November 3, 2023 • 17 mins
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" is a classic science fiction adventure novel written by the French author Jules Verne. First published in 1870, the novel is set in the 19th century and follows the thrilling journey of Captain Nemo and his remarkable submarine, the Nautilus.The story is narrated by Professor Pierre Aronnax, a renowned marine biologist who, along with his loyal servant Conseil and harpoonist Ned Land, is taken aboard the Nautilus after their ship is attacked and sunk by an enigmatic and reclusive captain known as Captain Nemo. Nemo is a mysterious and enigmatic character who shuns contact with the outside world and chooses to live beneath the sea, exploring its depths in his advanced and technologically advanced submarine.As the protagonists join Nemo on his undersea adventures, they discover a breathtaking and fantastical world beneath the waves. They encounter a wide variety of marine life, explore hidden underwater landscapes, and even witness the lost city of Atlantis. The novel explores themes of exploration, the wonders of the natural world, and the consequences of unchecked technology."20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" is not only an exciting adventure story but also a reflection on the relationship between humanity and nature, as well as the ethical dilemmas posed by scientific and technological progress. Jules Verne's vivid descriptions of the undersea world and the captivating character of Captain Nemo have made this novel a timeless classic in the genre of science fiction and adventure literature. It continues to captivate readers with its sense of wonder and imagination, as well as its exploration of the mysteries of the deep sea.
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Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
This is a LibriVox recording. AllLibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer,please visit LibriVox dot org. Twenty thousand
Leagues under the Seas by Jules Verne, Part two, Chapter fifteen accident or
(00:24):
incident. The next day, Marchtwenty second, at six o'clock in the
morning, preparations for departure began.The last gleams of twilight were melting into
the night. The cold was brisk, the constellations were glittering with startling intensity.
The wonderful Southern Cross, polar starof the Antarctic regions, twinkled at
(00:50):
its zenith. The thermometer marked minustwelve degrees centigrade, and a fresh breeze
left a sharp nip in the air. Ice floes were increasing over the open
water. The sea was starting tocongeal everywhere. Numerous blackish patches were spreading
over its surface, announcing the imminentformation of fresh ice. Obviously, the
(01:15):
southernmost basin froze over during its sixmonths winter and became utterly inaccessible. What
happened to the whales during this period, no doubt. They went beneath the
ice bank to find more feasible seasas for seals and malruses. They were
accustomed to living in the harshest climatesand stayed in these icy waterways. These
(01:37):
animals know by instinct how to gougeholes in the ice fields and keep them
continually open. They go to theseholes to breathe. Once the birds have
migrated northward to escape the cold,these marine mammals remained the sole lords of
the polar continent. Meanwhile, theballast tanks filled with water, and the
(01:57):
Nautilus sank slowly at a depth ofone thousand feet. It stopped, its
propellers churned the waves, and itheaded due north at a speed of fifteen
miles per hour. Near the afternoon, it was already cruising under the immense
frozen carapace of the ice bank.As a precaution, the panels in the
(02:21):
lounge stayed closed because the Nautilus's hullcould run a foul of some submerged block
of ice. So I spent theday putting my notes into final form.
My mind was completely wrapped up inmy memories of the pole. We had
reached that inaccessible spot without facing exhaustionor danger, as if our sea going
(02:43):
passenger carriage had glided there on railroadtracks, and now we had actually started
our return journey. Did it stillhave comparable surprises in store for me?
I felt sure it did so.Inexhaustible is this series of underwater wonders?
As it was? In five anda half months since fate had brought us
(03:05):
on board. We had cleared fourteenthousand leagues and over this track longer than
the earths equator. So many fascinatingor frightening incidents had beguiled our voyage.
The hunting trip in Crespo forests arerunning aground in the Torrest Strait, the
Coral Cemetery, the pearl fisheries ofCeylon, the Arabic Tunnel, the fires
(03:31):
of Santorini, those millions in theBay of Vigo Atlantis, the South Pole.
