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This article focuses on the novel.
For the Disney film, see "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a science fiction novel featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by French author Jules Verne in 1870.

Traditional Plot

During the year 1866, ships of several nations spot a mysterious sea monster, which some suggest to be a giant narwhal. The United States government assembles an expedition in New York City to find and destroy the monster. Professor Pierre Aronnax, a French marine biologist and narrator of the story, who happens to be in New York at the time, receives a last-minute invitation to join the expedition which he accepts. Canadian whaler and master harpoonist Ned Land and Aronnax's faithful servant Conseil are also brought aboard.

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. They are quickly captured and brought inside the vessel, where they meet its enigmatic creator and commander, Captain Nemo.

The rest of the story follows the adventures of the protagonists aboard the creature—the submarine, the Nautilus—which was built in secrecy and now roams the seas free from any land-based government. Captain Nemo's motivation is implied to be both a scientific thirst for knowledge and a desire for revenge on (and self-imposed exile from) civilization. Nemo explains that his submarine is electrically powered and can perform advanced marine biology research; he also tells his new passengers that although he appreciates conversing with such an expert as Aronnax, maintaining the secrecy of his existence requires never letting them leave. Aronnax and Conseil are enthralled by the undersea adventures, but Ned Land can only think of escape.

They visit many places under the oceans, some real-life places, others completely fictional. The travelers witness the real corals of the Red Sea, the wrecks of the battle of Vigo Bay, the Antarctic ice shelves, the Transatlantic telegraph cable and the fictional submerged land of Atlantis. The travelers also use diving suits to hunt sharks and other marine life with air-guns and have an underwater funeral for a crew member who died when an accident occurred under mysterious—and unknown to the reader—conditions inside the Nautilus. When the Nautilus returns to the Atlantic Ocean, a pack of "poulpes" (usually translated as a giant squid, although in French "poulpe" means "octopus") attacks the vessel and kills a crew member.

Throughout the story Captain Nemo is suggested to have exiled himself from the world after an encounter with the forces that occupied his country that had devastating effects on his family. Not long after the incident of the poulpes, Nemo suddenly changes his behavior toward Aronnax, avoiding him. Aronnax no longer feels the same and begins to sympathize with Ned Land. Near the end of the book, the Nautilus is attacked by a warship of some nation that made Nemo suffer. Filled with hatred and revenge, Nemo ignores Aronnax's pleas for mercy. Nemo—nicknamed angel of hatred by Aronnax—destroys the ship, ramming it just below the waterline, sinking it into the bottom of the sea, much to Aronnax's horror, as he watches the ship plunge into the abyss. Nemo bows before the pictures of his wife and children and is plunged into deep depression after this encounter.

For several days after this, the protagonists' situation changes. No one seems to be on board any longer and the Nautilus moves about randomly. Ned Land is even more depressed, Conseil fears for Ned's life, and Aronnax, horrified at what Nemo had done to the ship, can no longer stand the situation either. One evening, Ned Land announces an opportunity to escape. Although Aronnax wants to leave Nemo, whom he now holds in horror, he still wishes to see him for the last time. But he knows that Nemo would never let him escape, so he has to avoid meeting him. Before the escape, however, he sees him one last time (although secretly), and hears him say "Almighty God! Enough! Enough!." Aronnax immediately goes to his companions and they are ready to escape. But while they loosen the dinghy, they discover that the Nautilus has wandered into the Moskenstraumen, more commonly known as the "Maelstrom." They manage to escape the danger and find refuge on a nearby island off the coast of Norway, but the fate of Nautilus is unknown.

