean?
worker
wound
at the foot
be lost
be shot out of
brick
carry
check
climber
early
cave
circle
clear
climb down
come through
curious
danger
drop
sound
spring
thirsty
tired
torch
tunnel
turn
unluckily
a few
bring back
close to
come from
could
creature
degree
easily
mammoth
mean
metal
museum
nearby
north
open
plant
nephew
olive tree
past
person
second
set up
somehow
stage
floor
voice
prehistoric
quietly
survive
Chapter 2
adventure
along
enough
explosion
hit
Chapter 6
end
equipment
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
afraid
agree
amazing
another
arrive
be back
celebration
century
cheer
anyone
be in love
begin
better
fact
fantastic
find
friendly
hole
hope for
ice-cream cone
inside
alive
bandage
be wrong
bone
explode
fast running
feel
frightened
side
turn back
waist
world