During the night, all these memoriescrossed from one dream to the next,
not giving my brain a moment's rest. At three o'clock in the morning,
I was awakened by a violent collision. I sat up in bed,
(03:53):
listening in the darkness, and thenwas suddenly hurled into the middle of my
stateroom. Apparently the Nautilus had goneaground. Then heeled over sharply leaning against
the walls. I dragged myself downthe gangways to the lounge, whose ceiling
lights were on. The furniture hadbeen knocked over. Fortunately, the glass
(04:15):
cases were solidly secured at the baseand had stood fast. Since we were
no longer vertical, The starboard pictureswere glued to the tapestries, while those
to port had their lower edges hanginga foot away from the wall, So
the Nautilus was lying on its starboardside, completely stationary to boot in its
(04:38):
interior, I heard the sound offootsteps and muffled voices, but Captain Nemo
didn't appear. Just as I wasabout to leave the lounge, ned Land
and Conseil entered. What happened?I instantly said to them. I came
to ask Master that Conseil replied,damn Nation. The Canadian explained, I
(05:00):
I know full well what happened.The Nautilus has gone aground, and judging
from the way it's listing, Idon't think it'll pull through like the first
time in the Torres Strait. ButI asked, are we at least back
on the surface of the sea.We have no idea. Conseil replied,
it's easy to find out. Ianswered, I consulted the pressure gauge.
(05:21):
Much to my surprise, it indicateda depth of three hundred and sixty meters.
What's the meaning of this, Iexclaimed. We must confer with Captain
Nemo. Conseil said, but wheredo we find him? Ned Land asked,
follow me. I told my twocompanions. We left the lounge.
Nobody in the library, Nobody bythe central companion way or the crew's quarters.
(05:44):
I assume that Captain Nemo was stationedin the pilot house. Best to
wait. The three of us returnedto the lounge. I'll skip over the
Canadian's complaints. He had good groundsfor an outburst. I didn't answer him
back, letting him blow off allthe steam he wanted. We had been
left to ourselves for twenty minutes,trying to detect the tiniest noises inside the
(06:06):
Nautilus. When Captain Nemo entered,he didn't seem to see us. His
facial features, usually so emotionless,revealed a certain uneasiness. He studied the
compass and the pressure gage in silence, then went and put his fingers on
the world map at a spot inthe sector depicting the southernmost seas. I
(06:30):
hesitated to interrupt him, but somemoments later, when he turned to me,
I threw back at him a phrasehe had used in the Torres Strait.
An incident, Captain, No,sir, he replied, this time
an accident serious? Perhaps? Isthere any immediate danger? Nope? The
nautilus has run aground. Yes,and this accident came about through nature's unpredictability,
(06:56):
not man's incapacity. No errors werecommitted in our maneuvers. Nevertheless,
we can't prevent a loss of balancefrom taking its toll. One may defy
human laws, but no one canwithstand the laws of nature. Captain Nemo
had picked an odd time to philosophize. All in all, this reply told
me nothing. May I learn?Sir? I asked him, what caused
(07:18):
this accident? An enormous block ofice, an entire mountain has toppled over.
He answered me. When an icebergis eroded at the base by warmer
waters or by repeated collisions, itscenter of gravity rises, then its somersaults,
it turns completely upside down. That'swhat happened here. When it overturned.
(07:40):
One of these blocks hit the Nautilusas it was cruising under the waters,
sliding under the hull. This blockthen raised us with irresistible power,
lifting us into less congested strata wherewe now lie on our side. But
can't we float the Nautilus clear byemptying its ballast tanks to regain our balance?
That Sir, is being done rightnow. You can hear the pumps
(08:03):
working. Look at the needle onthe pressure gage. It indicates that the
Nautilus is rising. But this blockof ice is rising with us, and
until some obstacle halts its upward movement, our position won't change. Indeed,
the Nautilus kept the same heel tostarboard. No doubt it would straighten up
once the block came to a halt. But before that happened, who knew
(08:24):
if we might not hit the underbellyof the ice bank and be hideously squeezed
between two frozen surfaces, I mused. In all the consequences of this situation,
Captain Nemo didn't stop studying the pressuregage. Since the toppling of this
ice bird, the Nautilus had risenabout one hundred and fifty feet. Suddenly,
a slight movement could be felt overthe hull. Obviously, the Nautilus
(08:46):
was straightening a bit. Objects hangingin the lounge were visibly returning to their
normal positions. The walls were approachingthe vertical. Nobody said a word.
