The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells
Section [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29]
deeply purple . to_the eastward a dark bank of fog still crouched and sheltered from_the sunrise, but to_the westward the sky was blue and clear .I began to realise the length of_my insensibility .

we were no longer in a void . an atmosphere had arisen about us . the outline of things had gained in character, had grown acute and varied; save for a shadowed space of white substance here and there, white substance that was no longer air but snow, the arctic appearance had gone altogether . everywhere broad rusty brown spaces of bare and tumbled earth spread to_the blaze of_the sun . here and there at_the edge of_the snowdrifts were transient little pools and eddies of water, the only things stirring in_that expanse of barrenness . the sunlight inundated the upper two blinds of_our sphere and turned our climate to high summer, but our feet were still in shadow, and_the sphere was lying upon a drift of snow .

and scattered here and there upon_the slope, and emphasised by little white threads of unthawed snow upon their shady sides, were shapes like sticks, dry twisted sticks of_the same rusty hue as_the rock upon_which they lay . that caught one's thoughts sharply .Sticks ! on a lifeless world ? then as my eye grew more accustomed to_the texture of_their substance, I perceived that almost all this surface had afibrous texture, like the carpet of brown needles one finds beneath the shade of pine trees .

"Cavor ! " I_said .

" yes ."

" it may_be a dead world now - but once -"

something arrested my attention .I had discovered among_these needles a number of little round objects . and it seemed to_me that one_of_these had moved ."Cavor," I whispered .

" what ? "

but I_did_not answer at once .I stared incredulous . for an instant I_could_not believe my eyes . I_gave an inarticulate cry .I gripped his arm .I pointed ." look ! " I cried, finding my tongue ." there ! yes ! and there ! "

his eyes followed my pointing finger ."Eh ? " he_said .

how can I describe the thing I_saw ? it_is so petty a thing to state, and yet it seemed so wonderful, so pregnant with emotion . I_have said that amidst the stick- like litter were these rounded bodies, these little oval bodies that might_have passed as very_small pebbles . and now first one and then another had stirred, had rolled over and cracked, and down the crack of each of_them showed a minute line of yellowish green, thrusting outward to meet the hot encouragement of_the newly- risen sun . for a moment that was all, and then there stirred, and burst a third !

" it_is a seed," said Cavor . and then I heard him whisper very softly, " life ! "

" life ! " and immediately it poured upon us that_our vast journey had_not_been made in vain, that we had come to no arid waste of minerals, but to a world that lived and moved ! we watched intensely .I remember I kept rubbing the glass before me with my sleeve, jealous of_the faintest suspicion of mist .

the picture was clear and vivid only in_the middle of_the field . all about_that centre the dead fibres and seeds were magnified and distorted b~ the curvature of_the glass . but we could_see enough ! one after another all down the sunlit slope these miraculous little brown bodies burst and gaped apart, like seed-pods, like the husks of fruits; opened eager mouths . that drank in_the heat and light pouring in a cascade from_the newly- risen sun .

every moment more of_these seed coats ruptured, and even as_they_did so the swelling pioneers overflowed their rent-distended seed-cases, and passed into_the second stage of growth . with a steady assurance, a swift deliberation, these amazing seeds thrust a rootlet downward to_the earth and a queer little bundle- like bud into_the air . in a little while the whole slope was dotted with minute plantlets standing at attention in_the blaze of_the sun .

they_did_not stand for long . the bundle- like buds swelled and strained and opened with a jerk, thrusting out a coronet of little sharp tips, spreading awhorl of tiny, spiky, brownish leaves, that lengthened rapidly, lengthened visibly even as_we watched . the movement was slower than any animal's, swifter than any plant's I_have ever seen before . how can i_suggest it to_you - the way that growth went on ? the leaf tips grew so that_they moved onward even while we looked at them . the brown seed- case shrivelled and was absorbed with an equal rapidity . have_you ever on a cold day taken a thermometer into your warm hand and watched the little thread of mercury creep up the tube ? these moon plants grew like that .

in_a_few_minutes, as it seemed, the buds of_the more forward of_these plants had lengthened into a stem and were even putting forth a second whorl of leaves, and all the slope that had seemed so recently a lifeless stretch of litter was now dark with_the stunted olive- green herbage of bristling spikes that swayed with_the vigour of_their growing .

I turned about, and behold ! along the upper edge of a rock to_the eastward a similar fringe in a scarcely less forward condition swayed and bent, dark against the blinding glare of_the sun . and beyond this fringe was_the silhouette of a plant mass, branching clumsily like a cactus, and swelling visibly, swelling like a bladder that fills with air .

then to_the westward also I discovered that another such distended form was rising over the scrub . but here the light fell upon its sleek sides, and I could_see that its colour was a vivid orange hue it rose as one watched it; if one looked away from_it for a minute and then back, its outline had changed; it thrust out blunt congested branches until in a little time it rose a coralline shape of many feet in height . compared with_such a growth the terrestrial puff- ball, which will sometimes swell a foot in diameter in a single night, would_be a hopeless laggard . but then the puff- ball grows against a gravitational pull six times that of_the moon . beyond, out of gullies and flats that had_been hidden from_us, but not from_the quickening sun, over reefs and banks of shining rock, abristling beard of spiky and fleshy vegetation was straining into view, hurrying tumultuously to tale advantage of_the brief day in_which it must flower and fruit and seed again and die . it_was like a miracle, that growth . so, one must imagine, the trees and plants arose at_the creation and covered the desolation of_the new- made earth .

imagine it; imagine that dawn ! the resurrection of_the frozen air, the stirring and quickening of_the soil, and then this silent uprising of vegetation, this unearthly ascent of fleshiness and spikes . conceive it all lit by a blaze that_would make_the intensest sunlight of earth seem watery and weak . and still around this stirring jungle, wherever there_was shadow, lingered banks of bluish snow . and to_have the picture of_our impression complete, you_must bear in mind that we saw it all through a thick bent glass, distorting it as things are distorted by a lens, acute only in_the centre of_the picture, and very bright there, and towards the edges magnified and unreal .

chapter 9

Prospecting Begins

we ceased to gaze . we turned to each_other, the same thought, the same question in_our eyes . for_these plants to grow, there_must_be some air, however attenuated, air that we also should_be able to breathe .

