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''Backwards to Britain'' ((フランス語:Voyage à reculons en Angleterre et en Ecosse)) is a semi-autobiographical novel by the French writer Jules Verne, written in the fall and winter of 1859–1860 and not published until 1989. The novel follows the travels of two Frenchmen, Jacques (representing Verne) and Jonathan (Verne's friend Aristide Hignard), on a journey from Paris to Scotland. ==Plot== Jacques Lavaret, a young Parisian man, is eager to visit Scotland. He is delighted when his friend, the composer Jonathan Savournon, announces that he can get a free trip to Britain, with room for a friend, on a steamer trading between Saint-Nazaire and Liverpool. Jacques, filled with enthusiasm and Anglophilia, sets off for the steamer in late July 1859, but when he gets to Nantes to meet up with Jonathan, he is faced with bad news. The steamer has been delayed some days, and will dock not in Saint-Nazaire but in Bordeaux, 500 kilometers south of Paris. The two friends spend the delay sightseeing in Nantes and traveling by another boat from there to Bordeaux. Jacques and Jonathan weather the adventures and mishaps of the voyage, amused at the irony of traveling "backwards", away from Britain, in order to get there. After visiting Jonathan's friend Edmond R—, who shows them around the city, Jacques and Jonathan embark at last on the steamer for Liverpool. Jacques, who speaks no English, has difficulty communicating with the ship's commander, the Scottish Captain Speedy, but he is not alone; neither of Speedy's two pilots, picked up in Bordeaux, can speak the language either. The bilingual Jonathan does a little interpreting, and helps Jacques through some pronunciation errors when he tries to pepper his conversation with English phrases. Twenty-four days after leaving Nantes, the two friends arrive in Liverpool, where they marvel at unfamiliar English customs and are astounded at the depths of poverty and squalor in the streets. After meeting with a tradesman, Mr. Joe Kennedy, and his guest Sir John Sinclair, they travel by rail to Edinburgh. Jacques and Jonathan explore the city, redolent with memories of Sir Walter Scott, whose novels Jacques adores. They visit many landmarks, including the Scott Monument, the Palace of Holyrood, Arthur's Seat (Jacques's first experience of a mountaintop view), and the beach at Portobello. They dine with the family of Mr. B—, Jonathan's brother's wife's uncle; Jacques is taken with Mr. B—'s daughter, Miss Amelia, who promises to draw up an itinerary for their sightseeing to come. Jacques and Jonathan see Calton Hill and Edinburgh Castle the next day, and dine with the B— family again. Following Miss Amelia's instructions, they travel by steamer up the Firth of Forth, dine with a Catholic priest in Oakley, Fife, and proceed by rail to Glasgow, which they discover to be as dingy as Liverpool. Then their rail route continues to Balloch and Loch Lomond, which they cross by boat, admiring the views of Luss and Ben Lomond. They drive by coach from Loch Lomond to Loch Katrine, reminded more than ever of Scott's novels. Crossing Loch Katrine with other passengers, including a bagpiper in traditional Highland dress, they reach the northernmost point of their travels. They dine in Callander and take a train to Stirling, where they admire Highland dress uniforms and pibrochs before heading back to Edinburgh. Sad to be leaving Scotland, they order tickets for London. Arriving in London, they cross London Bridge and climb to the top of St Paul's Cathedral, marveling at its whispering gallery; then they see the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, and Trafalgar Square, and make their way through the West End. At the Princess's Theatre in Oxford Street, they see a production of Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''. By the next morning, Jacques is tired of London, complaining that they are now sightseeing only from a sense of duty. They travel down the Thames and see Greenwich, the Tower of London, and Madame Tussaud's. Having spent a week in England and Scotland, they take a steamer back to France. Their tour was rushed, but colorful and memorable; they are now ready to take a different and much more leisurely kind of trip as they "travel backwards through their memories" to relive their experience of Britain. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Backwards to Britain」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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