20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

Using the United States Voice of America Special (VOA) English's 1,500 core vocabulary words, the adaptation of the classic by Jules Verne is written in in the form of "captions" for 88 illustrations. Primarily intended for students of English as a Second Language (ESL), the adaptation has an approximate count of 3,000 to 4,000 words. Also featured in http://www.easyenglishlearning.com


Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
An adaptation of the original Jules Verne classic story


1. Let me take you on an adventure. The likes of which you have never heard before. This happened in the bottom of the mysterious sea, beyond what the human mind can conceive.

2. My name is Professor Aronnax. I am a marine biologist at the Paris Museum of Natural History. I am also an author of a book entitled, “The Mysteries of the Great Ocean Depths”. It became quite popular that soon, my views on this field of natural history were in demand.

3. I was part of an expedition onboard the Abraham Lincoln, a warship of the United States government. Our assignment was to hunt down a “sea monster” that damaged ships the world over. The Scotia was the last to encounter the monster.

4. Before the Scotia’s, sea accident s did not cause much public attention. But experts agreed that whatever ripped the ship’s iron hull was not a reef but possibly a moving mass in the waters.

5. The Lincoln was led by Commander Farragut and his brave men. Also on board with the crew were an expert Canadian harpooner, Ned Land and my most-trusted assistant, Conseil. We left New York in June, with a crowd of 500,000 cheering us from the port of Brooklyn.

6. We sailed the seas from unexplored coasts of Japan to America and found nothing. The crewmen’s reaction varied from discouragement, to disbelief, from shame to anger.

7. Three months into the expedition, in the northern areas of the Pacific, our team caught sight of a glowing sea giant. We inspected it in amazement, “It is glowing!”, one officer cried.

8. “Could it be as I theorized it to be?” I wondered. “The narwhal bigger than any discovered before by man?” But, it couldn’t be! The sea was lit up from underneath. The monster gave off a gigantic oval glow. What sort of narwhal did that?

9. We had clearer view of it in the day. The creature had a long blackish body and appears to be 250 feet long. It rose about a meter above the waves. It rode the waves not too far from the Lincoln. Steam and water sprang from its powerful blowholes.

10. Ned Land tried to harpoon the beast. It’s surface was too thick and strong that everything bounced off it. We could not believe our eyes. This was no whale at all. Surely no sea creature could be of solid steel!

11. In all the excitement, Ned and I fell into the dark water. And the Lincoln? It was miles way! Neither Commander Farragut nor his men knew we had fallen. Only Conseil had jumped overboard to rescue me!

12. After hours on top of what appears like a giant steel whale, unseen hands pulled us into this amazing vessel. We were in our captor’s lair, now at the mercy of the creature! “Who and what lay ahead of us?” I wondered. “Cannibals!” Ned believed.

13. True, they spoke in a language of their own, but they did not look like cannibals to me. One, who had thick black hair and a heavy mustache, was short and looked very fit. The other one looked like a nobleman from Provence!

14. It took some time before we met the head of the mysterious ship. Before he slept, I asked Ned to consider, “How can cannibals welcome prisoners with a feast?” He didn’t argue with me on that.

15. I finally gave in to sleep, but in my dreams my thoughts raced, “Who is our captor? What does the letter “N” stand for”. What about the words “Mobilis In Mobili” or “moving within the moving element” --- I thought it was perfect for a ship like this!

16. Not long after, our host entered. Welcome to the Nautilus”, he declared. His name is just as strange --- Nemo, which means “no one” in Latin. He was the captain of this ship of rare treasures from the land and the sea.

17. Captain Nemo was dressed just as strangely as his crew, he was no cannibal either. He expressed himself with perfect ease. "I speak French, English, German, and Latin”, he said.

18. “Your coming has interfered with my whole existence", he started sharply. When I replied that this was not our intention, he accused, "Was it unintentionally that the Abraham Lincoln hunted me on every sea? “

19. It took him a while to decide but Captain Nemo assured us we were not to be treated as prisoners. It worried me though when he said we would never set foot on land again. We are now guests of a man who has declared himself free from human laws.

20. Conseil agreed this was an adventure of a lifetime. Ned, on the other hand, constantly talked of escape plans. And Captain Nemo? True, he feared we would betray his existence to the world, but I sensed he welcomed having a marine biologist as a guest.

21. “I too once lived on land”, he explained. Captain Nemo was a rich engineer who had parts of the Nautilus made before secretly putting these together in a far off island. He has been living in this new undersea world for three years now.

22. Captain Nemo said he had all he ever needed here. Except for art and his books, which he obviously loved, he took everything he ever needed straight from the sea. “I never touch the meat of land animals”, he said.

