Histoire comique des états et empires de la lune. English
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CHAPTER XVII.
_Of the Author's Return to the Earth._
At length my Love for my Country took me off of the desire and thoughtsI had of staying there; I minded nothing now but to be gone; but I sawso much impossibility in the matter, that it made me quite peevish andmelancholick. My Spirit observed it, and having asked me, What wasthe reason that my Humor was so much altered? I frankly told him theCause of my Melancholy; but he made me such fair Promises concerning myReturn, that I relied wholly upon him. I acquainted the Council with mydesign; who sent for me, and made me take an Oath, that I should relatein our World, all that I had seen in that. My Passports then wereexpeded, and my Spirit having made necessary Provisions for so longa Voyage, asked me, What part of my Country I desired to light in? Itold him, that since most of the Rich Youths of _Paris_, once in theirlife time, made a Journey to _Rome_; imagining after that that thereremained no more worth the doing or seeing; I prayed him to be so goodas to let me imitate them.
"But withal," said I, "in what Machine shall we perform the Voyage, andwhat Orders do you think the Mathematician, who talked t'other day ofjoyning this Globe to ours, will give me?" "As to the Mathematician,"said he, "let that be no hinderance to you; for he is a Man whopromises much, and performs little or nothing. And as to the Machinethat's to carry you back, it shall be the same which brought you toCourt." "How," said I, "will the Air become as solid as the Earth, tobear your steps? I cannot believe that." "And it is strange," repliedhe, "that you should believe, and not believe. Pray why should theWitches of your World, who march in the Air, and conduct whole Armiesof Hail, Snow, Rain, and other Meteors, from one Province into another,have more Power than we? Pray have a little better opinion of me, thanto think I would impose upon you." "The truth is," said I, "I havereceived so many good Offices from you, as well as _Socrates_, and therest, for whom you have [had] so great kindness, that I dare trust myself in your hands, as now I do, resigning my self heartily up to you."
I had no sooner said the word, but he rose like a Whirlwind, andholding me between his Arms, without the least uneasiness he made mepass that vast space which Astronomers reckon betwixt the Moon andus, in a day and a halfs time; which convinced me that they tell aLye who say that a Millstone would be Three Hundred Threescore, andI know not how many years more, in falling from Heaven, since I wasso short a while in dropping down from the Globe of the Moon uponthis. At length, about the beginning of the Second day, I perceived Iwas drawing near our World; since I could already distinguish Europefrom Africa, and both from Asia; when I smelt Brimstone which I sawsteaming out of a very high Mountain,[1] that incommoded me so muchthat I fainted away upon it.
I cannot tell what befel me afterwards; but coming to my self again,I found I was amongst Briers on the side of a Hill, amidst someShepherds, who spoke _Italian_. I knew not what was become of mySpirit, and I asked the Shepherds if they had not seen him. At thatword they made the sign of the Cross, and looked upon me as if I hadbeen a Devil my self: But when I told them that I was a Christian,and that I begg'd the Charity of them, that they would lead me tosome place where I might take a little rest; they conducted me into aVillage, about a Mile off; where no sooner was I come but all the Dogsof the place, from the least Cur to the biggest Mastiff, flew upon me,and had torn me to pieces, if I had not found a House wherein I savedmy self: But that hindered them not to continue their Barking andBawling, so that the Master of the House began to look upon me withan Evil Eye; and really I think, as people are very apprehensive whenAccidents which they look upon to be ominous happen, that man couldhave delivered me up as a Prey to these accursed Beasts, had not Ibethought my self that that which madded them so much at me, was theWorld from whence I came; because being accustomed to bark at the Moon,they smelt I was come from thence, by the scent of my Cloaths, whichstuck to me as a Sea-smell hangs about those who have been long onShip-board, for some time after they come ashore. To Air myself then,I lay three or four hours in the Sun, upon a Terrass-walk; and beingafterwards come down, the Dogs, who smelt no more that influence whichhad made me their Enemy, left barking, and peaceably went to theirseveral homes.
Next day I parted for _Rome_, where I saw the ruins of the Triumphs ofsome great men, as well as of Ages: I admired those lovely Relicks;and the Repairs of some of them made by the Modern. At length, havingstayed there a fortnight in Company of _Monsieur de Cyrano_ my Cousin,who advanced me Money for my Return, I went to _Civita vecchia_, andembarked in a Galley that carried me to _Marseilles_.
During all this Voyage, my mind run upon nothing but the Wonders ofthe last I made. At that time I began the Memoires of it; and after myreturn, put them into as good order, as Sickness, which confines meto Bed, would permit. But foreseeing, that it will put an end to allmy Studies, and Travels;[2] that I may be as good as my word to theCouncil of that World; I have begg'd of _Monsieur le Bret_, my dearestand most constant Friend, that he would publish them with the Historyof the _Republick of the Sun_, that of the _Spark_, and some otherPieces of my Composing, if those who have Stolen them from us restorethem to him, as I earnestly adjure them to do.[3]
[1] Vesuvius.
[2] Fr., "travaux," _i.e._, old English _Travails_.
[3] The Manuscript of the _Bibliotheque Nationale_ ends differently:"I enquired at the port when a ship would leave for France. And when Iwas embarked, my mind ran upon nothing but the Wonders of my Voyage.I admired a thousand times the Providence of God who had set apartthese naturally Infidel men in a place by themselves where they couldnot corrupt his Beloved; and had punished them for their pride byabandoning them to their own self-sufficiency. Likewise I doubt notthat he has put off till now the sending of any to preach the Gospel tothem, for the very reason that he knew they would receive it ill; andso, hardening their hearts, it would serve but to make them deserve theharsher punishment in the world to come."
This is very likely the original ending of the work as it wascirculated in Manuscript between 1649 and 1655. In any case, theparticular thrust-and-parry used here is a favorite stroke with the"libertins" of the epoch in their duels against "Les Prejuges." "Theseare not my opinions and arguments," they say; "Heaven forbid!... Theyonly express the ideas of my characters which of course I abhor." Atthe same time the arguments have been stated, which was the object inview. Cyrano has several times used this method already, notably at theend of Chapter xvi.
The ending in the text above, that of all the editions, may have beensubstituted by Cyrano himself during his last illness.
FINIS.