Читать книгу Munchausen XX - W. G. Worfel - Страница 9

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The truthful statement of the mechanism of the North Pole; the monster gimlet; the flight to Saturn; the race with detachable brains; the Egg-hearts; people who live without eating; and the finding of the dazzling treasure are here given in categorical fullness.

THE point of my compass was now toward the south.

I discovered the sleeping bears were in reality dead ones. I learned it in this way.

I saw two live bears at a distance coming toward me, dragging between them another one which they brought to the Pole and placed against it.

This aroused my curiosity and, by a close inspection, I found the mystery of the ease with which the earth rotated was solved. The bears were very fat, and, as they were put up tight against the Pole the rotation of the earth gradually worked the oil out of them, and thus served to grease the Pole and keep it from sticking.

As there was no eminence at hand from which to start my ship, for I had broken off the Pole, I was in a dilemma for a short time only. Remembering what the good shiek, We Ali, told me, I ran a wire around my machine, to which I attached my storage battery, thus converting it into a magnet.

Had it not been for the remainder of the Pole I should have shot by on the other side of the earth, as, inadvertently, I had started the current around in the wrong direction; I had made my magnet positive when it should have been negative. I corrected the error and flew with great speed in the direction of the magnetic mountain, against which I should have struck with precipitation, had not the rate at which I went been enough to raise my aeroplane on the air, and I rose to the top of the mountain, which I should have barely passed over had I not released the current at the proper time and landed quietly on the top.

So great was the magnetic power of this mountain my compass was destroyed, the needle having been pulled down so hard as to bend it out of shape. In fact, the compass box itself was drawn so violently as to tear its way through my pocket and strike the ground with a great noise.

Thus I was satisfied I was on the exact spot indicated by the petrified brain. As I knew it was probably several hundred feet to the treasure, I set about arranging a device for extracting it.

Out of steel I formed a gigantic bit or auger with a very slow spiral. By attaching my wires to it properly I made it positive, and it started into the ground at a great rate. At last I heard it grinding on a solid surface. When I made sure it would go no deeper, I reversed the current and it came back to the surface; but it came with such rapidity I did not have time to stop the current, and it went on out and up, carrying me with it, to Saturn, upon which it struck and started in with great rapidity, it having been turned around in the transit. If one of the wires had not broken I presume I should have been carried clear through, out on the other side, and away off into space. As it was, it stopped as I was entering the surface. This little incident led me to the conclusion that Saturn has also a magnetic mountain and I struck upon it, or, rather, in its rings, as it was upon one of them I struck, as I afterward learned.

I was completely filled with surprise when I saw rolling along great numbers of skulls similar to the one I had found in the Desert of Sahara. Soon there was a circle around me of these queer objects, completely hemming me in, and I began, very quickly, the readjustment of my auger, with the object in view of getting out of there on short notice, as I did not know to what extent these things might go.

I was on the point of turning on the current, when the largest of the number rolled up to my feet and seemed to be trying to communicate with me. I decided to await developments, for a time at least.

I adjusted my eye-piece and set it upon the surface of this thing, and was no better off than before. Suddenly it rolled away at a swift pace, and I soon saw it returning on the top of a giant of terrible dimensions, and I would have turned on the current right then and there, but somehow I couldn’t. I was not frightened in the least, but there was something about his face that held me there. I do not really believe I wanted to remain.

Think of a face that was nothing but a monster eye—no mouth; no nose; no ears—just one great eye of a beautiful blue color.

I felt better in a moment, for this eye had such power I had no difficulty in understanding its messages and it seemed to understand my thoughts perfectly, and we were soon volubly communicating.

I learned that these were the people who inhabited the outer ring of Saturn; that they only used their bodies when they wished to go great distances. They never ate anything; never drank anything; communicated with each other by vibrations only. Their thoughts started vibrations in the ether which affected all their brains alike and instantly. I became so accustomed to their way of talk I seldom spoke, communicating by thought alone. Indeed, speech was wholly useless, and had I remained there long enough I doubt not I should have forgotten how to talk.

