Who was Captain Nemo. Captain Nemo's last hours

Who was he really - the famous Captain Nobody?
In a good book, everything should be good: the plot, the characters, the composition, the style.
And yet, a bright, reliable protagonist makes it a masterpiece.
“Just like alive,” readers say about this.

Literary heroes who had real prototypes are distinguished by exceptional reliability. Creating his hero, Jules Verne combined a mysterious past, immense wealth, a thirst for revenge and added a new component - an unprecedented technical ability to carry out his plans. And a character was born with the Latin name Nemo - Nobody.

"Captain Nemo is known throughout the world as a talented engineer, designer and explorer of the ocean. Few people know that he was an Other. And only a few guess that he was the creator of the strongest amulet that protects the mind of the owner ...

The reasons that prompted the brave captain to create this item are lost in the dust of past years, but in order to somehow shed light on them, you can try to turn to his youth...

Nemo is the Indian prince of Dakkar, who led the uprising of Indian sepoys in the 50s of the 19th century against the British invaders who enslaved his native country. Despite the numerical superiority, the uprising ended in the defeat of the sepoys. Official sources claim that the reason for the defeat of the rebels was the military advantage of the British, by and large they are not so far from the truth, but the reason for this advantage was the incubus (according to other sources, a strong magician), who managed to suppress the will of the rebels ...
India was again under British rule, and a huge price was placed on the head of the crown prince and leader of the rebels. The prince became the first person to step into the depths of the ocean, he lost, in his own words, both his faith, his homeland, and his name - and began to be called Captain Nobody (Nemo). Time passed, the depths of the sea replaced human society for him, life on the surface began to be forgotten ... But the insult to that nameless incubus, which caused the death of his army and the expulsion of the prince-captain himself, did not disappear. The years went on, but the time for revenge did not come, and quick revenge is not so terrible as postponed, deliberate, every step towards which is calculated and verified many times ... And here it is, the sweet hour of reckoning, the revenge of which the captain has been waiting for so long has taken place. Rejoice Others, tremble Incubus! Long live the Guardian of the Soul! May the soporific-charming hordes not encroach on the minds of honest Others!" (http://byaki.clan.su/index/8-6)

A comprehensively gifted aristocrat who incarnated not in the savior of his people, but in the Evil Genius - the image is all the more dangerous because it is so aesthetically designed. This narcissistic arrogant did not bring happiness to any of his people, he doomed everyone to isolation and death - he rolled him up in a beautiful prison. But he got bored, and he needed to have fun - to torment the guests, dashingly showing off. A wonderful image of another tracing paper from Dennitsa in the form of a man.

Summing up his life, Captain Nemo says:
“All my life I have done good when I could, and evil when necessary. To forgive insults to enemies does not mean to be fair.
(Jules Verne. Mysterious island.)

If you look, then Captain Nemo is the first full-blooded image of a terrorist in literature. Moreover, a terrorist in the most modern sense of the word - one who owns advanced technologies of destruction and annihilation. He pressed a button, connected contacts or simply dialed a number - and trains derailed, planes fell, houses with peacefully sleeping people exploded ... Jules Verne also understood this, hesitated, was tormented by doubts. Yes, he defended the "angel of vengeance" before the publisher. But at the same time, his character, personifying the conscience of the scientist, Professor Aronax, condemned Nemo's actions and did not hide it, although he was completely at the mercy of the captain. Jules Verne expressed both of these irreconcilable positions, made both convincing and gave us the choice. This is the honesty of the writer, even if he is a science fiction writer a thousand times over.

There is rapture in battle
And the dark abyss on the edge,
In the angry ocean
Amid the stormy waves and stormy darkness,
And in the Arabian hurricane
And in the breath of the Plague.

The stanzas from the dramatic scene “A Feast in the Time of Plague”, the words from the song that its Chairman sings at the feast, and the image of Captain Nemo involuntarily give rise to the same emotional state, without experiencing which life would be very insipid food.

________________________________________ _______________________________________-

Where did Captain Nemo go?
... Everyone saw him, but no one knows by sight
K. Yu. Starokhamskaya

Was the enigmatic Captain Nemo just a fictional character invented by Jules Verne?

In the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, it is said that Captain Nemo is the Indian prince Dakkar, who led the uprising of the Indian sepoys against Britain. The uprising ended in the defeat of the sepoys, and Dakkar's wife and two children were taken hostage and killed in captivity. He has since left society and devoted himself to revenge.

Thanks to a brilliant all-round education and numerous talents, he was able to build the world's first working submarine, along with a handful of his supporters, on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean, from where he began his voyage. He abandoned the name and became known as Captain Nobody (Nemo - lat.). Moreover, he fundamentally renounced everything earthly and for all his needs used only the gifts of the ocean.

In the novel, Captain Nemo is a rather tough, and sometimes even cruel person: he sank an English frigate, refused to release Professor Aronax and his companions who came to him. But at the same time, he saved a poor pearl diver, is interested in the science of the underwater world, and achieved considerable success in its development. He is well versed in art, on board the Nautilus there is an excellent library, a collection of art masterpieces, sheet music with scores by great musicians.

There is another interesting side to the description of the life of Captain Nemo on the Nautilus. Despite living in a submarine, Captain Nemo is in excellent shape, does not suffer from lack of appetite, overweight, or beriberi. He eats his food seasoned with "a sauce of seaweed, the so-called porphyry and laurencia." He drinks water, always adding to it "a few drops of a fermented infusion prepared ... from an algae known as rhodimenia cinquefoil." Spirulina algae gives him a useful supplement to tea. That is, Captain Nemo actually discovered what is now called dietary supplement. (Due to the dominance of various scammers and aggressive marketing, this phenomenon is already stuck in the teeth, and dietary supplements are already called anything horrible, just to make money, but among them there are also products containing really useful substances).

And many scientists consider this spirulina to be an alien from outer space. It is believed that 3.5 billion years ago it was she who brought indomitable biological energy to a dead planet. American astronauts received food from spirulina that was incredibly rich in complete, balanced protein and other substances important for life. The largest scientific centers have developed strains of spirulina, which has a beneficial effect on blood cholesterol levels, protects a person from heart and vascular diseases. There is evidence that spirulina effectively strengthens the immune system, reduces the risk of cancer and diabetes. And it also improves metabolism, cleanses the body of toxins, toxins, heavy metals, removes radionuclides. If at least some of this is scientifically confirmed, it is already useful.