Heart's pounding. We could see andfeel the ship righting itself. The floor
was becoming horizontal beneath our feet.Ten minutes went by. Finally, we're
(09:09):
upright, I exclaimed, Yes,Captain Nemo said, heading to the lounge
door. But will we float off, I asked him. Certainly, he
replied, since the ballast tanks aren'tempty yet, and when they are,
the Nautilus must rise to the surfaceof the sea. The captain went out,
and soon I saw that at hisorders, the Nautilus had halted its
(09:31):
upward movement. In fact, itsoon would have hit the underbelly of the
ice bank, but it had stoppedin time and was floating in mid water.
That was a close call, Conseilsaid, yes, we could have
been crushed between these masses of ice, or at least imprisoned between them,
(09:52):
and then with no way to renewour air supply. Yes, that was
a close call. If it's overworth, ned Land muttered, I was
unwilling to get into a pointless argumentwith the Canadian and didn't reply. Moreover,
the panels opened just then, andthe outside light burst through the uncovered
windows. We were fully afloat,as I have said, but on both
(10:16):
sides of the Nautilus, about tenmeters away, there rose dazzling walls of
ice. There also were walls aboveand below above, because the ice bank's
underbelly spread over us like an immenseceiling. Below because the summer sulting block,
shifting little by little, had foundpoints of purchase on the both side
(10:37):
walls and had gotten jammed between them. The Nautilus was imprisoned in a genuine
tunnel of ice, about twenty meterswide and filled with quiet water. So
the ship could easily exit by goingeither ahead or astern, sinking a few
hundred meters deeper, and then takingan open passageway beneath the ice bank.
(10:58):
The ceiling lights were off, yetthe lounge was still brightly lit. This
was due to the reflecting power ofthe walls of ice, which through the
beams of our beacon right back atus. Words cannot describe the effects produced
by our galvanic rays on these hugewhimsically sculptured blocks whose every angle, ridge,
(11:20):
and facet gave off a different glowdepending upon the nature of the veins
running inside the ice. It wasa dazzling mine of gems, in particular
sapphires and emeralds, whose jets ofblue and green criss crossed here and there.
Opaline hues of infinite subtlety raced amongsparks of light that were like so
(11:43):
many fiery diamonds, their brilliance morethan any eye could stand. The power
of our beacon was increased one hundredfold, like a lamp shining through bikeonvex lenses
of a world class lighthouse. Howbeautiful, Conseil explained, Yes, I
said, it's a wonderful sight,isn't it. Ned? Oh damnation,
(12:05):
yes, ned Land shot back,it's superb. I'm furious that I have
to admit it. No one hasever seen the like. But this sight
could cost us dearly, and inall honesty, I think we're looking at
things God never intended for human eyes. Ned was right, it was too
(12:26):
beautiful all at once. A yellfrom Conceil made me turn round. What
is it? I asked, Mastermust close his eyes, Master mustn't look
with that. Conseil clapped his handsover his eyes. But what's wrong,
my boy, I've been dazzled,struck blind Involuntarily, my eyes flew to
(12:46):
the window, but I couldn't standthe fire devouring it. I realized what
had happened. The Nautilus had juststarted off at great speed. All the
tranquil glimmers of the ice walls hadthen changed into blazing streaks. The sparkles
from these myriad of diamonds were mergingwith each other. Swept along by its
(13:07):
propeller, the Nautilus was traveling througha sheath of flashing light. Then the
panels in the lounge closed. Wekept our hands over our eyes, which
were utterly saturated with those concentric gleamsthat swirl before the retina when the sunlight
strikes too intensely. It took sometime to calm our troubled vision. Finally
(13:28):
we lowered our hands. Ye Gods, I never would have believed it,
Conseil said, And I still don'tbelieve it. The Canadian shot back.
When we returned ashore, jaded fromall these wonders, Conceil added, think
how we'll look down on those pitifulland masses, those puny works of man.
No, the civilized world won't begood enough for us. Such words
(13:52):
from the lips of this emotionless Flemishboy showed that our enthusiasm was near the
boiling point. But the Candian didn'tfail to throw his dram of cold water
over us. The civilized world,he said, shaking his head. Don't
worry, Conseil, my friend,We're never going back to that world.
By this point it was five o'clockin the morning. Just then there was
(14:16):
a collision in the Nautilus's bow.I realized that its spur had just bumped
a block of ice. It musthave been a faulty maneuver, because this
underwater tunnel was obstructed by such blocksand didn't make for easy navigating. So
I had assumed that Captain Nemo,in adjusting his course, would go around
each obstacle, or would hug thewalls and follow the winding of the tunnel.
(14:39):
In either case, our forward motionwouldn't receive an absolute check. Nevertheless,
contrary to my expectations, the Nautilusdefinitely began to move backwards. We're
going astern, Conseil said, yes, I replied, Apparently the tunnel has
no way out at this end,and so oh so, I said,
(15:01):
our maneuvers are quite simple. We'llreturn in our tracks and go out the
southern opening. That's all. AsI spoke, I tried to sound more
confident than I really felt. Meanwhile, the nautilus accelerated its backward movement,
and running with propeller in reverse,it swept us along at great speed.
The sealmana delay, Ned said,what are a few hours more or less?
(15:26):
So long as we get out,yes, ned Land repeated, so
long as we get out. Istrolled for a little while from the lounge
into the library. My companions kepttheir seats and didn't move. Soon,
I threw myself down on a couchand picked up a book, which my
eyes skimmed mechanically. A quarter ofan hour later, Conceil approached me,
(15:48):
saying, is it deeply fascinating thisvolume Master is reading? Tremendously fascinating?
I replied, I believe it.Master is reading his own book, my
own book. Indeed, my handswere holding my own work on the great
ocean depths I hadn't even suspected.I closed the book and resumed my strolling.
Ned and Conseil stood up to leavestay here, my friends, I
(16:12):
said, stopping them. Let's staytogether until we're out of this blind alley,
as Master wishes, Conseil replied.The hours passed, I often studied
the instruments hanging on the lounge wall. The pressure gage indicated that the nautilus
state at a constant depth of threehundred meters. The compass that it kept
heading south. The log that itwas traveling at the speed of twenty miles
(16:36):
per hour, an excessive speed insuch a cramped area. But Captain Nemo
knew that by this point there wasno such thing as too fast, since
minutes were now worth centuries. Ata twenty five a second collision took place.
This time astern I grew pale.My companions came over. I clutched
(16:56):
Conseil's hand. Eyes questioned each other, and more directly than if our thoughts
had been translated into words. Justthen the Captain entered the lounge. I
went to him. Our path isbarred to the south, I asked him,
yes, sir, when it overturned, that iceberg closed off. Every
exit were boxed in. Yes.End of chapter fifteen, recorded by Michael
(17:22):
Procopio, Long Beach, California,September first, two thousand and six,
This is a LibriVox recording. AllLibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer,please visit LibriVox dot org. Twenty thousand
Leagues under the Seas by Jules Verne, Part two, Chapter fifteen accident or
(00:24):
incident. The next day, Marchtwenty second, at six o'clock in the
morning, preparations for departure began.The last gleams of twilight were melting into
the night. The cold was brisk, the constellations were glittering with startling intensity.
The wonderful Southern Cross, polar starof the Antarctic regions, twinkled at
(00:50):
its zenith. The thermometer marked minustwelve degrees centigrade, and a fresh breeze
left a sharp nip in the air. Ice floes were increasing over the open
water. The sea was starting tocongeal everywhere. Numerous blackish patches were spreading
over its surface, announcing the imminentformation of fresh ice. Obviously, the
(01:15):
southernmost basin froze over during its sixmonths winter and became utterly inaccessible. What
happened to the whales during this period, no doubt. They went beneath the
ice bank to find more feasible seasas for seals and malruses. They were
accustomed to living in the harshest climatesand stayed in these icy waterways. These
(01:37):
animals know by instinct how to gougeholes in the ice fields and keep them
continually open. They go to theseholes to breathe. Once the birds have
migrated northward to escape the cold,these marine mammals remained the sole lords of
the polar continent. Meanwhile, theballast tanks filled with water, and the
(01:57):
Nautilus sank slowly at a depth ofone thousand feet. It stopped, its
propellers churned the waves, and itheaded due north at a speed of fifteen
miles per hour. Near the afternoon, it was already cruising under the immense
frozen carapace of the ice bank.As a precaution, the panels in the
(02:21):
lounge stayed closed because the Nautilus's hullcould run a foul of some submerged block
of ice. So I spent theday putting my notes into final form.