Show Adaptation

Trivia

  • Chapter XIX of an abridged edition of the novel[1] appears in the storybook Once Upon a Time Volume II.[2] It is from the book Works of Jules Verne, Volume 5 (link to page), translated into English by Charles F. Horne in 1911. Note that chapter XIX "Torres Straits" of the abridged edition does not correspond to the complete, unabridged edition, where the chapter "Torres Straits" is chapter 20, not 19.[3] Also note that the excerpt on page two actually takes place before the excerpt on page one in the original version: ("Only You")


PAGE ONE

Captain Nemo looked at me curiously, and made a nega-
tive gesture, as much as to say that nothing would force
him to set foot on terra firma again. Then he said:
"Besides, M. Aronnax, the Nautilus is not lost; it will
carry you yet into the midst of the marvels of the ocean.
Our voyage is only begun, and I do not wish to be
deprived so soon of the honour of your company."
"However, Captain Nemo," I replied, without noticing
the ironical turn of his phrase, "the Nautilus ran
aground in open sea. Now the tides are not strong in
the Pacific; and, if you cannot lighten the Nautilus, I do
not see how it will be reinflated."
"The tides are not strong in the Pacific: you are right
there, Professor; but in Torres Straits one finds still a
difference of a yard and a half between the level of high
and low seas. To-day is 4th January, and in five days
the moon will be full. Now, I shall be very much aston-
ished if that satellite does not raise these masses of water
sufficiently, and render me a service that I should be
indebted to her for."
Having said this, Captain Nemo, followed by his lieu-
tenant, redescended to the interior of the Nautilus. As to
the vessel, it moved not, and was immovable.


PAGE TWO
(unseen text is set in fuchsia)

The Captain must be very sure of his route, for I see
there pieces of coral that would do for its keel if it only
touched them slightly."
Indeed the situation was dangerous, but the Nautilus
seemed to slide like magic off these rocks. It did not
follow the routes of the Astrolabe and the Zelee exactly,
for they proved fatal to Dumont d'Urville. It bore more
northwards, coasted the Islands of Murray, and came
back to the south-west towards Cumberland Passage. I
thought it was going to pass it by, when, going back to
north-west, it went through a large quantity of islands
and islets little known, towards the Island Sound and
Canal Mauvais.
I wondered if Captain Nemo, foolishly imprudent, would
steer his vessel into that pass where Dumont d'Urville's
two corvettes touched; when, swerving again, and cut-
ting straight through to the west, he steered for the
Island of Gilboa.
It was then three in the afternoon. The tide began to
recede, being quite full. The Nautilus approached the
island, that I still saw, with its remarkable border of
screw-pines. He stood off it at about two miles distant.
Suddenly a shock overthrew me. The Nautilus just (…)


Characters Featured

Original character Adapted as First featured in
Captain Nemo Captain Nemo "Dark Waters"
Captain Nemo's first mate Liam "Dark Waters"
Giant squid Giant squids "Nasty Habits"
Krakens "Dark Waters"

Groups Featured

Original group Adapted as First featured in
Nautilus crew members Nautilus crew members "Dark Waters"

Vehicles Featured

Original Vehicle Adapted as First featured in
Nautilus Nautilus "Dark Waters"

Items Featured

Original item Adapted as First featured in
Diving suits Diving suits "Dark Waters"

References

  1. Project Gutenberg's Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (slightly abridged), by Jules Verne. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved on September 22, 2020. “CHAPTER XIX: TORRES STRAITS. "The Captain must be very sure of his route, for I see there pieces of coral that would do for its keel if it only touched them slightly." (...) / Captain Nemo looked at me curiously, and made a negative gesture, as much as to say that nothing would force him to set foot on terra firma again. Then he said: (...)” (This eBook contains the text that appears in the storybook.)
  2. 2.0 2.1 File:522InMyBook.png
  3. The Project Gutenberg eBook, 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, by Jules Verne, Translated by Frederick Paul Walter, Illustrated by Milo Winter. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved on September 22, 2020. “CHAPTER 20. The Torres Strait. (...) "That damned captain," the Canadian went on, "must really be sure of his course, because if these clumps of coral so much as brush us, they'll rip our hull into a thousand pieces!" (...) / Captain Nemo gave me an odd look and gestured no. Which told me pretty clearly that nothing would ever force him to set foot on a land mass again. Then he said: (...)” (Note: This eBook contains a different text than the one that appears in the storybook, because it has a different translator.)
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