The Mystery of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea

Jules Verne was born at Nantes in 1828, and occupies a unique place in the history of literature because he was one of the first writers to make systematic use in fiction of accurate scientific knowledge. After his schooldays Jules Verne went to Paris to study law, but he gave more attention to writing plays than to his legal work. In any way, Verne was also a great traveller. At the beginning of the 60s he made a tour of Scotland, followed by a visit to London, and later he and his brother crossed from Liverpool to the United States. They also determined to go round the world in the shortest possible time, and not long afterwards this idea took form in Verne’s famous novel Round the World in Eighty Days, which achieved an extraordinary success.

Verne’s most famous books were based on scientific ideas, but his vivid imagination led him to describe achievements that seemed improbable at the time he wrote,  but  it is remarkable how many of his ideas have been realized almost completely. The most amazing book in this respect was Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, in which the exploits of the famous Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus were vividly described.

I’ve often wondered where Verne has taken the idea for the title of his most famous novel. Perhaps the answer lies hidden in the equally famous novel of Miguel de Cervantes, when Don Quixote says he wanted to “travel fast, and get quickly to the place where this giant is.”

Don Quixote says:

“But what I propose to do,  is to travel fast,  and get quickly to the place where this giant is,  and,  presently after my arrival,  to cut off his head, and settle the princess peaceably in her kingdom, and that instant to return and see that sun that enlightens my senses; to whom I will make such an excuse, that she shall allow my delay was necessary; for she will perceive that all redounds to the increase of her glory and fame, since what I have won, do win, or shall win, by force of arms, in this life, proceeds wholly from the succour she affords me, and from my being hers.”

And Sancho replied:

“Ah! quoth Sancho, how is your worship disordered in your head!   Pray, tell me, sir,  do you intend to take this journey for nothing! and will you let slip so considerable a match as this, when the dowry is a kingdom, which, as I have heard say, is above twenty thousand leagues in circumference, and abounding in all things necessary or the support of human life, and bigger than Portugal and Castile together?”

Twenty thousand leagues “in circumference” became Twenty Thousand Leagues “Under the Sea.” So, I think, perhaps the mystery of the title of one of the most famous novels of Verne is revealed. Maybe it’s not a great mystery, but because Sancho quotes almost entirely the title of Verne’s novel, and it is related to the journey of Don Quixote “to the place where this giant is,” this makes the Spanish source not only possible but also highly likely.

Note

The Life and Exploits of Don Quixote de la Mancha.  In Four Volumes, London, Smith & Holborn, 1840, Vol. I,  p. 52.