The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells
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of other world, were presently communicating with Cavor by_means of terrestrial speech .

Cavor speaks of_them as Phi-oo and Tsi- puff .Phi-oo, he_says, was about 5 ft . high; he had small slender legs about 18 in . long, and slight feet of_the common lunar pattern . on_these balanced a little body, throbbing with_the pulsations of_his heart . he had long, soft, many- jointed arms ending in atentacled grip, and_his neck was many- jointed in_the usual way, but exceptionally short and thick . his head, says Cavor - apparently alluding to some previous description that has gone astray in space - " is of_the common lunar type, but strangely modified . the mouth has_the usual expressionless gape, but it_is unusually small and pointing downward, and_the mask is reduced to_the size of a large flat nose- flap . on either side are the little eyes .

" the rest of_the head is distended into a huge globe and_the chitinous leathery cuticle of_the mooncalf herds thins out to amere membrane, through which the pulsating brain movements are distinctly visible . he in is a creature, indeed, with a tremendously hypertrophied brain, and with_the rest of_his organism both relatively and absolutely dwarfed ."

in another passage Cavor compares the back view of him to Atlas supporting the world .Tsi- puff it seems was a very similar insect, but his " face" was drawn out to a considerable length, and_the brain hypertrophy being in different regions, his head was not round but pear- shaped, with_the stalk downward . there were also litter-carriers, lopsided beings, with enormous shoulders, very spidery ushers, and a squat foot attendant in Cavor's retinue .

the manner in_which Phi-oo and Tsi- puff attacked the problem of speech was fairly obvious . they came into_this " hexagonal cell" in_which Cavor was confined, and began imitating every sound he_made, beginning with a cough . he seems to_have grasped their intention with great quickness, and to_have begun repeating words to_them and pointing to indicate the application . the procedure was probably always the same .Phi-oo would attend to Cavor for a space, then point also and say the word he had heard .

the first word he mastered was " man," and_the second "Mooney" - which Cavor on_the spur of_the moment seems to_have used instead of " selenite" for_the moon race . as_soon_as Phi-oo was assured of_the meaning of a word he repeated it to Tsi- puff, who remembered it infallibly . they mastered over one hundred English nouns at their first session .

subsequently it seems they brought an artist with_them to assist the work of explanation with sketches and diagrams - Cavor's drawings being rather crude . he_was, says Cavor, "a being with an active arm and an arresting eye," and he_seemed to draw with incredible swiftness .

the eleventh message is undoubtedly only a fragment of a longer communication . after some broken sentences, the record of which_is unintelligible, it goes on:

" but it_will interest only linguists, and delay me too long, to_give the details of_the series of intent parleys of_which these were the beginning, and, indeed, I very_much doubt if I_could give in anything like the proper order all the twistings and turnings that we_made in_our pursuit of mutual comprehension .Verbs were soon plain sailing - at_least, such active verbs as I_could express by drawings; some adjectives were easy, but when it came to abstract nouns, to prepositions, and_the sort of hackneyed figures of speech, by_means of_which so_much is expressed on earth, it_was like diving in Cork-jackets . indeed, these difficulties were insurmountable until to_the sixth lesson came a fourth assistant, a being with a huge football- shaped head, whose forte was clearly the pursuit of intricate analogy . he entered in a preoccupied manner, stumbling against a stool, and_the difficulties that arose had to_be presented to him with a certain amount of clamour and hitting and pricking before_they reached his apprehension . but once he_was involved his pentetration was amazing . whenever there came a need of thinking beyond Phi-oo's by no means limited scope, this prolate- headed person was in request, but he invariably told the conclusion to Tsi- puff, in_order_that it might_be remembered; Tsi- puff was ever the arsenal for facts . and so we advanced again .

" it seemed long and yet brief - a matter of days - before i_was positively talking with_these insects of_the moon . of_course, at first it_was an intercourse infinitely tedious and exasperating, but imperceptibly it has grown to comprehension . and my patience has grown to meet its limitations, Phi-oo it_is who does all the talking . he_does it with a vast amount of meditative provisional 'M'm-M'm' and has caught up one_or_two phrases, ' if I_may say,' ' if_you understand,' and beads all his speech with_them .

