Readers of this novel can easily remember its summary. "Fifteen Years Captain" is written in simple and vibrant language. It captures the special entrepreneurial spirit of the XIX century, the century of discoveries and inventions. Perhaps only Jules Verne knew how to create.
San Francisco Flight
The great Frenchman wrote practically about his contemporaries. Judge for yourselves: the Pilgrim schooner-brig departs from the New Zealand port of Oakland on January 29, 1873, and the book itself was published in 1878. Its route, according to the original plan, runs through the Pacific Ocean through the Chilean seaport of Valparaiso and ends in San Francisco.
The ship belongs to a wealthy man, James Weldon. The voyage is whaling, the vessel is driven by an experienced captain Gul, under his command five sailors, a young man Dick Send and a cook Negoro.
There are also passengers on board. This is the wife of the owner of the ship - Mrs. Weldon, his five-year-old son Jack, the nanny of the boy - an elderly Negro woman Nan and, finally, an eccentric entomologist, who belongs to the uncle, who everyone calls him “cousin Benedict”.
Unexpected fellow travelers
The restless, adventure-filled Pilgrim flight is further narrated in brief. “Fifteen-year-old captain” from the first chapter brings intrigue to the plot. Five-year-old Jack Welon was the first to notice a tipped ship in the distance and notify others. The ship "Waldeck", crashed, is doomed. On board - negro Americans left in a hurry in their cabin by a runaway crew. Those returning home, completing contract work on a New Zealand plantation. There are five of them: old Tom and his son Bat, as well as young people Acteon, Hercules and Austin. With them - a large dog Dingo, picked up by the captain of the "Valdeka" somewhere in Africa. Moreover, the dog, apparently, knows Negoro, since it is aggressive towards him.
Trouble
Soon, a disaster happened on the Pilgrim - five sailors and the captain perished, going on a boat for a whale. Further on the strength of spirit of Dick Send, an orphan, a younger sailor, is summarized. The fifteen-year-old captain (Dick was so many years old), without a doubt, takes command of the ship.
However, his knowledge of navigation is clearly not enough. He knows how to choose the direction of the compass and measure the speed of movement with the help of the lot. How to determine his location using stars, he does not know.
Negoro's Dark Personality
The Portuguese Negoro (we will learn more about this later) is a runaway convict. He is destined by the authorities of his country for the slave trade, but has fled and wants to get back to Africa to continue to engage in the same criminal business. That is why Negoro got a cook on the sailing ship Pilgrim. The death of the captain and experienced sailors significantly increased the convict's chances of finding himself more quickly in Africa. To do this, you just had to trick Dick Send by sending him instead of the Pacific to the Indian Ocean.
Next - a brief summary tells us about the implementation of the criminal plan. The fifteen-year-old captain is really disoriented. After all, one compass is broken by the criminal, and the second shows instead of the north direction - the south. This trick - “taming the compass needle” - was done by Negoro convict familiar with navigation firsthand, placing an ax under the device. The ship instead of San Francisco is approaching the shores of Angola.
On the coast of Angola
"Pilgrim" is washed ashore. Negoro is secretly hiding.
However, Dick Senda will face further challenges and challenges. He is met here by Negoro's accomplice American Harris, who convinces travelers that they are in Bolivia. The classic gang of villains-slave traders intrigues the story further (evidenced by the summary). The “fifteen-year-old captain” (chapter 2) begins with the fact that, as an imaginary conductor, by deceit (the promise of shelter and relaxation with his brother), he lures travelers one hundred miles deep into the African forest. The joint criminal plan of Negoro and Garris is to sell part of the travelers into slavery, and to receive a generous ransom of $ 100,000 for the relatives of the wealthy Weldon. Not far from the place where Harris directed Dick Send with his fellow travelers, a caravan of slaves stopped, led by the familiar Negoro - Alvets.
Travelers suspect cheating
The villains act in concert, they succeed almost everything (as evidenced by the summary). The fifteen-year-old captain, however, begins to suspect Harris of lying. Travelers led by him (supposedly from the Bolivian selva) notice circumstances that do not at all identify their whereabouts with South America. Approaching the riverbed, they aroused several hippos resting in shallow water, as well as giraffes (the latter, due to the fact that they were at a considerable distance, were mistaken for ostriches). Once cousin Benedict nearly stung a fly resembling a tsetse fly. As an entomologist, he immediately asked relevant questions. Moreover, the lenses of the scientist’s glasses were soon completely broken, someone stepped on them. Indeed, even in the absence of experienced trackers among the Americans, they quickly orientated themselves and learned along the way. This is their team intelligence that emphasizes the brief content. The “fifteen-year-old captain” (Jules Verne) is gradually bringing the imaginary conductor - the liar Harris, whose distrust is growing, to the
point of no return. He is also forced to flee after travelers discover a terrible find associated precisely with the cannibalism of Africa - severed hands.
Captivity
Dick Send hunts down Negoro and Harris and hears their conversation indicating a criminal conspiracy. Realizing that they are in danger, they try to get out of the forest, but slave traders vigilantly watch them. Once in the morning, after spending the night in a termite mound protecting from tropical rain, travelers will be captivated by the thugs from the caravan of slaves at the tip of these two villains. Moreover, Hercules manages to escape from these robbers.
A brief summary tells us about the long hard road of the captives. The “Fifteen Years Captain” (Jules Verne) describes their humiliation and suffering on the way to the infamous slave market in Angola, Casonda. An elderly black woman, the nanny of five-year-old Jack, Nan, dies on the route of this difficult campaign. However, several trapped travelers destined for the ransom ransom (Mrs. Weldon, her little son and cousin Benedict) are transported by Negoro in more comfortable conditions.
Casonda. Kara to the villain
Slaves who arrived in Casonda are placed in barracks. Dick Sand worries about the fate of Mrs. Weldon with her son. Those are transported separately and placed in the trading post of the owner of the caravan, Weldon. Having met the trickster Garris in Cazenda, he tries to ask him about it. However, the villain, having decided to mock the guy, deceives him, saying that they are dead. However, he does not expect that he is saying this to an adult man who has matured in difficult circumstances, as evidenced by the next episode (more precisely, its very brief content). A fifteen-year-old captain grabs Harris's knife and mortally smashes it. Travelers become one less dangerous enemy.
Negoro wishes to execute Dick Send
Negoro observes the killing of his dark-minded companion from afar. He decides to destroy Dick Senda. To do this, he only needs to agree with his partner in trafficking in persons, who enjoy influence in the slave market, Alvets. The fifteen-year-old captain, they decide, will be publicly executed immediately after the sale of the slaves is completed. To implement this plan, Alvec must receive a formal permit from the ruler of the Angolan tribe of natives, Muani-Lungu.
The summary of the book “Fifteen Years Captain” ironically describes further events on the land of Angola.
Alvets had experience settling such cases. He knew the dachshund that Muani-Lungu would charge for permitting a public ritual murder. It is enough to give the leader a punch in an amount equivalent to the amount of blood in the body of the unfortunate victim. The indigenous dependent kingdom is a miserable sight. He was an alcoholic in the last stage.
Unsightly death of the leader
Alvets manages, and at the most favorable price, to sell all black slaves. However, Negoro hopes for even greater earnings than the owner of the caravan (a rich ransom in the amount of a fortune - $ 100,000). Therefore, he contains Mrs. Weldon, her little son Jack, who is seriously ill with malaria, and their cousin Benedict under 24-hour security in a separate house.
Negoro also succeeds in deceiving Mrs. Weldon with the news of the alleged death of Dick Send, to get a ransom letter written by her hand. However, the villains are not able to immediately initiate the execution of the former youth.
The following summary of the story looks tragic. The fifteen-year-old captain actually receives a deferment of execution, but now they are going to destroy more than one. Events took a different turn because of ... the joy of the huckster Alvets from the profit. To celebrate, the slave merchant Alvec decided to bring the Muani-Lungu punch in the most presentable, burning form. However, he did not take into account that he was dealing with a complete alcoholic. When the leader touched the cup with his lips, his body, alcoholized with long-term outpourings, flared up, and the leader burned out in a matter of minutes.
