Путешествие на Луну
President Barbicane’s Communication
About1835asmalltreatise,translatedfromtheNewYorkAmerican,relatedhowSirJohnHerschel,havingbeendespatchedtotheCapeofGoodHopeforthepurposeofmakingtheresomeastronomicalcalculations,had,bymeansofatelescopebroughttoperfectionbymeansofinternallighting,reducedtheapparentdistanceofthemoontoeightyyards!Hethendistinctlyperceivedcavernsfrequentedbyhippopotami,greenmountainsborderedbygoldenlace-work,sheepwithhornsofivory,awhitespeciesofdeerandinhabitantswithmembranouswings,likebats.Thisbrochure,theworkofanAmericannamedLocke,hadagreatsale.But,tobringthisrapidsketchtoaclose,IwillonlyaddthatacertainHansPfaal,ofRotterdam,launchinghimselfinaballoonfilledwithagasextractedfromnitrogen,thirty-seventimeslighterthanhydrogen,reachedthemoonafterapassageofnineteenhours.Thisjourney,likeallpreviousones,waspurelyimaginary;still,itwastheworkofapopularAmericanauthor—ImeanEdgarPoe!"
"CheersforEdgarPoe!"roaredtheassemblage,electrifiedbytheirpresident’swords.
"Ihavenowenumerated,"saidBarbicane,"theexperimentswhichIcallpurelypaperones,andwhollyinsufficienttoestablishseriousrelationswiththeQueenoftheNight.Nevertheless,Iamboundtoaddthatsomepracticalgeniuseshaveattemptedtoestablishactualcommunicationwithher.Thus,afewdaysago,aGermangeometricianproposedtosendascientificexpeditiontothesteppesofSiberia.