23. "There's a powerful and effortless force I can bend to do everything for the Nautilus. It lights me, it warms me, and is the soul of my mechanical equipment.” Before I could ask him more, Captain Nemo explained, “This force is electricity."

24. The navigation of the Nautilus is unique because Captain Nemo found a way to generate electricity from sodium and saltwater. The rest of his common to sea voyages ---- a compass, barometers, chronometers, a sextant, a captain’s spy glasses.

25. Captain Nemo seemed to welcome my company. We shared a desire for knowledge, though he pursued it from his self-imposed exile under the sea. I looked forward to learning with him and many times forgot I was, in fact, a prisoner.

26. Once, he took Conseil and I to hunt in an undersea forest that he claimed as his own. Hunting underwater was a new and exciting experience for us. I even saw dangerous creatures up close.

27. Our exploration never ended. We watched marine life through the ship’s wide crystal walls. The ocean is full of life. It is beautiful especially on mornings when the sun helps us see creatures in all shapes and colors.

28. Even watching the Nautilus’ crew haul 1,000 pounds of our food was fascinating. The nets yielded a catch of fine fish --- anglerfish, mackerel, goby, greenish codfish, gold tails, tasty yellowish albacore and goby.

29. Other times, the things we saw broke our hearts. The sea also showed stories of sadness, loss and death. Sunken ships, steamers and wrecks told us tales of catastrophes met by many sea voyages. It made Ned Land want to get back to land once again.

30. On the other hand, Conseil and I enjoyed the treasures and discoveries of our host. Captain Nemo’s once found military documents in a sunken warship sent by King Louis XVI to circumnavigate the globe in 1785!

31. As we passed the Torres Straits, the Nautilus struck a reef two miles from the shores of Gueboroa island in Papua New Guinea. There it remained motionless for five whole days, until the full moon brought the high tide to help move us out of that area.

32. With time in our hands we took a chance and sought Captain Nemo’s permission to go on land. “Would he agree?” we wondered. He allowed us to go ashore for a few days. Ned Land, Conseil and I could hardly wait!

33. We feasted on what we could find in the island. Ned Land missed fruits and meat most so he took these back to the Nautilus. He would have returned for more but we came under attack by native Papuans!

34. There was a hundred of them standing guard over the Nautilus that night. Yet, when they lit numerous fires on the beach, Captain Nemo remained unfazed, "Even if every islander in Papua gathered on that beach, we still have nothing to fear from their attacks!"

35. The next morning, when the first islander tried to get into the Nautilus, he was flung backward by a shock of electricity. He ran off wildly, howling in terror. Then, not long after, the Nautilus was free to leave the reef with the rising of the tide.

36. Not once did Captain Nemo appear worried over the Nautilus. He is always calm and in control. Until one day came when all could sense something was not right with him. She was extremely sad and terribly uneasy. “Are you a doctor, Professor Aronnax?” he asked.

37. Captain Nemo took me to a cabin next to the sailors' quarters. On a bed lay a badly-wounded man who could hardly breathe. I could tell he was in pain. The cloth around his head was bloody. I had to tell the captain, "I’m sorry, but this man will die soon."

38. Tears rolled down Captain Nemo’s eyes. This man, whom I first thought, never expressed emotions wept for the wounded man. Then he spoke, “He laid down his life for another member of the crew. That's the law for everyone on board the Nautilus.”

39. The next day, Ned, Conseil and I joined the captain and his men for a solemn underwater ceremony. We were in an underwater cemetery with a clearing with roughly piled rocks and a cross of coral. There, the men of the Nautilus paid their final respects to their friend and
brother.

40. By January 27, we were in the Indian Ocean not far from the huge Bay of Bengal. Here were had frightful sightings of sharks devouring corpses of Indian villagers, washed in with the waves of the Ganges!

41. These waters were so clear that I saw all the sights offered by the rich waters beyond the ship’s windows. You may say Conseil and I had settled into our new life here. Ned Land, on the other hand, continued to plot an escape.

42. He grew restless despite the comforts of the Nautilus. “Come on Professor, isn't it time we said goodbye to Captain Nemo?" Ned asked me one day. The Nautilus is approaching Europe. I replied, “After we arrive in home waters, we can do as we see fit.”

43. In truth, I wanted no arguments. Deep down, I wanted to fully enjoy the good fortune that had put me on board the Nautilus. Exploring Captain Nemo’s library and the writing of my memoirs, left me without a moment of boredom aboard the ship.

44. In northwest Ceylon, the captain invited us to another expedition. This time, to the Mannar oysterbank famous for its pearl fisheries. I would have been wholeheartedly excited, except he asked if I would mind swimming with sharks!