My mind was completely wrapped up inmy memories of the pole. We had
reached that inaccessible spot without facing exhaustionor danger, as if our sea going
(02:43):
passenger carriage had glided there on railroadtracks, and now we had actually started
our return journey. Did it stillhave comparable surprises in store for me?
I felt sure it did so.Inexhaustible is this series of underwater wonders?
As it was? In five anda half months since fate had brought us
(03:05):
on board. We had cleared fourteenthousand leagues and over this track longer than
the earths equator. So many fascinatingor frightening incidents had beguiled our voyage.
The hunting trip in Crespo forests arerunning aground in the Torrest Strait, the
Coral Cemetery, the pearl fisheries ofCeylon, the Arabic Tunnel, the fires
(03:31):
of Santorini, those millions in theBay of Vigo Atlantis, the South Pole.
During the night, all these memoriescrossed from one dream to the next,
not giving my brain a moment's rest. At three o'clock in the morning,
I was awakened by a violent collision. I sat up in bed,
(03:53):
listening in the darkness, and thenwas suddenly hurled into the middle of my
stateroom. Apparently the Nautilus had goneaground. Then heeled over sharply leaning against
the walls. I dragged myself downthe gangways to the lounge, whose ceiling
lights were on. The furniture hadbeen knocked over. Fortunately, the glass
(04:15):
cases were solidly secured at the baseand had stood fast. Since we were
no longer vertical, The starboard pictureswere glued to the tapestries, while those
to port had their lower edges hanginga foot away from the wall, So
the Nautilus was lying on its starboardside, completely stationary to boot in its
(04:38):
interior, I heard the sound offootsteps and muffled voices, but Captain Nemo
didn't appear. Just as I wasabout to leave the lounge, ned Land
and Conseil entered. What happened?I instantly said to them. I came
to ask Master that Conseil replied,damn Nation. The Canadian explained, I
(05:00):
I know full well what happened.The Nautilus has gone aground, and judging
from the way it's listing, Idon't think it'll pull through like the first
time in the Torres Strait. ButI asked, are we at least back
on the surface of the sea.We have no idea. Conseil replied,
it's easy to find out. Ianswered, I consulted the pressure gauge.
(05:21):
Much to my surprise, it indicateda depth of three hundred and sixty meters.
What's the meaning of this, Iexclaimed. We must confer with Captain
Nemo. Conseil said, but wheredo we find him? Ned Land asked,
follow me. I told my twocompanions. We left the lounge.
Nobody in the library, Nobody bythe central companion way or the crew's quarters.
(05:44):
I assume that Captain Nemo was stationedin the pilot house. Best to
wait. The three of us returnedto the lounge. I'll skip over the
Canadian's complaints. He had good groundsfor an outburst. I didn't answer him
back, letting him blow off allthe steam he wanted. We had been
left to ourselves for twenty minutes,trying to detect the tiniest noises inside the
(06:06):
Nautilus. When Captain Nemo entered,he didn't seem to see us. His
facial features, usually so emotionless,revealed a certain uneasiness. He studied the
compass and the pressure gage in silence, then went and put his fingers on
the world map at a spot inthe sector depicting the southernmost seas. I
(06:30):
hesitated to interrupt him, but somemoments later, when he turned to me,
I threw back at him a phrasehe had used in the Torres Strait.
An incident, Captain, No,sir, he replied, this time
an accident serious? Perhaps? Isthere any immediate danger? Nope? The
nautilus has run aground. Yes,and this accident came about through nature's unpredictability,
(06:56):
not man's incapacity. No errors werecommitted in our maneuvers. Nevertheless,
we can't prevent a loss of balancefrom taking its toll. One may defy
human laws, but no one canwithstand the laws of nature. Captain Nemo
had picked an odd time to philosophize. All in all, this reply told
me nothing. May I learn?Sir? I asked him, what caused
(07:18):
this accident? An enormous block ofice, an entire mountain has toppled over.
He answered me. When an icebergis eroded at the base by warmer
waters or by repeated collisions, itscenter of gravity rises, then its somersaults,
it turns completely upside down. That'swhat happened here. When it overturned.
(07:40):
One of these blocks hit the Nautilusas it was cruising under the waters,
sliding under the hull. This blockthen raised us with irresistible power,
lifting us into less congested strata wherewe now lie on our side. But
can't we float the Nautilus clear byemptying its ballast tanks to regain our balance?
That Sir, is being done rightnow. You can hear the pumps
(08:03):
working. Look at the needle onthe pressure gage. It indicates that the
Nautilus is rising. But this blockof ice is rising with us, and
until some obstacle halts its upward movement, our position won't change. Indeed,
the Nautilus kept the same heel tostarboard. No doubt it would straighten up
once the block came to a halt. But before that happened, who knew
(08:24):
if we might not hit the underbellyof the ice bank and be hideously squeezed
between two frozen surfaces, I mused. In all the consequences of this situation,
Captain Nemo didn't stop studying the pressuregage. Since the toppling of this
ice bird, the Nautilus had risenabout one hundred and fifty feet. Suddenly,
a slight movement could be felt overthe hull. Obviously, the Nautilus
(08:46):
was straightening a bit. Objects hangingin the lounge were visibly returning to their
normal positions. The walls were approachingthe vertical. Nobody said a word.
Heart's pounding. We could see andfeel the ship righting itself. The floor
was becoming horizontal beneath our feet.Ten minutes went by. Finally, we're
(09:09):
upright, I exclaimed, Yes,Captain Nemo said, heading to the lounge
door. But will we float off, I asked him. Certainly, he
replied, since the ballast tanks aren'tempty yet, and when they are,
the Nautilus must rise to the surfaceof the sea. The captain went out,
and soon I saw that at hisorders, the Nautilus had halted its
(09:31):
upward movement. In fact, itsoon would have hit the underbelly of the
ice bank, but it had stoppedin time and was floating in mid water.
That was a close call, Conseilsaid, yes, we could have
been crushed between these masses of ice, or at least imprisoned between them,
(09:52):
and then with no way to renewour air supply. Yes, that was
a close call. If it's overworth, ned Land muttered, I was
unwilling to get into a pointless argumentwith the Canadian and didn't reply. Moreover,
the panels opened just then, andthe outside light burst through the uncovered
windows. We were fully afloat,as I have said, but on both
(10:16):
sides of the Nautilus, about tenmeters away, there rose dazzling walls of
ice. There also were walls aboveand below above, because the ice bank's
underbelly spread over us like an immenseceiling. Below because the summer sulting block,
shifting little by little, had foundpoints of purchase on the both side
(10:37):
walls and had gotten jammed between them. The Nautilus was imprisoned in a genuine
tunnel of ice, about twenty meterswide and filled with quiet water. So
the ship could easily exit by goingeither ahead or astern, sinking a few
hundred meters deeper, and then takingan open passageway beneath the ice bank.
(10:58):
The ceiling lights were off, yetthe lounge was still brightly lit. This
was due to the reflecting power ofthe walls of ice, which through the
beams of our beacon right back atus. Words cannot describe the effects produced
by our galvanic rays on these hugewhimsically sculptured blocks whose every angle, ridge,
(11:20):
and facet gave off a different glowdepending upon the nature of the veins
running inside the ice. It wasa dazzling mine of gems, in particular
sapphires and emeralds, whose jets ofblue and green criss crossed here and there.
