Chapter 2 Chapter 1 From 10:20 p.m. to 10:47 p.m.

Ten o'clock struck, and Michel, Ardan, Barbicane, and Nicholl said goodbye to the many friends they had left on Earth.To acclimatize the canines to the climate of the lunar continent, two dogs have been imprisoned in the projectile.The three travelers approached the muzzle of the great cast-iron cannon, and a traveling crane carried them all the way down to the conical tops of the shells below. A hole was made here so that they could enter the aluminum carriage from this cave.Immediately after the trolley of the crane retreated outside the muzzle, the last part of the scaffolding on the muzzle of the Colombian gun was removed.

Having entered the projectile with his companions, Nicholl immediately proceeded to close the opening with a solid metal plate secured from the inside with powerful thumbscrews.The same metal plate is also installed on the lens glass of several other portholes.The three travelers, imprisoned tightly in a metal prison, were suddenly plunged into darkness. "Now, dear partners," Michelle said.Adam said, "We should feel as if we were in our own home. I am a person who loves indoor life, and I know everything about housework. Now it is time to arrange our new house so that everyone is comfortable. First Allows us to see. Hell, gas wasn't invented for moles!"

Speaking of which, the carefree young man struck a match with the sole of his boot, and brought the flame close to the gas lamp head fixed on a container.This is a high-pressure container filled with a mixture of gas and chlorine gas, which is enough to illuminate and warm the cannonball for 144 hours, that is to say, six days and nights. The gas lamps were lit.The interior of the projectile, illuminated by the light, looks like a comfortable room.The walls are covered with soft cushions, and there is a ring-shaped sofa in a corner, with a round top like a cupola. All the things inside, weapons, tools, utensils are tightly fixed on the round wall pads, which can withstand the impact of departure.Every precaution a human being could take was used to ensure the complete success of this daring experiment.

Michelle.Ah Dang checked everything carefully and said he was very satisfied with the equipment here. "It's a cell," he said, "but it's a cell that travels, and has the right to stick its nose out the window, and I'd like a hundred-year lease! You laugh, Bobby Kang, what are you thinking? Are you saying that this prison cell might be our tomb? Tomb, even if it is a tomb, I would not exchange it for Muhammad’s tomb, because his tomb can only Floating in space, unable to move forward!" in Michelle.While such remarks were being made, Barbicane and Nicholl were making final preparations.

When the three travelers were at last shut up in their cannonballs, Nicholl's voyage clock was reading ten twenty in the evening.His watch was calibrated with that of the engineer Mo Qisheng, and the error was only a tenth of a second.Barbicane looked at his watch. "My friends," he said, "it is ten twenty. At ten forty-seven, Murchison will be sending sparks through the wires connected to the powder chamber of the Columbia gun. We will be at this hour Leaving our earth, we have only twenty-six minutes on earth." "Twenty-six minutes and thirteen seconds," answered Nicholl methodically.

"Very good!" Michelle exclaimed cheerfully, "a lot can be done in twenty-six minutes! We can discuss the most important moral or political issues, and even solve them! If twenty-six minutes can Well used, worth more than twenty-six years of idleness! A few seconds of Pascal or Newton are worth more than the whole life of a bunch of hopeless fools..." "Is this your conclusion, eternal talker? . . . " asked Chairman Barbicane. "My conclusion is that we have twenty-six minutes," Adam replied. "Only twenty-four minutes," said Nicholl. "Twenty-four minutes if you insist, honorable captain," Adam replied, "we can have a deep discussion in twenty-four minutes..."

"Michel," said Barbicane, "we have had ample time during our journey to discuss in depth all the most difficult points. We should now be ready to go." "Aren't we ready?" "Of course. But some precautions need to be taken to minimize the first impact!" "Haven't we already installed drainage devices with friable materials as partitions, using the elasticity of water to protect us?" "I hope so, Michel," replied Barbicane in a low voice, "but I'm not sure!" "Oh! you humorist!" cried Michel. "He's only now saying I hope so! Not sure... He deliberately waited until after we were locked up in a cage to tell us the unfortunate truth! I ask to quit!"

"How to quit?" retorted Barbicane. "No!" said Michel Ardan, "it's difficult, we're on the train, and in twenty-four minutes the driver will be blowing the whistle..." "It won't take twenty minutes," said Nicholl. For a moment the three travelers looked at each other.Then they took a closer look at the contents of the shell. "Everything is arranged," said Barbicane. "The question now is what position we should adopt to withstand the impact of the start. The position we adopt is not insignificant. It must prevent the blood from rushing to the head."