45. The next day, we put on our heavy copper spheres and air tanks and followed Captain Nemo to an undersea cave. In the midst of the calm waters was a giant clam that was over seven feet wide. When the captain reached inside, he pointed to a pearl the size of a coconut!

46. “What a superb natural curiousity!” I thought. Captain Nemo must have known about this pearl all the time. He insisted we not harvest it. No doubt thinking it could still grow. Even then the pearl was worth 10,000,000 francs.

47. On our way back from the cave, we saw an Indian pearl diver being attacked by a shark! He was filling a bag with oysters when the shark’s tail viciously struck him on a chest. Captain Nemo rushed to his rescue.

48. The shark was too big and powerful that soon, Captain Nemo himself was also in danger. It would have been all over with the captain but Ned Land, with the speed of lightning, struck the shark with a harpoon.

49. By February, we entered the Red Sea. From there, we moved on to the shores of Africa. Here, the sea was much deeper. Conseil feasted his eyes on more unusual fish while I continued my studies on all forms of sea life.

50. “Well, Professor, how do you like the Red Sea?” the captain once asked me. To which I replied, “Your remarkable craft is a magnificent help to my studies, Captain. It is a century ahead of its time.”

51. Yes, the Nautilus was truly fantastic. Instead of sailing around Africa, doubling the Cape of Good Hope, we made it to the Mediterranean by sailing through an underground channel flowing under the Suez to the Gulf of Pelussium!

52. Before entering the channel, we found ourselves in a herd of strange Red Sea creatures called a halicore or the dugong. Ned Land, a hunter to the end, harpooned one that measured over 20 feet long. He pierced the heart of the massive beast.

53. While Ned was excited with his catch, I was ecstatic over an invitation to join the captain at the pilot’s cage. From here, I could see everything to be seen in a trip through and underground, as well as an underwater channel.

54. Through this route, it took no more than an hour to reach the Mediterranean. And yet, Ned Land appeared unimpressed. He was more concerned that we were back in European waters. He pulled me aside once to say we had much to talk about.

55. “I am not sorry to be part of this extraordinary adventure, but I feel all this must come to an end.” Ned began. I struggled with the thought, but the Canadian was right, we could not expect Captain Nemo to set us free out of sheer goodwill so we planned our escape.

56. By mid-February, we already traveled a distance greater than a circle of the earth --- all in three and a half months! We were in the Mediterranean, in a region known for many sea tragedies. In Vigo, a bay within the Atlantic we discovered even more ships sunk at sea.

57. I would have continued celebrating our travels had Ned Land not advised me we would try to escape that night. I was torn between my desire for freedom and my reluctance to leave the Nautilus. It was more difficult when our chance for escape never came.

58. I could not escape with Ned and Conseil since Captain Nemo stayed with me that evening. He revealed to me secrets of sunken Spanish galleons filled with two million tons worth of silver that have never been found. “I have found them, Professor!” he exclaimed like a child.

59. “Now, do you understand why I am a billionaire?” the captain teased. Yet he softened to explain how he made sure these riches found their way to the hands of the oppressed and the unfortunate. He remained a compassionate man after all.

60. I grew more and more captivated by our host with every passing day. But nothing prepared me for more of the undersea treasures he shared with me. Once again the captain invited me to a special excursion.

61. He took me a thousand feet to the bottom of the Atlantic. My thoughts raced as we made our way past a thick forest of dead trees, petrified by the water of the sea. Beyond that we climbed a slope over eight hundred feet high. “What lies ahead of us?” I wondered.

62. At first all I saw was a plateau with outlines of huge castles and temples. “Could it be?” I wondered. Sensing my excitement, Captain Nemo picked up a piece of chalky rock and wrote this in a block of black basalt ----- ATLANTIS!

63. Many historians believed the lost continent of Atlantis was larger than Africa and Asia combined. This land, extending as far as Egypt met a cataclysmic end when earthquakes and floods caused it to sink within twenty-four hours.

64. Our exploration of Atlantis was cut short by our need to mine coal to produce more sodium to power the Nautilus. Yet even this regular task of the crew was an expedition. Soon we were in the most unusual of mines, drawing coal from the heart of an extinct volcano!

65. We reached the Arctic by mid-March. By then I noted that Ned’s long imprisonment was crushing his spirit. He would have stayed that way had we not witnessed the fiery battle waged by the Nautilus against the cachalots.

66. I would have thought that could make the captain turn back. But no! He was determined to continue moving south, even if we needed to go through icebergs to do so.

