FIRST PART
CHAPTER 11: The Nautilus
(continued)
Aside and in special compartments, strings of supremely beautiful
pearls were spread out, the electric light flecking them with
little fiery sparks: pink pearls pulled from saltwater fan
shells in the Red Sea; green pearls from the rainbow abalone;
yellow, blue, and black pearls, the unusual handiwork of various
mollusks from every ocean and of certain mussels from rivers up north;
in short, several specimens of incalculable worth that had been
oozed by the rarest of shellfish. Some of these pearls were
bigger than a pigeon egg; they more than equaled the one that
the explorer Tavernier sold the Shah of Persia for 3,000,000 francs,
and they surpassed that other pearl owned by the Imam of Muscat,
which I had believed to be unrivaled in the entire world.
Consequently, to calculate the value of this collection was,
I should say, impossible. Captain Nemo must have spent millions
in acquiring these different specimens, and I was wondering what
financial resources he tapped to satisfy his collector's fancies,
when these words interrupted me:
"You're examining my shells, professor? They're indeed able
to fascinate a naturalist; but for me they have an added charm,
since I've collected every one of them with my own two hands,
and not a sea on the globe has escaped my investigations."
"I understand, captain, I understand your delight at strolling
in the midst of this wealth. You're a man who gathers his
treasure in person. No museum in Europe owns such a collection
of exhibits from the ocean. But if I exhaust all my wonderment
on them, I'll have nothing left for the ship that carries them!
I have absolutely no wish to probe those secrets of yours!
But I confess that my curiosity is aroused to the limit by this Nautilus,
the motor power it contains, the equipment enabling it to operate,
the ultra powerful force that brings it to life. I see some instruments
hanging on the walls of this lounge whose purposes are unknown to me.
May I learn--"
"Professor Aronnax," Captain Nemo answered me, "I've said you'd be free
aboard my vessel, so no part of the Nautilus is off-limits to you.
You may inspect it in detail, and I'll be delighted to act
as your guide."
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