Once, there lived a wealthy man, Phileas Fogg, in London. He was a member of the Reform Club, an elite social organization. He was a punctual and practical gentleman, who valued time above everything else.
One day at the club, Fogg told his friends that he could go around the world in eighty days. All the members laughed because in those days there were no planes and the only way to travel was by boats and trains.
“Impossible!” said Joseph Cain, one of the members, “You cannot travel to every continent in eighty days.”
“It’s a bet, gentlemen. Twenty thousand pounds,” said Fogg confidently.
“That is a sure bet,” agreed the club members.
After that Fogg took the world map and made exact calculations. He believed that eighty days were enough to travel around the world. He and his newly hired valet, Passepartout, set out immediately. Their first stop was Suez from London, seven days by rail and steamer.
Now, Phileas Fogg’s bet was published in all the newspapers in England. At the same time, a big diamond burglary had taken place in the Bank of England. Unfortunately, Fogg resembled the burglar, so the Scotland Yard (London police) appointed a detective, Fix, to follow him.
Fogg had no idea that he was being pursued for robbery by the authorities. From Suez, they set sail to Bombay by steamer, a thirteen-day journey. The steamer reached Bombay two days before the fixed schedule.
While they waited for the train that would take them across India from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Calcutta (now Kolkata), Passepartout wandered off into a Hindu temple. As he was a Christian, he was not aware of the Hindu rituals and entered the temple with his shoes on. He barely escaped the anger of the priests and made it to the station on time!
In the train, Fogg and Passepartout met Sir Francis Cromarty, an Englishman who lived in India. Unfortunately, the train stopped 50 miles before the next destination. The passengers had to arrange their own transport to the next stop, Allahabad, where they could board the train again.
Fogg purchased an elephant and hired a Parsee guide to lead them. Sir Francis accompanied them. They started off riding on the back of the elephant. After camping for a night, they came across some Indians preparing to sacrifice a young woman whose husband, a prince, had died. They decided to save the young woman.
Passepartout somehow managed to take the place of the woman’s deceased husband on the funeral pyre on which she was to be burned. During the ceremony, he suddenly rose from the pyre, scaring off the priests! The travellers hastened to catch the train at the next railway station, taking the woman they saved, Aouda, with them.
On reaching Calcutta, they were immediately arrested. At first they thought that it was because of what happened with Aouda, but in reality, Fix got them detained because Passepartout had broken the law in Bombay by entering the Hindu temple with shoes on.
Fogg got themselves bailed out with a large sum of money and they got on the steamer to Hong Kong. Fix followed them.
A storm delayed them in reaching Hong Kong. But luckily the steamer to Japan was not to leave until the following evening. In Hong Kong, it turned out that Aouda’s distant relative, in whose care they had been planning to leave her, had moved to Holland. Aouda decided to accompany them to Europe.
Determined to keep Fogg in Hong Kong, Fix took Passepartout to a tavern. There, he mixed something in his drink, resulting in Passepartout passing out for a long time.
The next day, Fogg realized that Passepartout was missing, and that the steamer had sailed leaving them! He then promptly hired a boat to take them to Shanghai, where they could catch the steamer to Yokohama. Aouda was with him.
Meanwhile, Passepartout managed to get onto the steamer to Yokohama. Since he was penniless, he joined a travelling circus troupe to earn the fare for his homeward journey. That was where Fogg found him.
Finally, everyone including Fix, boarded the steamer to San Francisco. Fogg was now on his way to New York and then to his final destination London in another sixteen days. He was relaxed now.
They reached New York, but because of all the delays, the steamer to Liverpool, England, had already left! Fogg paid the owner of a cargo ship to take them to Liverpool. Somehow, the trio reached the shores of England, where Fix arrested and detained Fogg for supposedly robbing the Bank of England.
Fogg was extremely disappointed. He knew that he would not be able to reach London in time to win his bet. Soon, Fix realized that the real bank robber was arrested three days earlier. He freed Fogg.
The trio took an express train to reach London. But they could not make it on time; they arrived at the London station a few minutes too late. Fogg was dejected as he was sure that he had lost his wager. Aouda declared her love for him.
Passepartout went to make the wedding arrangements for the following day, Monday. Suddenly, he realized that the following day was actually Sunday! Fogg had not accounted for the time gained by travelling eastward. So, they still had time to win the bet.
Fogg ran to the club to tell the members that he had indeed won! They gladly paid him his twenty thousand pounds. But more than winning the bet, Fogg was happy on finding a wife like Aouda.