A few years after meeting with Professor Aronax, Captain Nemo was left alone, all members of his team died, and he found refuge in an underground lake on a volcanic island east of Australia, where for some time he helped travelers who suddenly found themselves on the island ("Mysterious Island"). To them he revealed the secret of his life and died.

Did he die?

Jules Verne has a certain inconsistency in his description of the end of his life. In the novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the action takes place in 1868, and Captain Nemo is in the prime of life and health. But in the novel "The Mysterious Island" already in 1869, Nemo appears as an ancient old man and dies. Something is wrong here. And here we smoothly move on to another hero of literature and cinema ...

There lived at the same time a man known as Duke Juan North. It is known that in 1895 he visited India, where he had an affair with a certain woman, from whom he had children. Under the name of Garn, with the rank of sergeant of artillery, he participated in the Anglo-Boer War. At the end of the war, he became aide-de-camp to Lord Edward Beltham of Scotwell Hill and fell in love with his youngest daughter, Lady Maud Beltham. When her husband discovered their relationship and wanted to shoot his wife, Garn killed him with a hammer blow. Since then, he has embarked on a path of crime, and this horrified Lady Beltham so much that she committed suicide.

For his criminal purposes, he used amazing devices - a powerful submarine, cars that transformed into an airplane, and even rockets. Just like Captain Nemo, he lived completely closed, having with him a team of the same silent faithful accomplices, and just like Captain Nemo, he appeared and disappeared at the most unexpected moments...

You already guessed, of course, that it was Fantômas. The name comes from the word fantom, that is, something that does not exist. It is quite clear that Captain Nemo - still in excellent physical shape (thanks to sea food and extracts from spirulina) - was slightly damaged on the basis of revenge on all mankind and embarked on the path of abstract evil ... Maybe he overate underwater fly agaric, or maybe maybe he was not at all any Indian prince Dakkar, but simply told Pierre Aronnax this romantic version, presenting himself as a noble avenger?
Now no one will know this.

Fantomas (fr. Fantômas) is a fictional character, a brilliant criminal who hides his face, one of the most famous negative characters in French literature and cinema. Fantomas was created by French writers Marcel Allen and Pierre Souvestre in 1911. Fantômas appears in 32 novels co-written by Allen and Souvestre and 11 novels written by Allen after the death of a co-author.

Jules Verne

"Mysterious Island"

March 1865 In the United States, during the American Civil War, five daredevil northerners flee from Richmond, taken by the southerners, in a balloon. A terrible storm throws four of them onto the shore of a desert island in the Southern Hemisphere. The fifth man and his dog are hiding in the sea near the shore. This fifth - a certain Cyrus Smith, a talented engineer and scientist, soul and leader of a detachment of travelers - for several days involuntarily keeps his companions in suspense, who cannot find either himself or his devoted dog Top anywhere. The former slave, and now the devoted servant of Smith, the Negro Neb suffers the most. In the balloon were also a military journalist and friend of Smith, Gideon Spilett, a man of great energy and determination, possessing an ebullient mind; sailor Pencroff, a good-natured and enterprising daredevil; fifteen-year-old Herbert Brown, the son of the captain of the ship on which Pencroff sailed, left an orphan, and whom the sailor treats as his own son. After a tedious search, Neb finally finds his master, inexplicably saved, a mile from the coast. Each of the new settlers of the island has irreplaceable talents, and under the leadership of Cyres and Spilet, these brave people unite and become a single team. First, with the help of the simplest improvised means, then by producing more and more complex objects of labor and everyday life in their own small factories, the settlers arrange their lives. They hunt, collect edible plants, oysters, then even breed domestic animals and farm. They make their dwelling high in a rock, in a cave freed from water. Soon, thanks to their industriousness and intelligence, the colonists no longer know the need for food, clothing, or warmth and comfort. They have everything except news about their homeland, about the fate of which they are very worried.

One day, returning to their dwelling, which they called the Granite Palace, they see that monkeys are in charge inside. After a while, as if under the influence of insane fear, the monkeys begin to jump out of the windows, and someone's hand throws out to the travelers a rope ladder, which the monkeys raised into the house. Inside, people find another monkey - an orangutan, which they keep and call Uncle Jupe. In the future, Jup becomes a friend to people, a servant and an indispensable assistant.

On another day, the settlers find a chest of tools, firearms, various appliances, clothes, kitchen utensils, and books in English on the sand. The settlers wonder where this box could come from. According to the map, also in the box, they discover that Tabor Island is located next to their island, not marked on the map. The sailor Pencroff is eager to go to him. With the help of his friends, he builds a bot. When the boat is ready, everyone goes on it together for a trial voyage around the island. During it, they find a bottle with a note saying that a shipwrecked man is waiting for rescue on Tabor Island. This event strengthens Pencroff's confidence in the need to visit the neighboring island. Pencroff, journalist Gideon Spilett and Harbert set sail. Arriving at Tabor, they discover a small shack, where, by all indications, no one has been living for a long time. They disperse around the island, not hoping to see a living person, and try to find at least his remains. Suddenly, they hear Harbert's scream and rush to his aid. They see that Herbert is fighting with a certain hairy creature that looks like a monkey. However, the monkey turns out to be a feral man. Travelers tie him up and transport him to their island. They give him a separate room in the Granite Palace. Thanks to their attention and care, the savage soon turns back into a civilized person and tells them his story. It turns out that his name is Ayrton, he is a former criminal, he wanted to take possession of the Duncan sailboat and, with the help of the dregs of society like him, turn it into a pirate ship. However, his plans were not destined to come true, and as a punishment twelve years ago he was left on the uninhabited island of Tabor, so that he would realize his act and atone for his sin. However, the owner of the Duncan, Edward Glenarvan, said that he would someday return for Ayrton. The settlers see that Ayrton sincerely repents of his past sins, and he tries to be useful to them in every possible way. Therefore, they are not inclined to judge him for past misdeeds and willingly accept him into their society. However, Ayrton needs time, and so he asks to be given the opportunity to live in a corral that the settlers built for their domesticated animals some distance from the Granite Palace.

