Chapter 1 An Old Book and a New Mystery.
On May 24 1863, my uncle rushed through the front door of our little house.
Professor Lidenbrock, as my uncle was known, shared that small place with me in Hamburg, Germany.
"'Axel,' he shouted, "'I need to speak with you.'
He sped toward his study.
My uncle was often excited.
A new idea or theory would send him rushing to his study to work.
I was used to him acting this way.
I had lived with him since I was a teenager.
I was now twenty years old, so this was not new to me.
He was an impatient man.
He did not like to wait for anything.
This is the reason our housekeeper Martha panicked when Uncle Edenbrock burst through the door.
She assumed he wanted to have his supper.
She rushed into the kitchen and said to me, Axel, please don't tell him dinner isn't ready.
Distract him.
I'll have the meal on the table as soon as possible.
My uncle was not a bad man.
In truth, he was just very odd.
He taught mineralogy, the science of minerals, at the Johannium, the local university.
However, he was not a good teacher.
I also studied mineralogy at the university and had heard students complain about him.
He had very little interest in helping others learn.
He was a very stubborn man and only talked about whatever interested him at the time.
I heard stories about him flying into a rage if he thought a person misunderstood him.
He did not think that he needed to explain anything again or in a different way.
When my uncle was misunderstood by anyone, he thought that that person simply was not listening.
Please keep in mind that my uncle was a scientist.
He was a very smart man, and he was well respected.
The Lidenbrocks were well known in Germany.
There were many libraries and buildings with the family name.
My uncle did not care about such things, though.
His entire life was wrapped up in his work.
He was devoted to the study of minerals, rocks, and geography.
He did worry about what other people thought of him, but he was just too occupied with his own scientific world to notice much else.
Therefore, Uncle Leidenbrock could not understand why I was so slow to follow him to his study.
I thought I walked very quickly when he called, but it was not fast enough for him.
"'What on earth took you so long?
Do you expect me to wait all day?'
My uncle was already sitting in his armchair.
He had a very big book in his lap.
He did not look up at me while he spoke.
I did not sit down right away, but stood by his desk.
Uncle usually had a job for me to do.
He might ask me to get a book down from a shelf, or he could ask me to run into town to pick something up.
What a book, he said, what a book.
He shook his head in amazement.
Can you not see?
This is a priceless gem I found in a shop this morning.
I gazed at the book in my uncle's hands.
He carefully leafed through the pages.
It looked old and tattered to me.
I could see nothing special about it.
What is the book about?
I asked.
It was the only thing I could think to say.
It is an Icelandic book from the twelfth century, he said.
It is a story of Norwegian princes ruling Iceland.
But, uncle, I said, can you read Icelandic?
Icelandic, yes, a little.
But, Axel, you are a fool, Uncle Lidenbrock said.
This is not written in Icelandic.
It's written in runes.
Hoons, I gasped.
I ran to his side to look at the book more closely.
The pages were filled with small, stick-like figures.
The language looked impossible to understand, and I was not very interested in learning it.
My uncle, however, had a lot to say on the subject.
Uncle Lidenbrock described to me the history of the runic language.
It was used mostly in Iceland and other northern countries.
He told me this book was handwritten and one of a kind.
The speech could have gone on for hours, but one thing stopped it.
A piece of paper fell from the book and landed by my uncle's feet.
Lidenbrock quickly reached down and grabbed it.
"'What's this?' he said, studying it.
He walked over to his desk.
He very carefully laid the paper down.
It was five inches wide and three inches long.
The page was filled with rooms.
"'Whatever does it mean?' my uncle said.
"'This was such an important question,'
Little did we know that the answer would soon lead us on the adventure of a lifetime.
