Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Moving to a New House

This cave, not only full of light, but also warm as spring, is indeed an ideal place to live.All of the few Galia residents can settle down here.Here, too, the captain's two horses and a certain number of other livestock, as well as men, would be safe for the winter--hoping that the long winter would come to an end. Everyone soon found out that around this big cave, there were more than 20 tunnels densely covered with cobwebs. These tunnels stretched to a long distance, and they were all warm, as if there were many "capillaries" in the mountain to transfer the heat to the ground. Spread in all directions.Therefore, as long as the volcano does not stop its activity, no matter how much the outside temperature drops, the Galians can sit back and relax in such a deep underground.As Count Iron Mashev said, when they circumnavigated the Galia Sea on the Dobrina, they found no other volcanoes except this one.If the internal heat of Gallia was only vented out through this one crater, the activity of this volcano would continue for centuries without stopping.

We must seize the time to relocate, and we must not relax for a second.While the Dobrina is still sailing, hurry back to Gulbi Island, move the island's residents and livestock here, and bring food and fodder, so that they can live in this "warm town" ——It is the most appropriate name to call it——to settle down for a long time. The boat returned to Gulby Island that day.The next day, the relocation work began. To spend the winter there this time must make a long-term plan and consider all aspects carefully.The winter that has arrived may be extremely long, even much longer than half a year of winter and night at the earth's poles.Because on the planet Gallia, no one can say when the ice will disappear and the snow will melt, and winter will turn to spring.More precisely, no one knows when it passed aphelion and began its return journey towards the sun.Moreover, it is hard to say whether it is moving along an elliptical orbit and will return to the vicinity of the sun one day!

Captain Servadac told everyone about their latest discovery.When he mentioned the name "Land of Warmth", little Nina and the Spaniard couldn't help cheering.God has arranged things in the world so beautifully, and everyone is sincerely grateful for that. In the next three days, the Dobrina made three trips back and forth between Gulby Island and the "Warm Land".First of all, the fodder and grain that had just been harvested were transported over.These fodder and food are stored at the end of the tunnel. On March 15, they transported another fifty cattle, sheep, and pigs there for future breeding.The remaining livestock will freeze to death soon, so they will be slaughtered as much as possible. Fortunately, the weather is so cold that long-term storage is no problem.These large reserves are enough to ensure that they will survive a certain period of time. At least for the current level of people, there will be no food shortage in the short term.

As for the problem of drinking water, that is also easy to solve.Of course, this refers to fresh water.But there will never be any shortage of water.There are many streams and reservoirs on Gulby Island.Of course, there is no need to worry about lack of water in summer; but even winter is not a problem.Once the sea water freezes, the salt will disappear, and it is inexhaustible. When everyone was busy on Gulbi Island for the relocation, Captain Servadak, Earl Ironmashv and Second Officer Prokop were also busy arranging the new residence in "Warm Land".Time is running out.The ice that has formed will not melt even in the midday sun.It is necessary to move all the things before the sea freezes, so as to avoid the difficulty of moving from the ice in the future.

The excavation of the new home has been done very well.We have discovered some new tunnels.This cave is like a huge beehive, surrounded by "hives" densely packed.The industrious bees, those Gallia people who are on the go all day, can find spacious housing here and enjoy a comfortable environment.Everyone gave these cobweb-like tunnels a name and called it "Nina's Hive". In addition to careful placement, the first thing Selvadak and others thought of was how to use the heat in the lava for daily life.They led the fine rock flow to the designated place, brought the cooker from the Dobrina, and used the heat of the lava to cook for everyone.In this way, the master chef Mochel can show his talents on this unique stove.