When the boat was returning from the island of Tabor in a storm at night, it was saved by a fire, which, as they thought, those sailing on it, had been lit by their friends. However, it turns out that they were not involved in this. It also turns out that Ayrton did not throw a bottle with a note into the sea. The settlers cannot explain these mysterious events. They are more and more inclined to think that besides them, on Lincoln Island, as they dubbed it, someone else lives, their mysterious benefactor, who often comes to their aid in the most difficult situations. They even undertake a search expedition in the hope of finding his place of residence. However, the search ends in vain.

The next summer (for since Ayrton appeared on their island and before he told them his story, five months had already passed and the summer was over, and in the cold season it is dangerous to sail) they decide to get to Tabor Island to leave a note in the hut. In the note, they intend to warn Captain Glenarvan, if he returns, that Ayrton and five other castaways are waiting for help on a nearby island.

The settlers have been living on their island for three years. Their life, their economy reached prosperity. They are already harvesting rich harvests of wheat grown from a single grain found three years ago in Harbert's pocket, they have built a mill, they breed poultry, they have fully equipped their dwelling, they have made themselves new warm clothes and blankets from mouflon wool. However, their peaceful life is overshadowed by one incident that threatens them with death. One day, looking at the sea, they see a well-equipped ship in the distance, but a black flag flies over the ship. The ship anchors off the coast. It shows beautiful long-range guns. Ayrton, under the cover of night, sneaks onto the ship to make reconnaissance. It turns out that there are fifty pirates on the ship. Having miraculously eluded them, Ayrton returns to the shore and informs his friends that they need to prepare for battle. The next morning, two boats descend from the ship. On the first, the settlers shoot three, and she returns back, while the second sticks to the shore, and the six pirates remaining on it hide in the forest. Cannons are fired from the ship, and it comes even closer to the shore. It seems that nothing can save a handful of settlers. Suddenly, a huge wave rises under the ship, and it sinks. All pirates on it die. As it turns out later, the ship hit a mine, and this event finally convinces the inhabitants of the island that they are not alone here.

At first they are not going to exterminate the pirates, wanting to give them the opportunity to lead a peaceful life. But it turns out that the robbers are not capable of this. They begin to loot and burn down the settlers' farm. Ayrton goes to the corral to visit the animals. The pirates grab him and take him to a cave, where they try to torture him into agreeing to go over to their side. Ayrton doesn't give up. His friends go to his aid, but Harbert is seriously injured in the corral, and his friends remain in it, unable to move back with the dying young man. A few days later they still go to the Granite Palace. As a result of the transition, Harbert develops a malignant fever, he is near death. Once again, providence intervenes in their lives and the hand of their kind mysterious friend throws them the necessary medicine. Harbert makes a full recovery. The settlers intend to strike the final blow against the pirates. They go to the corral, where they expect to find them, but they find Ayrton, exhausted and barely alive, and nearby - the corpses of robbers. Ayrton reports that he does not know how he ended up in the corral, who carried him out of the cave and killed the pirates. However, he reports one sad news. A week ago, the bandits went to sea, but, not knowing how to control the boat, they smashed it on the coastal reefs. The trip to Tabor has to be postponed until a new vehicle is built. For the next seven months, the mysterious stranger does not make himself felt. Meanwhile, a volcano wakes up on the island, which the colonists considered already dead. They are building a new large ship, which, if necessary, could deliver them to inhabited earth.

One evening, already preparing to go to bed, the inhabitants of the Granite Palace hear a call. The telegraph works, which they carried from the corral to their home. They are urgently summoned to the corral. There they find a note asking them to walk along an additional wire. The cable leads them to a huge grotto, where they see, to their amazement, a submarine. In it, they meet her owner and their patron, Captain Nemo, the Indian prince Dakkar, who fought for the independence of his homeland all his life. He, already a sixty-year-old man who buried all his comrades-in-arms, is dying. Nemo gives new friends a chest of jewels and warns that when a volcano erupts, the island (such is its structure) will explode. He dies, the settlers batten down the hatches of the boat and lower it under water, and they themselves tirelessly build a new ship all day long. However, they fail to finish it. All living things die during the explosion of the island, from which only a small reef in the ocean remains. The settlers who spent the night in a tent on the shore are thrown into the sea by an air wave. All of them, with the exception of Jupe, remain alive. For more than ten days they sit on the reef, almost dying of hunger and no longer hoping for anything. Suddenly they see a ship. This is Duncan. He saves everyone. As it turns out later, Captain Nemo, when the bot was still safe, sailed on it to Tabor and left a note for the rescuers.

Returning to America, with the jewelry donated by Captain Nemo, the friends buy a large piece of land and live on it just like they lived on Lincoln Island.

In the spring of 1865, during the American Civil War, the Southerners captured Richmond. Five guys fly away from the city in a balloon, but a storm knocks them astray, and they find themselves in the Southern Hemisphere on a desert island. The fifth daredevil, Cyrus Smith, who led this journey, did not manage to get ashore. His dog Top also disappeared. For several days, travelers continue their search: the servant of the missing Neb, the journalist Gideon Spilet, the sailor Pencroff and his 15-year-old ward Harbert Brown. And suddenly Smith is found a mile from the coast. The settlers are trying to settle down in a new place, equipping their dwelling at a height in a cave, and begin to engage in animal husbandry and agriculture. Once monkeys climbed into their dwelling, and after the arrival of the owners, everyone fled, except for one orangutan, whom people called Yupa and allowed to live with them.

The settlers found a box of valuables on the island: tools, weapons, books, clothes, and kitchen utensils. There they find a map on which they see the nearby island of Tabor. The settlers build a boat and make a trial swim, during which they catch a bottle in the sea with a note from a shipwrecked person from a neighboring land. Harbert, Pencroft and Spilett sail to Tabor, but they do not find anyone in the discovered hut. During the search, a 15-year-old boy is attacked by a feral man, whom they tie up and decide to transport to their island in the evening. Upon returning back, people find themselves in a storm, and only thanks to a blazing fire do they find their way home. But on the island it turns out that the fire was not kindled by their friends. The savage turns out to be the criminal Ayrton, who 12 years ago wanted to capture the Duncan sailing ship and become a pirate, and for this he was landed on a desert island, promising to return for it someday. He also assured that he did not write any note about salvation. The settlers take pity on Ayrton and accept him into their team. But the savage asks for some time to live away from them in a building erected by them for animals.

Friends begin to suspect that someone else lives on the island and secretly helps them. They undertake searches but find nothing. During the three years of living on the island, the friends made their stay comfortable: they increased wheat yields, built a mill, and learned how to make clothes. One day a pirate ship sailed to their island, the settlers desperately defended themselves, but the forces are unequal. Suddenly, the ship struck a mine and sank. The surviving pirates do not want peaceful cohabitation, they constantly harm their economy and capture Ayrton. During his release, Harbert is severely wounded, causing the young man to develop a fatal fever. But his life is saved by a drug that comes from nowhere. The next time they try to rescue Ayrton, the settlers discover a barely alive friend who does not remember how all the pirates were killed.

A few months later, a volcano wakes up on the island, and friends begin to build a ship to save them. In the ship, after meeting with the pirates, a means of communication with the dwelling was installed. Once they heard a signal, and when they arrived at the place, they found a note and a cable that led them to a grotto with a submarine. Inside it, they meet their secret patron, 60-year-old Captain Nemo, who gave them jewelry before his death. Friends do not have time to complete their ship when the volcano exploded. They were able to escape on a small reef, on which they were discovered by the captain of the Duncan, who sailed for Ayrton.

Compositions

Morning has come. Not a single ray of daylight penetrated the darkness of the cave. But the electric light emitted by the Nautilus illuminated everything around the floating ship with the same brightness.

Endless fatigue took possession of Captain Nemo. He leaned back against the sofa cushions. There was no need to think about moving him to the Granite Palace - he did not want to leave the Nautilus.

Captain Nemo lay motionless for a long time, perhaps even unconscious. Gideon Spilett and Cyrus Smith watched him carefully. It was quite obvious that Captain Nemo's life was fading away. The forces completely left this once powerful body, and all life was concentrated in a brain that retained complete clarity of thought and a weakly beating heart.

The engineer and the journalist conferred quietly. Could anything be done to alleviate the condition of the dying? Was it possible, if not to save his life, then at least to extend it for a few days?

Captain Nemo himself claimed that there was no cure for his illness, and he waited for death without fear.

We can do nothing to help him,” said Gideon Spilett.

But why is he dying? asked Pencroft.

From a lack of vitality, the journalist replied.

But maybe they will appear if you move it to fresh air, to the sun? the sailor insisted.

No, Pencroft, replied the engineer. - That won't help. However, Captain Nemo himself would never agree to part with his ship. He has been living on the Nautilus for thirty years and wants to die on the Nautilus.

Obviously, Captain Nemo heard the engineer's answer, as he slightly raised himself on the sofa and said in a weak but intelligible voice:

You're right. I must and want to die here. And I have a request for you...

Cyrus Smith and the rest of the colonists approached the sofa again. They adjusted the pillows to make it more comfortable for the dying man to lie down.

His eyes rested on the marvels gathered in this salon, lit by electric lamps hidden in the ceiling. He looked in turn at all the paintings hanging on the magnificent fabric with which the walls of the salon were upholstered, at these treasures of art belonging to the brush of great masters - Italians, Flemings, French and Spaniards, at marble and bronze statues towering on magnificent pedestals, at a huge organ , which occupied an entire wall, to showcases containing samples of the most valuable gifts of the sea - sea plants, zoophytes, strings of pearls of unprecedented beauty - and finally his eyes settled on the motto of the Nautilus, inscribed above the door of this peculiar museum:

It seemed that Captain Nemo wanted for the last time to caress with his eyes all these treasures of art and nature that had surrounded him for thirty years.

Cyrus Smith waited respectfully for the dying man to speak again.

Several minutes passed, during which Captain Nemo probably flashed his entire long life. Finally, he turned to face the colonists and said:

Do you think you owe me?

Captain, replied the colonists, we would gladly give our lives to prolong yours.

Good, - said Captain Nemo, - good! .. Promise me to fulfill my last will, and I will be rewarded for everything that I have done for you.

We swear! Cyrus Smith answered for everyone.

Tomorrow I will die ... - the captain began.

Herbert wanted to protest, but Captain Nemo stopped him with a sign.

Tomorrow I will die,” he continued, “and I do not want any other coffin than the Nautilus.” All my friends rest at the bottom of the sea, and I want to share their fate.

Captain Nemo's words were met with deep silence.

Listen to me carefully, the dying man continued. - "Nautilus" is locked in this cave by a basalt rock that has risen from the bottom of the sea. But if he cannot overcome the barrier, then he can plunge to the bottom of the abyss, covered by the arch of this cave, and store my ashes there.

The colonists reverently listened to the dying man.

Tomorrow, Mr. Smith, you and your companions will leave the Nautilus. All the riches collected in it must disappear forever with me. In memory of Prince Dakkar, whose history you now know, you will have only one thing left - this chest ... It contains diamonds and pearls, collected by me and my comrades at the bottom of the sea. I am sure that in your hands this treasure will serve the cause of good, not evil!

After a few minutes of silence, Captain Nemo gathered his strength again and continued:

Tomorrow you will take this chest and, leaving the salon, close the doors behind you. After climbing onto the bridge of the Nautilus, you will close the hatch cover and screw it tightly with bolts.

We'll do it, captain! Cyrus Smith replied.

Okay. Then you will board the same boat that you came here on. Just before you leave the Nautilus, swim up to the stern and open the taps under the waterline. Water will rush into the tanks, and the Nautilus will gradually sink into the water to find eternal rest at the very bottom of the sea.

To Cyrus Smith's protesting gesture, Captain Nemo replied:

Do not be afraid! You bury the dead!

None of the colonists objected to Captain Nemo. It was the last will of the dying, and she had to obey unquestioningly.

Do you promise me to do everything exactly? asked Captain Nemo.

We promise! - the engineer answered for everyone.

The dying man nodded his thanks and asked to be left alone for a few hours. Gideon Spilett offered to stay with him in case he suddenly became ill, but the captain flatly refused.

I'll live until tomorrow, he said.

Everyone left the saloon, passed through the library and dining room, and entered the engine room at the bow of the boat.

"Nautilus" was a real miracle of technology, and the engineer, examining it, did not cease to admire.

The colonists then went up to the deck, which rose ten or twelve feet above the surface of the water, and sat on the rail beside the electric searchlight in the wheelhouse.

At first, Cyrus Smith and his comrades, under the fresh impression of the excitement they had just experienced, were silent in concentration.

Their hearts contracted with pain when they remembered that their patron, who had extended a helping hand to them so many times, must die ... And they met him just a few hours ago! ...

Here is a man! said Pencroff softly. - Can you believe that he spent most of his life in the depths of the ocean! It becomes directly annoying when you think that he did not find peace there either.

- The Nautilus, - said Ayrton, - could take us to some inhabited land ...

Well, at any rate, I'm not the one to steer this ship! Float on water - as much as you like! But under water - a humble servant! said Pencroff.

And I think, - said the journalist, - that the management of such a submarine as the Nautilus should be extremely simple, Pencroff, and you would quickly get used to it. On the "Nautilus" you can not be afraid of any storms: you will go down a few feet under the water - and there it is as calm as in a quiet lake!

Possibly, said the sailor. - But I prefer to meet a fresh breeze aboard a well-equipped vessel. Ships are made to sail on water, not under water.

My friends, - the engineer intervened, - it is not worth arguing about the advantages over - and submarines, at least in connection with the Nautilus. The Nautilus does not belong to us, and we have no right to have it. Not to mention that the ship cannot get out of this cave, Captain Nemo wants his remains to rest here, and the will of Captain Nemo is law for us!

The colonists went down to the dining room, had a little snack and then returned to the salon.

Captain Nemo woke up from oblivion, and his eyes again acquired their former brilliance, a faint smile played on his lips.

The colonists approached him.

My friends, - said the dying man, - you are all courageous, honest and kind people. You are all selflessly devoted to the common cause. I have often watched you and managed to fall in love with you. And now I love you! Your hand, Mr Smith!

Cyrus Smith held out his hand to the captain, who shook it in a friendly manner.

How good! whispered Captain Nemo.

Then he continued:

But don't talk about me! I want to talk to you about yourself and about Lincoln Island, which sheltered you ... Are you thinking of leaving it?

Only to come back again! replied Pencroff.

To return here? .. Yes, I forgot, Pencroff, - the captain smiled, - that you are in love with this island ... You have transformed its appearance, and it really belongs to you!

We propose, - said Cyrus Smith, - to organize here a real colony of the United States.

You do not forget about your homeland, - the dying man said bitterly, - but I have no homeland, and I am dying away from everything that I loved ...

Perhaps you need to convey your last will to someone? asked the engineer. - Or hello to friends living in the mountains of India?

No, Mr. Smith, I have no friends left! I am the last of my kind. And I died a long time ago for all those who knew me ... But let's return to the question of you. Loneliness, isolation from the world is a sad state. Not everyone is able to endure it ... You must do everything in order to escape from Lincoln Island and return to human society! I know that these scoundrels destroyed the ship you built...

We are building a new, larger one, - said Gideon Spilett, - on which it will be possible to reach inhabited lands. But sooner or later we will return here. We've been through too much here to forget Lincoln Island!

This is where we recognized Captain Nemo,” Cyrus Smith said.

Here we will constantly remember all the good you have done,” Herbert added.

And here I will rest in eternal sleep ... - Captain Nemo said.

Mr. Smith, I would like to speak to you... in private.

The colonists hurried to fulfill the will of the dying man and left the room.

For several minutes Cyrus Smith spoke privately with Captain Nemo. Then he again invited his comrades to the salon, but did not say a word about the secrets that the dying man had told him.

Gideon Spilett examined the patient. It was quite obvious that life in him was kept only by an effort of will, but even that was soon to be broken by physical exhaustion.

The day passed without change. The colonists did not leave the Nautilus. The night came unnoticed. Captain Nemo did not suffer from pain, but life was clearly leaving him. His nobler face, pale from the approach of death, was perfectly calm; his limbs were already beginning to go cold.

Shortly before midnight, Captain Nemo crossed his arms over his chest with an effort, as if wishing to die in that position.

By one in the morning, all manifestations of life were concentrated in his eyes only.

For the last time, his eyes flashed with fire, once burning with flame.

Captain Nemo is dead.

Herbert and Pencroff wept. Ayrton wiped away a tear. Neb knelt beside the motionless, like a statue, journalist.

Cyrus Smith raised his hand and said:

We will forever keep a grateful memory of you! ..

A few hours later, the colonists carried out the last will of Captain Nemo.

Cyrus Smith and his comrades left the Nautilus, taking with them the last gift of their patron - a chest of jewels.

They carefully locked the doors of the marvelous saloon, bathed in bright light, and screwed down the hatch tightly so that not a single drop of water could seep into the Nautilus.

After that, they got into a boat tied to the side of the submarine and drove up to the stern. There they found two taps connected with tanks, when filled with water, the boat sank under water.

Cyrus Smith turned on the taps.

Water rushed into the tanks, and the Nautilus slowly began to sink.

The colonists followed him with their eyes for a long time: the bright rays of his searchlights illuminated the transparent water column. Then, gradually, their light began to fade, until it completely disappeared.

The Nautilus, which became the coffin of Captain Nemo, sank to the bottom of the sea abyss.

Captain Nemo in the books

Nemo - was originally conceived as a Polish revolutionary, but later turned into the Bundelkhand prince of Dakkar, who led the uprising of Indian sepoys in the 50s of the 19th century against the British invaders who enslaved his native country. The uprising ended in the defeat of the sepoys, India was again under the dominion of Britain, and a huge price was set for the head of the crown prince and leader of the rebels. According to some reports, Dakkar's wife and two children were taken hostage and killed in captivity, he himself was forced to hide. Thanks to a brilliant all-round education received by Dakkar in Europe, and numerous talents, he was able to build the world's first operational submarine, along with a handful of people loyal to him, on a remote Pacific island, from where he began his voyage.

Since then, the first person who stepped into the depths of the ocean, lost, in his own words, both his faith, his homeland, and his name - and became known as Captain Nobody (Nemo). He claimed that he died forever for the earth and all people, thus declaring a protest to the whole world. Fundamentally not using substances of terrestrial origin for any needs of his life and trying not to go on land, Nemo could not find peace of mind in the ocean. In love with the sea, Nemo believed that only there a person can be saved from the injustices of society and live a truly free life.

Nemo is described as a strong-willed person, tough and sometimes even cruel (before the eyes of Professor Aronax and his companions who got on the Nautilus, Nemo drowns the English - in the original plan the Russian - military frigate), but he is also characterized by the breadth of the soul, and indifference to the fate of the world : declaring his detached position, Nemo still helps freedom fighters in Crete, saves a pearl diver, risking his life.

