"Where do you keep those eight thousand books? I couldn't see …"
“你们把着八千本书放到哪儿去了呢？我看不大多……”
"They're all over the country, Mr. Lidenbrock. The people of our old ice island love to study. There's not one farmer or fisherman who doesn't know how to read, and all of them do read. We feel that books should not be kept on shelves, but should be read. our people will read the books, then pass them on to others to read. The books often don't return to the library for a year or two."
"And during that time," my uncle said, looking annoyed, "foreigners…”
"What do you mean? Foreigners have libraries in the their own countries. Our peasants must be able to educate themselves. As I've said, Icelanders love to study. Now, if you tell me which books you hoped to find in our library, I may be able to give you some information about them."
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