" thus he_would discourse . imagine him explaining his artist .

"'M'm-M'm - he - if I_may say - draw . eat little - drink little - draw . love draw . no other thing . hate all who not draw like him . angry . hate all who draw like him better . hate most people . hate all who not think all world for to draw . angry .M'm . all things mean nothing to him - only draw . he like you .. . if_you understand .. .. new thing to draw . ugly - striking .Eh ?

"' he' - turning to Tsi- puff - ' love remember words . remember wonderful more than any . think no, draw no - remember . say' - here he referred to_his gifted assistant for a word - 'histories - all things . he hear once - say ever .'

" it_is more wonderful to_me than I dreamt that anything ever could_be again, to hear, in_this perpetual obscurity, these extraordinary creatures - for even familiarity fails to weaken the inhuman effect of_their appearance - continually piping a nearer approach to coherent earthly speech - asking questions, giving answers . I_feel that I_am casting back to_the fable-hearing period of childhood again, when_the ant and_the grasshopper talked together and_the bee judged between_them .. ."

and while these linguistic exercises were going on Cavor seems to_have experienced a considerable relaxation of_his confinement ." the first dread and distrust our unfortunate conflict aroused is being," he_said, " continually effaced by_the deliberate rationality of all I_do ." .. ." I_am now able to_come and go as I please, or I_am restricted only for_my own good . so it_is I_have_been_able to_get at_this apparatus, and, assisted by a happy find among_the material that_is littered in_this enormous store- cave, I_have contrived to despatch these messages . so_far not the slightest attempt has_been made to interfere with me in_this, though I_have_made it quite clear to Phi-oo that I_am signalling to_the earth .

"' you talk to other ? ' he asked, watching me .

"'Others,' said I .

"'Others,' he_said .'Oh yes, men ? '

" and I went on transmitting ."

Cavor was continually making corrections in_his previous accounts of_the Selenites as fresh facts flowed upon him to modify his conclusions, and accordingly one gives the quotations that follow with a certain amount of reservation . they_are quoted from_the ninth, thirteenth, and sixteenth messages, and, altogether vague and fragmentary as_they_are, they probably give as complete a picture of_the social life of_this strange community as mankind can now hope to_have for many generations .

" in_the moon," says Cavor, " every citizen knows his place . he_is born to_that place, and_the elaborate discipline of training and education and surgery he undergoes fits him at last so completely to_it that he has neither ideas nor organs for any purpose beyond it .' why should he ? ' Phi-oo would ask . if, for example, a selenite is destined to_be a mathematician, his teachers and trainers set out at once to_that end . they check any incipient disposition to other pursuits, they encourage his mathematical bias with a perfect psychological skill . his brain grows, or at_least the mathematical faculties of_his brain grow, and_the rest of him only so_much as is necessary to sustain this essential part of him . at last, save for rest and food, his one delight lies in_the exercise and display of_his facility, his one interest in its application, his sole society with other specialists in_his own line . his brain glows continually larger, at_least so_far as_the portions engaging in mathematics are concerned; they bulge ever larger and seem to suck all life and vigour from_the rest of_his frame . his limbs shrivel, his heart and digestive organs diminish, his insect face is hidden under its bulging contours . his voice becomes amere stridulation for_the stating of formula; he seems deaf to all but properly enunciated problems . the faculty of laughter, save for_the sudden discovery of some paradox, is lost to him; his deepest emotion is_the evolution of a novel computation . and so he attains his end .

" or, again, a selenite appointed to_be aminder of mooncalves is from_his earliest years induced to_think and live mooncalf, to_find his pleasure in mooncalf lore, his exercise in their tending and pursuit . he_is trained to_become wiry and active, his eye is indurated to_the tight wrappings, the angular contours that constitute a' smart mooncalfishness .' he takes at last no interest in_the deeper part of_the moon; he regards all Selenites not equally versed in mooncalves with indifference, derision, or hostility . his thoughts are of mooncalf pastures, and_his dialect an accomplished mooncalf technique . so also he loves his work, and discharges in perfect happiness the duty that justifies his being . and so it_is with all sorts and conditions of Selenites - each is a perfect unit in a world machine .. ..

