Первые люди на Луне
Chapter 16 — Points of View
IsatforaspacepuzzlingoverthefactthatIhadonlyjustobservedthis,untilIconsideredthebluelightinwhichwehadbeen,andwhichhadtakenallthecolouroutofthemetal.AndfromthatdiscoveryIalsostarteduponatrainofthoughtthatcarriedmewideandfar.IforgotthatIhadjustbeenaskingwhatbusinesswehadinthemoon.Gold....
ItwasCavorwhospokefirst.“Itseemstomethattherearetwocoursesopentous.”
“Well?”
“Eitherwecanattempttomakeourway—fightourwayifnecessary—outtotheexterioragain,andthenhuntforoursphereuntilwefindit,orthecoldofthenightcomestokillus,orelse—”
Hepaused.“Yes?”Isaid,thoughIknewwhatwascoming.
“Wemightattemptoncemoretoestablishsomesortofunderstandingwiththemindsofthepeopleinthemoon.”
“SofarasI’mconcerned—it’sthefirst.”
“Idoubt.”
“Idon’t.”
“Yousee,”saidCavor,“IdonotthinkwecanjudgetheSelenitesbywhatwehaveseenofthem.Theircentralworld,theircivilisedworldwillbefarbelowintheprofoundercavernsabouttheirsea.Thisregionofthecrustinwhichweareisanoutlyingdistrict,apastoralregion.Atanyrate,thatismyinterpretation.TheseSeleniteswehaveseenmaybeonlytheequivalentofcowboysandengine-tenders.Theiruseofgoads—inallprobabilitymooncalfgoads—thelackofimaginationtheyshowinexpectingustobeabletodojustwhattheycando,theirindisputablebrutality,allseemtopointtosomethingofthatsort.
