Zgryźliwość kojarzy mi się z radością, która źle skończyła.
Jules Verne
20 000 Leagues
Under the Sea
Retold by Hayden Berry
w
o r y g i n a l e
Chapter I
© Mediasat Poland Bis 2005
The Narwhale
Mediasat Poland Bis sp. z o.o.
ul. Mikołajska 26
31-027 Kraków
www.czytamy.pl
czytamy@czytamy.pl
Projekt okładki i ilustracje: Małgorzata Flis
Skład: Marek Szwarnóg
ISBN 83 - 89652 - 36 - 6
Wszelkie prawa do książki przysługują Mediasat Poland Bis. Jakiekolwiek publiczne korzystanie w całości, jak i w
postaci fragmentów, a w szczególności jej zwielokrotnianie jakąkolowiek techniką, wprowadzanie do pamięci kom-
putera, publiczne odtwarzanie, nadawanie za pomocą wizji oraz fonii przewodowej lub bezprzewodowej, wymaga
wcześniejszej zgody Mediasat Poland Bis.
2
3
In the year 1866 everybody in Europe
and America was excited by a mysterious
object that sailors and ships often saw at
sea. This object was long and round and
often glowed with light under the water.
It was much longer than any whale that
had been seen before, and it could move
very fast. All over the world, everybody
talked about it and asked what it could
be? Scientists from every country wrote
articles, gave lectures and talked about the
animal. What was it, they asked, and did
the monster really exist?
In 1867 the problem changed from a
scientific problem to a serious danger.
On April 13
th
, the steam boat
Scotia
was
in the north east Atlantic. At 4.17pm
the boat was hit by a sharp object and
water quickly went into the boat. The
captain told the passengers to stay calm,
and told them there wasn’t any danger.
He then continued to sail the ship to
Liverpool. When the engineers looked
at the boat, they couldn’t believe their
eyes. Two metres below the water mark,
there was a large hole in the shape of a
triangle. The newspapers wrote about
the story and the public demanded that
the monster must be caught.
At the time these things were happening,
I was returning from a scientific trip in
The United States of America. I was
waiting to go back to my job as Professor
in the Paris Museum of Natural History.
As I waited in New York before my trip
back to France, I was asked by the New
York Herald newspaper to explain the
problem. Here is what I wrote on April
30
th
1867:
The ocean is totally unknown to us. What
happens there? What animals can live 15 or 20
kilometres under the sea? We do not yet know all
the living things that live at the bottom of the sea.
The common narwhale, or sea unicorn is often 30
metres long. If the size and strength is increased by
ten, then this could be the animal we are looking
for. The narwhale has an ivory tusk, just like an
elephant, which is as hard as iron. If this weapon
were ten times stronger, then it could make a
4
5
large hole in the ship. Therefore, until I get more
information, I have to think that the monster is a
huge narwhale.
Professor Aronnax, Paris Museum.
The US Navy read my newspaper article
and made plans for an expedition to catch
the narwhale. A very fast, black boat called
the
Abraham Lincoln
was prepared and
loaded with guns and weapons. Three
hours before the
Abraham Lincoln
left, I
received the following letter:
To Mr Aronnax,
Professor of the Paris Museum,
2
nd
July
Sir, if you would like to join the expedition
of the
Abraham Lincoln
, the United States
Government will happily have you on
board. Captain Farragut has a cabin waiting
for you.
J B Hobson,
US Navy.
6
7
‘Conseil!’ I shouted in an impatient voice
‘Conseil!’
Conseil was a loyal man from Holland
who came with me on all my journeys.
‘Did sir call me?’ he said.
‘Yes my boy. We must be ready to leave in
two hours.’
‘Where are we going?’ he answered.
‘You know about the monster, Conseil,
the famous narwhale? We are going to
catch it!’
We arrived at the
Abraham Lincoln
and I
was introduced to Captain Farragut. He
was a good seaman and his sailors liked
him very much. He gave everybody guns
and harpoons to attack the animal. One of
the sailors was a man called Ned Land. He
was forty years old, tall and strong. He was
known as ‘The King of Harpooners’ and
could throw a harpoon with a lot of speed
and strength. However, Ned Land didn’t
believe in the narwhale.
‘But if the narwhale doesn’t exist how do
you explain the
Scotia’s
accident?’ I said.
‘Because it’s not true!’ he answered.
On July 20
th
we arrived in the north
Pacific, and for the next three months
looked everywhere for the narwhale.
We saw nothing. By November 2
nd
, the
captain and the crew were ready to stop
looking and so decided to spend only three
more days looking for the whale. For two
days we didn’t see anything that looked
like a giant narwhale. But at 8 o’clock on
November 5
th
, Ned Land shouted ‘Look
out! The thing we are looking for is on our
starboard side!’
We all looked out at the sea. The animal
was under the water and was lit by a very
strong light. Seeing the size of the whale,
the captain ordered the boat to be turned
around and we desperately tried to escape
from the animal. But it followed us and
then, after a few moments of panic on
board, it disappeared.
No one slept that night thinking about the
whale. At 8am the monster came back and
I could see that it really was forty metres
long. This time however, we were prepared
for the shock of seeing such a beast.
