Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen Nina and Her Lamb

The Dobrina now has only to turn back and go back to Gulbi Island.This little nowhere seemed to be the only place on this new planet where man could live. "Oh! Gulby Island is only as big as a county in France." Selvadac sighed. People then began to discuss whether to return to Gulbi Island immediately, but when this view was about to be accepted, Prokop pointed out that the situation around the Mediterranean Sea had not yet been fully understood. "We have yet to explore in the north from where Cap d'Antibes stands to the entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar, and in the south from the Gulf of Gabes to the Strait of Gibraltar. We have traveled a little on the south along the original coast of the African continent. trip. But no further south, I don't know if there is a new coast there. Who can say that we won't find anything new there? Will there be a few fertile oases in the African desert? It is difficult to say. Also, what is the situation in Italy, Sicily, the Balearic Islands and other large islands? It should also be found out."

"Your analysis makes sense, Prokop," said Count Ironmashev. "We really ought to find out all this." "I also agree with you," said Captain Servadac. "However, the question now is whether to continue the investigation, or go back to Gulby Island first?" "I think it's better to investigate while the Dobrina is still sailing," Prokop's second officer said. "I don't understand you, Prokop," said Count Ironmashev. "I mean, the temperature is dropping, Gallia is getting farther and farther away from the sun, and the severe winter will come soon. By then, the sea will be frozen. It will be impossible to sail. If you go on a long journey on the ice, then But it is too difficult. Therefore, it is better to explore while the sea water is not yet frozen."

"You are quite right, Prokop," said Count Ironmashev, "we should go and see if there is any old land preserved. Before we go back to Gulby Island for the winter, we should find out Will there be any parts of Europe that survived this catastrophe, or will there be any people who survived. For these people, we may be able to help them." Count Ironmashev was a kind-hearted man.In difficult times like these, he still thinks of others.But then again, isn’t thinking about others the same as thinking about yourself?Galia is now taking everyone on a tour in the vast expanse of space, and the original racial and ethnic differences can no longer exist.It should be said that they are now a nation, or, more precisely, a big family, because there are not many survivors from the earth.But in any case, as long as there are still some people on Galia, then everyone should unite and work together to fight for common survival.When asking, if there is no possibility of going back to the earth, we should all the more work hard to establish a new human society on this planet.

On February 15, the Dobrina left a small harbor where they temporarily stopped, and headed eastward at full speed along the northern coast.The temperature began to drop, and the sky was blowing a biting cold wind.The temperature gauge has dropped to around -2°C.Fortunately, the freezing point of sea water is lower than that of fresh water, and it seems that it will be some days before the sea freezes. The night sky is very beautiful.As the temperature drops, the water vapor decreases and the clouds become rarer.The sky is full of stars shining on the extremely clean sky.Second Officer Prokop often regretted that the moon had disappeared from the horizon forever, but for an astronomer, the deep darkness of Galia's night was an excellent time for observing space.

Although the moon is gone, there are countless streams in the small stream.During this period, there was a literal meteor shower in the sky, and the dazzling meteors were much more dazzling than those seen on the earth between August and November.Olmstead said he saw at least 34,000 meteors in Boston in 1833.But now on the planet Galia, the number of meteors seen by people is ten times that number. Gallia is currently passing through a halo that moves concentrically with Earth and lies outside Earth's orbit.The tens of thousands of tiny meteors in the ring may have broken off from the six stars in the constellation Perseus.They were very fast, and as soon as they entered Gallia's atmosphere, they rubbed against the air and burned, emitting a strong light.The Ruchiri are best at tying together many gun emplacements to set off fireworks, but the dazzling light from such fireworks is nothing compared to these meteorites.The beams of strong light reflected on the mirror-like rocks on the coast are really colorful and dazzling.And when these fireballs of different sizes fall into the sea one after another, the scene is even more spectacular and soul-stirring.

However, Gallia was rapidly moving away from the sun, and twenty-four hours later, this dizzying beauty was completely gone. On February 26, while sailing westward, the Dobrina encountered a huge headland and had to go south along the rocky coast to where the top of Corsica was originally located.The Strait of Bonifacio has been replaced by a vast, boundless sea.On the twenty-seventh, a small island appeared a few nautical miles east of the Dobrina.From its location, if the island is not newly formed, it must be the northernmost remnant of Sardinia. The Dobrina then approached the island rapidly.Earl Iron Mashev and Captain Servadak landed on the island in a small boat.The island is lush with trees, but its area is very small, only one hectare in size.Three or four ancient olive trees, straight into the sky.Here and there clusters of myrtle and frankincense grew under the olive trees.The island is so still that it appears to be uninhabited.

