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A STI NG I L L U ST RATE D C LA SS IC

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20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

JULES VERNE

20,000

LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA by

Jules Verne Original Novel abridged for

Modern Readers

LITTLE SCHOLARZ PVT LTD. INDIA

This edition first originated and published in 2019

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© LITTLE SCHOLARZ PVT. LTD. 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA ISBN: 978-93-86063-46-5 HSN Code: 49011010 Book Code: S-436 No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in India

C ontents PART-I  A Runaway Reef

... 7

 The Pros and Cons

... 10

 As Master Wishes

... 12

 Ned Land

... 13

 At Random!

... 15

 At Full Steam

... 18

 A Whale of Unknown Species

... 21

 “Mobilis in Mobili”

... 23

 The Tantrums of Ned Land

... 27

 The Man of the Waters

... 28

 The Nautilus

... 30

 Everything through Electricity

... 33

 Some Figures

... 35

 The Black Current

... 38

 An Invitation in Writing

... 40

 Strolling the Plains

... 44

 An Underwater Forest

... 46

 Four Thousand Leagues Under the Pacific

... 51

 Vanikoro

... 53

 The Torres Strait

... 56

 Some Days Ashore

... 58

 The Lightning Bolts of Captain Nemo

... 60

 “Aegri Somnia”

... 64

 The Coral Realm

... 67

PART-II  The Indian Ocean

... 71

 A New Proposition from Captain Nemo

... 72

 A Pearl Worth Ten Million

... 73

 The Red Sea

... 77

 Arabian Tunnel

... 78

 The Greek Islands

... 81

 The Mediterranean in Forty-Eight Hours

... 85

 The Bay of Vigo

... 88

 A Lost Continent

... 92

 The Underwater Coalfields

... 96

 The Sargasso Sea

... 99

 Sperm Whales and Baleen Whales

... 101

 The Ice Bank

... 104

 The South Pole

... 108

 Accident or Incident?

... 110

 Shortage of Air

... 114

 From Cape Horn to the Amazon

... 118

 The Devilfish

... 120

 The Gulf Stream

... 126

 In Latitude 47 degrees 24’ and Longitude 17 degrees 28’

... 131

 A Mass Execution

... 133

 The Last Words of Captain Nemo

... 141

 Conclusion

... 147

 Glossary (word-meanings)

... 150

 Short and Long Questions

... 151



6

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA



PART-I

1

A Runaway Reef

T

he year 1866 was marked by a bizarre development. Over a period of time several ships had encountered “an enormous thing” at sea, a long spindle-shaped object, sometimes giving off a phosphorescent glow, infinitely bigger and faster than any whale. This phenomenal creature greatly exceeded the dimensions of anything then known to ichthyologists. It caused worldwide excitement. On July 20, 1866, the steamer Governor Higginson, from the Calcutta & Burnach Steam Navigation Co., encountered this moving mass five miles off the eastern shores of Australia. Captain Baker at first thought he was in the presence of an unknown reef; when two waterspouts shot out of this inexplicable 

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

7

object and sprang hissing into the air some 150 feet. Similar events were observed later also. This extraordinary cetacean could transfer itself from one locality to another with startling swiftness. Fifteen days later the monster was sighted 2,000 leagues farther. An interminable debate then broke out between believers and skeptics in the scholarly societies and scientific journals. For six months the war seesawed. The monster again became an islet, rock, or reef, but a runaway reef, unfixed and elusive. It came to light when on March 5, 1867, the Moravian from the Montreal Ocean Co., had an accident with 237 passengers aboard, when no obstacle could be found in the ocean. Three weeks later it reenacted under identical conditions. The event caused an uproar. Then a similar accident happened with the Scotia on April 13, 1867. The Scotia hadn’t run afoul of something, it had been fouled, and by a cutting or perforating instrument rather than a blunt one. 8

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA



Captain Anderson called an immediate halt. Within moments they had located a hole two meters in width on the steamer’s underside. This breach in the sheet iron was so perfectly formed, no punch could have done a cleaner job of it. Consequently, it must have been produced by a perforating tool of uncommon toughness—plus, after being launched with prodigious power and then piercing four centimeters of sheet iron, this tool had needed to withdraw itself by a backward motion truly inexplicable. This resulted in arousing public passions all over again. Indeed, from this moment on, any maritime casualty without an established cause was charged to the monster’s account. This outrageous animal had to shoulder respon-sibility for all derelict vessels, whose numbers are unfortunately considerable, since out of those 3,000 ships whose losses are recorded annually at the marine insurance bureau, the figure for steam or sailing ships supposedly lost with all hands, in the absence of any news, amounts to at least 200! Hence the public demanded straight out that, at all cost, the seas be purged of this fearsome cetacean.  

