Chapter 22 Chapter 22 A New Citizen of America

The news of the duel between Captain Nicholl and the President Barbicane, and its strange conclusion, spread throughout the country that day, the part played by the handsome European in the duel, the unexpected nature of his reconciliation between the two enemies. The proposal, and the news that France and the United States were about to join forces to conquer the moon, further increased Michel Ardan's popularity. Everyone knows how crazy Americans can worship a person.In a country where stately magistrates can parade with dancing girls' chariots, let the reader judge for himself what wild enthusiasm the bold Frenchman can arouse.If they did not dismount his horse, it was probably because he had no carriage, but the other gestures of fanaticism were lavishly shown to him.There is not a single citizen who does not dedicate himself to him, as the American motto says, "All hearts are one?".

From that day on, Michel Ardan never had a moment's rest.Delegations from every corner of the United States pestered him endlessly.Whether he wanted to or not, he had to see them.The number of persons with whom he shook hands, and held friendly and cheerful conversations, was innumerable; and soon he was exhausted: his voice was hoarse from innumerable speeches, and from between his lips only Some incomprehensible voices, and from having to mess with delegates from the counties of the United States, he nearly had a severe gastroenteritis.Had it been another person, he would have been intoxicated with such success from the first day.

But he remains charmingly invigorated and half-drunk. Among the various delegations besieging him, the delegation of the "men affected by the moon" did not forget its duty to the future conqueror of the moon.There are quite a lot of such poor people in the United States. One day, some "people affected by the moon" came to him and asked him to take them back to their hometown.Several of them said they could speak "the language of the Moonmen" and offered to teach Michel Ardan the language.He listened with delight to their innocent ramblings, and promised to deliver messages to their friends in the moon. "Insanity is a strange disease," he said to Barbicane, after sending them away, "but it is easy for intelligent people to suffer from it. One of our most famous scientists, Arago, told me before his death that many people in the People who are extremely cautious and conservative in thinking will be excited when they are affected by the moon, and they will do many unbelievable and strange things. Don't you believe in the influence of the moon on diseases?"

"I don't believe it," replied the chairman of the Cannon Club. "I don't believe it either, but many of the facts recorded in history are surprising to say the least. For example, during the plague epidemic of 1693, during the lunar eclipse of January 21, a particularly high number of people died. Celebrity Bacon always fainted during lunar eclipses, and didn't regain consciousness until the celestial bodies were fully revealed. King Charles VI fell mad six times in 1399, either at the new moon or the full moon. Some Doctors classify goats as diseases that change with the phases of the moon.

Neuroses also seem to be affected by the Moon from time to time.Meade said one child started having seizures every month.Gore once found that twice a month, the spirits of debilitated people are especially excited, always at the new moon and the full moon.Altogether, there are a thousand cases of fainting spells, febrile fevers, and somnambulism, all of which seem to testify to the mysterious influence of the celestial bodies of the night on terrestrial diseases. " "But how? Why?" asked Barbicane. "Why?" Adam replied. "To be honest, I can answer you with the words that Arago borrowed from Plutarch nineteen centuries later: maybe there is no such thing at all!" He couldn't avoid one of them.The manager of the reception wanted to put him on display.Barning promised him a million dollars, took him on tours across the United States, and exhibited him as a strange animal.Michel Ardan thought he was the leader of the elephant team and sent him to exhibit himself.

Although he refused to satisfy public curiosity, his photographs, to say the least, have traveled the world and taken an honored place in photo albums: photographs of him have been taken in various sizes, including those with him. Some are as big as me, and some are as small as postage stamps.Everyone can have his heroic appearance in various poses, including head portrait, bust portrait, full body portrait, frontal portrait, profile portrait, oblique portrait, and back portrait. More than 1.5 million copies of his photos have been printed.This is a good opportunity, he can sell his own things like selling the holy marrow, but he didn't take advantage of it.If his hair were only sold for a dollar a minute, he'd have enough hair left when he got rich.

To tell the truth, he didn't hate his fame.Quite the opposite.Obedient to the wishes of the public, he corresponded with the whole world.His witticisms were repeated, and those witticisms, especially those he hadn't said, got out too.They put it all on him, because they thought he was quite capable in this field. Not only men adore him, but women too.As long as he is whimsical and intends to "get married and start a business", how many "beautiful marriages" can he conclude!Especially the spinster who has been dry for forty years, day and night dreaming of his pictures.