The count and the captain were about to leave when they heard a sheep bleating, and then saw a kid jumping among the rocks. This is a typical female goat, known as "the food and clothing of the poor", but it is still very young, the fur on its body is still light black, and the two horns on its head have not yet grown up.It is not afraid of strangers.I saw it striding forward with four little hooves, screaming and running towards them. "There will never be only one sheep on the island, we can follow it for a walk." Servadak said. So they followed the lamb for several hundred steps and came to a cave where a cluster of frankincense and pistachio trees grew.

A seven or eight-year-old girl sat at the entrance of the cave, looking timidly at the two strangers through the bushes.Her big black eyes were piercing, and her long blonde hair hung on her head.Its beauty is comparable to that of the angel in Murillo's masterpiece "Assumption of the Virgin Mary". She looked at the two visitors for a long time, and seeing that they all looked amiable, she stretched out her hands and ran towards them boldly. "You are not bad people!" she said in Italian, in a very soft and charming voice. "You will not abuse me! I am very afraid!"

"Don't be afraid, little girl," replied the count in Italian, "we will treat you very well." He gazed at the little girl for a moment, then asked: "What's your name? Little boy." "My name is Nina." "Nina, can you tell us what this place is?" "This is Maddalena." The little guy replied, "I was here when the world suddenly changed." Maddalena is a small island near Caprera in northern Sardinia, but Caprera no longer exists. The count returned a few words to the little girl, only then did he realize that she was the only resident on this small island.Before the big change, she was unaccompanied and herding sheep for a man who got nothing for nothing.When the disaster came, except for this small palm-sized place, the surrounding land was suddenly swallowed up by sea water, and only she, like her beloved kid, did not suffer from this bad luck.She was terrified at the time, but soon the ground stopped shaking, and she gradually became relieved. Fortunately, she still had some food around, so she could barely make ends meet.All day long she was looking forward to a boat on the sea to rescue her.So as soon as the Dobrina landed, she eagerly hoped that they would take her away, but let her take the lamb, too, because the lamb was now her only companion on the journey of life.

Servadac went up to kiss the little guy, and said, "Our Planet Gallia now has another little citizen." Half an hour later, Nina and her lamb were on board the Dobrina.Readers can imagine how everyone welcomed her warmly when they saw the little angel coming.They all thought that meeting this little girl by chance might be an auspicious omen.Several Russian sailors were devout Catholics, and they sincerely regarded her as an angel sent by God.Some people actually went to see if she had grown wings.From that day on, everyone called her "Little Madonna". The Dobrina bid farewell to the small island of Maddalena, sailed southeast, and soon found the coast lined with steep rocks that everyone is used to seeing at a place 200 kilometers away from the original coast of Italy.A new landmass replaced the original Italian peninsula.Not far from Rome, however, a great gulf arose, extending beyond the holy city.Subsequently, new land appeared on the sea near the former Calabria region, and the land stretched southward to the southern tip of the former Italian peninsula.But Messina, Sicily, and Mount Etna, 3,350 meters above sea level, were all gone.

