Chapter 22 Chapter 22 Walking in the Crater

moon!If she is really the moon, where has she been for the last three months?If she reappeared, where did she come from?So far, Galia has been without satellites as she orbits the sun.Could it be that the moon loves the new and dislikes the old, abandoned the earth, and became interested in this new planet? "No! Impossible!" said Prokop. "The earth is now tens of millions of kilometers higher than us, and the moon has been orbiting it all the while." "That's not certain," said Captain Servadac. "For some time the moon may have entered Gallia's gravitational sphere and become a satellite of it."

"In this case, she would have appeared on Galia's horizon long ago, and you don't have to wait three months to see her." Count Ironmashev said. "My God!" said Servadac, "what a strange thing has happened to us." "Mr. Servadac," Prokop's second officer said, "Galia's gravitational force is definitely not so strong that it can snatch the earth's satellites. What you just said is untenable." "Well, even if you're right, Second Officer," said Servadac, "but I ask, why didn't the same force that separated us from the earth also cause the moon to leave the earth? The moon left the earth." Later, it may have been wandering around the solar system at that time, and then came to us..."

"No, Captain, no," said Prokop, "I can refute you with one reason." "What reason?" "Galia is much smaller than the Moon. It will only be Galia that becomes her moon, not her that becomes Galia's moon." "I fully agree with that, Second Officer," continued Servadac. "Who says Gallia won't become a satellite of the moon? Who says that when the moon is put into a new orbit by some force, Will Ya follow her in the interstellar space?" "Do you insist on that?" asked Prokop. "No," replied Servadac, "because in fact, if Gallia were really a satellite of the moon, it would not have taken three months for it to go halfway around the moon, on the contrary, since the catastrophe, , we should see the moon at least a few times."

During the time of their heated argument, Gallia's moon—whatever it was—had risen considerably, which justified what Servadac had just said.Now that she could be observed carefully, everyone turned their binoculars on her.Soon, it was discovered that this was not the Phoebe that people on Earth saw at night. The moon appears to be closer to Galia than the moon is to Earth, but is much smaller, only one-tenth the size of the moon.The sunlight reflected by it is so weak that even eighth-magnitude stars cannot cover it.It rises from the west, exactly in the same direction as the sun rises, and it should be full moon now.It has nothing in common with the moon.Already Selvadac had to admit that there was nothing to be seen of the sea, black lines, craters, mountains, and other details so clearly marked on lunar maps.What everyone sees now is not the gentle and quiet sister of Apollo.For centuries, this goddess has been silently watching the ever-growing world.Some people say she is young and beautiful, some people say she is old.

This moon cannot be the moon.As Earl Iron Mashev said, it may be a planet that Gallia attracted to while cruising in space.So is it one of the 169 asteroids that astronomers have discovered so far, or is it a planet that people have not yet discovered?Sooner or later this question will be cleared up.Some asteroids in space are so small that a long-distance runner can burn them to complete a lap in a day, and their volume is much smaller than that of Gallia, and Gallia's gravity can completely attract them. Everyone slept well the first night after arriving in the new house.The next day, collective life began in an orderly manner.Servadac didn't want to see people doing nothing all day long, he was worried that too much leisure would cause trouble.Therefore, everyone is assigned a job, and there are already many marriages, and they can't be done.Caring for livestock is a lot of work.Besides, the little things of stocking up on provisions, going out to fish before the sea freezes over, and straightening up crooked tunnels for passage, were such little things that one could not be idle.

We live together very harmoniously.The Russians and Spaniards are also very congenial, and they have begun to use French, the official language of Gallia.Servadac is in charge of the study of Pablo and little Nina, giving them lessons every day.As for teasing them, that was Ben-Zoff's business.He not only taught them French, but also taught them standard Parisian.He promised that if he had the opportunity in the future, he would take them to a city for fun, saying that this city was "built at the foot of a mountain" and its scenery was second to none in the world.In short, he said what he wanted to say.Where this old-hearted orderly is referring, the reader must be self-evident.

During this period, Servadac also resolved a problem with the title he used. The reader must remember that Ben-Zoff used the title of governor when he introduced Servadac to the Spaniards.Now, he is no longer satisfied with this title, no matter what the occasion, he calls him "Adult".Servadac was very annoyed and told him many times to stop calling him like that.Yet he always answered: "But my lord..." "Can you shut your mouth, beast!" "Yes, my lord!" Servadac simply didn't know how to subdue him, and finally said to him directly one day:

"Can you please stop calling me 'sir' from now on?" "Yes, my lord," Ben-Zoff replied. "Look at your brain, do you know what 'sir' means?" "I don't know, my lord." "You don't even know what this word means, you're still yelling all day long!" "Yes, my lord." "Tell you, the word means 'old man' in Latin. How can you be so disrespectful to your boss by calling him 'old man'?" Since then, he never dared to use this title again. In the second half of March, the weather was not too cold, so we didn't stay in the cave all day.They walked along the coast and on this new land, but the range of activities was only five or six kilometers away.As far as the eye can see, there are cliffs and cliffs everywhere, lifeless.Several small streams of water have frozen over, and sometimes patches of snow can be seen, indicating the presence of water.But it seems that it will take many years for this small current to deepen and widen its stony river bed, turning it into a torrential river into the ocean!This piece of land, the Galians have named it "Land of Warmth". Is it a continent or an island?Will it stretch all the way to Galia's South Pole?This is unknown.In any case, it is impossible to travel long distances in this rocky world.

