CHAPTER TEN

A Man of the Seas

It was the captain of the submarine who spoke these words. At hearing the words, Ned Land immediately stood up. After a few moments of silence, the mysterious captain spoke again.

"Gentlemen," he said in a calm voice, "I speak French, English, German, and Latin equally well. Therefore, I understood all three of you perfectly when you spoke yesterday. I know now that Pierre Aronnax, Professor of Natural History at the Museum of Paris; Conseil, his servant; and Ned Land, Canadian whale catcher, were onboard the Abraham Lincoln from the United States of America."

This mysterious captain spoke without a foreign accent, but I still did not recognize him as a Frenchman.

"You, I am sure, believe I have waited too long to come for my second visit, but I spent a great deal of time thinking of how to act towards you. I must say that your presence here has been quite annoying, as I have previously broken all my connection to the human world. You have come to trouble our lives here, as the Abraham Lincoln followed me, intending to attack."

"Sir," I said, "I realize that because you have not had contact with the rest of the world, you do not know that the accidents between various ships and your submarine have caused a great deal of anxiety in America and Europe. People are now quite frightened to cross the oceans. The Abraham Lincoln was sent out to destroy some mysterious sea monster so the seas would once again be safe."

The captain showed a quick smile on his face before replying.

"Professor Aronnax," he replied, "that ship would have attempted to destroy my submarine if its captain had had the opportunity to. Therefore, I must treat you as my enemies."

I could say nothing.

"Being that you were on that ship, intending to destroy me," the captain continued, "I could leave you in the ocean to drown now, and forget that you ever existed, as you are my enemies, planning to do the same to me. That would be my right."

"Perhaps it is the right of a savage," I answered, "but not that of a gentleman."

"Professor," replied the captain, "I am not a typical gentleman! I have left human society forever. I do not follow its rules, and demand that you never speak of such things again in front of me!"

He said this calmly, but I could see anger in his eyes as he spoke. I then realized that this man must have had experienced something terrible in his past, to force himself to escape to the bottoms of the ocean forever. On this submarine, he had created his own rules of life. After a long silence, the captain spoke again.

"I will allow you to remain onboard this submarine, but you will not be allowed to see certain things while here, and will be forced to remain in your rooms at certain times. Do you agree to these rules?"

"Yes, we accept, but do you mean that we will be free onboard, not treated as prisoners?"

"Yes."

"What freedom do we have, then, as we have no other choice than to remain here."

"You have the freedom to see what you will onboard this submarine, but you are not allowed the freedoms that my crew and I have."

"Do you mean that we will never leave this prison? We will forever be on this submarine? We will never again see our countries and our friends?"

"Yes, sir, but leaving such a place is not as difficult as you may believe," the captain said calmly.

"Well," exclaimed Ned Land, "I will never promise not to try to escape."

"I did not ask for your promise, Master Land," answered the captain coldly. "You are prisoners here; I will allow you to live onboard, although I could easily have you killed. You attacked me. You came here and have seen this secret life I have. Do you believe I will send you back to that cruel world so the whole world must know of my secret? Never!"

"So, sir," I said, "you simply give us the choice between life and death?"

"Yes."

Then, in a more gentle voice, he continued—

"Professor Aronnax, I have often read your book on the depths of the sea. You have studied as closely as you could from land, but now your studies will truly begin. Your time here will be valuable to you. You will soon see the mysteries of the ocean."

I was rather curious at hearing these words, and forgot for a moment that I was still a prisoner.

"Well, what shall I call you, then?" I asked, unable to say anything more.

"Sir," replied the captain, "You will know me only as Captain Nemo, and I will know you and your companions only as passengers on the Nautilus, my submarine."

Captain Nemo then ordered Conseil and Ned Land to their room, where a meal would be waiting for them. I was to follow Captain to an elegantly decorated dining room, where we sat together for breakfast. The plates on the table were priceless treasures, as well as the paintings on the wall and the furniture of the room. We were served a number of dishes, all coming from the depths of the ocean. I, however, could not guess what I was eating, although all the dishes were quite pleasing.

"I am sure you do not know most of these dishes," he said to me, "but they are nutritious. I have not eaten food from the earth for quite some time, and am never ill. This dish, which tastes like meat, comes from turtle. This milk came from a whale, this sugar from a sea fish, and this jam from sea plants, which tastes like fruit jam of the earth."

"You like the sea, Captain?"

"Yes, I love it! The sea is everything. It covers seven-tenths of the earth. The beginning of the earth started with the sea. On the surface of the earth, men are able to fight and kill, but under the waters, their powers disappear. There is only independence under these waters! No masters! I am free!"

He then became silent, remembering where he was again. He became calm, then spoke again.

"Now, Professor," he said, "if you wish to see the rest of the Nautilus, I am willing to show you."

I then followed the captain into another room, the library, where I saw a great number of books covering parts of the walls. I could not believe what I was seeing. There were rare books, found only in the great libraries of kings, but there, under the surface of the ocean waters, was an incredible collection.

"You must have six or seven thousand books here," I said, quite astonished.

"Twelve thousand, Professor Aronnax. These books are my only connection to human society. Just before I dove into the ocean for the first time on my Nautilus, I bought my last books and papers," he said before continuing. "This room is not only a library, but also a smoking room."

"A smoking room!" I cried.

"Please, have this cigar, Professor Aronnax."

He offered me the cigar, and I began smoking, surprised by its fine quality.

"It is excellent," I said, "but it is not tobacco."

"No!" answered the captain. "This tobacco comes from a sea plant." As he spoke, he opened another door into a luxurious sitting room, nearly thirty feet long, eighteen feet wide, and fifteen feet high. The ceiling and walls were decorated with priceless paintings, a collection more valuable than those of several museums around the world. Also displayed were several collections of the rarest sea animals from around the world, as well as various types of pearls: pink pearls from the waters of the Middle East, and green, yellow, blue, and black pearls from every other ocean. Some such pearls were larger than a bird's egg, worth millions. Captain Nemo must have spent a great deal to have such a collection, but just as I was thinking about this, he began to speak.

"I see you are examining my collection of pearls. I have collected each one with my own hand, and I have researched every sea on this earth."

"No museum on earth has such a collection as you have, but I still must see how this amazing Nautilus is able to travel to such mysterious places."

"You will soon discover the mysteries of this submarine, but first I must show you to your room, which is next to mine." He then took me to an elegant room, with a bed and several other pieces of furniture. The captain then showed me his room, which had nothing but a small iron bed and a table, with no comforts, only the necessary furniture. He then asked me to sit down, and he began to explain the mystery of the Nautilus.

(end of section)