A Volta ao Mundo em Oitenta Dias: o começo do livro em inglês com tradução para o português

Mr. Phileas Fogg lived, in 1872, at No. 7, Saville Row, Burlington Gardens, the house in which Sheridan died in 1814. He was one of the most noticeable members of the Reform Club, though he seemed always to avoid attracting attention; an enigmatical personage, about whom little was known, except that he was a polished man of the world. People said that he resembled Byron—at least that his head was Byronic; but he was a bearded, tranquil Byron, who might live on a thousand years without growing old.

O sr. Phileas Fogg morava, em 1872, na casa número 7 de Saville Row, Burlington Gardens, a mesma onde Sheridan morrera em 1814. Era um dos membros mais notáveis do Reform Club, embora parecesse evitar sempre chamar a atenção. Personagem enigmático, pouco se sabia a seu respeito, a não ser que era um homem polido e conhecedor do mundo. Diziam que se parecia com Byron, ou pelo menos que tinha uma cabeça byroniana. Mas era um Byron barbudo e tranquilo, que poderia viver mil anos sem envelhecer.

Certainly an Englishman, it was more doubtful whether Phileas Fogg was a Londoner. He was never seen on ’Change, nor at the Bank, nor in the counting-rooms of the “City”; no ships ever came into London docks of which he was the owner; he had no public employment; he had never been entered at any of the Inns of Court, either at the Temple, or Lincoln’s Inn, or Gray’s Inn; nor had his voice ever resounded in the Court of Chancery, or in the Exchequer, or the Queen’s Bench, or the Ecclesiastical Courts. He certainly was not a manufacturer; nor was he a merchant or a gentleman farmer. His name was strange to the scientific and learned societies, and he never was known to take part in the sage deliberations of the Royal Institution or the London Institution, the Artisan’s Association, or the Institution of Arts and Sciences. He belonged, in fact, to none of the numerous societies which swarm in the English capital, from the Harmonic to that of the Entomologists, founded mainly for the purpose of abolishing pernicious insects.

Certamente inglês, era mais duvidoso que Phileas Fogg fosse londrino. Nunca o viram na Bolsa, nem no Banco, nem nos escritórios da City. Nenhum navio entrava nos docks de Londres de que ele fosse proprietário. Não exercia cargo público. Nunca se inscrevera em nenhuma das Inns of Court, nem no Temple, nem em Lincoln's Inn, nem em Gray's Inn. Sua voz jamais ressoara na Court of Chancery, nem no Exchequer, nem no Queen's Bench, nem nos tribunais eclesiásticos. Certamente não era fabricante, nem comerciante, nem fazendeiro. Seu nome era estranho às sociedades científicas e eruditas, e nunca se soube que tomasse parte nas sábias deliberações da Royal Institution ou da London Institution, da Artisan's Association ou da Institution of Arts and Sciences. Não pertencia, em suma, a nenhuma das numerosas sociedades que pululam na capital inglesa, da Harmônica à dos Entomologistas, fundada principalmente para abolir insetos perniciosos.

Phileas Fogg was a member of the Reform, and that was all.

Phileas Fogg era membro do Reform, e nada mais.

The way in which he got admission to this exclusive club was simple enough.

A maneira como conseguiu admissão nesse clube exclusivo foi bastante simples.

He was recommended by the Barings, with whom he had an open credit. His cheques were regularly paid at sight from his account current, which was always flush.

Foi recomendado pelos Baring, com quem mantinha um crédito aberto. Seus cheques eram regularmente pagos à vista, sacados de sua conta corrente, sempre provida de fundos.

Was Phileas Fogg rich? Undoubtedly. But those who knew him best could not imagine how he had made his fortune, and Mr. Fogg was the last person to whom to apply for the information. He was not lavish, nor, on the contrary, avaricious; for, whenever he knew that money was needed for a noble, useful, or benevolent purpose, he supplied it quietly and sometimes anonymously. He was, in short, the least communicative of men. He talked very little, and seemed all the more mysterious for his taciturn manner. His daily habits were quite open to observation; but whatever he did was so exactly the same thing that he had always done before, that the wits of the curious were fairly puzzled.

Phileas Fogg era rico? Sem dúvida. Mas os que melhor o conheciam não conseguiam imaginar como fizera fortuna, e o sr. Fogg era a última pessoa a quem se pediria tal informação. Não era pródigo, nem, ao contrário, avarento, pois sempre que sabia que dinheiro era necessário para um fim nobre, útil ou benevolente, fornecia-o discretamente e às vezes anonimamente. Era, em suma, o menos comunicativo dos homens. Falava muito pouco, e seu mutismo o tornava ainda mais misterioso. Seus hábitos diários estavam bem à vista de todos, mas tudo o que fazia era sempre exatamente a mesma coisa que fizera antes, de modo que os curiosos ficavam deveras intrigados.

Had he travelled? It was likely, for no one seemed to know the world more familiarly; there was no spot so secluded that he did not appear to have an intimate acquaintance with it. He often corrected, with a few clear words, the thousand conjectures advanced by members of the club as to lost and unheard-of travellers, pointing out the true probabilities, and seeming as if gifted with a sort of second sight, so often did events justify his predictions. He must have travelled everywhere, at least in the spirit.

Teria viajado? Era provável, pois ninguém parecia conhecer o mundo com mais familiaridade. Não havia recanto tão isolado onde ele não parecesse ter conhecimento íntimo. Muitas vezes corrigia, com algumas palavras claras, as mil conjecturas apresentadas pelos membros do clube a respeito de viajantes perdidos e desconhecidos, apontando as verdadeiras probabilidades, e parecia dotado de uma espécie de segunda vista, de tão frequentes vezes que os acontecimentos justificavam suas previsões. Devia ter viajado por toda parte, ao menos em espírito.