8
9
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl hannaeva.xlx.pl
20 000 Leagues
Under the Sea
Retold by Hayden Berry
w
o r y g i n a l e
Chapter I
© Mediasat Poland Bis 2005
The Narwhale
Mediasat Poland Bis sp. z o.o.
ul. Mikołajska 26
31-027 Kraków
www.czytamy.pl
czytamy@czytamy.pl
Projekt okładki i ilustracje: Małgorzata Flis
Skład: Marek Szwarnóg
ISBN 83 - 89652 - 36 - 6
Wszelkie prawa do książki przysługują Mediasat Poland Bis. Jakiekolwiek publiczne korzystanie w całości, jak i w
postaci fragmentów, a w szczególności jej zwielokrotnianie jakąkolowiek techniką, wprowadzanie do pamięci kom-
putera, publiczne odtwarzanie, nadawanie za pomocą wizji oraz fonii przewodowej lub bezprzewodowej, wymaga
wcześniejszej zgody Mediasat Poland Bis.
2
3
In the year 1866 everybody in Europe
and America was excited by a mysterious
object that sailors and ships often saw at
sea. This object was long and round and
often glowed with light under the water.
It was much longer than any whale that
had been seen before, and it could move
very fast. All over the world, everybody
talked about it and asked what it could
be? Scientists from every country wrote
articles, gave lectures and talked about the
animal. What was it, they asked, and did
the monster really exist?
In 1867 the problem changed from a
scientific problem to a serious danger.
On April 13
th
, the steam boat
Scotia
was
in the north east Atlantic. At 4.17pm
the boat was hit by a sharp object and
water quickly went into the boat. The
captain told the passengers to stay calm,
and told them there wasn’t any danger.
He then continued to sail the ship to
Liverpool. When the engineers looked
at the boat, they couldn’t believe their
eyes. Two metres below the water mark,
there was a large hole in the shape of a
triangle. The newspapers wrote about
the story and the public demanded that
the monster must be caught.
At the time these things were happening,
I was returning from a scientific trip in
The United States of America. I was
waiting to go back to my job as Professor
in the Paris Museum of Natural History.
As I waited in New York before my trip
back to France, I was asked by the New
York Herald newspaper to explain the
problem. Here is what I wrote on April
30
th
1867:
The ocean is totally unknown to us. What
happens there? What animals can live 15 or 20
kilometres under the sea? We do not yet know all
the living things that live at the bottom of the sea.
The common narwhale, or sea unicorn is often 30
metres long. If the size and strength is increased by
ten, then this could be the animal we are looking
for. The narwhale has an ivory tusk, just like an
elephant, which is as hard as iron. If this weapon
were ten times stronger, then it could make a
4
5
large hole in the ship. Therefore, until I get more
information, I have to think that the monster is a
huge narwhale.
Professor Aronnax, Paris Museum.
The US Navy read my newspaper article
and made plans for an expedition to catch
the narwhale. A very fast, black boat called
the
Abraham Lincoln
was prepared and
loaded with guns and weapons. Three
hours before the
Abraham Lincoln
left, I
received the following letter:
To Mr Aronnax,
Professor of the Paris Museum,
2
nd
July
Sir, if you would like to join the expedition
of the
Abraham Lincoln
, the United States
Government will happily have you on
board. Captain Farragut has a cabin waiting
for you.
J B Hobson,
US Navy.
6
7
‘Conseil!’ I shouted in an impatient voice
‘Conseil!’
Conseil was a loyal man from Holland
who came with me on all my journeys.
‘Did sir call me?’ he said.
‘Yes my boy. We must be ready to leave in
two hours.’
‘Where are we going?’ he answered.
‘You know about the monster, Conseil,
the famous narwhale? We are going to
catch it!’
We arrived at the
Abraham Lincoln
and I
was introduced to Captain Farragut. He
was a good seaman and his sailors liked
him very much. He gave everybody guns
and harpoons to attack the animal. One of
the sailors was a man called Ned Land. He
was forty years old, tall and strong. He was
known as ‘The King of Harpooners’ and
could throw a harpoon with a lot of speed
and strength. However, Ned Land didn’t
believe in the narwhale.
‘But if the narwhale doesn’t exist how do
you explain the
Scotia’s
accident?’ I said.
‘Because it’s not true!’ he answered.
On July 20
th
we arrived in the north
Pacific, and for the next three months
looked everywhere for the narwhale.
We saw nothing. By November 2
nd
, the
captain and the crew were ready to stop
looking and so decided to spend only three
more days looking for the whale. For two
days we didn’t see anything that looked
like a giant narwhale. But at 8 o’clock on
November 5
th
, Ned Land shouted ‘Look
out! The thing we are looking for is on our
starboard side!’
We all looked out at the sea. The animal
was under the water and was lit by a very
strong light. Seeing the size of the whale,
the captain ordered the boat to be turned
around and we desperately tried to escape
from the animal. But it followed us and
then, after a few moments of panic on
board, it disappeared.
No one slept that night thinking about the
whale. At 8am the monster came back and
I could see that it really was forty metres
long. This time however, we were prepared
for the shock of seeing such a beast.
8
9