Be sure he said that even if he asked him to go to heaven, he could find hundreds of girlfriends.Women are very brave when they are not afraid. But he had no intention of going to the moon to reproduce, of transplanting a French-American race there.So he said no. "Go up there and play Adam with one of Eve's daughters," he said. Thanks!I will only meet snakes! ..." Finally, he had just pulled out of his all-too-frequent victory binges. He took his friends to visit the Columbia Cannon.He should.Besides, he had mastered ballistics since he lived with Barbicane, Maston, and all those scientists.It was his greatest pleasure to keep telling these honest inventors of cannon that they were nothing but lovely specialists in murder.In this regard, his jokes are endless.On the day of his visit to the Columbia Cannon, he was full of admiration for the cannon that was about to launch him into the celestial body of night, and he went once to the bottom of this huge mortar.

"At least this cannon does no harm to anyone," he said. "That's pretty amazing for a cannon. But don't tell me about your cannons that burn, kill, and destroy. Especially if you can never tell me that they have a soul too, I won't believe you!" It is time to say something about Maston's request.The secretary of the Cannon Club, hearing that Barbicane and Nicholl had accepted Michel Ardan's suggestion, decided to join in, and the four set off together.One day, he made his request.Barbicane regretfully refused him, and he made him understand that the shells could not carry so many passengers.Disappointed, Maston, secretary of the Cannon Club, went to Michel Ardan, who dissuaded him from the idea and gave several reasons that hit the nail on the head.

"You see, old Maston," he said to him, "my words shouldn't be taken as malice; but really, let's say it privately, you can't go to the moon without a leg or an arm!" "Legs and arms!" cried the brave cripple. "Yes! Honest friend! Please think about it. If we met the inhabitants of the moon, would you give them a miserable impression, let them know what is going on in the world, tell them what war is, let them see See how I spend our best time with you eating me, I swallowing you, you breaking my arm, I breaking your leg, and this kind of thing happened in a country that can feed a hundred billion Humans on a planet where there are actually only 1.2 billion people?

Now, noble friend, you'll make them evict! " "But if you get down there and break into mincemeat," retorted Maston, "you're not as crippled as I am?" "Of course," replied Michel Adam, "but we're not going to be smashed to pieces!" Indeed, a test firing on October 18 yielded very satisfactory results, giving rise to the most reasonable hopes.Desiring to know the effect of recoil on a shot, Barbicane had a thirty-two-inch mortar brought from the arsenal at Pensacola.Mortars were placed on the shore of the Hillsborough mooring, so that the shells would fall into the sea and lessen the force of their descent. What is being tested here is the shock of departure, not the bump of arrival.For this strange experiment, they carefully prepared a hollow shell. A spring net made of high-quality steel is installed on the inner wall, and a thick cushion is stretched on it. . This is a real bird's nest carefully furnished with cotton. "It's a pity not to be able to find a place here!" said Maston, Secretary of the Cannon Club, with great regret, as he was too large to be admitted for this adventure. This lovely cannonball has a screw cap, and they put first a big cat and then a squirrel that belonged to the Permanent Secretary of the Cannon Club, and Maston was particularly fond of it.But everyone would like to know how this uncommonly dizzy little animal reacted to the "experimental trip". The mortar was loaded with one hundred and sixty pounds of powder, and the shells were loaded into the breech.Fired. The shell rose suddenly and swiftly, tracing a majestic parabola, reaching a height of almost a thousand feet, and then following a graceful curve, it was thrown into the waves. A small boat wasted no time, and immediately rowed towards the place where it had landed: the skilled diver plunged into the water, tied a rope to the nose of the shell, and the shell was quickly hoisted aboard. The cannonballs had not been more than five minutes till their prison doors were unscrewed. Adam, Barbicane, Maston, and Nicholl are all on board, and they participate in the experiment: The kind of concern is easy to understand.As soon as the cannonball was opened, the cat jumped out. Although it was slightly injured, it was still alive and well, and it didn't look like it had just returned from an air travel.But no squirrels were seen.They searched and searched, but there was no trace.Must find out what's going on. It turned out that the cat ate its traveling companion. Maston was so saddened by the loss of his poor squirrel that he decided to include it in the history of scientific martyrdom. In any case, after this experiment, all hesitation and doubts disappeared. Besides, Barbicane's design can of course make the shell more perfect, and can almost completely eliminate the influence of sitting force. The only thing left is the problem of moving. Days later: Michel Ardan receives a letter from the President of the United States, apparently: he is particularly moved by this honor. Citing the example of Michel Ardan's compatriot, the Marquis de La Fayette, the government granted him the title of citizen of the United States of America