Chapter 3 A
Pearl Worth Ten MillionNIGHT FELL. I went to bed. I slept pretty poorly. Man–eaters
played a major role in my dreams. And I found it more or less
appropriate that the French word for shark, requin, has its
linguistic roots in the word requiem.
The next day at four o'clock in the morning, I was awakened by
the steward whom Captain Nemo had placed expressly at my service. I
got up quickly, dressed, and went into the lounge.
Captain Nemo was waiting for me.
"Professor Aronnax," he said to me, "are you ready to
start?"
"I'm ready."
"Kindly follow me."
"What about my companions, Captain?"
"They've been alerted and are waiting for us."
"Aren't we going to put on our diving suits?" I asked.
"Not yet. I haven't let the Nautilus pull too near the coast,
and we're fairly