The savages now had no time for the execution of some pale-faced boy there, because the leader was to be buried! Instead of executing the former youth of the Pilgrim separately, a mega-execution of all his wives (except his beloved) and slaves, including Dick, was planned.
The real hero is Hercules. The rescue
Above is a summary of “The Fifteen Years Captain” for chapters, as you have noticed, completely falls under the genre of a Robinsonade novel with a happy ending. It seems that not only circumstances, but also nature itself helps our travelers.
The Negro Hercules, who escaped from the slave traders, lurks in the neighborhood of the Alvets trading post, waiting for a moment to help his comrades. And then an accident occurs, activating his actions. The bizarre cousin Benedict, himself not understanding how, chasing a butterfly after a butterfly net, he suddenly finds himself at large. There he meets Hercules, and he conceived the idea of how to save his friends. Now the powerful Negro knows where Mrs. Weldon and her son are. The population of Angola is undergoing starvation due to flooding of fertile land by rains. Superstitious people seek the cause of trouble in evil witchcraft.
Desperate natives called for a "solution to the problem" of a powerful sorcerer from a neighboring village. Hercules, having tied a real cult minister and dressed in his outfit, presents himself as a mute sorcerer. He comes to the Dowager Queen (former beloved wife), without further ado takes her hand and leads to the Alvets estate. A crowd of fanatics follows, believing the sorcerers unquestioningly. He shows the Queen the reason for all the misfortunes - the white woman and her son. It becomes clear to everyone: only by taking them outside the village and having performed the ritual of killing infidels, the sorcerer will return the fertility to the earth.
Hercules, using the status of the sorcerer Mgangi, thus manages to take in a boat Mrs. Weldon, her son Jack, cousin Benedict and Dick Send. Alvets, whom Negoro instructed to guard the hostages, was powerless in front of a crowd of fanatics. Travelers saved.
Fifteen-year-old captain leads friends to freedom
Unfortunately, the blacks, friends of Hercules, have already been sold and taken away by buyers.
Travelers, hoping to return to America, sail down the river to the ocean, disguising the boat as a floating island, hiding from the eyes of cannibals. Ahead, the roar of a waterfall is heard, and Dick Send stops the boat on the left bank. Suddenly Dingo rushed forward, following the track. Travelers after the dog came to the dugout, where, restless, lay the remains of the owner of Dingo - Samuel Vernon, who was treacherously killed by his guide - Negoro. Next to the body were the latest records of a mortally wounded man containing this charge. Suddenly, the travelers heard the growl of a dog and the cry of Negoro, they intertwined in their last duel. A convict mortally wounded a dog with a knife, and the dog tore his throat.
Negoro, to his misfortune, appeared in a hut to take money from a hiding place. He needed them for a trip to America for a ransom from Mr. Weldon.
Meeting at home
Then travelers happily get to the coast of the Indian Ocean and on August 25, 1874 they sail to the California coast. Does the “Fifteen-year-old Captain” J. Verne have a life-affirming content? The grateful Mr. Weldon adopts Dick Send, gives him a proper marine education, and he becomes the captain on the ship of his named father. An orphan acquires a family! Hercules, on the other hand, enters Mr. Weldon's house as a true family friend.
Four Negroes, Hercules companions, Mr. Weldon manages to redeem from slavery, and those (Tom, Bath, Austin and Acteon) sailed in November 1877 from Africa to the welcoming Weldon house.
Conclusion
Jules Verne, “Fifteen Years Captain” ... The summary does not convey the full charm of this work, it must be readily reread in full. The novel can be interpreted in different ways. Like a robinsonade. As an example, young men - to be courageous and take responsibility. As an example of maintaining human relations in the most difficult situation. Everyone finds something in this novel ... Of course, he is most loved among children and youth. This fascinating book is already the third century, popular and attracts readers.