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The First Men In The Moon | H. G. [Herbert George] Wells | |
The Grand Lunar |
Page 7 of 8 |
"He then caused me to describe how we went about this earth of ours, and I described to him our railways and ships. For a time he could not understand that we had had the use of steam only one hundred years, but when he did he was clearly amazed. (I may mention as a singular thing, that the Selenites use years to count by, just as we do on earth, though I can make nothing of their numeral system. That, however, does not matter, because Phi-oo understands ours.) From that I went on to tell him that mankind had dwelt in cities only for nine or ten thousand years, and that we were still not united in one brotherhood, but under many different forms of government. This astonished the Grand Lunar very much, when it was made clear to him. At first he thought we referred merely to administrative areas. "'Our States and Empires are still the rawest sketches of what order will some day be,' I said, and so I came to tell him. ... [At this point a length of record that probably represents thirty or forty words is totally illegible.] "The Grand Lunar was greatly impressed by the folly of men in clinging to the inconvenience of diverse tongues. 'They want to communicate, and yet not to communicate,' he said, and then for a long time he questioned me closely concerning war. "He was at first perplexed and incredulous. 'You mean to say,' he asked, seeking confirmation, 'that you run about over the surface of your world - this world, whose riches you have scarcely begun to scrape - killing one another for beasts to eat?' "I told him that was perfectly correct. "He asked for particulars to assist his imagination. |
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The First Men In The Moon H. G. [Herbert George] Wells |
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