Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen A Fierce Controversy

The Dobrina was approaching the island quickly, and the British could clearly see the signs on board. On the south side of the island there is a small bay big enough for four fishing boats.As long as there are no strong south and west winds, the Dobrina is safe to stop here.The Dobrina sailed into the harbour, dropped her anchor chain, and lowered her four-oared skiff.Count Iron Mashov and Captain Servadak boarded the boat and headed for the shore. Brigadier General Morphy and Major Ollifon stood upright on the shore with a haughty look on their faces. Immediately upon landing, the impatient Hector Servadac exclaimed:

"Gentlemen, I thank God that you, like us, have avoided a catastrophe. It is a pleasure to see you." The two British officers stood motionless, not even bothering to shake hands with the captain. "Do you have any news about France, Britain, Russia, and the whole of Europe?" Servadak didn't pay attention to the cold expressions on their faces, and continued, "Where does the victimized area end? You and your country Have you made contact?..." "We don't know your surname yet. How should we answer?" Brigadier General Morphy said, straightening his body even more.

"No," said the captain with a slight shrug, "we haven't introduced each other yet!" He turned to Count Ironmashf, who remained silent, matching the indifference of the two English officers. "This is Count Vasily Timashev," said Servadak. "This is Major John Temple Oliver," said Commodore Morphy, pointing to his companion. The count and the major exchanged pleasantries. "This is Captain Hector Servadac's staff officer," the count continued. "This is Brigadier General Enarge Finch Morphy," said Major Oliver, with a solemn expression.

The two of them also greeted each other for a while. Everyone's titles are very clearly assigned; in this way, there will be no prior status when talking. Needless to say, what they had just said was in French, which, luckily, is generally understood by the English and Russians—but this also contributed to the vice of the French not wanting to learn Russian and English. Commodore Morphy beckoned to the two guests and led them into the room where he and Major Oliver were staying.The room is located in a cave, but the furnishings are quite exquisite.Once everyone was seated, the conversation began.

Servadac was so annoyed by the red tape just now that he was too lazy to speak, so he asked the count to speak first.The count knew very well that these Englishmen pretended not to hear what Servadac said before the exchange of names between the two parties, and had to repeat the matter from beginning to end. "Gentlemen," he said, "you must also know that on the night of December 31 last year, a catastrophe occurred on the earth. We have not yet clarified the cause and scale of this catastrophe. You stay The place where you are now has become an isolated island, and it seems that you have also been greatly impacted."

The two British officers nodded. "Captain Servadac was greatly affected," continued the count. "He was on a mission off the coast of Algeria..." "It's a French colony, I suppose," said Major Ollifon, with his eyes narrowed. "Everything there is more French than France." Servadac replied coldly. "Near the mouth of the Sharif River," Count Ironmashev said with a still indifferent expression, "that night, a part of the African continent suddenly turned into a small island, and the rest of the area disappeared." "Ah!" Brigadier General Morphy just snorted lightly.

"Monsieur Count," asked Major Oliver, "where were you that night?" "At sea, in my schooner, sir, it always seemed to me a miracle that I survived such a catastrophe." "It is a matter of great joy, Monsieur Earl," said Commodore Morphy. "My ship drifted with the wind for many days, and then arrived at the coast of the original Algeria." Count Ironmashf continued, "On the island that was formed not long ago, I saw Captain Selvadak and his orderly Ben. A zoff." "Ben...?" asked Major Oliver. "Zoff!" Servadac called impatiently.

"Captain Servadac exchanged information with me," continued the count, "and embarked on board my Dobrina. We sailed eastward to see if there was anything in the French colony of Algeria." The place survived, but nothing was found." Morzhun's lips moved slightly, making a slower gesture.That means, how could the French colonies survive such a catastrophe?Seeing his arrogant demeanor, Captain Servadac really wanted to stand up and retaliate, but finally restrained himself. "Gentlemen," said Count Timashev, "this catastrophe is too great. Not a single piece of land survived in the whole of the Eastern Mediterranean. Algeria and Tunisia. We only found a rocky rock near Yethage. A small island with the tomb of the king of France."

"Louis IX, probably?" said the Commodore. "Everyone calls him St. Louis, sir," said Captain Servadac.The brigadier general could only nod and smile. The count went on to say that the Dobrina sailed as far as the Gulf of Gabes.The Sahara Lake no longer exists—the two British officers found this no surprise, since the French had dug it.A new coast has emerged near Tripoli.The coast is full of towering boulders, and goes north along the 12th longitude to the vicinity of the island of Malta. "This British island," Servadac hurriedly added, "like Algeria, has sunk into the depths of the sea. None of the capital, Vallett, and all the officers and soldiers on the island survived."

A cloud of sorrow suddenly appeared on the faces of the two Englishmen, but then they turned full of suspicion. "That's unlikely," Brigadier General Morphy said. "Why?" Selvadak asked. "Malta is a British island," said Major Oliver, "and therefore..." "It doesn't matter which country the island belongs to, it doesn't exist anymore," Selvadak said. "You may be mistaken." "No, gentlemen," said Count Ironmashf, "it is not at all wrong. It is a well-established fact. This disaster has caused considerable damage to England. Not only has the island of Malta disappeared, but the eastern Mediterranean has reappeared." but for a narrow channel of water on this land, we would never have come to you. Therefore, unfortunately, not only the island of Malta has disappeared, but the Ionian Islands Nothing has survived either. The archipelago was only a British protectorate a few years ago."