They took me to one of the other rings, inhabited by a still more peculiar people, for they had no heads at all. In place of that adornment, they had only one strong arm, at the end of which was a very small hand. Otherwise they were like ordinary mortals, if they had been dressed up. As it was, they were nothing but muscles, veins, and bones.

They had a heart shaped something like a transparent goose egg. They communicated with each other by the motions of the blood within this egg, which they detected by grasping the other fellow’s egg and feeling the blood bubble. They had no lungs, getting their vitality by absorption from the atmosphere. It was perfectly ludicrous to observe a number of these queer people laughing, and they seemed to be very merry. The ebullitions of the blood at such times was terrific, and they would twist that one arm in the oddest manner. I forgot to say they worked their machine, if I may use the term, on the hour-glass principle. The blood went from one side to the other through a hole in a middle partition, and when it all got into the lower compartment the hand would take hold of it and turn the other side up.

But I was not really astonished until I got onto the body of Saturn.

There I found a people very much like ourselves; in fact, in appearance they were just like ourselves; but they neither ate nor drank, and I was much at a loss to understand how they existed, as they seemed to possess all of the parts of a human body. Neither were they immortals; for they were very flashy in their habits and life generally.

I saw a number of these people standing in a line. Another one had a pump attached to a pipe that led into a pond filled with bright red liquid. As each one came up, he would insert the nozzle of his pump under his left arm and fill him up. I then learned that twice a day they had their hearts filled with new blood, which was found in numberless springs all over the surface of Saturn. By this frequent replenishing of the system with new blood all disease was avoided.

It occasionally happens there, so I was told, that a mischievous one would go to another part of the country and bring a little of the blood that was pumped into the servants or black people and pour it into the spring where the other people replenished. In that case the people who used this tainted spring would be spotted for a while, and so would the one who did it. As soon as the spots began to appear, by changing to another pure spring the blemishes would gradually disappear.

There were springs for all of the different animals, which seemed peculiar to me at first; but I learned that the different animals were the same people trying experiments upon themselves by using different kinds of blood.

One of the marvelous things about Saturn was the fact there was no night there, the luminosity of the rings being such as to keep it a perpetual day; hence the people never slept there.

Another fact that attracted my attention was there was no heat in the center of Saturn, and that it was all on the surface; therefore, there was no winter; just perpetual spring. The inhabitants told me Saturn was not old enough for the heat to have got down to the center; that it was a young planet; when the oldest inhabitant was a child it was not even necessary to inject blood into their hearts.

So I was satisfied that in all probability they would ultimately reach our state of perfection.

It was quite amusing to observe their consternation when I asked for something to eat and drink. They knew nothing about it, and thought I wanted something to wear, or a wagon, or any old thing but a lunch.

Finding a number of trees bearing very nice apples and a spring of clear water, I began to eat and drink, at which they crowded around me so thickly, and the outer ones pressed with such eagerness, the inner ones were finally pushed upon me, and I was nearly suffocated and crushed.

At last, I got back to my auger, reversed the current and was glad to find myself again speeding toward earth.

As before, the instrument was turned around in transit and it struck in the self-same place; but this time I had presence of mind to stop it at the surface.

I beheld the grand spiral it had made and walked down. All the way down, and it was no mean distance I can tell you, I had no difficulty in seeing where to place my feet, for it was perfectly light. This confused me, as I had expected the deeper I went the darker it would be. The contrary proved true; so true, that when I reached the bottom the light was so dazzling I was compelled to shade my eyes every few moments. When they did get used to the brilliancy, I discovered the cause of it.

The auger had drilled out a large room in a solid bed of diamonds; but the strangest thing about it was, it had, by its swift revolutions cut all the diamonds in proper shape for setting. This accounted for the extreme brightness of the light; it was but the reflections from the countless gems.

When I had become immured to my glittering surroundings, I investigated, and found a very handsome box in a small hole in one of the sides of the apartment.

In this box I found the following documents: