Around the World in Eighty Days — Chapter 6 in Italian
By Jules Verne
Ecco in quali circostanze era stato spedito quel dispaccio, concernente il signor Phileas Fogg. The circumstances under which this telegraphic despatch about Phileas Fogg was sent were as follows:—
Il mercoledì, 9 ottobre, si aspettava per le undici del mattino, a Suez, il Mongolia, della Compagnia peninsulare ed orientale, piroscafo ad elice ed a falso ponte, della portata di duemila ottocento tonnellate e della forza nominale di cinquecento cavalli. 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. Il Mongolia faceva regolarmente i viaggi da Brindisi a Bombay pel canale di 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.
In attesa dell’arrivo del Mongolia, due uomini passeggiavano sul molo d’imbarco in mezzo alla folla d’indigeni e di stranieri che affluiscono in quella città, che non ha guari era appena una borgata, ed a cui oggi la grande opera del signor di Lesseps assicura un avvenire considerevole. 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. Di quei due uomini, uno era l’agente consolare del Regno Unito, stabilito a Suez, il quale, — ad onta dei tristi pronostici del governo britannico e delle sinistre predizioni dell’ingegnere Stephenson, — vedeva ogni giorno molte navi inglesi attraversare quel canale, abbreviando così di metà l’antica strada dall’Inghilterra alle Indie pel Capo di Buona Speranza. 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. L’altro era un ometto magro, dalla fisonomia abbastanza intelligente, nervoso, che contraeva con notevole persistenza i suoi muscoli sopraccigliari. Tramezzo alle sue lunghe ciglia brillava un occhio pien di vita, ma di cui egli sapeva a volontà spegnere l’ardore. 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. In quel momento, egli manifestava dell’impazienza, andando innanzi e indietro, non potendo star fermo un momento. He was just now manifesting unmistakable signs of impatience, nervously pacing up and down, and unable to stand still for a moment. Quell’uomo si chiamava Fix, ed era uno di quei detectives o agenti di polizia inglesi, che erano stati mandati nei diversi porti, dopo il furto commesso alla Banca d’Inghilterra. Codesto Fix doveva sorvegliare con la massima cura tutti i viaggiatori che pigliavano la strada di Suez, e se uno di essi gli pareva sospetto, porglisi alle calcagna aspettando un mandato d’arresto. 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. Il detective, evidentemente più che allettato dal grosso premio promesso in caso di successo, aspettava con un’impazienza facile a comprendere l’arrivo 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."