"I don't think the old High Commissioner to the Ionian Islands, your superiors, will be happy about this," continued Captain Servadak. "Our boss is the High Commissioner...?" Brigadier General Morphy asked puzzled. "Yeah, and I wouldn't be too happy about Cohen Island disappearing," Selvadak said. "Corfu? . . . " asked Major Ollifon. "Does the captain mean Corfu?" "Yes. Co-twin." Servadac said aloud word by word. The two British officers stared at each other, wondering what the French officer took them for.Count Ironmashf asked if they had recently been in contact with England by sea traffic or submarine cables.When they heard this question, they felt even more bewildered. "No, Monsieur Earl, our submarine cable was damaged by the earthquake," Brigadier General Morphy replied. "Then, gentlemen, are you not in touch with your own country through the Italian telecommunications department?" "Italy?" said Major Oliver. "You mean Spain?" "It doesn't matter whether it's Italy or Spain," said Captain Servadac. "Gentlemen, have you got any news about the British mainland?" "So far, no news has been received." Brigadier General Morphy said, "But we are not in a hurry, the news will soon..." "Maybe the mainland of England doesn't exist anymore," Servadac said solemnly. "British mainland doesn't exist anymore!" "Since there is no news, it may not exist!" "Britain doesn't exist anymore!" Brigadier General Morphy and Major Oliver were furious and stood up abruptly. "I suppose," said Commodore Morphy, "that if England hadn't existed, France would have..." "France is on the mainland, and her foundation is stronger!" Selvadac refused to budge, he couldn't restrain himself. "Stronger than England?..." "Britain is only an island, after all, and a fragmented one at that, easily sinking underground." A gladiatorial fight was about to take place.The two British officers had put on an aggressive posture, and Selvadak showed no sign of weakness. Earl Iron Mashev tried his best to resolve it, but failed. "Gentlemen," said Servadac, in a very composed tone, "I think that our argument will be resolved very quickly if we go out of the house. Therefore, do not stay in your rooms, but come out! " Servadac then walked out of the room, followed by Count Ironmashev and two British officers.Everyone came to a higher platform, and the captain thought to himself, this is different from your room, it is a more neutral place. "Gentlemen," said Servadac to the two Englishmen, "although France has lost Algeria, she is capable of meeting any provocation, however poor it may come from! I am a French officer. I am honored to be able to speak for my country on this small island, just as you speak for Britain." "Exactly," Commodore Morphy said. "I have a clear conscience..." "And I have a clear conscience!" said Major Ollifon. "It's a neutral place for both of us..." "Neutral?" cried Commodore Morphy. "You're mistaken, sir. You're standing on British soil." "British land?" "Yes. Look here is the British flag." The brigadier general pointed to the flag of the United Kingdom flying over the island. "What's the matter?" said the captain sarcastically, "you can take advantage of the fire anyway and plant the flag here after the disaster." "Nonsense! Our flag was hung here before the disaster." "That's your protectorate, and not your territory, gentlemen!" "Protect the territory?" the two British officers shouted in unison. "Gentlemen, please listen to me," said Servadac loudly, stomping his feet, "this small island is only the only surviving place of a representative republic after this disaster, and your country has never exercised only the right of protection here. " "The Republic?" Commodore Morphy said, eyes wider than bells. "And," continued the captain, "you have acquired this protection in the Ionian Islands through several exchanges of hands." "Ionian Islands?" cried Major Olivan. "Yes, this is Corfu!" "Corfu?" The two Englishmen were so surprised that they were speechless for a long time.Count Ironmashev, who was facing Selvadak in his heart, felt that he should come out and say a few words.But just as he was about to speak, Brigadier General Morphy said to Selvadak in a more relaxed tone: "Sir, you made a mistake. I don't think you should be allowed to continue to make mistakes like this. As for why you are so arrogant, I still can't figure it out. The place you are staying now is indeed British territory. This is Ukrainian in 1704 The Treaty of Derecht. Of course, France and Spain raised disputes several times in 1727, 1779, and 1782, but they failed to change British ownership of the island. It’s as big as Lafalgar Square, but it’s also British territory.” "Then this is not Khoi Island, where the capital of the Ionian Islands is located?" Count Iron Mashev asked in surprise. "No, gentlemen," said Commodore Morphy, "this is Announcement Radha." Gibraltar!Earl Iron Mashov and Captain Servadak thought it was a thunderbolt from the blue sky.They always thought they had arrived at the easternmost island of Corfu in the Mediterranean, but ended up in Gibraltar, the westernmost island.But the Dobrina never turned around and headed west. There must be some mystery here.Earl Iron Mashev wanted to speak, but there was a sudden noise from below.He turned around and found that the sailors on the Dobrina had fought with the British soldiers on the island. The reason for the violence was purely a quarrel between Sailor Panovka and Corporal Pym.The shell Pym had just fired had not only shattered the mast on the Dobrina, but the shrapnel from the flying shattered Panovka's pipe and scratched his nose a little--for a For a Russian, the bridge of his nose is actually a bit higher. Therefore, when Earl Ironmashev and Captain Servadak were in dispute with the two British officers, there was an electric fight here. Servadak, of course, sided with Panovka, and Major Austrian Fang was very angry, claiming that they were not responsible for the damage caused by the shells. passing places.Besides, if his nose had been flatter, this kind of thing wouldn't have happened. Hearing this, Earl Ironmashev, who has always been known for his quietness, couldn't help being furious, and started a verbal battle with the two British officers.He then ordered his men to set sail immediately. "We'll meet later, gentlemen," Servadac said to the two Englishmen. "As you like," said Major Oliver. In the present case, since they were now in Gibraltar and not in Corfu, Count Ironmashev and Captain Servadac were bent on returning to Russia and France. The Dobrina immediately weighed anchor and set sail.Two hours later, the only remaining island of Gibraltar disappeared into the twilight.