Around the World in Eighty Days — Chapter 6 in Spanish
By Jules Verne
He aquí las circunstancias que ocasionaron el envío del despacho concerniente al señor Phileas Fogg. The circumstances under which this telegraphic despatch about Phileas Fogg was sent were as follows:—
El miércoles 9 de octubre se aguardaba, para las once de la mañana, en Suez, el paquebote "Mongolia" de la Compañía Peninsular y Oriental, vapor de hierro, de hélice y entrepuente, que desplazaba dos mil ochocientas toneladas y poseía una fuerza nominal de quinientos caballos. The steamer "Mongolia," belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, built of iron, of two thousand eight hundred tons burden, and five hundred horse-power, was due at eleven o'clock a.m. on Wednesday, the 9th of October, at Suez. El "Mongolia" hacía sus viajes con regularidad desde Brindisi a Bombay por el canal de Suez. The "Mongolia" plied regularly between Brindisi and Bombay viâ the Suez Canal, and was one of the fastest steamers belonging to the company, always making more than ten knots an hour between Brindisi and Suez, and nine and a half between Suez and Bombay.
Aguardando la llegada del "Mongolia", dos hombres se paseaban en el muelle en medio de la multitud de indígenas y de extranjeros que afluyen a aquella ciudad, antes villorrio, y cuyo porvenir ha quedado asegurado por la grandiosa obra del señor Lesseps. Two men were promenading up and down the wharves, among the crowd of natives and strangers who were sojourning at this once straggling village—now, thanks to
the enterprise of M. Lesseps, a fast-growing town. Uno de aquellos hombres era el agente consular del Reino Unido, establecido en Suez, quien, a despecho de los desgraciados pronósticos del gobierno británico y de las siniestras predicciones del ingenioso Stephenson, veía llegar todos los días navíos ingleses que atraviesan el canal, abreviando así en la mitad, el antiguo camino de Inglaterra a las Indias por el Cabo de Buena Esperanza. One was the British consul at Suez, who, despite the prophecies of the English Government, and the unfavourable predictions of Stephenson, was in the habit of seeing, from his office window, English ships daily passing to and fro on the great canal, by which the old roundabout route from England to India by the Cape of Good Hope was abridged by at least a half. El otro era un hombrecillo flaco, de aspecto bastante inteligente, nervioso, que contraía con notable persistencia los músculos de sus párpados. A través de éstos brillaba una mirada viva, pero cuyo ardor sabía amortiguar a voluntad. The other was a small, slight-built personage, with a nervous, intelligent face, and bright eyes peering out from under eyebrows which he was incessantly twitching. En aquel momento descubría cierta impaciencia, yendo, viniendo y no pudiendo estarse quieto. He was just now manifesting unmistakable signs of impatience, nervously pacing up and down, and unable to stand still for a moment. Aquel hombre se llamaba Fix, y era uno de aquellos detectives ingleses que habían sido enviados a diferentes puertos después del robo perpetrado en el Banco de Inglaterra. Debía este Fix vigilar con el mayor cuidado a todos los viajeros que tomasen el camino de Suez, y, si uno de ellos parecía sospechoso, seguirlo, aguardando un mandato de prisión. This was Fix, one of the detectives who had been despatched from England in search of the bank robber; it was his task to narrowly watch every passenger who arrived at Suez, and to follow up all who seemed to be suspicious characters, or bore a resemblance to the description of the criminal, which he had received two days before from the police headquarters at London. El detective, engolosinado sin duda por la fuerte prima prometida en caso de éxito, aguardaba con una impaciencia fácil de comprender la llegada del "Mongolia". The detective was evidently inspired by the hope of obtaining the splendid reward which would be the prize of success, and awaited with a feverish impatience, easy to understand, the arrival of the steamer "Mongolia."