________________________________________________
_ IT WAS THE ship's commander who had just spoken.
At these words Ned Land stood up quickly. Nearly strangled,
the steward staggered out at a signal from his superior;
but such was the commander's authority aboard his vessel,
not one gesture gave away the resentment that this man must have
felt toward the Canadian. In silence we waited for the outcome
of this scene; Conseil, in spite of himself, seemed almost fascinated,
I was stunned.
Arms crossed, leaning against a corner of the table, the commander
studied us with great care. Was he reluctant to speak further?
Did he regret those words he had just pronounced in French? You would
have thought so.
After a few moments of silence, which none of us would have
dreamed of interrupting:
"Gentlemen," he said in a calm, penetrating voice,
"I speak French, English, German, and Latin with equal fluency.
Hence I could have answered you as early as our initial interview,
but first I wanted to make your acquaintance and then think things over.
Your four versions of the same narrative, perfectly consistent by
and large, established your personal identities for me. I now know
that sheer chance has placed in my presence Professor Pierre Aronnax,
specialist in natural history at the Paris Museum and entrusted with
a scientific mission abroad, his manservant Conseil, and Ned Land,
a harpooner of Canadian origin aboard the Abraham Lincoln,
a frigate in the national navy of the United States of America."
I bowed in agreement. The commander hadn't put a question to me.
So no answer was called for. This man expressed himself with perfect
ease and without a trace of an accent. His phrasing was clear,
his words well chosen, his facility in elocution remarkable.
And yet, to me, he didn't have "the feel" of a fellow countryman.
He went on with the conversation as follows:
"No doubt, sir, you've felt that I waited rather too long before
paying you this second visit. After discovering your identities,
I wanted to weigh carefully what policy to pursue toward you.
I had great difficulty deciding. Some extremely inconvenient
circumstances have brought you into the presence of a man who
has cut himself off from humanity. Your coming has disrupted
my whole existence."
"Unintentionally," I said.
"Unintentionally?" the stranger replied, raising his voice a little.
"Was it unintentionally that the Abraham Lincoln hunted me on every sea?
Was it unintentionally that you traveled aboard that frigate?
Was it unintentionally that your shells bounced off my ship's hull?
Was it unintentionally that Mr. Ned Land hit me with his harpoon?"
I detected a controlled irritation in these words. But there was
a perfectly natural reply to these charges, and I made it.
"Sir," I said, "you're surely unaware of the discussions that have
taken place in Europe and America with yourself as the subject.
You don't realize that various accidents, caused by collisions with your
underwater machine, have aroused public passions on those two continents.
I'll spare you the innumerable hypotheses with which we've tried
to explain this inexplicable phenomenon, whose secret is yours alone.
But please understand that the Abraham Lincoln chased you over
the Pacific high seas in the belief it was hunting some powerful
marine monster, which had to be purged from the ocean at all cost."
A half smile curled the commander's lips; then, in a calmer tone:
"Professor Aronnax," he replied, "do you dare claim that your frigate
wouldn't have chased and cannonaded an underwater boat as readily
as a monster?"
This question baffled me, since Commander Farragut would certainly
have shown no such hesitation. He would have seen it as his sworn
duty to destroy a contrivance of this kind just as promptly
as a gigantic narwhale.
"So you understand, sir," the stranger went on, "that I have a right
to treat you as my enemy."
I kept quiet, with good reason. What was the use of debating such
a proposition, when superior force can wipe out the best arguments?
"It took me a good while to decide," the commander went on.
"Nothing obliged me to grant you hospitality. If I were to part company
with you, I'd have no personal interest in ever seeing you again.
I could put you back on the platform of this ship that has served
as your refuge. I could sink under the sea, and I could forget
you ever existed. Wouldn't that be my right?"
"Perhaps it would be the right of a savage," I replied.
"But not that of a civilized man."
"Professor," the commander replied swiftly, "I'm not what you
term a civilized man! I've severed all ties with society,
for reasons that I alone have the right to appreciate.
Therefore I obey none of its regulations, and I insist that you
never invoke them in front of me!"
This was plain speaking. A flash of anger and scorn lit up the
stranger's eyes, and I glimpsed a fearsome past in this man's life.
Not only had he placed himself beyond human laws, he had rendered
himself independent, out of all reach, free in the strictest sense
of the word! For who would dare chase him to the depths of the sea
when he thwarted all attacks on the surface? What ship could
withstand a collision with his underwater Monitor? What armor plate,
no matter how heavy, could bear the thrusts of his spur?
No man among men could call him to account for his actions.
God, if he believed in Him, his conscience if he had one--
these were the only judges to whom he was answerable.
These thoughts swiftly crossed my mind while this strange individual
fell silent, like someone completely self-absorbed. I regarded him
with a mixture of fear and fascination, in the same way, no doubt,
that Oedipus regarded the Sphinx.
After a fairly long silence, the commander went on with our conversation.
"So I had difficulty deciding," he said. "But I concluded
that my personal interests could be reconciled with that
natural compassion to which every human being has a right.
Since fate has brought you here, you'll stay aboard my vessel.
You'll be free here, and in exchange for that freedom,
moreover totally related to it, I'll lay on you just one condition.
Your word that you'll submit to it will be sufficient."
"Go on, sir," I replied. "I assume this condition is one an honest
man can accept?"
"Yes, sir. Just this. It's possible that certain unforeseen events
may force me to confine you to your cabins for some hours, or even for
some days as the case may be. Since I prefer never to use violence,
I expect from you in such a case, even more than in any other,
your unquestioning obedience. By acting in this way, I shield you
from complicity, I absolve you of all responsibility, since I myself
make it impossible for you to see what you aren't meant to see.
Do you accept this condition?"
So things happened on board that were quite odd to say the least,
things never to be seen by people not placing themselves beyond
society's laws! Among all the surprises the future had in store
for me, this would not be the mildest.
"We accept," I replied. "Only, I'll ask your permission, sir,
to address a question to you, just one."
"Go ahead, sir."
"You said we'd be free aboard your vessel?"
"Completely."
"Then I would ask what you mean by this freedom."
"Why, the freedom to come, go, see, and even closely observe
everything happening here--except under certain rare circumstances--
in short, the freedom we ourselves enjoy, my companions and I."
It was obvious that we did not understand each other.
"Pardon me, sir," I went on, "but that's merely the freedom
that every prisoner has, the freedom to pace his cell!
That's not enough for us."
"Nevertheless, it will have to do!"
"What! We must give up seeing our homeland, friends, and relatives
ever again?"
"Yes, sir. But giving up that intolerable earthly yoke that some
men call freedom is perhaps less painful than you think!"
"By thunder!" Ned Land shouted. "I'll never promise I won't try
getting out of here!"
"I didn't ask for such a promise, Mr. Land," the commander replied coldly.
"Sir," I replied, flaring up in spite of myself, "you're taking
unfair advantage of us! This is sheer cruelty!"
"No, sir, it's an act of mercy! You're my prisoners of war!
I've cared for you when, with a single word, I could plunge you back
into the ocean depths! You attacked me! You've just stumbled on
a secret no living man must probe, the secret of my entire existence!
Do you think I'll send you back to a world that must know nothing
more of me? Never! By keeping you on board, it isn't you whom I
care for, it's me!"
These words indicated that the commander pursued a policy
impervious to arguments.
"Then, sir," I went on, "you give us, quite simply, a choice between
life and death?"
"Quite simply."
"My friends," I said, "to a question couched in these terms,
our answer can be taken for granted. But no solemn promises bind
us to the commander of this vessel."
"None, sir," the stranger replied.
Then, in a gentler voice, he went on:
"Now, allow me to finish what I have to tell you. I've heard of you,
Professor Aronnax. You, if not your companions, won't perhaps complain
too much about the stroke of fate that has brought us together.
