The Wild West · 狂野西部 · Around the World in 80 Days · Simplified Mandarin · HSK 5

Sailing across the Pacific, Inspector Fix realizes a terrible legal truth: he must help his enemy win the race before he can arrest him.

Chapter 5 · 狂野西部

出发后的第四十二天。

在横跨太平洋的轮船上，费克斯忽然明白了一个可怕的事实。身为伦敦警察厅的警探，他在美国没有逮捕权。为了抓住福克，他必须先帮助敌人赢得赌约，让福克回到英国领土。于是，费克斯找到福克和路路通，提议双方暂时结盟。

“我们现在目标一致，” 费克斯严肃地说。“你们必须接受我的帮助，否则两边都无法达成目的。”虽然路路通怀疑这个提议，但他还是同意了。福克则依然平静地看着怀表。

几天后，他们坐上了一列横跨美国大陆的火车。这片广大无边的荒野让路路通感到震惊。火车在陡峭的山脉间穿梭，不久，前方出现了一个深不见底的峡谷。

峡谷上方是一座老旧的木造桥梁。司机员警告乘客，火车不能慢行，必须全速冲向对岸。否则这座脆弱的桥梁一定会承受不住重量而崩塌。福克同意了这个危险的计画。

火车发出轰鸣声，全速冲上木桥。就在车厢安全通过的瞬间，身后的木头发出巨响。整座桥梁瞬间崩塌，掉进了谷底。奥达公主吓得抓紧了福克的手。

火车继续在平原上行驶。突然，远处传来马蹄声，火车遭到了一群印地安人的袭击。箭矢射破了车窗，乘客们惊慌失措。然而司机已经受伤，火车无法停下。

“我们必须马上切断车厢的连接！” 路路通大喊。 “否则我们全都会死在这里！”他不顾危险爬出车外，在狂风中成功拔出了连接销。失去动力的车厢慢慢停了下来。袭击者见火车停止，便立刻带着抓到的人质骑马逃走。

四周恢复安静，大家却发现路路通不见了。他竟然在混乱中被绑架了！奥达公主满脸泪水。如果他们现在去救援，福克绝对会彻底输掉这场赌约。

福克平静地站在原地，看着广阔的荒野。他转过头，看了看流泪的奥达公主。接着，他从口袋里拿出那只从不离身的怀表。在众人注视下，他将怀表用力扔进泥土里。

福克一句话也没说，独自走进充满危机的荒野，决心救回他的仆人。距离赌约期限，只剩下二十一天。

语法 · Grammar

Expressing "Otherwise" with 否则 (fǒuzé)

[Condition or Required Action]，否则 + [Negative consequence]

否则 (fǒuzé) is a formal conjunction meaning 'otherwise' or 'if not.' It introduces the negative consequence that will occur if the previously stated condition or action is not met. It functions similarly to 不然 (bùrán) but is used in more serious or formal contexts.

你们必须接受我的帮助，否则两边都无法达成目的。You must accept my help, otherwise neither side will be able to achieve their goal.

我们必须马上切断车厢的连接！否则我们全都会死在这里！We must immediately cut the connection between the carriages! Otherwise, we will all die here!

The Formal Object Marker 将 (jiāng)

Subject + 将 + Object + Verb + [Complement]

In formal or literary Chinese, 将 (jiāng) is frequently used in place of 把 (bǎ) to bring the object before the verb. It functions in exactly the same grammatical way, emphasizing what is done to the object or the resulting state of the action.

在众人注视下，他将怀表用力扔进泥土里。Under everyone's gaze, he forcefully threw the pocket watch into the dirt.

练习二 · Matching

Match each word to its meaning.

1.横跨

2.袭击

3.人质

4.深不见底

5.惊慌失措

a.hostage

b.panic-stricken

c.to stretch across

d.bottomless

e.to attack

1-c · 2-e · 3-a · 4-d · 5-b

译文 · Translation

Day forty-two after departure.

On a steamship crossing the Pacific, Fix suddenly realized a terrible fact. As a detective for Scotland Yard, he had no power of arrest in the United States. To catch Fogg, he first had to help his enemy win the bet, letting Fogg return to British soil. Therefore, Fix found Fogg and Passepartout and proposed a temporary alliance between the two sides.

"We now share the same goal," Fix said seriously. "You must accept my help, otherwise neither side will be able to achieve their purpose." Although Passepartout suspected this proposal, he still agreed. Fogg, however, continued to calmly look at his pocket watch.

A few days later, they boarded a train spanning the American continent. This vast, boundless wilderness shocked Passepartout. The train shuttled between steep mountain ranges, and soon, a bottomless canyon appeared ahead.

Above the canyon was an old wooden bridge. The driver warned the passengers that the train could not slow down and must charge toward the opposite bank at full speed. Otherwise, this fragile bridge would definitely be unable to bear the weight and collapse. Fogg agreed to this dangerous plan.

The train let out a roar and charged onto the wooden bridge at full speed. At the exact moment the carriages passed safely, the wood behind them let out a loud crash. The entire bridge collapsed instantly, falling to the bottom of the valley. Princess Aouda was so scared she tightly grabbed Fogg's hand.

The train continued to travel on the plains. Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came from afar, and the train was attacked by a group of Native Americans. Arrows pierced the train windows, and the passengers were panic-stricken. However, the driver was already injured, and the train could not stop.

"We must cut the connection between the carriages immediately!" Passepartout shouted. "Otherwise, we will all die here!" Disregarding the danger, he climbed outside the train and successfully pulled out the connecting pin in the fierce wind. The carriages, losing their power, slowly came to a stop. Seeing the train stop, the attackers immediately rode away on horses with the hostages they had captured.

The surroundings returned to quiet, but everyone found that Passepartout was missing. He had actually been kidnapped in the chaos! Princess Aouda's face was covered in tears. If they went to rescue him now, Fogg would absolutely completely lose this bet.

Fogg stood calmly in place, looking at the vast wilderness. He turned his head and looked at the crying Princess Aouda. Then, he took out the pocket watch that never left his side from his pocket. Under everyone's gaze, he forcefully threw the pocket watch into the dirt.

Fogg didn't say a single word, walking alone into the crisis-filled wilderness, determined to rescue his servant. There were only twenty-one days left until the deadline of the bet.