"Hi!" Ben Yizoff said jokingly, "If every household in the Old Continent cooks with this kind of cheap thing, what an improvement it would be!" Servadac used the large grotto as a public place, with furniture brought from the Dobrina and the huts on Goulby Island.Everyone also took down the cloth machine on the Dobrina and put it in the surrounding caves for various purposes.The small library on the ship contained many books in French and Russian, and of course they were also moved here and placed in the hall.Nautical charts are hung on the stone walls. As we have said before, when the fiery stream poured down from the top of the mountain, it was passing in front of one of the openings of the big rock cave, from which the heat of the lava was introduced into the cave and illuminated the cave.This lava "waterfall" cascades down the mountain into a pool of water surrounded by reefs.The pool is not connected to the sea and is obviously very deep.Even if the Gallia Sea is completely frozen, the water in the pool can always remain liquid due to the continuous inflow of lava.Big cave, that is, the left side of the main hall, there is another cave.The cave now serves as the crouch of Captain Selvadak and Count Ironmashf.Prokop's second officer and Ben's wife live in a small cave on the right.There is also a small cave at the back of the main hall, which was carefully arranged and made into Nina's embroidery room.As for the Russian sailors and the Spaniards, they lived in tunnels surrounding the nave.After everyone settles down here, they can spend the long winter with peace of mind.Even if Gallia brought them near the orbit of Jupiter, where the temperature is twenty-five times cooler than Earth, they would be able to stay there without harm.

What was Isaac doing when everyone was busy moving and even the Spaniards were running back and forth without sleep or food? He has always fallen on deaf ears to what Selvadak said that day.Out of sympathy, everyone pointed out to him the various symptoms displayed in the world, and told him that the extremely cold winter was coming.But no matter how earnestly everyone tried, he couldn't listen to it. He stayed on the Hansa and guarded those cargoes. Only boat shadow?However, if he doesn't come to the new residence, everyone is happy and quiet.He officially declared that anyone who wanted to buy his goods must use cash.Captain Servadac strictly ordered everyone not only not to take his things, but also not to buy them.He wanted to see if this stubborn money-keeper would bow his head and admit defeat in the face of the harsh facts.

Evidently he did not believe at all in the dreadful situation that everyone recognized as coming.He always thought that he was still on the earth, but a little disaster happened.So he always believed that sooner or later he would leave this ghost place and go to the Mediterranean coast to continue his business. "Not only did he not listen to people's well-intentioned advice, but he always thought that someone was playing tricks on him and trying to seize the earth's goods. He didn't believe in the saying that a piece of debris was separated from the earth and traveled in space. He always Fearing that they would come and rob him of his goods, he kept watch on the Hansa day and night. But since everything showed that the people were now indeed on a new planet, Isaac raised his telescope all day to watch the sea, It was all in vain to hope that a ship would come to rescue him.

Isaac was not ignorant of their plans for the winter.At first, as usual, he refused to believe it.It wasn't until he saw the Dobrina coming and going on the sea, busily transporting provisions and livestock, that he had to believe that Selvadak and the others were about to leave Gulbi Island. What would become of him, the ill-fated old man, if the things he would rather die than believe were true?what!The sea in front of me is no longer the Mediterranean Sea, but the Gallia Sea!If so, he will never be able to return to his hometown - Germany.It is no longer possible to go to Tripoli and Tunisia to deceive those honest and honest villagers.In this way, will he not be finished?

After that, he often stepped off the ship and joined the ranks of the Russians and Spaniards, but everyone responded to him with cynicism, which he could not bear.So he used several packs of tobacco to win over Ben-Zoff.But because Selvadak had ordered first, Ben Yizoff declined politely. "Old money addict," Ben Yizoff scolded, "don't do this, there are orders from above. You should keep those goods for yourself to eat, drink, and use!" He stumbled against the "little devil" and went to the "King of Hades" again.One day he decided to ask Servadac himself if all this was true, thinking that a French officer would never deceive such a poor old man as himself.