Among the books that make up my favorite reading, you'll find the work
you've published on the great ocean depths. I've pored over it.
You've taken your studies as far as terrestrial science can go.
But you don't know everything because you haven't seen everything.
Let me tell you, professor, you won't regret the time you spend
aboard my vessel. You're going to voyage through a land of wonders.
Stunned amazement will probably be your habitual state of mind.
It will be a long while before you tire of the sights constantly before
your eyes. I'm going to make another underwater tour of the world--
perhaps my last, who knows?--and I'll review everything I've studied
in the depths of these seas that I've crossed so often, and you
can be my fellow student. Starting this very day, you'll enter
a new element, you'll see what no human being has ever seen before--
since my men and I no longer count--and thanks to me, you're going
to learn the ultimate secrets of our planet."
I can't deny it; the commander's words had a tremendous effect on me.
He had caught me on my weak side, and I momentarily forgot that not
even this sublime experience was worth the loss of my freedom.
Besides, I counted on the future to resolve this important question.
So I was content to reply:
"Sir, even though you've cut yourself off from humanity, I can
see that you haven't disowned all human feeling. We're castaways
whom you've charitably taken aboard, we'll never forget that.
Speaking for myself, I don't rule out that the interests of science
could override even the need for freedom, which promises me that,
in exchange, our encounter will provide great rewards."
I thought the commander would offer me his hand, to seal our agreement.
He did nothing of the sort. I regretted that.
"One last question," I said, just as this inexplicable being seemed
ready to withdraw.
"Ask it, professor."
"By what name am I to call you?"
"Sir," the commander replied, "to you, I'm simply Captain Nemo;* to me,
you and your companions are simply passengers on the Nautilus."
*Latin: nemo means "no one." Ed.
Captain Nemo called out. A steward appeared. The captain gave
him his orders in that strange language I couldn't even identify.
Then, turning to the Canadian and Conseil:
"A meal is waiting for you in your cabin," he told them.
"Kindly follow this man."
"That's an offer I can't refuse!" the harpooner replied.
After being confined for over thirty hours, he and Conseil were
finally out of this cell.
"And now, Professor Aronnax, our own breakfast is ready.
Allow me to lead the way."
"Yours to command, captain."
I followed Captain Nemo, and as soon as I passed through the doorway,
I went down a kind of electrically lit passageway that resembled
a gangway on a ship. After a stretch of some ten meters, a second
door opened before me.
I then entered a dining room, decorated and furnished in austere
good taste. Inlaid with ebony trim, tall oaken sideboards stood at
both ends of this room, and sparkling on their shelves were staggered
rows of earthenware, porcelain, and glass of incalculable value.
There silver-plated dinnerware gleamed under rays pouring from light
fixtures in the ceiling, whose glare was softened and tempered
by delicately painted designs.
In the center of this room stood a table, richly spread.
Captain Nemo indicated the place I was to occupy.
"Be seated," he told me, "and eat like the famished man you must be."
Our breakfast consisted of several dishes whose contents
were all supplied by the sea, and some foods whose nature
and derivation were unknown to me. They were good, I admit,
but with a peculiar flavor to which I would soon grow accustomed.
These various food items seemed to be rich in phosphorous, and I
thought that they, too, must have been of marine origin.
Captain Nemo stared at me. I had asked him nothing, but he read
my thoughts, and on his own he answered the questions I was itching
to address him.
"Most of these dishes are new to you," he told me. "But you can
consume them without fear. They're healthy and nourishing.
I renounced terrestrial foods long ago, and I'm none the worse for it.
My crew are strong and full of energy, and they eat what I eat."
"So," I said, "all these foods are products of the sea?"
"Yes, professor, the sea supplies all my needs. Sometimes I cast my nets
in our wake, and I pull them up ready to burst. Sometimes I go hunting
right in the midst of this element that has long seemed so far out of
man's reach, and I corner the game that dwells in my underwater forests.