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

9

2

The Pros and Cons

W

hen I arrived in New York, the question was at the boiling point. The hypothesis of a drifting islet or an elusive reef, or a floating hull or some other enormous wreckage. The possibility of an “underwater boat” of tremendous motor power was also ruled out. Now, the only acceptable hypothesis was the presence of a monster of colossal strength. I was summoned by The New York Herald to formulate my views on that matter. I published a well-padded article in the issue of April 30. “The deepest parts of the ocean are totally unknown to us.” In New York preparations were under way for an expedition designed to chase this narwhale. A high-speed frigate, the Abraham Lincoln, was fitted out for putting to sea as soon as possible, under Commander Farragut. 10

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA



The Abraham Lincoln

I received a letter three hours before the Abraham Lincoln left its Brooklyn pier inviting me to join the expedition as France’s representative, if I so liked. 



20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

11

3

As Master Wishes

I

accepted the American government’s offer. I called Conseil, my manservant who went with me on all my journeys. Soon, we arrived at the Abraham Lincoln. I asked for Commander Farragut. “Professor Pierre Aronnax?” he said to me. “The same,” I replied. I was taken to the cabin that had been set aside for me. The blades of the Abraham Lincoln moved out majestically. The frigate then went along the New Jersey coast. Three o’clock then sounded. The harbor pilot went down into his dinghy and rejoined a little schooner waiting for him to leeward. The frigate skirted the flat, yellow coast of Long Island; and at eight o’clock in the evening, after the lights of Fire Island had vanished into the northwest, we ran at full steam onto the dark waters of the Atlantic.  12

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA



4

Ned Land

C

ommander Farragut was a good seaman. His ship and he were one. On the cetacean question no doubts arose in his mind. The ship’s officers shared the views of their leader. Besides, Commander Farragut had mentioned that a certain sum of $2,000.00 was waiting for the man who first sighted the animal. Commander Farragut had carefully equipped his ship with all the gear needed to fish for a gigantic cetacean. Besides, he had Ned Land, the King of Harpooners. Ned Land was a Canadian who had no equal in his dangerous trade. Ned Land was a Canadian and about forty years old. He was powerfully built and sometimes headstrong. He took a definite liking to me. He flatly didn’t believe in the unicorn, and alone on board, he didn’t share the general 

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

13

He took a definite liking to me.

conviction. I tried to convince him but my power to convince him still eluded me. Ned agreed that deep in the sea, such animals would need to be just very strong. However, still, his point was “if they exist.”  14

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA



5

At Random!

W

ithout attempting the narrow Strait of Magellam we churned the waters of the Pacific. With panting chests and anxious eyes, we each would observe the cetacean’s movements. But what a waste of energy! The Abraham Lincoln would change course and race after the animal sighted, only to find an ordinary baleen whale or a common sperm whale that soon disappeared amid a chorus of curses! Ned Land still kept up the most tenacious skepticism. By the 27th of July we tackled the seas of the central Pacific. We were finally in the area of the monster’s latest antics! Hearts were pounding hideously, The entire crew suffered from a nervous excitement. Nobody ate, nobody slept. 

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA

15

The series of “Everlasting Illustrated Classics” is a fabulous collection of the classics retold for modern readers with catchy & lively illustrations.

20,000 leagues under the sea Jules Verne The story begins in the year 1866, when ships of several nations spot a mysterious sea monster. The United States government assembles an expedition in New York City to find and destroy the monster. Professor Pierre Aronnax, who happens to be in New York at the time, receives a last-minute invitation to join the expedition which he accepts. The expedition departs Brooklyn aboard the United States Navy frigate Abraham Lincoln and travels south around Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean. The ship finds the monster after a long search and then attacks the beast, which damages the ship’s rudder. The three protagonists are then hurled into the water and grasp hold of the ‘hide’ of the creature, which they find, to their surprise, to be a submarine very far ahead of its era....

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