"Exactly," said Nicholl. "Okay, we're going to stand up like clowns in a big circus!" While Michelle answered, she prepared to perform a demonstration action according to her own words. "No," said Barbicane, "we should lie on our sides. That way we will be better able to take the force of the impact, mind you, when the shell is fired we are 'almost' It's one thing." "If only 'almost' is the same thing, I'm relieved," Michel Ardan contradicted him. "Do you agree with me, Nicholl?" asked Barbicane.

"Totally agree," replied the captain. "Thirteen and a half minutes." "This Nicholl is not human at all," exclaimed Michel, "he seems to be a stopwatch with two pendulum points, and eight holes for the axle..." But his companions did not listen to him any further, and with an unimaginable composure made final arrangements.They were like two orderly passengers getting into a train, trying to settle as comfortably as possible.I really don't know what material these Americans' hearts are made of. Even if they are in the most terrible danger, it is impossible to make their pulse beat a little longer!

Inside the shells were three durable thick mattresses.Nicholl and Barbicane placed them in the center of the raised floor of the projectile.During the first few minutes of departure the three travelers had to lie down on these three mattresses. At this time, Adam couldn't be idle for a while, he was like a wild animal in a cage, turning around in the small cell, talking with his friends for a while, and talking with the two men for a while. The dogs "Diana" and "Satellite" babble, and we can see that he has just given them meaningful names. "Hey! Diana! Hey! Satellites!" he called to them, teasing them. "You are going to show the elegance of the earth dog in front of the moon dog! Nuo Nuo! This is the honor of the dog! Really, if we can return to the world, I must bring a hybrid 'moon dog' 'Come back, it will be fun!" "That would have to have dogs on the moon," said Barbicane. "Of course there are," Michel Ardan said with confidence, "just as there are horses, cows, donkeys, and hens on the moon. I bet we will find the hen!" "I'll bet a hundred dollars if I don't find a hen on the moon," Nicholl said. "Good! We agree, my captain," replied Ardan, shaking Nicholl's hand. "But when it comes to betting, your three bets have been lost to our chairman, because the funds required for this scientific experiment have been raised, the casting of the cannon has been successfully completed, and finally, the Colombian gunpowder has not been troubled. Mess, it's six thousand dollars." "Yes," Nicholl replied. "It's ten thirty-seven minutes and six seconds past." "We're settled, Captain. In a quarter of an hour, you'll have to pay the Chairman nine thousand dollars, four thousand dollars because the Columbia didn't go off, and five thousand dollars because the shell was going to go up over six miles." "My money is ready," Nicholl replied, patting his pocket, "I'm just waiting to pay." "Very well, Nicholl, you are, in my opinion, a man of order, and I shall never be able to do so in my life. However, on the whole, you have made several bets against you, so please allow me to Tell you." "Why?" Nicholl asked. "Because, if you had won the first bet, that is to say, the Columbia had exploded with the shells, Barbicane would not have paid you here!" "My bet is in the Bank of Baltimore," replied Barbicane honestly. "Since Nicholl is gone, my bet will pass to his heir." "Oh! you two practical people!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, "I admire and cannot understand your spirit of seeking truth from facts." "Ten forty-two!" said Nicholl. "Only five minutes!" answered Barbicane. "Yes! Only five short minutes!" Michel Ardan went on. "We are now enclosed in a cannonball, which is placed in a barrel nine hundred feet deep! 400,000 pounds of gunwool, equivalent to 1.6 million pounds of ordinary explosives! Our friend Mochison, with a watch in his hand, his eyes fixed on the pointer, and one finger on the button, is counting the time second by second , he will send us to the interstellar space soon..." "Enough, Michel, enough!" said Barbicane in a solemn voice. "Come and get ready. We are only a moment away from this solemn occasion. Let us shake hands, friends." "Well," exclaimed Michel Ardan, more excited than he had hoped. The three brave companions embraced one last time. "May God bless us!" said the devout Barbicane. Michel Ardan and Nicholl lay down on the mattress in the center of the shell. "Ten forty-six!" muttered the captain. Twenty seconds to go!Barbicane quickly extinguished the gas lamp, and lay down beside his companions. There was silence.Only the ticking of the clock broke the silence. There was a terrible jolt, and the projectile rose into the sky, propelled by the six billion liters of gas released as the gunwool burned.