Chapter 2 Uncle Lidenbrock Works Night and Day to Solve the Mystery.
Before he did anything else, my uncle had to translate the note.
It was all he could think about.
He was certain it held a secret.
He was determined to discover it.
Uncle Lidenbrock tried translating the ruins into Icelandic.
It did not work.
Then he tried translating it into Latin.
Again, nothing.
It is written in a code, he said.
I'll have to solve the code to read the message.
He pronounced to me all the letters in the Icelandic alphabet.
On a piece of paper, I lined them up beside each letter in our alphabet.
We then used that as a code to crack the ruin's message.
We changed all of the Icelandic letters in the message to our letters to see what it would spell.
Nothing, it was all gibberish.
Uncle picked up the parchment and held it beside the book.
The handwriting is different, he declared.
The book and the note were not written by the same people.
Someone must have written this note, then left it tucked inside.
But how can we know who used to own this book, I asked.
Uncle Edenbrock sat down at his desk and pulled the book close to him.
Using a magnifying glass, he examined each page.
Finally, he found something.
He saw two words spelled out in runes.
But this time, my uncle could translate the words.
Irony Sack Newsome, he declared.
Irony Sack Newsome wrote his name in the book.
Who?
I asked.
I was very confused.
He was a very famous Icelandic writer of the sixteenth century.
He was a great scientist and explorer.
Why would he hide his name in the book?
I asked.
Why would he write his name in runes and not Icelandic?
My uncle waved his hand at me as if my question was ridiculous.
How would I know such things?
The why is not important to me, he said.
My only concern is reading this message.
I can read runes, but these are all mixed up.
We must think about nothing else until the mystery is solved.
Should we wait until after dinner, I asked my uncle.
No distractions, he said.
We will not eat or sleep until we have the answer.
While Uncle Lidenbrock tried to crack the code, I stared at the picture above the fireplace.
It was of Grauben.
She was a young woman in my town who had no father.
She was a ward of my uncle.
This meant my uncle took care of her.
Grauben was also my fiancée.
Robin was a blonde, smart, and slightly serious young woman.
I was amazed that someone so perfect could love me.
No one knew we were engaged, though, not even my uncle.
It was not something he would understand.
Axel, my uncle cried.
His shout woke me from my daydream.
He was surrounded by more books and more pieces of paper than before.
He had been trying code after code.
I need you to write out a sentence for me, any sentence.
He handed me a paper and pen without looking up.
Do not write it from left to right.
Write it top to bottom so there are five columns.
I did as I was asked.
I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U M-Y-L-I-T-T-L-E-G-R-A-U-B-E-N Excellent, my uncle said.
He snatched the paper and went to work.
He did not really see what I had written.
Now, let's read the words from left to right.
He wrote my message in this way.
Then he read it out loud.
My uncle stared at the paper for a few minutes.
He then said, I love you, my little growl.
He had finally seen what I wrote.
He did not sound surprised or amazed.
So you are in love with Graubin?
Um, yes, I stuttered.
Let's see if this code works with the runes in my note, he said.
Nothing more was said about Graubin and me.
My uncle went to work again but had no success.
He threw his pen down in great disgust.
That's not it.
It makes no sense, but it must translate into Latin, as that is the language of scholars.
But still I can make no sense of it.
He stood up from his desk and shot across the room like a cannonball.
He was out of the house in seconds.
I had no idea where he had gone.
I sat quietly in my chair, not knowing when my uncle would return.
I thought of taking a nap.
I thought of reading one of the other books on the shelves.
In the end, I decided it was best to wait.
I remained in the chair with a piece of paper in my hand.
I hoped that my uncle solved the mystery or tired of it soon.
We would be like prisoners in the house until it was over.
I held the piece of paper before me, waving it like a fan.
I was not really concentrating on it, and I was not trying to read the code.
However, I must have taken in more than I realized.
Maybe it was easier to read when I was not trying so hard, because suddenly the answer came to me.
I just understood all its secrets.
But I also knew that my uncle should never see this note.
It told of a journey that few would believe.
But I knew my uncle would insist on making this journey if he read this note.
He would surely take me with him.
But I did not want to go.
I did not want to risk never seeing Gralben again.
I told myself I would destroy the note.
Standing by the fire, my hand held the note above the flames.
I was about to drop it in when I heard my uncle returning to his study.
There were only a few seconds to get the note back to his desk, as if nothing happened. had happened.
