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[Le Blog Personnel de Professeur Aronnax] April 28th 1868

From: Harry Hayfield <harryhayfield~at~googlemail.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 05:56:26 -0700 (PDT)
To: jvf~at~gilead.org.il

There has been a sea change on board the Nautlius and it is a sea change
that has affected everyone on board, myself, Conseil, Ned and even the
Captain and it all prompted by Conseil's poulp. No sooner had I finished
writing my entry on the 16th, than the Nautlius came to a shuddering
halt.
Naturally the first assumption was that we had struck something. After
a few
moments however, the Captain entered and explained that several poulps
had
taken an interest in the Naultius and were preventing it from moving so
therefore the only thing to do was "to fight them, man to beast"
according
to the Captain. Now this struck me as a little bit risky and I
remembered
how we had despatched those Paupans and was wondering why we couldn't
do the
same when the Captain explained why. "The electric bullets are powerless
against the soft flesh, where they do not find resistance enough to go
off.
But we shall attack them with the hatchet" at which point Ned offered
the
use of his harpoon and before I knew what was going on, myself and
Conseil
had got roped in as well.
So we rose to the surface and were just about to go onto the deck when
from
out of nowhere several tentacles came through the hole. Naturally
enough we
tried our best to get shot of them and that's when it happened. Just as
we
were pressing one on the other to reach the platform, two other arms,
lashing the air, came down on the seaman placed before Captain Nemo, and
lifted him up with irresistible power. The Captain uttered a cry, and
rushed
out and we followed, all slightly panicked.
What a scene! The unhappy man, seized by the tentacle and fixed to the
suckers, was balanced in the air at the caprice of this enormous trunk.
He
rattled in his throat, he was stifled, he cried, "Help! help!" These
words,
spoken in French, startled me! I had a fellow-countryman on board,
perhaps
several! That heart-rending cry! I shall hear it all my life. The
unfortunate man was lost. Who could rescue him from that powerful
pressure?
However, Captain Nemo had rushed to the poulp, and with one blow of the
axe
had cut through one arm. His lieutenant struggled furiously against
other
monsters that crept on the flanks of the Nautilus. The crew fought with
their axes. The Canadian, Conseil, and I buried our weapons in the
fleshy
masses; a strong smell of musk penetrated the atmosphere. It was
horrible!
For one instant, I thought the unhappy man, entangled with the poulp,
would
be torn from its powerful suction. Seven of the eight arms had been cut
off.
One only wriggled in the air, brandishing the victim like a feather. But
just as Captain Nemo and his lieutenant threw themselves on it, the
animal
ejected a stream of black liquid. We were blinded with it. When the
cloud
dispersed, the cuttlefish had disappeared, and my unfortunate countryman
with it. Ten or twelve poulps now invaded the platform and sides of the
Nautilus. We rolled pell-mell into the midst of this nest of serpents,
that
wriggled on the platform in the waves of blood and ink. It seemed as
though
these slimy tentacles sprang up like the hydra's heads. Ned Land's
harpoon,
at each stroke, was plunged into the staring eyes of the cuttle fish.
But my
bold companion was suddenly overturned by the tentacles of a monster he
had
not been able to avoid.
And then to make matters worse, the formidable beak of a cuttlefish was
open
over Ned Land. The unhappy man would be cut in two. I rushed to his
succour.
But Captain Nemo was before me; his axe disappeared between the two
enormous
jaws, and, miraculously saved, the Canadian, rising, plunged his harpoon
deep into the triple heart of the poulp. "I owed myself this revenge!"
said
the Captain to the Canadian. Ned bowed without replying. The combat had
lasted a quarter of an hour. The monsters, vanquished and mutilated,
left us
at last, and disappeared under the waves. Captain Nemo, covered with
blood,
nearly exhausted, gazed upon the sea that had swallowed up one of his
companions, and great tears gathered in his eyes. As I said, this
unhappy
event has affected us all (even 12 days later we are all still feeling
incredibly morose and solemn).

--
Posted By Harry Hayfield to Le Blog Personnel de Professeur Aronnax on
8/28/2010 01:55:00 PM

Received on Sat 28 Aug 2010 - 15:56:33 IDT

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