Free Journey Through the Impossible by Jules Verne, Edward Baxter Page A

birds. Good! There are
some jellyfish. They look like colored parasols. But there are no
ladies under them who can give me directions. (While he is speaking, a large crab makes its way obliquely toward him. Suddenly he
notices it) A crab! A crab! What an ugly creature. But it's coming
after me! (He tries to run away, dodging from side to side) But I don't
know you. I don't know you. It will catch me sooner or later, the
beast! Go lie down! (At that moment an enormous shark appears in
the water above him and swims down closer and closer to the bottom.)
And that fish! What a mouth! What teeth! A shark! It's a shark!
Help! Help! Save me! (in desperation, he goes in one direction, then
another, but the crab is at his heels and the shark comes closer, opening its formidable jaws.) Help! (He starts to run, with the crab and shark
in pursuit)

    he scene changes)

     



Valdemar: Ouf! Those two horrible creatures are out of sight. Where
am I now? A forest! I didn't expect to find a forest under water.
(He stops in front of an immense oyster13) Well, well, an oyster. And
what a fine oyster! A dozen of that size would make a nice appetizer for lunch. Maybe I'll have a taste. But no, this is August.
There's no "R" in this month, so it can't be fresh. ( fust then a
gigantic octopus appears. Valdemar notices it) Oh my goodness!
What now? An octopus. A horrible octopus. What? It's chasing
me, too. I'm done for! Where can I run? Where can I hide? Ah!
The oyster! The hospitable oyster. (Valdemar rushes toward the
open oyster and crawls inside. The two halves suddenly close. The octopus
disappears)
    (Enter Tartelet. He looks around carefully. From time to time he stops
and calls out)
    Tartelet (shouts): Valdemar! Valdemar! (He moves downstage) No one
there. But I saw him sink at the same time as I did. There's no use
calling and looking around. There's no one there. I've been
looking for a long time, and I'm really tired. (He sits on the large
oyster in which Valdemar is hiding) Let's take a little rest. What has
happened to my fellow passengers? Doctor Ox? I'm not worried
about him, but what about Mr. George, and especially Miss Eva?
(As he is speaking, the oyster slowly begins to open) What a strange
effect weariness has on me. The rock I'm sitting on seems to be
rising. (He feels himself being lifted by the upper half.) Hey! What's
going on underneath me? No, I'm not mistaken, it's really rising.
It's moving. It's definitely rising. (Trembling) Oh my goodness! What's that? (He presses down and the oyster closes again) There's a
creature in there. It's rising. It's still rising.

    Valdemar (inside the oyster, which is partly open): Who is pressing down
on my shell? Hey! You up there!
    Tartelet (trembling): Now it's talking. It's talking!
    Valdemar (opening the shell wider and putting his head out): Tartelet!
    Tartelet: It knows my name. It's an oyster that I've met before.
    Valdemar: It's me, Mr. Tartelet.
    Tartelet: Valdemar!
    Valdemar (kneeling inside the oyster): Here I am, Mr. Tartelet.
    Tartelet: It was you!
    Valdemar: In person!
    Tartelet: Inside an oyster?
    Valdemar: Why yes. I was quite comfortable in there. I felt right at
home. Oh, I'm so happy to see you again. Is everything all right,
Mr. Tartelet?
    Tartelet: Perfectly all right.
    Valdemar: And what about Mr. George? And Mis Eva? And Dr. Ox?
    Tartelet: I hope we'll see them again soon.
    Valdemar: That's better. But I'd rather see them on terra firma, or, as
we say in Copenhagen, on the calves' floor.14
    Tartelet: Ah! What kind of floor did you say they call it in Copenhagen?
    Valdemar: The calves' floor, Mr. Tartelet.
    Tartelet: In our country, when we talk about dry land, we call it the
cows' floor. But I was just thinking.... What were you doing in
that seashell?

    Valdemar: I was hiding from a crab.
    Tartelet: From a crab?
    Valdemar: And from a shark.
    Tartelet: A shark?
    Valdemar: And from a giant octopus.
    Tartelet (gesturing): An