Like the flocks of old Proteus, King Neptune's shepherd,
my herds graze without fear on the ocean's immense prairies.
There I own vast properties that I harvest myself, and which are
forever sown by the hand of the Creator of All Things."
I stared at Captain Nemo in definite astonishment, and I answered him:
"Sir, I understand perfectly how your nets can furnish excellent
fish for your table; I understand less how you can chase aquatic
game in your underwater forests; but how a piece of red meat,
no matter how small, can figure in your menu, that I don't
understand at all."
"Nor I, sir," Captain Nemo answered me. "I never touch the flesh
of land animals."
"Nevertheless, this . . . ," I went on, pointing to a dish where
some slices of loin were still left.
"What you believe to be red meat, professor, is nothing other than loin
of sea turtle. Similarly, here are some dolphin livers you might mistake
for stewed pork. My chef is a skillful food processor who excels
at pickling and preserving these various exhibits from the ocean.
Feel free to sample all of these foods. Here are some preserves
of sea cucumber that a Malaysian would declare to be unrivaled
in the entire world, here's cream from milk furnished by the udders
of cetaceans, and sugar from the huge fucus plants in the North Sea;
and finally, allow me to offer you some marmalade of sea anemone,
equal to that from the tastiest fruits."
So I sampled away, more as a curiosity seeker than an epicure,
while Captain Nemo delighted me with his incredible anecdotes.
"But this sea, Professor Aronnax," he told me, "this prodigious,
inexhaustible wet nurse of a sea not only feeds me, she dresses
me as well. That fabric covering you was woven from the masses
of filaments that anchor certain seashells; as the ancients
were wont to do, it was dyed with purple ink from the murex snail
and shaded with violet tints that I extract from a marine slug,
the Mediterranean sea hare. The perfumes you'll find on the washstand
in your cabin were produced from the oozings of marine plants.
Your mattress was made from the ocean's softest eelgrass.
Your quill pen will be whalebone, your ink a juice secreted
by cuttlefish or squid. Everything comes to me from the sea,
just as someday everything will return to it!"
"You love the sea, captain."
"Yes, I love it! The sea is the be all and end all! It covers
seven-tenths of the planet earth. Its breath is clean and healthy.
It's an immense wilderness where a man is never lonely, because he
feels life astir on every side. The sea is simply the vehicle
for a prodigious, unearthly mode of existence; it's simply movement
and love; it's living infinity, as one of your poets put it.
And in essence, professor, nature is here made manifest
by all three of her kingdoms, mineral, vegetable, and animal.
The last of these is amply represented by the four zoophyte groups,
three classes of articulates, five classes of mollusks, and three
vertebrate classes: mammals, reptiles, and those countless
legions of fish, an infinite order of animals totaling more than
13,000 species, of which only one-tenth belong to fresh water.
The sea is a vast pool of nature. Our globe began with the sea,
so to speak, and who can say we won't end with it!
Here lies supreme tranquility. The sea doesn't belong to tyrants.
On its surface they can still exercise their iniquitous claims,
battle each other, devour each other, haul every earthly horror.
But thirty feet below sea level, their dominion ceases,
their influence fades, their power vanishes! Ah, sir, live!
Live in the heart of the seas! Here alone lies independence!
Here I recognize no superiors! Here I'm free!"
Captain Nemo suddenly fell silent in the midst of this
enthusiastic outpouring. Had he let himself get carried away,
past the bounds of his habitual reserve? Had he said too much?
For a few moments he strolled up and down, all aquiver.
Then his nerves grew calmer, his facial features recovered their
usual icy composure, and turning to me:
"Now, professor," he said, "if you'd like to inspect the Nautilus, I'm
yours to command." _
Read next: FIRST PART: Chapter 11. The Nautilus
Read previous: FIRST PART: Chapter 9. The Tantrums of Ned Land
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