"Of course it is true!" Selvadak was a little impatient with the stubbornness of the Jew. "If you are willing to go with us, it is still too late." "May God and Muhammad help me!" cried Isaac in despair.His kind of prayer also shows the "sincerity" of his faith. "Should I send you three or four men to help you steer the boat there?" Captain Servadac asked him. "I'm going to Algiers." Isaac answered irrelevantly. "I tell you again, Algiers no longer exists." "O God, is this possible!" "I'll ask you one last time, would you like to go over there and spend the winter with us?" "Damn it, I'm all out of stock!" "You don't want to go, do you? Well, you stay here. But I'm going to drive the Hansa." "Send the Hansa away, Monsieur Governor?" "Yes, I don't want the precious supplies of the whole ship to be lost in vain because of your stubbornness." "Then you will destroy me!" "But if you insist on going your own way, the loss will be even greater." The captain shrugged helplessly and replied, "Now, please get out of here!" Isaac returned to the boat, screaming for heaven and earth, dying of pain, and cursing these "greedy villains" endlessly. On March 20, all the things on the island had been moved, and it was time for everyone to bid farewell to the island.The temperature gauge has dropped to -8°C.The water in the pool was frozen solid.It was decided that they would all board the Dobrina the next day and settle down in the "Land of Warmth", and decided to drive the Hansa there in spite of Isaac's objections.Prokop said that if the Hansa is allowed to stop here and the sea freezes, it will definitely encounter unexpected dangers.But it will be much safer if you drive into the bay of the "warm country".In case of an accident, the cargo on board can also be rescued. So, a few minutes after the Dobrina weighed anchor, the Hansa set sail.Isaac ran around the boat, swearing everywhere, to no avail.Four Russian sailors drove the "water and soil grocery store" and drove south. Throughout the voyage, Isaac was rowdy, claiming he didn't need anyone's help, that people doing this against his will was elder abuse, and so on and on.He was crying, screaming, and fussing again.Three hours later, the boat arrived at the other shore. When he saw that his boat was parked in a very safe place, he couldn't help showing a satisfied expression on his face, and muttered to himself: "Ah! These fools, idiots! They don't want a penny for sailing me this time!" These few words vividly expressed his character.It turned out that people forced him to help him in order to get some small money from him! Gulby Island is now deserted.On this last vestige of the French colony there is now nothing but elusive game and birds, waiting to be frozen to death when the cold snaps come.Some of the birds had gone off to seek shelter, but returned shortly afterwards, showing that there is no place on the planet of Galia where they can survive, except the island of Goulbi. After the boat docked, everyone happily moved into their new house.Everyone is very satisfied with this hive-like dwelling, and feels very lucky to live in such a comfortable and warm place.Only Isaac was different.He didn't want to come to the cave to share happiness with everyone, and stayed alone on the Hansa. "He must be afraid that we will ask him to pay for the house!" said Benizov, "but the cold weather will drive the old fox out of his hole soon." After dark, the housewarming was celebrated with a large dinner party gathered in the hall.The banquet is very rich, and the dishes are made by borrowing the heat of lava.Everyone opened the wine jug brought from the Dobrina, drank happily, and expressed their thanks and congratulations to Governor Selvadak and "Counselor" Count Timashev.Of course, Ben Yizoff would not let go of this good opportunity, and he also drank to his heart's content with great interest. The atmosphere is very warm.The Spaniards, who are good at singing and dancing, took the opportunity to show their talents. I saw them playing guitars, playing castanets, and singing heart-rending songs.Ben-Zoff also sang a famous song of the Zouav Corps. This song is quite popular in the French army, but only those who have seen the performance of such a famous player as Ben-Zoff can appreciate the mystery. Afterwards, people pushed away the dining table and danced enthusiastically. This was probably the first ball in the history of Planet Gallia.The Spaniard did some fandangos, to the applause of all.The Russian sailors did some interesting country dances.Ben-Zoff also danced a dance famous in the Élysée-Montmartre area. The dance was graceful and strong, and won the heartfelt praise of the singer Negret. It was already nine o'clock when the dinner party ended.Because of drinking, dancing, and the fact that the hall was already very hot, everyone wanted to go out. Ben-Zoff led everyone out along the tunnel leading to the sea.Selvadak, Iron Mashev and Prokop followed slowly.Soon, there was a scream in front, and everyone walked quickly.However, this is not a cry out of fear, but a clear sound of admiration. When Selvadak and Ironmashev arrived at the entrance of the cave, they found everyone standing on the rock.I saw Ben Yizoff pointing his finger to the sky, and shouted with infinite affection: "Ah! Your Excellency Governor!" "What's the matter?" Selvadak asked. "Look, the moon!" said Ben-Zoff. A full moon got rid of the night fog and appeared in the sky of Gallia!