The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells
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he interrupted me to recall me to my previous statements .' but you said all men rule ? ' he pressed .

" to a certain extent," I_said, and made, I_fear, a denser fog with my explanation .

" he reached out to a salient fact ." do_you_mean," asked, ' that_there_is no grand earthly ? '

i_thought of several people, but assured him finally there_was none .I explained that such autocrats and emperors as_we had tried upon earth had usually ended in drink, or vice, or violence, and_that the large and influential section of_the people of_the earth to_which I belonged, the Anglo-Saxons, did_not mean to_try that sort of thing again . at which the grand lunar was even more amazed .

" but how do_you keep even such wisdom as_you_have ? " he asked; and I explained to him the way we helped our limited [a word omitted here, probably "brains"] with libraries of books .I explained to him how our science was growing by_the united labours of innumerable little men, and on_that he_made no comment save that_it_was evident we had mastered much in_spite of_our social savagery, or we_could_not have come to_the moon . yet the contrast was very marked . with knowledge the Selenites grew and changed; mankind stored their knowledge about_them and remained brutes - equipped . he_said this .. .[ here there_is a short piece of_the record indistinct .]

" he then caused me to describe how we went about_this earth of ours, and I described to him our railways and ships . for a time he_could_not understand that we had had the use of steam only_one hundred years, but when he_did he_was clearly amazed .( I_may mention as a singular thing, that_the Selenites use years to count by, just as we_do on earth, though I_can make nothing of_their numeral system . that, however, does_not matter, because Phi-oo understands ours .) from_that I went on to_tell him that mankind had dwelt in cities only for nine or ten thousand years, and_that we were still not united in one brotherhood, but under many different forms of government . this astonished the grand lunar very_much, when it was_made clear to him . at first he thought we referred merely to administrative areas .

"' our States and Empires are still the rawest sketches of what order will some day be,' I_said, and so I_came to_tell him .. .. [ at_this point a length of record that probably represents thirty or forty words is totally illegible .]

" the grand lunar was greatly impressed by_the folly of men in clinging to_the inconvenience of diverse tongues .' they_want to communicate, and yet not to communicate,' he_said, and then for_a_long_time he questioned me closely concerning war .

" he_was at first perplexed and incredulous .' you mean to_say,' he asked, seeking confirmation, ' that you run about over the surface of your world - this world, whose riches you_have scarcely begun to scrape - killing one another for beasts to eat ? '

" i_told him that was perfectly correct .

" he asked for particulars to assist his imagination .

"' but do_not ships and your poor little cities get injured ? ' he asked, and I_found the waste of property and conveniences seemed to impress him almost as_much as_the killing .' tell me more,' said the grand lunar; ' make me see pictures . I_cannot conceive these things .'

" and so, for a space, though something loath, i_told him the story of earthly war .

" i_told him of_the first orders and ceremonies of war, of warnings and ultimatums, and_the marshalling and marching of troops . I_gave him an idea of manoeuvres and positions and battle joined . i_told him of sieges and assaults, of starvation and hardship in trenches, and of sentinels freezing in_the snow . i_told him of routs and surprises, and desperate last stands and faint hopes, and_the pitiless pursuit of fugitives and_the dead upon_the field . i_told, too, of_the past, of invasions and massacres, of_the Huns and Tartars, and_the wars of Mahomet and_the Caliphs, and of_the Crusades . and as I went on, and Phi-oo translated, and_the Selenites cooed and murmured in a steadily intensified emotion .

" i_told them an ironclad could fire a shot of a ton twelve miles, and go through 20 ft . of iron - and how we_could steer torpedoes under water .I went on to describe a maxim gun in action, and what I_could imagine of_the battle of Colenso . the grand lunar was so incredulous that he interrupted the translation of what I had said in_order to_have my verification of_my account . they particularly doubted my description of_the men cheering and rejoicing as_they went into ( ? battle) .

"' but surely they_do_not like it ! ' translated Phi-oo .

"I assured them men of_my race considered battle the most glorious experience of life, at which the whole assembly was stricken with amazement .

"' but what good is_this war ? ' asked the grand lunar, sticking to_his theme .

"'Oh ! as for good ! ' said I; ' it thins the population ! '

"' but why should there be a need - ? ' ..

" there came a pause, the cooling sprays impigned upon his brow, and then he spoke again ."