Nemo is a man of mystery. It coexists with pride, determination, iron will, detachment - and mercy, the ability to violently express feelings, a keen interest in everything.

A few years after the meeting with Professor Aronax, Captain Nemo is left alone, all members of his team die, and he is forced to find refuge in an underground lake of a volcanic island to the east of Australia, where for some time he helps travelers who suddenly find themselves on the island ("Mysterious Island") . To them, he reveals the secret of his life and soon dies. Summing up his life, Captain Nemo says:

Despite the plot completeness of Jules Verne's novels, the complex personality and fate of Captain Nemo cannot be fully described, so his image is often used by many to this day.

Captain Nemo is a talented engineer, designer, ocean explorer, but he also understands art. His "Nautilus" contains real masterpieces of literature, poetry, original paintings and sculptures of great masters. Nemo reads in many languages ​​of the world, he is fluent in at least French, English, German and Latin. He is a connoisseur of music, has a harmonium and scores of great composers on board the Nautilus, performs them and plays music himself.

Chronology of novels and age of the captain

The image of Captain Nemo, or rather his mysteriously rapid aging, clearly emphasizes the chronological confusion in the Jules Verne trilogy. So the action of the novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" ends in 1868, when the Captain is a man in the prime of life and health, no older than 50 years old, and even less by the standards of that time. But in the novel " Mysterious island" Already on the eve of 1869, Nemo appears as an ancient dying old man, he is already almost 70 years old.

In chapters 15-17 of the third part of the novel The Mysterious Island, Jules Verne indirectly gives the exact date of the death of the captain - October 16, 1868, and in chapter 16 he tells the story of Prince Dakkar, indicating that he returned to India in 1849 at the age of 30 years. From this follows the date of birth of the captain - about 1819, and, therefore, at the time of his death in 1868, Captain Nemo should have been about 49 years old. But according to the facts presented in the same chapter, the captain is much older than this age and must be at least "the same age as the century", or even born at the end of the 18th century. Perhaps Verne's only attempt to ease the contradictions was the phrase he put into the mouth of Professor Aronnax at the moment of his first meeting with the captain:

Comparing the chronology of the novels "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "The Mysterious Island" also leads to contradictions. If in the same chapter of the 16th novel "The Mysterious Island" it is stated that Prince Dakkar took an active part in the sepoy uprising that began in 1857, then in the chapter of the first part of the first novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" 1857 is named as the probable first meeting of the Castillan ship with the Nautilus. At the same time, Chapter 11 states that the Nautilus was built no earlier than 1865. The first meeting of the Nautilus with the ship Moravia, firmly confirmed by Jules Verne, is dated March 5, 1867, in the novel The Mysterious Island, the chronological framework for Pierre Aronax and his companions on board the submarine is clearly defined - from November 6, 1866 to June 22, 1867 of the year . However, they do not coincide with the dates of Aronax's journey in the novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", which indicates the period between November 6, 1867 and June 17-22, 1868. In any case, Captain Nemo during this period could not help the inhabitants of the island, as he was far from these places. Moreover, he could not save Cyrus Smith on March 24, 1865, since the newly built Nautilus had not yet become a prisoner of the island cave, but was just beginning its journey across the seas and oceans.

It is not clear how the story of Aronax became known to the islanders, because the professor who fled from Captain Nemo had to not only return to Paris within four to 16 months, but also write and publish a book, which was then supposed to go on sale and spread around the world. And the only means of delivering the book to Cyrus Smith and his comrades was a ship captured by pirates that approached the island on October 17, 1867, when, according to one version, Aronax had not yet got to the Nautilus, and according to the second, he was at large a little more than three months. Nevertheless, on the night of October 15-16, 1868, having got into the island cave, Cyrus Smith and Gideon Spillet, independently of each other, immediately recognize the Nautilus and Smith whispers the name of the captain, which, “obviously, was familiar to the journalist, because it made him deep impression."

During the same period - three months and 24 days, with the accuracy of the date of June 22, 1868, indicated in the novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", Captain Nemo had to lose his entire crew and grow old on Lincoln Island. At the same time, Captain Nemo himself claims in his dying conversation that he has been living in the depths of the sea for thirty years (that is, since 1838) and has no connection with the outside world, and has been on the island for six years (that is, since 1862). In the same conversation, contradicting himself, the captain convinces the islanders that Professor Aronax got on his ship 16 years ago, that is, in 1852 (and not in 1866, as Nemo himself later told them), five years before the uprising sepoys, which prompted him to break with the world of people. It would be reasonable if this term would refer the reader to 1882, as the year of the death of the captain, which would remove some of the time paradoxes of Captain Nemo, but in this case, Cyrus Smith and his companions would spend 17 years on Lincoln Island and turn into old people, and the teenager Herbert would have been about thirty years old.

The image of Nemo in films

The interpretation of the image of Captain Nemo in the cinema varies very widely.

In part of the films, the image of the Captain is almost similar to the literary one - he is a strong, strong-willed, cruel to his enemies, but not without compassion for people, a real, enthusiastic scientist, explorer of the deep sea. It cannot be unequivocally defined as an unconditionally positive or negative hero.

In the Soviet film "Captain Nemo" Nemo is shown with obvious sympathy and sympathy, his personal fate and the struggle against the English colonialists, which fits perfectly into the Soviet interpretation of the national liberation struggle and the assessment of its heroes, justify in the eyes of the audience both the harsh character of the captain, and that evil which he has to bring to the people. In accordance with this interpretation, the film is supplemented with episodes of the captain's "extra-ship" life, the transmission of messages to Aronax's wife that the professor is alive, the ending of the story is also significantly corrected: the captain is aware of the escape plans and monitors the actions of Aronax, Land and Conseil to the end, but deliberately allows their flight, that is, in fact, voluntarily releases the captives to freedom. Moreover, through a metal box thrown on the shore, he gives the fugitives a letter and their belongings. The film does not explicitly show that the captain helped the fugitives escape when their boat was broken in a whirlpool, but such a conclusion suggests itself from the circumstances of the rescue.

However, in some of the films, Nemo is shown as a criminal, an egoist seeking power, or even as a lunatic.