The Dobrina continued southward for 240 kilometers, and saw the entrance of the long and narrow strait that they still found when they fought against the storm. The east end of the strait led to the sea of ​​Gibraltar. From here to Gabes Strait, the new coast they had explored.In order to save time, Second Officer Prokop sailed directly to the unexplored coast, to the latitude of the original Tunisian coast. It is now March 3rd. From here, the new coast follows the latitude of the Qibang oasis, passes through the original Constantine province, then turns around and goes straight down to 32° north latitude, and then winds north again, forming a very irregular bay.At this point, the coast extends west along the original Algerian Sahara for about 600 kilometers, and a cape appears on the former Moroccan border, facing the north of Gulbi Island across the sea. They had no choice but to go north along the coast to reach the top of the sea division, intending to go around there.There is a mountain on the sea clam, about 1,000 meters high, which is billowing with thick smoke.This is clearly a volcano.There is also volcanic activity on the Galia planet, which is the first time they have seen it. "In this way, Gallia's underground also has hot magma." Servadak said. "Why not, Captain," said Count Ironmashev, "Since Gallia was separated from the earth, it brought not only a part of air, sea, and land, but also a part of hot magma. " "But it brought too little land," said Servadac. "However, for the present population of Gallia, this land is enough." "By the way, Captain," Earl Ironmashev asked, "our voyage around Galia will pass through the waters of Gibraltar. Do you think we should tell the British about the newly discovered situation and the future development trend?" "There is no need," said Servadac. "They know where our Gulbi Island is. They can come themselves if they like. They are not in a difficult position, and they have provisions for many days. They are only about 500 kilometers away from Gulby Island. When the temperature drops and the sea freezes, they can come to us directly from the ice. They treated us too rudely last time. If they come to us in the future, I will never will spare them." "It seems you are going to retaliate?" asked the count. "Yes, Monsieur Count." Captain Servadac replied, "Everyone is in trouble, and there shouldn't be any distinction of nationality..." "Yes!" the count sighed, shaking his head, "these Englishmen look domineering wherever they go." "This is both their strength and their weakness." Selvadak said with a sarcasm. It was therefore decided not to visit the Englishmen on Gibraltar.Besides, it was impossible for them to go even if they wanted to, because the Dobrina encountered difficulties on the way back to Gulby. The temperature is dropping sharply, and the sea will soon freeze, and Prokop is frowning.In addition, the coal stock on board, after these days of consumption, will soon be exhausted.If you don't reduce the driving speed and save fuel, there will be an urgent need.Prokop told everyone about these two important situations, and after discussion, everyone decided that the voyage around Gallia had to stop at this volcanic eruption.Here the coast stretches south again, disappearing into the endless sea.If you continue to go south, not only will the fuel problem not be solved, but the sea may freeze at any time, and the consequences will be very dangerous.What's more, this area used to be a vast African desert, and it was impossible to find a place with gurgling water and all things competing for prosperity, suitable for human habitation.therefore.Make a decisive decision, stop moving forward, and make plans when there is a chance in the future, it will only be beneficial and harmless. Thus, on March 5, the Dobrina turned around and headed for Gulbi Island, thirty kilometers to the north. "What's the matter with my poor Ben-Zov?" said Captain Servadik.For five weeks at sea, he has been thinking of him, "I wish him all the best." On the way back to Gulbi Island, they encountered only one strange thing: another note was found, and the person who wrote the note must have been calculating the itinerary of the planet Gallia day after day. After the sun rose that day, someone found a floating object on the surface of the sea and salvaged it.This time the floater was not a leather case, but a can with a sealed seal and engraved with the same two initials as last time. "Exactly the same as last time," Selvadak said. When the tin was opened, there was a note inside which read: Gallia(?) Ab sole, 312 million kilometers by March 1st! Total walk from February to March: 2360O0O00 km! Va bene! All right! Nil desperandum! great! "No address, no signature," cried Captain Servadac, "like a trick." "There seem to be many of them!" said Count Ironmashev. "We came across them twice. Whoever wrote such a note must have left a lot of leather cases and cans in the sea of ​​fire." "Who is this fool? He didn't even leave an address." "His address? Has he fallen into the well like the astrologer?" replied the Count Ironmachef, citing a fable by La Fontaine. "That's quite possible. But where would the well be?" No one could answer the question posed by Captain Servadac.The people who wrote these notes probably lived on an isolated island that they have not yet discovered, or they may also be like them, staying on a ship and cruising in this new Mediterranean Sea.But where exactly, no one can say. "Anyway," said Second Officer Prokop, "if the numbers on the note are to be believed, it speaks of two important facts. First, Gallia's movement has slowed down noticeably, and within a month less 92 million kilometers covered. It covered 328 million kilometers from January to February and 236 million kilometers from February to March. Second, plus Leah's distance from the sun has increased from 236 million kilometers on February 15 to 312 million kilometers, an increase of 76 million kilometers. Therefore, as it moves away from The speed of the sun in its orbit is also decreasing, which is completely in line with the laws of celestial mechanics." "Then what will happen?" asked Count Ironmashev. "As I have already said, Gallia is moving along an oblate orbit, the parameters of which we cannot know yet." "You see," said Count Ironmashev, "the person who wrote this note is still using the name 'Galia'. I also suggest that everyone call our planet 'Galia' from now on." , and called the sea in front of us the 'Sea of ​​Galia'." "Very well," said Prokop, "I shall use this name for my future charts." "I also found one thing: this honest scholar is more and more happy with his observation results." Servadak added, "so, at any time, no matter what the situation, we must also be like him." Same as Nil desperan-dum." A few hours later, the lookout on the Dobrina reported: "Gulbi Island in sight!"