Around the world in eighty meals

265 Pages·2011·9.72 MB·English

by  Lyons

NAN LYONS
For Ivan, who was with me every mile of the way
—N.L.
The Journey of
PHILEAS FOGG
A SYNOPSIS
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne was first published in French in
1873, and appeared later that year in English.
Mr. Phileas Fogg, “an enigmatic gentleman,” according to his creator,
regularly dines and plays whist at the Reform Club in London.
On October 2, 1872, Phileas and fellow club members talk about a recent
robbery. One member suggests that the world is so large a thief might hide easily
and never come to justice. Fogg objects, claiming that a man could make it
around the world in 80 days exactly. This sparks a debate, settled with a
gentleman’s wager: £20,000 if Phileas Fogg can circumnavigate the globe in 80
days. Putting his entire fortune at risk, Fogg confidently accepts the challenge,
and sets out that instant. To win his bet, Phileas Fogg must be back in the
Reform Club at quarter to nine on the evening of December 21, 1872.
En route, Phileas collects his manservant, Jean Passepartout. The pair
leaves London at 8:45 p.m. on a train heading to Dover. At Dover, they take a
ferry across the English Channel to Calais where they catch a train to Paris then
switch to another train to Italy. Travel proceeds without difficulty to the
steamship Mongolia, routed to pass through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea, then
cross the Indian Ocean to Bombay.
Day 8, the ship briefly stops in Suez and takes on some dangerous
supercargo, one Detective Fix from Scotland Yard. Due to Fogg’s abrupt
departure from London, Fix considers Fogg the prime suspect in the recent bank
robbery. The detective aims to arrest Fogg, and his strategy is to slow down the
ship to give the warrant from London time meet him in India.
The ship docks in Bombay on Day 19. Fogg and his valet board a train
headed to Calcutta. But in central India, the train halts—there are 50 miles of
missing track! Undaunted, Fogg buys two elephants and hires a local guide to
manage the gap.
While on their elephants, Fogg and Passepartout witness a funeral
procession. Their guide explains the beautiful young widow is to be sacrificed
on the pyre of her deceased husband against her will in a local tradition called a
suttee. Fogg decides to rescue Aouda. Under Fogg’s direction, Passepartout
impersonates Aouda’s dead husband and jumps from the lit pyre causing the
mourners to flee in terror. On Day 23, the elephants bearing the men, and now
Aouda, arrive in Allahabad, and board a train, reaching Calcutta the next day.
Fogg’s company barely catches the noon steamer bound for the British
colony of Hong Kong. The Rangoon stops for half a day in Singapore. Here
Phileas and Aouda find a moment to enjoy a carriage ride.
The Rangoon arrives in Hong Kong on Day 36. To slow Fogg, Fix gets
Passepartout (who has the tickets for the next ship) drunk. In a stupor,
Passepartout barely makes the ship, only to discover that he inadvertently has
stranded his master and Aouda in Hong Kong. Passepartout jumps ship at the
next port.
Meanwhile, Fogg finds a pilot boat to take him and his lady to Shanghai to
catch the S.S. General Grant on its way to the U.S. Passepartout catches up, and
the Fogg trio, still followed by Fix, sets out on the three week voyage across the
Pacific, arriving in San Francisco on Day 62.
Pacific, arriving in San Francisco on Day 62.
Fogg and friends, and his follower board a train headed east, but the Sioux
ambush them and capture Passepartout. Fogg leads the U.S. cavalry to save his
man before catching a train to Chicago where they transfer to one bound for
New York.
In New York, they’ve just missed the last ship to Liverpool. Time running
out, they board a steamer going to France. Once afloat, Fogg uses cold cash to
buy the ship from the captain and change course. It’s full steam ahead. Fogg
reckons he’ll be back in London on Day 80.
However, when our traveler disembarks, Fix pounces, arresting him on
British soil. The police hold Phileas Fogg overnight.
In the morning they discover the real robber had entered police custody
three days earlier, and Fogg is set free. Too late—he has lost his wager. Though
it is not all for nothing, he asks lovely Aouda to marry him. She accepts, and
Fogg sends Passepartout to fetch a reverend. En route, Passepartout realizes it is
not December 22, it’s December 21.
Fogg’s calculations failed to account for crossing the International Date
Line. The valet rushes back to his boss with this stunning news. Phileas Fogg
sprints to the Reform Club where the clock reads 8:44 with seconds to spare, and
he is victorious.
—Paul Tunis
Editor
~ CONTENTS ~
Carte of Recipes
Introduction
England
France
Italy
India
Singapore
Taiwan
China
The New World (U.S.)
Phileas Fogg’s Return
Epilogue
Acknowledgements