Screen adaptations

• Twenty thousand leagues under the sea - USA,
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (film, 1954) - USA, 1954.
• Stolen airship - Czechoslovakia,
• Captain Nemo and the Underwater City - UK,
• Mysterious island - Spain - Italy - France,
• Mysterious Island - Canada-New Zealand,
• Mysterious Island - USA,

In the works of other authors

There is a series of novels "Children of Captain Nemo" by V. Holdbein, which tells about the son of Captain Nemo, Mike.

In music

• The song "Captain Nemo" by composer Y. Dubravin, lyrics by V. Suslov
• Mentioned in the song Nemo by the Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish.
• "Captain Nemo" is a song by the St. Petersburg band Chimera.
• "Captain Nemo" is a song by American singer Sarah Brightman.
• "Captain Nemo" is a song by the Russian VIA "Bombay Latches", written to the verses of Nikolai Stolitsyn.
• Ace of Base.
• "Captain Nemo" - song by Dschinghis Khan ( album "Helden, Schurken Und Der Dudelmoser").
• Mentioned in the song of the group "Zimovye Zverey" "The Myth of Loneliness".

Links

• Sergei MAKEEV In Search of Captain Nemo // Top Secret.
• How Jules Verne created the image of Captain Nemo // News of Yekaterinburg. March 25, 2005.

Categories:

• Jules Verne characters
• Fantasy characters
• fictional men
• Fictional Indians
• fictional princes
• Fictional sailors
• Fictional captains
• fictional scientists
• fictional inventors
• fictional travelers
• League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
• Celebrity Captains Club characters

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The day has come. Not a single ray of the sun penetrated the deep cave. There was a high tide, and the sea flooded the entrance to it. The artificial light that had burst from the walls of the Nautilus had not faded, and the water still sparkled around the submarine.

Exhausted from fatigue, Captain Nemo collapsed onto the pillows. There was no need to think about moving him to the Granite Palace, since he expressed a desire to remain among the treasures of the Nautilus, which could not be bought for millions, and there to expect inevitable death.

For quite a long time he lay completely motionless, almost unconscious. Cyrus Smith and Gideon Spilett watched the patient carefully. It was evident that the captain's life was gradually fading away. The forces were soon to leave his body, once so powerful, and now representing only a fragile shell of a soul ready to die. His whole life was concentrated in his head and in his heart.

The engineer and the journalist were talking in an undertone. Did the dying person need care? Was it possible, if not to save his life, then at least to prolong it by a few days? He himself said that there was no cure for his illness, and calmly awaited death without fear of it.

“We are powerless,” said Gideon Spilett.

But why is he dying? asked Pencroft.

“He’s fading away,” the reporter replied.

– And what if it is transferred to free air, to the sun? Maybe then he will come to life? Sailor suggested.

“No, Pencroft, it’s not worth trying,” replied the engineer. “Besides, Captain Nemo won't agree to abandon his ship. He has lived on the Nautilus for thirty years and wants to die on the Nautilus.

Captain Nemo apparently heard Cyrus Smith's words. He slightly raised himself and said in a voice even weaker, but still clear:

- You are right, sir. I must and want to die here. I have one request for you.

Cyrus Smith and his companions moved closer to the sofa and rearranged the pillows so that the dying man could lie more comfortably.

Captain Nemo looked around at all the treasures of this hall, illuminated by electric light that diffused through the patterns of the ceiling; he looked at the pictures on the walls, covered with luxurious wallpaper; to the masterpieces of French, Flemish, Italian, Spanish masters; on marble and bronze sculptures that stood on pedestals; on the magnificent organ pushed up against the back wall; to the glass cases that surrounded the pool in the center of the room, which contained the most beautiful seafood: sea plants, zoophytes, priceless pearls. Finally his eyes rested on the motto that adorned the pediment of this museum - the motto of the Nautilus: - "Mobilis in mobili".

It seemed that he wanted to please his eyes for the last time with the view of these masterpieces of art and nature, which he had admired for so many years in the depths of the seas.

Cyrus Smith did not break Captain Nemo's silence. He waited for the dying man to speak.

Several minutes passed. During this time, his whole life probably passed before the elder. Finally, Captain Nemo turned his head to the colonists and said:

“Do you think, gentlemen, that you owe me your gratitude?”

“Captain, we would willingly sacrifice ourselves to save your life.

“Good,” continued Captain Nemo, “good. Promise me that you will fulfill my last will, and I will be rewarded for what I have done for you.

“We promise you this,” said Cyrus Smith. This promise obligated not only him, but also his comrades.

“Gentlemen,” continued Captain Nemo, “tomorrow I die.

With a wave of his hand he stopped Herbert, who began to protest.

“Tomorrow I will die, and I want the Nautilus to be my grave. This will be my coffin. All my friends rest at the bottom of the sea, and I want to lie there too.

Deep silence was the answer to these words of Captain Nemo.

“Hear me carefully, gentlemen,” he continued. - "Nautilus" in captivity in this cave, the exit from which is locked. But if he cannot leave the prison, then he can plunge into the abyss and keep my remains in himself.

The colonists reverently listened to the words of the dying man.

“Tomorrow, when I die,” continued the captain, “you, Mr. Smith, and your comrades will leave the Nautilus.” All the riches that are stored here must disappear with me. Only one gift will be left for you by Prince Dakkar, whose history you now know. This casket contains several million diamonds - most of them survived from the time when I was a husband and father and almost believed in the possibility of happiness - and a collection of pearls that I collected with my friends at the bottom of the seas. This treasure will help you to do a good deed at the right moment. In the hands of men like you and your comrades, Mr. Smith, money cannot be a weapon of evil.

Weakness made Captain Nemo take a breather. After a few minutes he continued:

“Tomorrow you will take this casket, leave the hall and close the door. Then you will climb to the top platform of the Nautilus, close the hatch and screw the lid on.

“We will do so, Captain,” said Cyrus Smith.

- Good. Then you will board the boat that brought you here. But before you leave the Nautilus, open the two large cranes that are on the waterline. Water will penetrate into the tanks, and the Nautilus will gradually begin to sink and lie on the bottom.

Cyrus Smith made a motion with his hand, but Captain Nemo reassured him:

- Do not be afraid, you will bury the dead. Neither Cyrus Smith nor his comrades considered it possible to object to Captain Nemo. These were his last orders, and all that remained was to carry them out.