67. The captain set out to prove a theory about land in the South Pole. Captain Nemo’s hard work paid off when we finally found it. He proudly put up his black flag on a high hill overlooking the ice cap and claimed this land as his own.

68. “On this day, March 21st 1868, I claim this part of the earth!” he cried out. Ned, Conseil and I watched Captain Nemo as he stood there. It looked as if he was defying nature just as he has defied the law of man.

69. It has been five and half months now. We began to head back north. “Would this return journey bring as many surprises?” I wondered. All of a sudden, my dreaming was interrupted by a violent shock. The Nautilus collided with something!

70. “Is this just another incident, Captain?” I asked. The captain’s reply was serious, “A mountain of ice turned over and hit us.” We were imprisoned in a tunnel of solid ice. When Ned spoke, he said, “could this be the price for seeing what God did not mean for man to see?”

71. We had to find a way to get out of that ice trap. The captain ordered his men to take turns chipping at the ice. If we could not get new air from the surface, we may die from asphyxiation or be crushed by the ice as that part of the sea continued to freeze.

72. Everyone in the Nautilus helped out. To speed up work outside, those who worked on the ice got tanks of fresh air. Meanwhile, the others breathed with difficulty inside the Nautilus, resting and waiting for their turn.

73. By the fifth day, I drifted in and out of consciousness from breathing unhealthy air. Conseil stayed by my side sighing, “If I could stop breathing so Monsieur might have more air!”

74. Not only did my head ache, I was as dizzy as a drunken man. My face turned purple, my lips were blue and I could no longer feel my body. Yet, work continued outside the Nautilus. If we stopped, we would all die sooner.

75. I must have lost consciousness. The next thing I knew, I was out of the sofa and into the platform. I was finally breathing. Ned and Conseil were there with me. “Where to now? The Pacific or the Atlantic?” Ned demanded with sarcasm.

76. When we crossed the Antarctic Circle we sped through Cape Horn and continued northward through the Atlantic past the Faukland Islands. Ned’s spirit was crushed once again as the Nautilus stayed far from the coasts of Brazil.

77. Six months on the Nautilus and 17,000 leagues traveled. “What else could top this?” I wondered. I got my answer when we came under attack by creatures we thought only existed in legends. A giant squid was attacking the Nautilus!

78. To this day I am haunted by the screams of the crewman we lost that day. Captain Nemo tried to rescue him with a powerful blow of an ax. And yet, not even this masterful stroke could wrench the man out of the tentacles that imprisoned him.

79. Several days after the incident, I visited the captain. He had kept locked in seclusion since he openly wept for the death of his crewman. He showed me a manuscript ---- his own story written in several languages. “This will not perish with me,” he said.

80. More days passed and we grew more impatient. Captain Nemo too had become more of a recluse. He seldom left his room except to defy a cyclone in the Gulf Stream. Yet, neither storm nor lightning could quell the storm within.

81. In June, we saw a ship about six miles away. “We’re saved!” we cried. Then, the ship began attacking the Nautilus. Captain Nemo grew mad at its sight, “There lies everything I hate! They took away all I loved—homeland, wife, children, father and mother!

82. For hours he waited, like a hunter watching his prey intently. It was over not long after. The Nautilus sunk the ship. I saw the large gaping hole on its side as the warship sank to the ocean floor. I was paralyzed in anguish, “Those poor men!”

83. Over three weeks past and before anyone from the crew reappeared. We planned our escape. The Nautilus had begun drifting without a definite course. When I did see the captain, he seemed to be in anguish. "O almighty God! Enough! Enough!" He cried.

84. I wish I knew what it was that has brought this Man of the Waters to near madness. Yet we focused on fleeing the Nautilus. That was the last I saw of Captain Nemo. Melting into sobs, he knelt before a portrait of a still-youthful woman with two little children.

85. We made our escape as the Nautilus was caught in a vicious spiraling madness. The crewmen were screaming, "Maelstrom!" Before any of us could react, our boat broke off from the Nautilus.

86. When I regained consciousness, I was lying in a fisherman's hut on the Lofoten Islands. Ned and Conseil were at my bedside clasping my hands. “Was I dreaming?” I wondered at first. We had traveled 20,000 leagues across the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic!

87. And so I share with you my adventure in a world beyond human reach. No fact has been omitted. No detail is exaggerated. All of it is
true. Yet, will anyone believe me? I don't know. Ultimately it's unimportant. I want this story told.

88. What about the Nautilus? Was it swallowed up in the whirlpool? Did Captain Nemo survive? I didn’t have the answers. I simply found myself grateful for our lives while I prayed the storm in Captain Nemo’s heart might finally come to a peaceful end.