Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Movement in Motion

Quick as lightning, they shove us roughly into this dive boat.My partner and I barely had time to get our bearings.How they felt when they entered this floating prison, I don't know: but I shuddered myself, felt my skin go cold.Who are we dealing with?No doubt dealing with some new breed of pirates who roam the seas. As soon as we entered, the narrow cover on the top was closed immediately, and there was a dark mass all around.From a bright place, suddenly into darkness, my eyes can see nothing.I felt my bare feet stepping firmly on an iron ladder.Ned Land and Conseil, tightly held, followed me.A door opened under the iron ladder, and as soon as we walked in, the door closed with a loud noise.

We are the only ones who are shut inside now.Where is it?I can't tell, I can't even guess.There was total darkness, so dark that after a few minutes my eyes missed even one of those blurred lights that usually float around in the darkest of nights. Ned Land was very indignant at the way we were being treated, and Chi vented his anger to his heart's content. "Bastards!" he cried, "they treat their guests as well as the Caledonians! They only want to eat human flesh! I don't wonder, but I declare that I won't let them eat it without protest." I!"

"Be quiet, my friend Ned Land, be quiet," Conseil said calmly, "you don't have to get angry until then. We haven't been put in the oven yet!" "Yes, not in the oven yet," replied the Canadian, "but we are in the oven, no doubt about it. It's so dark. Hmph! Fortunately, I still have my sharp knife with me, and I need it When it's time, I will see clearly. These thieves, let's see who dares to attack me first..." "Ned Land, don't lose your temper," I said to the harpooner. "Quickness is useless, it only spoils things, and who knows if anyone is listening to us! We might as well go first." Ideas know where we are."

I groped and walked slowly.After walking five steps, I came across an iron wall made of iron plates riveted with screws.Then I turned back and bumped into a wooden table with square stools beside it.The floor of this prison is covered with thick hemp mats, and there is no sound of footsteps when walking.There is no trace of a window on the bare walls.Conseil came from the opposite direction and bumped into me; we returned to the middle of the cabin, which was about twenty feet long and ten feet wide.As for height, even though Ned Land was tall, he could not measure it. Half an hour passed without any change in our condition, when suddenly the darkness before our eyes changed to extreme light.Our prison was suddenly lit, that is to say, the room was suddenly filled with a light so intense that at first I could hardly stand the light.Seeing this white, intense light, I recognized it as the beautiful phosphorescent lightning that occurred around the submarine.Naturally, I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them again, and I saw that the light came from a translucent hemisphere installed on the roof of the cabin.

"Okay! We can see clearly now," cried Quand Land, knife in hand, in a defensive posture. "Yes, we can see clearly," I replied, contradicting it, "but our situation is as dark as before." "May you be patient, sir," said Conseil calmly. The sudden brightness of the cabin just allowed me to take a closer look at the environment inside.There is only one table and five stools in the room.I can't see the door, it seems to be closed tightly.No sound reached our ears.Inside the boat there seemed to be a deathly silence.Is it walking, on the surface of the sea, or under the sea?I have no way of guessing.

But that ball of light never lights up for no reason.I reckon someone will come on board.If they had forgotten us, they would not have lighted this prison. Sure enough, I was right.Soon there was a knock of the latch, the door opened, and two men walked in. The one was short, muscular, broad-shouldered, muscular, with a strong head, shaggy black hair, a bushy beard, piercing eyes, and a demeanor typical of a Prozenté. Southern spirit.Diderot was right in thinking that human gestures are metaphorical, and this short man is a living proof of that.It can be felt that his usual language must be full of various metaphorical words in rhetoric.Of course I did not have the opportunity to confirm this, because he spoke to me in a peculiar and incomprehensible language.

The second visitor deserves a more detailed description.A disciple of Gradioli or Engel might have known what he was like by looking at his face.Without hesitation, I saw at once the main features of this man: first, self-confidence, for his head was set proudly in the arc formed by his shoulders, and his dark eyes watched calmly; , because of his complexion, which is pale and not red, which means the stability of his blood; third, strong determination, which can be seen from the rapid contraction of his eye socket muscles; I would also add that the man had a very haughty look, and his firm eyes seemed to reflect a high degree of spirituality.Judging from his overall appearance.Judging by the consistency of his demeanor and expression, according to Mr. Xiangmian, there is no doubt that he is a blunt and straightforward person.