Do you promise me this, gentlemen? Captain Nemo asked.

“We promise, captain,” the engineer replied. Captain Nemo thanked the colonists with a sign and asked them to leave him alone for a few hours. Gideon Spilett offered to stay near the patient, in case there was a crisis, but Captain Nemo refused.

“Until tomorrow, at any rate, I will live, sir,” he said.

Everyone left the hall, passed through the library and the dining room, and ended up at the bow, in the engine room, where the electric machines stood. Warming and illuminating the Nautilus, they were at the same time the source of its motive power.

The Nautilus was a technological marvel that included many other marvels. They admired the engineer.

The colonists came to a platform that rose seven or eight feet above the water, and stopped near a large lentil-shaped glass, from which a beam of light flashed. Behind the glass was a cabin with a steering wheel, in which the helmsman sat when he had to guide the Nautilus through layers of water illuminated by electricity for a considerable distance.

Cyrus Smith and his friends did not say anything at first: everything they had just seen and heard made a strong impression on them, and their hearts sank in their chests at the thought that the patron, who had saved them so many times, whom they had met for only a few hours back, must die so soon.

– Here is this man! said Pencroft. - To think that he lived like that, at the bottom of the ocean! But, perhaps, it was just as restless there as on earth.

“Perhaps the Nautilus could help us leave Lincoln Island and reach habitable land,” Ayrton said.

- Thousand devils! exclaimed Pencroft. “As for me, I would never have dared to pilot such a ship!” On the surface of the water, I agree, but underwater, no!

“I think, Pencroff, that it is not difficult at all to operate such a submarine as the Nautilus, and that we would soon get used to it,” said the journalist. - Under water, neither storms nor pirate attacks are terrible. A few feet below the surface, the ocean is as calm as a lake.

“Perhaps,” said the sailor, “but I prefer a glorious storm in a well-equipped ship. Ships are made to float on water, not underwater.

"It's not worth arguing about submarines, at least as far as the Nautilus is concerned," the engineer interrupted. “The Nautilus doesn't belong to us, and we don't. we have the right to control them. However, he could not serve us under any circumstances: the elevation of the basalt rocks prevents him from leaving this cave. In addition, Captain Nemo wants the ship to sink with him to the bottom after his death. His will is expressed quite definitely, and we will fulfill it.

After talking for some time, Cyrus Smith and his comrades descended into the Nautilus. Lightly refreshed with food, they returned to the hall. Captain Nemo came out of his daze; his eyes were still shining. A faint smile played on the old man's lips.

The colonists approached him.

“Gentlemen,” the captain said to them, “you are brave, noble, kind people. You are all dedicated to a common cause. I often watched you, I loved you and love you. Your hand, Mr Smith.

Cyrus Smith held out his hand to the captain, who shook it in a friendly manner.

“Okay…” he whispered. “Enough talking about me,” continued Captain Nemo, “let's talk about yourself and about Lincoln Island, on which you took refuge. Do you intend to leave it?

"Only to return, captain," answered Pencroff briskly.

“Return? ... Yes, Pencroff, I know how much you love this island,” the captain replied with a smile. “Thanks to you, it has changed and rightfully belongs to you.

"Would you like to entrust us with something?" the engineer asked briskly. - Give something as a keepsake to friends left in the mountains of India.

No, Mr Smith. I don't have any more friends. I am the last representative of my kind, and I died long ago for those who knew me ... But let's get back to you. Solitude, loneliness is a heavy thing, exceeding human strength. I'm dying because I thought it was possible to live alone. Therefore, you must do everything possible to leave Lincoln Island and see again the places where you were born. I know that these rascals have destroyed the ship you built.

“We are building a new ship,” said Gideon Spilett, “a ship that is large enough to carry us to the nearest inhabited land. But even if we ever manage to leave Lincoln Island, we will return here. Too many memories bind us to this island for us to forget.

“This is where we recognized Captain Nemo,” Cyrus Smith said.

“Only here will we find the memory of you,” added Herbert.

“And here I will rest in eternal sleep, if ...” Captain Nemo said.

He fell silent and, without finishing his sentence, turned to the engineer:

“Mr. Smith, I would like to speak to you in private.

Respecting the wish of the patient, the engineer's companions withdrew.

Cyrus Smith spent only a few minutes alone with the captain. Soon he again called his friends, but did not share with them what the dying man wanted to convey to him.

Gideon Spilett examined the patient. There was no doubt that the captain was supported only by spiritual forces, and that soon he would not be able to fight against bodily weakness.

The day passed, and there was no change in the patient's condition. The colonists never left the Nautilus for a second.

Night soon fell, but in the underground cave it was impossible to notice that it was getting dark.

Captain Nemo did not suffer, but his strength was exhausted.

The noble face of the old man, covered with deathly pallor, was calm. Barely audible words sometimes flew from his lips; he talked about various events of his extraordinary life. It was felt that life was gradually leaving his body; Captain Nemo's legs and arms were starting to get cold.

Once or twice he spoke to the colonists who were standing near him, and smiled at them with that last smile that does not leave his face until his death.

Finally, shortly after midnight, Captain Nemo made a convulsive movement; he managed to cross his arms over his chest, as if he wanted to die in that position.

By one in the morning, his whole life was concentrated in his eyes. Her pupils flashed for the last time with the fire that had once blazed so brightly. Then he quietly breathed his last.

Cyrus Smith leaned over and closed the eyes of the one who had once been Prince Dakkar and was no longer Captain Nemo.

Herbert and Pencroff wept. Ayrton furtively wiped away a tear. Neb knelt beside the journalist, who was motionless as a statue.

A few hours later, the colonists, fulfilling the promise made to the captain, carried out his last will.

Cyrus Smith and his comrades left the Nautilus, taking with them a gift that their benefactor had left for them: a chest containing untold riches.

The splendid hall, still flooded with light, was carefully locked. After that, the colonists screwed up the hatch cover so that not a single drop of water could penetrate inside the Nautilus.

Then they got into the boat, which was tied to the submarine. The boat was taken to the stern. There, at the level of the waterline, two large cranes were visible, communicating with the tanks that ensured the immersion of the Nautilus in the water. The colonists opened the taps, the tanks were filled, and the Nautilus, gradually sinking, disappeared under the water.