Chapter 42 CHAPTER 10 THE FUN OF WINTER

Life in the polar regions is sadly one-dimensional.Man is entirely at the mercy of the vagaries of the weather, and the onslaught of storms and bitter cold has a hopelessly monotonous quality.It is impossible to go out most of the time, so I have to be locked in the snow room.The long days and months passed like this, and the winterers really seemed to live the life of moles. The next day, the temperature dropped several degrees, and the sky was full of snowballs, swallowing up all the light of Hundred Days.The doctor saw himself stuck in the room, arms folded, with nothing to do but to unblock the blocked entry corridors all the time, and to re-polish the ice walls wetted by the heat of the room, but the snow The house is very strong, and the snow mass increases the thickness of the ice wall and enhances the resistance of the snow house.

The warehouse is also intact.Everything that was taken from the ship was neatly stacked in what the doctors called the "merchandise dock."But although these warehouses were no more than sixty paces from the igloo, it was impossible to go there once the moraine appeared, and a certain amount of food had to be kept in the kitchen constantly to meet daily needs. The prudent measure of unloading the Pearl Boise was very timely.The ship was crushed bit by bit under a slow, imperceptible, yet irresistible pressure, and it was evident that the fragments were of little use.But the doctor always hoped to cobble together a boat to go back to England!But the time to start building the boat had not yet come.

Therefore, most of the time, the five winterers are very idle.Hatteras lay in bed brooding; Altamon drank or slept, and the doctor took special care to shake them out of their trance, for he was always apprehensive of a terrible quarrel.The two rarely talk. Likewise, at mealtimes the cautious Croubney was always careful to direct the conversation, to control it so as not to excite pride;He endeavored to educate, amuse, and interest his companions, and when he was not compiling his travelogues he talked aloud on subjects of history, geography, or meteorology under the same circumstances, and with a lighthearted presents things in the same way, and draws lessons from the smallest incident; his inexhaustible memory is never lacking; he applies his theories to present men, and tells them that such facts arise from environment, he refines his theory through the strength of his personal arguments.

This venerable man may be said to be the soul of this little world, a soul shining with frank and honest feelings.In him his companions could find one hundred per cent confidence; he could even command the admiration of Captain Hatteras, who still adored him; and he spoke, did, and used so well that the five were thrown out of the pole 6 ° where the existence of man appears so utterly natural that when the doctor speaks one thinks one is listening in his Liverpool consulting room. But how different is this situation from that of the castaways on the islands of the Pacific, and how fascinating are the stories of these Robinsons!There, after all, there is a fertile land, rich in nature, offering innumerable resources of all kinds; in these beautiful places, only a little imagination and labor are needed to obtain material pleasures; the trees grow for him , the cave opens to shelter him, the stream flows to quench his thirst; Reap the harvest in this fertile land.This is the perfect happiness outside of society.Moreover, these magical islands, these pitiful lands were all on the way; there was always hope for the wrecked man, who waited patiently for someone else to free him from his blissful life.

But here, on the shores of this new America, what a difference!The doctor made this kind of comparison occasionally, but he buried it in his heart, especially when he had to be idle, he would curse. He longed fervently for the thaw to travel again, but he watched the moment with apprehension, for he foresaw the embarrassing situation between Hatteras and Altamon.If they reach the extreme together, what will happen to the rivalry between the two? Nothing should be prevented from happening, let adversaries come to a sincere understanding, a sincere exchange of ideas; but let an American and an Englishman, two men whose common cause makes them all the more hostile, the one soaked with the hubris of the island, the other full of The speculative, daring, reckless spirit of his country, what a task it was to bring them together!

When the doctor thinks of this inescapable rivalry of man, of this rivalry between nations, he cannot help, not shrugging his shoulders, as he never would, but lamenting the frailty of man. He had often spoken to Johnson on this subject, and the old sailor and he were two intimate friends on this subject; they discussed what measures were to be taken, what detente was to be achieved, and they had a vague glimpse of the growing complexity of the future. But the bad weather continued; they could not even try to leave God's fortress for an hour.Should stay in the igloo day and night.They got bored, except the doctor, who always found a way to keep himself busy.

"Without any possibility of entertainment?" Altamon asked one evening. "It's really not life, hibernating like a snake like this." "Because," replied the doctor, "unfortunately we are not numerous enough to organize any amusement!" "So," said the American again, "do you think that if there were more of us, we would have less trouble with our free time?" "No doubt they'll find a way not to get bored when the entire crew is wintering in the Arctic." "Indeed," said Altamon, "I'm curious to know how they do it, and it takes a real cunning mind to find pleasure in such circumstances. They wouldn't suggest charades, I suppose!"

"No, but there is no need," replied the doctor, "there are two means of entertainment in these extreme north regions: newspapers and plays." "What! They run newspapers?" the American asked again. "Are they acting?" Bell yelled. "Indeed, they found a real pleasure in it, and in the same way Captain Barry, during his winter at Melville Island, employed both of these amusements with great success on his crew." "Well, frankly," Johnson replied, "I'd rather be there, it's curious." "Queer and funny, my upright Johnson, with Lieutenant Beecher as theater director and Captain Sabina as editor of the 'Winter Column' or 'North Georgia Gazette.'"

"Good subject," said Altamon. "This paper was published every Monday from November 1819 to March 20, 1820, and it carried all the events of the wintering, hunting, miscellaneous news, meteorological events, temperatures; it included more or less interesting columns, But don't look there for the spirit of Steyn or the fascinating pages of the 'Daily Telegraph'; but in short, they escape boredom, they enjoy themselves, and readers are not picky or weary, I think, the profession of journalists It doesn't get more comfortable than this." "Indeed," said Altamon, "I am curious to know the summary of this paper. My dear doctor, it must have been frozen from the first word to the last."