Seeing this person in front of me, I naturally felt very at ease in my heart, and I expected our meeting to go well. Whether this man was thirty-five or fifty, I am not sure.He was tall in stature, with a broad forehead, a straight nose, straight lips, regular teeth, and slender hands which, in the parlance of palmistry, were peculiarly "elfin," that is to say.Just right for his emotional heart.This man may be the most perfect human form I have ever met.There is also a subtle feature, his two eyes are slightly farther apart from each other, so that he can see the whole scene at the same time.This feature - which I later proved - gave him even greater eyesight than Ned Land's.When this person is staring at something, he twitches his eyebrows and slightly closes his wide eyelids so that the eyelids just surround the eyeballs, narrowing the field of vision. He is watching!What a powerful look!Objects that shrink in the distance are magnified by him!He can see through your mind at a glance!Haibo, which seems vague to us, can be understood at a glance!He can see everything in the depths of the sea at a glance!

The two strangers wore otter-skin caps, sealskin water boots, and special fabric clothes with loose waists, allowing them to move freely. The taller of the two—who was evidently the head of the ship—watched us attentively, without saying a word.Then he turned and talked to his companion for a while, and I couldn't understand what he said.It is a loud, harmonious, tactful language, in which the vowels seem to vary greatly in pitch. His companion answered while nodding, and said a few words that he couldn't understand at all.Then he looked back, as if asking me directly. I answered him in French, that I did not understand him; but he did not seem to understand what I was saying, which was a real embarrassment to me.

"Sir, please tell me what happened to us," Conseil said to me. "Perhaps these two gentlemen can understand a few words!" I recounted our encounter, spelling out every syllable, not missing a single detail.I gave our names and identities, and then I formally introduced us: Professor Aronnax, his servant Conseil, Master Ned Land, the harpooner. This man with gentle and calm eyes listened to me serenely, and politely, with great attention.But there was nothing in his countenance to show that he understood what I was saying.When I finished, he didn't say a word. Now I can only talk about the UK and try it out.Or he might understand the now common language.I know English and German, and I can read books, but I can't talk.However, in any case, always find a way to make people understand.

"Come on, come on," I said to the harpooner, "Master Ned Land, it's your turn now, please try to get out of your stomach the English that the Englishman speaks."You're thinking a little more clearly than I can. " Ned Land did not shirk at all, and repeated what I had said, and I understood almost everything he said.The content is the same, but the form is different.The Canadian, because of his character, speaks with excitement.He angrily complained that people disregarded human rights and locked us here, and asked why people detain us according to the law. He cited the provisions of the "Habes Security Act" and said that he would sue the person who illegally detained him. Shouting, and finally, with expressive gestures, he made it clear that we were starving. This is true, but we almost completely forget that we are hungry. The harpooner was surprised because he said the same thing as I said, and it didn't seem to be understood by the other party.The two people who came to see us didn't even frown.It was evident that they knew neither Arago's language nor Faraday's. All our language capital has been taken out, but the problem has not been solved. I am very embarrassed and don't know what to do. At this time Conseil said to me: "If sir allows, I will speak in German now." "What! You speak German?" I shouted. "It doesn't displease Monsieur. I speak German like any Flemish." "On the contrary, I'm glad you speak German. Go ahead, my boy." Conseil narrated our passage for the third time in his very calm tone.However, no matter how beautiful the narrator's words are and how harmonious his tones are, the German language will not help. At last, having nothing else to do, I tried to remember the language I had learned in my early years, and I used Latin to tell what happened to us and what happened to us.When Cicero heard this, he might have plugged his ears and sent me into the kitchen, but I managed to finish it.But the result is still in vain. Our last attempt failed again, and the two strangers said a few words to each other in the unintelligible language, and then they walked away, not even making us the reassuring gesture common to all countries in the world. .The door closed again. "That's outrageous!" cried Ned Land, angry for the twentieth time. "What! We speak French, English, German, Latin to them, and none of these bastards is polite enough to even speak!" "Be quiet, Ned Land," I said to the angry harpooner, "losing your temper won't solve the problem." "But, Mr. Professor," replied our fiery companion, "shall we starve to death in this cage?" "Forget it!" Conseil said, "as long as our hearts are relaxed, we can support for a long time!" "Don't despair, my friends," I said, "we are on a very bad road. Please bear with me, and tell me what you think of the captain and crew of this ship." "That's my opinion," Ned Land replied, "these people are bastards." "Honestly, Ned Land, this country has not been drawn on the map, and I admit that it is very difficult to determine the nationality of these two people! They are not English, not French, not German, that is certain. I would rather say that the captain and his mates were born in the lower latitudes. They have southern features. Could they be Spaniards, Turks, Arabs or Indians? But their size I am not allowed to judge yet. As for their language, it is completely incomprehensible." "This is the distress of not knowing all kinds of languages," Conseil replied, "it can also be said that it is inconvenient not to have a unified language in the world!" "What's the use of it!" Ned Land replied, "don't you see? These people have their own language, which seems to have been created so that good people can't beg for food from them! But, on Earth Open your mouth, move your gums, clench your teeth and lips in all the countries in the world, don't you understand? In Quebec as in Pamotu, in Paris as in the city opposite Paris, does not mean that I I'm hungry, give me something to eat!" "Oh!" said Conseil, "there are such unintelligent people!" While he was saying this, the door opened and a waiter came in, and he brought us clothes, sea jackets and breeches, the stuff of which I don't know.I quickly took it and put it on, and my companion put on the clothes like me. At this time, the waiter may be dumb or deaf - put three cutlery on the table. "That makes sense, and it doesn't look like a bad thing," Conseil said. "Forget it!" said the resentful harpooner, "what's there to eat? Turtle livers, shark fillets, fur seal steaks at the most!" "Let's see!" said Conseil. The food was covered with a silver cover, and the two sides were symmetrically arranged on the tablecloth, and we sat down at the table.We were obviously dealing with cultured and polite people, and if it weren't for the electric lights that shone down on us, I would have thought I was either in the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool or in a Grand Hotel in Paris.But I have to declare that there is no bread or wine at all.The drinking water was fresh and cool, but it was just water, and water was not what Ned Land liked to drink.Among the meats that were brought to us, there were several fishes that I recognized as well-cooked; I dare not say.As for the utensils on the table, they are even more exquisite and beyond reproach.Each object, spoon, fork, knife, plate, has a letter on it, and around the letter an inscription, which we copy below in the original form: MOBILLS iN MOBILD, move in motion!This inscription can be used on this diving boat as long as the original IN character is translated into the character "中" instead of "上". The "N" might be the first letter of the name of the mysterious man who called the shots under the sea! Unlike me, Ned Land and Conseil did not think so much.They were eating as much as they could, and I immediately followed suit.Besides, I was reassured about our fate, as it seemed to me that it was clear that our master had no intention of our death. However, everything has a beginning and an end, and it must pass, even being hungry and not eating for fifteen hours is not an exception.Now that our bellies are full, we feel an urgent need to sleep again.We've been battling death all night, and it's only natural to want to sleep now. "Honestly, I really want to sleep well," Conseil said. "I want to sleep too!" Ned Land replied. My two companions lay down on the rug in the cabin, and soon fell into a sound sleep. As for myself, although I feel the need to sleep, it is not so easy to fall asleep.Many thoughts came to my mind, many unsolvable problems filled my mind, and many imaginations required my eyes to be opened!where are weWhat strange force is carrying us away?I felt—or rather thought I felt—that the ship was sinking toward the deepest point of the sea.Many nightmares haunted me.In this mysterious sanctuary, I saw a large group of animals that no one knew. This submarine seemed to be their kind. It was as alive, as moving, and as terrifying as them! ...Afterwards, my mind quieted down, I dreamed vaguely, and soon fell into a deep sleep.