Opaline hues of infinite subtlety raced amongsparks of light that were like so
(11:43):
many fiery diamonds, their brilliance morethan any eye could stand. The power
of our beacon was increased one hundredfold, like a lamp shining through bikeonvex lenses
of a world class lighthouse. Howbeautiful, Conseil explained, Yes, I
said, it's a wonderful sight,isn't it. Ned? Oh damnation,
(12:05):
yes, ned Land shot back,it's superb. I'm furious that I have
to admit it. No one hasever seen the like. But this sight
could cost us dearly, and inall honesty, I think we're looking at
things God never intended for human eyes. Ned was right, it was too
(12:26):
beautiful all at once. A yellfrom Conceil made me turn round. What
is it? I asked, Mastermust close his eyes, Master mustn't look
with that. Conseil clapped his handsover his eyes. But what's wrong,
my boy, I've been dazzled,struck blind Involuntarily, my eyes flew to
(12:46):
the window, but I couldn't standthe fire devouring it. I realized what
had happened. The Nautilus had juststarted off at great speed. All the
tranquil glimmers of the ice walls hadthen changed into blazing streaks. The sparkles
from these myriad of diamonds were mergingwith each other. Swept along by its
(13:07):
propeller, the Nautilus was traveling througha sheath of flashing light. Then the
panels in the lounge closed. Wekept our hands over our eyes, which
were utterly saturated with those concentric gleamsthat swirl before the retina when the sunlight
strikes too intensely. It took sometime to calm our troubled vision. Finally
(13:28):
we lowered our hands. Ye Gods, I never would have believed it,
Conseil said, And I still don'tbelieve it. The Canadian shot back.
When we returned ashore, jaded fromall these wonders, Conceil added, think
how we'll look down on those pitifulland masses, those puny works of man.
No, the civilized world won't begood enough for us. Such words
(13:52):
from the lips of this emotionless Flemishboy showed that our enthusiasm was near the
boiling point. But the Candian didn'tfail to throw his dram of cold water
over us. The civilized world,he said, shaking his head. Don't
worry, Conseil, my friend,We're never going back to that world.
By this point it was five o'clockin the morning. Just then there was
(14:16):
a collision in the Nautilus's bow.I realized that its spur had just bumped
a block of ice. It musthave been a faulty maneuver, because this
underwater tunnel was obstructed by such blocksand didn't make for easy navigating. So
I had assumed that Captain Nemo,in adjusting his course, would go around
each obstacle, or would hug thewalls and follow the winding of the tunnel.
(14:39):
In either case, our forward motionwouldn't receive an absolute check. Nevertheless,
contrary to my expectations, the Nautilusdefinitely began to move backwards. We're
going astern, Conseil said, yes, I replied, Apparently the tunnel has
no way out at this end,and so oh so, I said,
(15:01):
our maneuvers are quite simple. We'llreturn in our tracks and go out the
southern opening. That's all. AsI spoke, I tried to sound more
confident than I really felt. Meanwhile, the nautilus accelerated its backward movement,
and running with propeller in reverse,it swept us along at great speed.
The sealmana delay, Ned said,what are a few hours more or less?
(15:26):
So long as we get out,yes, ned Land repeated, so
long as we get out. Istrolled for a little while from the lounge
into the library. My companions kepttheir seats and didn't move. Soon,
I threw myself down on a couchand picked up a book, which my
eyes skimmed mechanically. A quarter ofan hour later, Conceil approached me,
(15:48):
saying, is it deeply fascinating thisvolume Master is reading? Tremendously fascinating?
I replied, I believe it.Master is reading his own book, my
own book. Indeed, my handswere holding my own work on the great
ocean depths I hadn't even suspected.I closed the book and resumed my strolling.
Ned and Conseil stood up to leavestay here, my friends, I
(16:12):
said, stopping them. Let's staytogether until we're out of this blind alley,
as Master wishes, Conseil replied.The hours passed, I often studied
the instruments hanging on the lounge wall. The pressure gage indicated that the nautilus
state at a constant depth of threehundred meters. The compass that it kept
heading south. The log that itwas traveling at the speed of twenty miles
(16:36):
per hour, an excessive speed insuch a cramped area. But Captain Nemo
knew that by this point there wasno such thing as too fast, since
minutes were now worth centuries. Ata twenty five a second collision took place.
This time astern I grew pale.My companions came over. I clutched
(16:56):
Conseil's hand. Eyes questioned each other, and more directly than if our thoughts
had been translated into words. Justthen the Captain entered the lounge. I
went to him. Our path isbarred to the south, I asked him,
yes, sir, when it overturned, that iceberg closed off. Every
exit were boxed in. Yes.End of chapter fifteen, recorded by Michael
(17:22):
Procopio, Long Beach, California,September first, two thousand and six,
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