[ at_this point a series of undulations that_have been apparent as aperplexing complication as far back as Cavor's description of_the silence that fell before_the first speaking of_the grand lunar become confusingly predominant in_the record . these undulations are evidently the result of radiations proceeding from a lunar source, and their persistent approximation to_the alternating signals of Cavor is curiously suggestive of some operator deliberately seeking to mix them in with_his message and render it illegible . at first they_are small and regular, so_that with a little care and_the loss of very few words we_have_been_able to disentangle Cavor's message; then they become broad and larger, then suddenly they_are irregular, with an irregularity that gives the effect at last of some one scribbling through a line of writing . for_a_long_time nothing can_be made of_this madly zigzagging trace; then quite abruptly the interruption ceases, leaves a few words clear, and then resumes and continues for_the rest of_the message, completely obliterating whatever Cavor was attempting to transmit . why, if_this_is indeed a deliberate intervention, the Selenites should_have preferred to let Cavor go on transmitting his message in happy ignorance of_their obliteration of_its record, when it_was clearly quite in their power and much more easy and convenient for_them to stop his proceedings at any_time, is a problem to_which I_can contribute nothing . the thing seems to_have happened so, and_that is all I_can_say . this last rag of_his description of_the grand lunar begins in mid- sentence .]

" .. .interrogated me very closely upon my secret . i_was able in a little while to_get to an understanding with_them, and at last to elucidate what_has_been a puzzle to_me ever_since I realised the vastness of there science, namely, how it_is they themselves have never discovered 'Cavorite .' I_find they know of it as a theoretical substance, but they_have always regarded it as a practical impossibility, because for some reason there_is no helium in_the moon, and helium .. ."

[ across the last letters of helium slashes the resumption of_that obliterating trace . note that word " secret," for_that, and_that alone, I base my interpretation of_the message that follows, the last message, as both Mr Wendigee and myself now believe it to_be, that he_is ever likely to send_us .]

chapter 26

the last message Cavor sent to_the earth

on_this unsatisfactory manner the penultimate message of Cavor dies out . one seems to_see him away there in_the blue obscurity amidst his apparatus intently signalling us to_the last, all unaware of_the curtain of confusion that drops between_us; all unaware, too, of_the final dangers that even then must_have been creeping upon him . his disastrous want of vulgar common sense had utterly betrayed him . he had talked of war, he had talked of all the strength and irrational violence of men, of_their insatiable aggressions, their tireless futility of conflict . he had filled the whole moon world with_this impression of_our race, and then i_think it_is plain that he_made the most fatal admission that upon himself alone hung the possibility - at_least for_a_long_time - of any further men reaching the moon . the line the cold, inhuman reason of_the moon would take seems plain enough to_me, and a suspicion of it, and then perhaps some sudden sharp realisation of it, must_have come to him . one imagines him about_the moon with_the remorse of_this fatal indiscretion growing in_his mind . during a certain time I_am inclined to guess the grand lunar was deliberating the new situation, and for all that_time Cavor may have_gone as free as ever he had gone . but obstacles of some sort prevented his getting to_his electromagnetic apparatus again after_that message I_have just given . for some days we received nothing . perhaps he_was having fresh audiences, and trying to evade his previous admissions . who_can hope to guess ?

and then suddenly, like a cry in_the night, like a cry that_is followed by a stillness, came the last message . it_is_the briefest fragment, the broken beginnings of two sentences .

the first was: " i_was mad to let the grand lunar know ."

there_was an interval of perhaps a minute . one imagines some interruption from without .a departure from_the instrument - a dreadful hesitation among_the looming masses of apparatus in_that dim, blue-lit cavern - a sudden rush back to_it, full of a resolve that came too late . then, as_if it were hastily transmitted came: "Cavorite made as follows: take-"

there followed one word, a quite unmeaning word as it stands: "uless ."

and_that is all .

it may_be he_made a hasty attempt to spell " useless" when his fate was close upon him . whatever it was_that was happening about_that apparatus we_cannot tell . whatever it_was we_shall never, I_know, receive another message from_the moon . for_my own part a vivid dream has_come to my help, and I_see, almost as plainly as_though I had seen it in actual fact, a blue-lit shadowy dishevelled Cavor struggling in_the grip of_these insect Selenites, struggling ever more desperately and hopelessly as_they press upon him, shouting, expostulating, perhaps even at last fighting, and being forced backwards step by step out of all speech or sign of_his fellows, for evermore into_the unknown - into_the dark, into that silence that has no end .. ..

the end .

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