Sera

CHAPTER I

On Sunday May 24, 1863, my uncle, Professor Lidenbrock, rushed to his home, located at number 19 of the König-Strasse, one of the most traditional streets of the old district of Hamburg.
Marta, his excellent servant, greatly worried, thinking it was delayed because just beginning to cook food on the stove.
"Well" - I thought to myself, if my uncle is hungry, it will assemble theSan Quentin, because I know no other man of less patience.
- So early and already here Mr. Lidenbrock! Cried poor Martha, with afterglow, opening the door to the dining room.
-Yes, Marta, but it's not your fault that the food is not ready yet, because it's early, still not two. Just give the half hour in San Miguel.
- Why did you come so soon Mr. Lidenbrock?
He will explain, surely.
- Here hecomes! I escaped. Mr Axel, you calm him, please.
And the excellent Martha hurriedly withdrew his culinary precinct, leaving me alone.
But as my shyness is not the most suitable for to reason all the more irascible of professors, had wisely decided to retire to the small upstairs room he used as bedroom, when he heard the spin on its hinges of the door the street, the wooden stairs creaked underthe weight of their feet phenomenal, and the owner of the house went through the dining room, entering hastily into his office, leaving the pass, the heavy stick in a corner, throwing the bad brushing hat on the table, and turning to me with an imperious tone, said:
- Come, Axel!
Had not yet had time to move material, when the teacher yelled broken accents:
-But, hurry, what do you not here yet?And I rushed into the office as irascible master. Otto Lidenbrock not a bad person, I confess ingenuously, but do not change as much, which I think unlikely, die to be the most original and impatient of men.
He was professor of Johannæum where dictated the chair of mineralogy, raging, usually once or twice in each class. And not because he cared disciples desire to have applied, or the degreeof attention that they lend to their explanations, and that following the success of it, they could get on their studies, not, like I did not care details. Subjuntivamente taught as an expression of German philosophy, taught to him, and not for others. It was a wise selfish a well of science which pulley squeaked when he wanted to get something. It was, in a word, a miser of knowledge.
In Germanythere are some teachers in this species.
My uncle did not enjoy, unfortunately, a great way with words, at least when expressed in public, which, for a speaker, is an unfortunate flaw. In his lectures on Johannæum, maybe stopped struggling with a recalcitrant word that would not come out of his mouth, with one of those words that resist, lock and end up being expelled in the form of a block, andthis is the source of his anger.
There are many denominations in mineralogy, semigriegas, semilatinas, difficult to pronounce; rude names that would hurt the lips of a poet. I do not want to criticize this science away from me like desecration. But when it comes to the rhombohedral crystallization, resins retinasfálticas, the Selenites of tungstitas of lead molybdates, tunsatatos of magnesium andzirconium titanates either be forgiving expeditiously tongue that trip and make a mess.
The city was known by all this excusable default of my uncle, for which many desahogados advantage to mock him, which extremely exasperated him, and his anger was because of that arreciasen laughter, which is in bad taste even in Germany itself. And while it is quite true that always had a large number oflisteners in the classroom, the fact remains that most of them were just having fun at the expense of the professor.
Either way, I never tire of repeating that my uncle was a true sage. Although often broke mineral samples by treating them carelessly, joined the genius insight Mineralogist geologist. With the hammer, awl, compass, torch and bottle of nitric acid in hand, had no rival. On their way...