"No, no," replied the doctor, "in short, what seems a little childish in Liverpool philosophy or London literature is enough for the crew buried in the snow, would you like to judge?" "What! Your memory taught you to do it at your fingertips?..." "No, but you have Pali's account of his travels on the Pearl Boise, and I'll just read you his account." "Excellent!" exclaimed the doctor's companions. "It doesn't get any easier than that." The doctor went to the drawing-room cupboard to find the required book, and he found the passage in question without any effort.

"Listen," he said, "here are a few excerpts from the North Georgia Gazette. Here's a letter to the editor: 'We accept your proposal to start a newspaper with a genuine sense of satisfaction.I have no doubt that under your leadership it will bring us much joy and much relief from the weight of the Hundred Days of Darkness. What interests me, on my part, enables me to examine the repercussions of your proclamation among our generals, and I assure you, to borrow a phrase from the London papers, that the matter had a profound effect on the public. The day after your notice appeared there was an immediate and rare and unprecedented demand for ink on board.The green rug of our table was suddenly covered with so much shavings of quills that one of our servants was hurt by this, and trying to shake them off got one of the shavings lodged in his nail. In short, it was clear to me that Sergeant Muldoon had sharpened no less than nine pocket knives. All our desks can be seen groaning under the uncharacteristic weight of writing racks which have not seen the sun for two months, and the deep cargo compartments have been opened many times to take out many Reaming paper, they are eagerly waking up from their hibernation. I must not forget to tell you that I have some doubts that someone would like to publish a few articles in your column, which lack originality and are not unpublished, and I am afraid that they do not quite suit your plans.I should admit that no later than last night an author was seen bending over a table with an open volume of The Spectator in one hand, while in the other he was melting ink with the flame of a lamp!There is little benefit in advising you to be wary of such cunning; don't make us read in Yesterday's Column what our ancestors read over breakfast more than a century ago. '" "Well, well," said Altamont, while the doctor had finished reading; "there is indeed a cheerful mood in it, and the writer must have been written by a shrewd lad." "Cleverness is real," replied the doctor. "Listen, here's some interesting news." "Anybody wants a middle-aged woman of good repute to help the ladies of the Southern Georgia Theater Royal with makeup. She can be paid a decent salary, and she can have tea and beer as she pleases. Please contact the Theater Board. -- NOTE : Widows first." "Indeed, they are not bored, my fellow citizens," Johnson said. "Is the widow gone?" "You may take it for granted," replied the doctor, "for here is a reply to the Theater Committee: 'Gentlemen, I am a widow; I am 26 years old, and I can give irrefutable evidence of my character and my talents.But before I do makeup for the actresses in your theatre, I want to know if they wear shorts and if I can send me some strong sailors to help tighten their corsets.If so, gentlemen, pin your hopes on me. A． B． (PS: Can you use soju instead of lager?)'" "Ah! wonderful!" exclaimed Altamon. "Here I see the maid who tied you to the capstan. Yes, Captain Barry's companions are happy." "Like all who achieve their goals," Hatteras replied. Hatteras broke in this sentence, and then fell into his usual silence.The doctor, unwilling to pause on this question, hastily read again. "Now," said he, "is a crucifixion picture of the North Pole; one can vary infinitely; but a few of these phenomena are quite real, judge: "Going out for some air in the morning, out of the cabin, and taking a cold shower at the head of the cook's well." "Going hunting, I approached a beautiful reindeer, aimed at it, and wanted to fire, but due to a wrong judgment, I didn't fire it because the detonator became damp." "I was on my way with a loaf of bread in my pocket, and when I tried to eat it, I found it was so hard with the cold that it would have broken my teeth instead of my teeth." "Hearing that a wolf was looking at the boat, he left the dinner table in a hurry, and when he came back, he found that the cat had eaten his dinner." "Returning from a walk in deep and wholesome contemplation, suddenly awakened by a bear's embrace." "You see, my friends," added the doctor, "that it is not difficult to think of other unpleasant things, but it is a pleasure to examine them, so long as they need to be endured." "Indeed," replied Altamon, "the Winter Column is an interesting paper, but it's a pity we can't subscribe!" "What if we try to do one," Johnson said. "Five of us!" said Croubney. "We're no more than the number of editors, and enough readers." "Well, Mr. Crawburn," said Johnson, "tell us about Captain Barry's play. Have they done anything new?" "There is no doubt that basically the two-volume Icra on board the ship came in handy and was staged every fortnight, but the repertoire soon became obsolete, and the occasional authors set in motion Barrie himself composed a sitcom for Christmas, which was a huge success, entitled The Voyage to the Northwest, or The Voyage's End." "Not a bad subject," replied Altamon, "but I confess that I find it difficult to finish when I am asked to deal with it." "You're right," Bell said. "Who knows how it ends?" "Well!" cried the Doctor, "why bother with the last act, when the previous ones have gone so well? Let Heaven decide, my friends, to play our part as best we can, since the end belongs to the Lord of all things, Let's just have faith in his talent, he knows how to get us out of it." "Let's dream about it all," Johnson replied. "It's getting late, it's bed time, go to bed." "You are in a hurry, my old friend," said the doctor. "What do you think, Mr. Croubney, I'm so comfortable in bed! Besides, I've got a habit of dreaming, I'm dreaming of hot countries! So, really, I've spent half my life on the equator spent the other half at the poles." "Why," said Altamon, "you have a fortunate constitution." "As you say," answered the bosun. "Then," said the Doctor, "it would be cruel to keep the righteous Johnson downcast. His tropical sunshine awaits him. Let us go to sleep."