Our beverage consisted
of clear water to which, following the captain's example, I added
some drops of a fermented liquor extracted by the Kamchatka process
from the seaweed known by name as Rhodymenia palmata.
At first Captain Nemo ate without pronouncing a single word.
Then he told me:
"Professor, when I proposed that you go hunting in my Crespo forests,
you thought I was contradicting myself. When I informed you that it
was an issue of underwater forests, you thought I'd gone insane.
Professor, you must never make snap judgments about your fellow man."
"But, captain, believe me--"
"Kindly listen to me, and you'll see if you have grounds for accusing
me of insanity or self-contradiction."
"I'm all attention."
"Professor, you know as well as I do that a man can live underwater
so long as he carries with him his own supply of breathable air.
For underwater work projects, the workman wears a waterproof suit
with his head imprisoned in a metal capsule, while he receives air
from above by means of force pumps and flow regulators."
"That's the standard equipment for a diving suit," I said.
"Correct, but under such conditions the man has no freedom.
He's attached to a pump that sends him air through an india-rubber hose;
it's an actual chain that fetters him to the shore, and if we were
to be bound in this way to the Nautilus, we couldn't go far either.
Pages:
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193