" the manhole ? " I_said .

" yes ! " said Cavor, " if_it_is air we see ! "

" in a little while," I_said, " these plants will_be as high as_we_are . suppose - suppose after all - is_it certain ? how do_you_know that stuff is air ? it may_be nitrogen - it may_be carbonic acid even ! "

" that's easy," he_said, and set about proving it . he produced a big piece of crumpled paper from_the bale, lit it, and thrust it hastily through_the man- hole valve .I bent forward and peered down through_the thick glass for its appearance outside, that little flame on whose evidence depended so_much !

I_saw the paper drop out and lie lightly upon_the snow . the pink flame of_its burning vanished . for an instant it seemed to_be extinguished . and then I_saw a little blue tongue upon_the edge of it that trembled, and crept, and spread !

quietly the whole sheet, save where it lay in immediate contact with_the snow, charred and shrivelled and sent up aquivering thread of smoke . there_was no_doubt left to_me; the atmosphere of_the moon was either pure oxygen or air, and capable therefore - unless its tenuity was excessive - of supporting our alien life . we_might emerge - and live !

I sat down with my legs on either side of_the manhole and prepared to unscrew it, but Cavor stopped me ." there_is first a little precaution," he_said . he pointed out that although it_was certainly an oxygenated atmosphere outside, it might still be so rarefied as_to cause us grave injury . he reminded me of mountain sickness, and of_the bleeding that often afflicts aeronauts who_have ascended too swiftly, and he spent some_time in_the preparation of a sickly-tasting drink which he insisted on my sharing . it made me feel a little numb, but otherwise had no effect on me . then he permitted me to_begin unscrewing .

presently the glass stopper of_the manhole was so_far undone that_the denser air within our sphere began to escape along the thread of_the screw, singing as akettle sings before it boils . thereupon he_made me desist . it speedily became evident that_the pressure outside was very_much less_than it_was within . how_much less it_was we had no means of telling .

I sat grasping the stopper with both hands, ready to close it again if, in_spite of_our intense hope, the lunar atmosphere should after all prove too rarefied for_us, and Cavor sat with a cylinder of compressed oxygen at hand to restore our pressure . we looked at one another in silence, and then at_the fantastic vegetation that swayed and grew visibly and noiselessly without . and ever that shrill piping continued .

my blood-vessels began to throb in my ears, and_the sound of Cavor's movements diminished .I noted how still everything had become, because of_the thinning of_the air .

as our air sizzled out from_the screw the moisture of it condensed in little puffs .

presently I experienced a peculiar shortness of breath that lasted indeed during the whole of_the time of_our exposure to_the moon's exterior atmosphere, and a rather unpleasant sensation about_the ears and finger-nails and_the back of_the throat grew upon my attention, and presently passed off again .

but then came vertigo and nausea that abruptly changed the quality of_my courage . I_gave the lid of_the manhole half a turn and made a hasty explanation to Cavor; but now he was_the more sanguine . he answered me in a voice that seemed extraordinarily small and remote, because of_the thinness of_the air that carried the sound . he recommended anip of brandy, and set me the example, and presently I_felt better .I turned the manhole stopper back again . the throbbing in my ears grew louder, and then I remarked that_the piping note of_the outrush had ceased . for a time I could_not_be sure that_it had ceased .

" well ? " said Cavor, in_the ghost of a voice .

" well ? " said I .

" shall we go on ? "

i_thought ." is_this all ? "

" if_you_can stand it ."

by way of answer I went on unscrewing .I lifted the circular operculum from its place and laid it carefully on_the bale .a flake or so of snow whirled and vanished as_that thin and unfamiliar air took possession of_our sphere .I knelt, and then seated myself at_the edge of_the manhole, peering over it . beneath, within a yard of_my face, lay the untrodden snow of_the moon .

there came a little pause . our eyes met .

" it doesn't distress your lungs too_much ? " said Cavor .

" no," I_said ." I_can stand this ."

he stretched out his hand for_his blanket, thrust his head through_its central hole, and wrapped it about him . he sat down on_the edge of_the manhole, he let his feet drop until they were within six inches of_the lunar ground . he hesitated for a moment, then thrust himself forward, dropped these intervening inches, and stood upon_the untrodden soil of_the moon .

as he stepped forward lie was refracted grotesquely by_the edge of_the glass . he stood for a moment looking this_way and_that . then he drew himself together and leapt .

the glass distorted everything, but it seemed to_me even then to_be an extremely big leap . he had at one bound become remote . he_seemed twenty or thirty feet off . he_was standing high upon a rocky mass and gesticulating back to_me . perhaps he_was shouting - but the sound did_not reach me . but how the deuce had he done this ? I_felt like a man who has just seen a new conjuring trick .

in a puzzled state of mind I too dropped through_the manhole .I stood up . just in front of me the snowdrift had fallen away and made a sort of ditch . I_made a step and jumped .

I_found myself flying

Section [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29]