Captain Selvadak and Earl Ironmashv climbed to the top of the volcano one day and looked around, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the nearby terrain.This volcano is located at the end of a large headland, at an altitude of 900 to 1,000 meters.The structure of the mountain is neat and truncated.The narrow crater that constantly erupts magma is on this cross-section, and the sky above is shrouded in smoke all day long. The volcano must have been brought from the earth, and its steep and exceptionally smooth slopes make reaching the summit daunting even for the most intrepid mountaineers.Therefore, it was impossible for Captain Selvadak and Earl Iron Mashov to climb up.However, due to the great weight loss and the corresponding increase in physical strength, their movements are more agile than the duiker, and their bodies are lighter than the birds. It only took an hour or so to climb this 1,000-meter-high volcano.When they arrived near the crater, they were breathless and their hearts were not beating, as if they had walked a stone's throw away on flat ground.It can be seen that although there are many inconveniences in settling on the planet Gallia, there are also some advantages.

There was no wind on the top of the mountain, as if the high-altitude air had condensed due to the low temperature.The two of them raised their binoculars and looked around, and found that Gallia's appearance remained the same.To the north is the vast Galia Sea.There was a small spot in the sea, shrouded in smoke, that was Gulby Island.The water and the sky are the same color to the east and west, empty. To the south—the continent of this "warm country"—the mountains rise and fall to the distant horizon.The continent is triangular in shape, and the volcano at their feet is its highest peak, but the appearance at the foot of the mountain is not easy to see.The surface of the mainland seems to be impassable, because the six-sided nuclear pillar rocks are all over the mountains and plains, and no ordinary pedestrian dares to visit.

"It seems that we can only go there to see if we have wings or take a balloon." Captain Servadac said, "My God! These rocks are really wonderful, as fascinating as the exhibits in the museum." Incredible." "Captain, have you noticed?" said Count Timashev, "We can see half of Gallia's sphere at a glance. How short is the distance from here to the horizon!" "Yes, Earl Ironmashv," the captain replied, "our field of view now is much wider than what we can see from the rocks of Gulby Island. But if we are on the earth, from a height of one thousand meters Looking down at the mountain, the view is even wider.” "Yes, compared with the earth, the planet Galia is too small!" Earl Iron Mashev said with emotion. "Of course. But this planet is big enough for our few inhabitants. Have you noticed that only the three hundred and fifty hectares on Gulby Island are fertile enough to grow crops on this planet. " "Exactly, Captain. But the time to grow crops is only limited to three months in summer. Winter may be extremely long, maybe thousands of years!" "What can we do?" replied the captain, smiling. "We were brought to Gallia without our advice. So we must resign ourselves to our fate!" "Yes, Captain. But we still thank God for this cave. If it weren't for the heat of the lava to keep us out of the cold, we would be dead soon." "That's why I firmly believe, Count Ironmashev, that the activity of the volcano will not stop until our days are over." "How will such days end, Captain?" "It's only God's will. Only God knows how this situation will end." They looked around for a while, and then prepared to go down the mountain.But before going down the mountain, I approached the crater and turned around again.They were surprised to find that the eruption of lava was very calm, without the deafening roar that people often see one after another. Same.To use an analogy, this is not like a boiling kettle at all, with a very high fire, and boiling water gushes out from the kettle, but like a washbasin filled with water, and the excess water is flowing lightly and silently from the rim. Spilled without interest.Therefore, apart from the lava, there is no flaming stone spewing out with billowing smoke, and there is no ashes mixed with the smoke.This also explains why there are no pumice, obsidian and other types of igneous rocks that are often seen near general volcanoes at the foot of the mountain.In addition, there are no huge glacial boulders, because no glaciers have formed on Galia. All this was showing auspicious omens, as Captain Servadac had hoped, and it convinced people that the eruption of lava would never cease.We all know that strenuous exercise will not last long, both mentally and materially.This is like a violent storm, although it comes fiercely, it is often fleeting, and then the rain passes and the sky clears.The current of fire in front of me is so regular.It flows leisurely, and you can't help but believe that the lava in the ground is endless.When you stand in front of Niagara Falls and watch the upstream water flow peacefully through the stepped river bed, you don't think that one day the water will dry up.Now, Captain Selvadak and Count Ironmashov stood on the top of the volcano watching the continuous stream of fire, and of course they would feel the same way, and they would never think that the stream of fire would ever stop. One day, a physical change occurred in the seawater on the planet Galia, but it was caused by the Gallia themselves.Here's the thing: After everyone moved from Gulby Island to the "Warm Land", they all hope that the Galia Sea will freeze as soon as possible so that they can go to Gulby Island from the ice.Hunters can also go there and bring back some game.One day, Captain Servadac kept everyone from reaching the shore. Although the weather is very cold, the sea is not yet frozen.The main reason is that there is no wind in the sky and the sea is always in a still state.Everyone knows that if the seawater here is in a static state, even if the temperature drops to a certain temperature below zero, it will not freeze.But as long as this state is changed a little, seawater can freeze immediately. Little Nina and Pablo also came to the beach. "Little boy," Servadac said to Nina, "will you throw ice cubes into the sea?" "What can't be?" replied the little girl, "but I can't throw it as far as Pablo." "Then try it!" Servadac handed her a small piece of ice, then turned to Pablo and said: "Pablo, come and see how capable our little Nina is;" Little Nina swung her hand back and forth twice, and threw the ice cube into the sea with all her might. As soon as the ice cube fell into the calm sea water, there was a slight sound in the sea, and it quickly expanded towards the boundless sky. The entire Gallia Sea has been completely frozen!