" these beings with big heads, on whom the intellectual labours fall, form a sort of aristocracy in_this strange society, and at_the head of_them, quintessential of_the moon, is_that marvellous gigantic ganglion the grand lunar, into whose presence I_am finally to_come . the unlimited development of_the minds of_the intellectual class is rendered possible by_the absence of any body skull in_the lunar anatomy, that strange box of bone that clamps about_the developing brain of man, imperiously insisting ' thus far and no farther' to all his possibilities . they fall into three main classes differing greatly in influence and respect . there_are administrators, of whom Phi-oo is one, Selenites of considerable initiative and versatility, responsible each for a certain cubic content of_the moon's bulk; the experts like the football- headed thinker, who_are trained to perform certain special operations; and_the erudite, who_are the repositories of all knowledge . to_the latter class belongs Tsi- puff, the first lunar professor of terrestrial languages . with regard to_these latter, it_is a curious little thing to note that_the unlimited growth of_the lunar brain has rendered unnecessary the invention of all those mechanical aids to brain work which_have distinguished the career of man . there_are no books, no records of any sort, no libraries or inscriptions . all knowledge is stored in distended brains much as_the honey-ants of Texas store honey in their distended abdomens . the lunar Somerset house and_the lunar British museum library are collections of living brains .. .

" the less specialised administrators, I note, do for_the most part take a very lively interest in me whenever they encounter me . they_will come out_of_the way and stare at me and ask questions to_which Phi-oo will reply . I_see them going hither and thither with a retinue of bearers, attendants, shouters, parachute-carriers, and so forth - queer groups to_see . the experts for_the most part ignore me completely, even as_they ignore each_other, or notice me only to_begin a clamorous exhibition of_their distinctive skill . the erudite for_the most part are rapt in an impervious and apoplectic complacency, from_which only a denial of_their erudition can rouse them . usually they_are led about by little watchers and attendants, and often there_are small and active- looking creatures, small females usually, that I_am inclined to_think are a sort of wife to_them; but some_of_the profounder scholars are altogether too great for locomotion, and_are carried from place to_place in a sort of sedan tub, wabbling jellies of knowledge that enlist my respectful astonishment . I_have just passed one in coming to_this place where I_am permitted to amuse myself with_these electrical toys, a vast, shaven, shaky head, bald and thin- skinned, carried on_his grotesque stretcher . in front and behind came his bearers, and curious, almost trumpet- faced, news disseminators shrieked his fame .

" I_have already mentioned the retinues that accompany most of_the intellectuals: ushers, bearers, valets, extraneous tentacles and muscles, as it were, to replace the abortive physical powers of_these hypertrophied minds .Porters almost invariably accompany them . there_are also extremely swift messengers with spider- like legs and 'hands' for grasping parachutes, and attendants with vocal organs that could well nigh wake the dead . apart from their controlling intelligence these subordinates are as inert and helpless as umbrellas in a stand . they exist only in relation_to_the orders they_have to obey, the duties they_have to perform .

" the bulk of_these insects, however, who go to and fro upon_the spiral ways, who fill the ascending balloons and drop past me clinging to flimsy parachutes are, I gather, of_the operative class .' machine hands,' indeed, some_of_these are in actual nature - it_is_not figure of speech, the single tentacle of_the mooncalf herd is profoundly modified for clawing, lifting, guiding, the rest of_them no more than necessary subordinate appendages to_these important mechanisms, have enormously developed auditory organs; some whose work lies in delicate chemical operations project a vast olfactory organ; others again have flat feet for treadles with anchylosed joints; and others - who I_have_been told are glassblowers - seem mere lung- bellows . but every_one_of_these common Selenites I_have_seen at work is exquisitely adapted to_the social need it meets . fine work is done by fined- down workers, amazingly dwarfed and neat . some I_could hold on_the palm of_my hand . there_is even a sort of turnspit selenite, very common, whose duty and only delight it_is to apply the motive power for various small appliances . and to rule over these things and order any erring tendency there_might_be in some aberrant natures are the most muscular beings I_have_seen in_the moon, a sort of lunar police, who must_have been trained from their earliest years to_give a

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