20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (33 page)
T
HUS ENDS THE voyage under the seas. What passed during that night—how the boat escaped from the eddies of the maëlstrom—how Ned Land, Conseil, and myself ever came out of the gulf, I cannot tell.
HUS ENDS THE voyage under the seas. What passed during that night—how the boat escaped from the eddies of the maëlstrom—how Ned Land, Conseil, and myself ever came out of the gulf, I cannot tell.
But when I returned to consciousness, I was lying in a fisherman’s hut, on the Loffoden Isles. My two companions, safe and sound, were near me holding my hands. We embraced each other heartily.
At that moment we could not think of returning to France. The means of communication between the north of Norway and the south are rare. And I am therefore obliged to wait for the steamboat running monthly from Cape North.
And, among the worthy people who have so kindly received us, I revise my record of these adventures once more. Not a fact has been omitted, not a detail exaggerated. It is a faithful narrative of this incredible expedition
in an element inaccessible to man, but to which Progress will one day open a road.
in an element inaccessible to man, but to which Progress will one day open a road.
Shall I be believed? I do not know. And it matters little, after all. What I now affirm is, that I have a right to speak of these seas, under which, in less than ten months, I have crossed 20,000 leagues in that submarine tour of the world, which has revealed so many wonders.
But what has become of the
Nautilus
? Did it resist the pressure of the maelstrom? Does Captain Nemo still live? And does he still follow under the ocean those frightful retaliations? Or, did he stop after the last hecatomb?
Nautilus
? Did it resist the pressure of the maelstrom? Does Captain Nemo still live? And does he still follow under the ocean those frightful retaliations? Or, did he stop after the last hecatomb?
Will the waves one day carry to him this manuscript containing the history of his life? Shall I ever know the name of this man? Will the missing vessel tell us by its nationality that of Captain Nemo?
I hope so. And I also hope that his powerful vessel has conquered the sea at its most terrible gulf, and that the
Nautilus
has survived where so many other vessels have been lost! If it be so—if Captain Nemo still inhabits the ocean, his adopted country, may hatred be appeased in that savage heart! May the contemplation of so many wonders extinguish for ever the spirit of vengeance! May the judge disappear, and the philosopher continue the peaceful exploration of the sea! If his destiny be strange, it is also sublime. Have I not understood it myself? Have I not lived ten months of this unnatural life? And to the question asked by Ecclesiastes three thousand years ago, “That which is far off and exceeding deep, who can find it out?” two men alone of all now living have the right to give an answer—
Nautilus
has survived where so many other vessels have been lost! If it be so—if Captain Nemo still inhabits the ocean, his adopted country, may hatred be appeased in that savage heart! May the contemplation of so many wonders extinguish for ever the spirit of vengeance! May the judge disappear, and the philosopher continue the peaceful exploration of the sea! If his destiny be strange, it is also sublime. Have I not understood it myself? Have I not lived ten months of this unnatural life? And to the question asked by Ecclesiastes three thousand years ago, “That which is far off and exceeding deep, who can find it out?” two men alone of all now living have the right to give an answer—
CAPTAIN NEMO AND MYSELF.
“You like the sea, Captain?”
“Yes; I love it! The sea is everything. It covers seven-tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides. The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence. It is nothing but love and emotion; it is the ‘Living Infinite,’ as one of your poets has said. In fact, Professor, Nature manifests herself in it by her three kingdoms—mineral, vegetable, and animal. The sea is the vast reservoir of Nature. The globe began with sea, so to speak; and who knows if it will not end with it? In it is supreme tranquility. The sea does not belong to despots. Upon its surface men can still exercise unjust laws, fight, tear one another to pieces, and be carried away with terrestrial horrors. But at thirty feet below its level, their reign ceases, their influence is quenched, and their power disappears. Ah! sir, live—live in the bosom of the waters! There only is independence! There I recognise no masters! There I am free!”
WHAT COULD AUTHORS as diverse as Mark Twain, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Rudyard Kipling, Emily Dickinson, Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, Anne Frank, Boris Pasternak, and Louisa May Alcott possibly have in common?
They wrote in different languages, and wrote of different cultures, different genders, different centuries, and different attitudes. Yet each of them wrote something—a book, a poem, a journal—that has lasted across time and space in the universe of literature. Each of them has created lasting images and insights through words.
These authors join the ranks of storytellers from all the lands of the world, storytellers whose voices are as distinctive and resonant as the Japanese writers Anno and Basho, the Native American myth-makers whose works have been collected by modern writers such as Joseph Bruchac, the African tellers of tales whose stories have been assembled by Zora Neale Hurston and Ashley Bryan, and the Finnish master of folktales Elias Lönnrot. Add to that list names
like Goethe, T. H. White, Chief Seattle, L. M. Montgomery, Plutarch, Dostoyevsky, Madeleine L’Engle, the brothers Grimm, Virginia Hamilton, Homer, Willa Cather, William Wordsworth, J. R. R. Tolkien, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Robert de Boron, Lloyd Alexander … and so many, many others.
like Goethe, T. H. White, Chief Seattle, L. M. Montgomery, Plutarch, Dostoyevsky, Madeleine L’Engle, the brothers Grimm, Virginia Hamilton, Homer, Willa Cather, William Wordsworth, J. R. R. Tolkien, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Robert de Boron, Lloyd Alexander … and so many, many others.
Diverse as these writers (and their books) might be, could they possibly share some common quality that has vaulted them into literary immortality? Is it possible that there is a single road, as ancient as the urge to create, stretching all the way from distant galaxies to a secret garden on Earth to a spot deep under the sea?
If such a common quality exists, it is extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, to find. It is easier to predict next week’s weather than to predict which books are destined to last and which are not. The problem is complicated because some books may be deemed timeless in one era or culture, only to be forgotten or despised in another. Some books brimming with wisdom, beauty, and originality may live only terribly brief lives—or never see the light of day. And some books, sadly, may remain in print less because of how they are written than how they are used (or misused) by the powers of a particular society.
My own view is that whether a book lasts for a minute or a millennium is not at all important. What is important is that, sometimes, the process of writing a book can utterly transform the life of its author. What is important is that, sometimes, a book can reach across cultures and centuries to touch the lives of its readers deeply.
That kind of book says something remarkable, something honest, something fundamentally human. Through whatever vehicle—a character, a relationship, a place, a feeling, a dilemma, a moment, or an idea—such a book takes on a life of its own. It becomes immortal.
Books of that quality are, in some elemental way, true. But this kind of truth has nothing to do with whether the book is called fiction or non-fiction. Nor does it depend on the genre, the number of footnotes, or the choice of language.
Rather, it depends on whether the book speaks believably to human experience, whether it brings to life some of our most basic yearnings and hopes and fears, whether it has won the trust of intelligent and open-hearted readers.
Rather, it depends on whether the book speaks believably to human experience, whether it brings to life some of our most basic yearnings and hopes and fears, whether it has won the trust of intelligent and open-hearted readers.
For me, then, a book that lasts through time is a book that is true. True in the sense that I believe in it completely. True in the sense that I welcome it into the library of my soul.
—T. A. Barron
T. A. Barron is the author of
Heartlight, The Ancient One,
and
The Merlin Effect
, all published in paperback by Tor Books.
Heartlight, The Ancient One,
and
The Merlin Effect
, all published in paperback by Tor Books.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
All new material in this edition is copyright © 1995 by Thomas A. Barron.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Cover art by Matt Stawicki
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Tor
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
eISBN 9781466803534
First eBook Edition : October 2011
EAN 978-0812-55092-4
First edition: October 1995
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