Chapter III
Original French
Voyage des deux habitants de Sirius et de Saturne.
Nos deux philosophes étaient prêts à s'embarquer dans l'atmosphère de Saturne avec une fort jolie provision d'instruments de mathématiques, lorsque la maîtresse du Saturnien, qui en eut des nouvelles, vint en larmes faire ses remontrances. C'était une jolie petite brune qui n'avait que six cent soixante toises, mais qui réparait par bien des agréments la petitesse de sa taille. Ah! cruel! s'écria-t-elle, après t'avoir résisté quinze cents ans, lorsque enfin je commençais à me rendre, quand j'ai à peine passé cent ans entre tes bras, tu me quittes pour aller voyager avec un géant d'un autre monde; va, tu n'es qu'un curieux, tu n'as jamais eu d'amour: si tu étais un vrai Saturnien, tu serais fidèle. Où vas-tu courir? que veux-tu? nos cinq lunes sont moins errantes que toi, notre anneau est moins changeant. Voilà qui est fait, je n'aimerai jamais plus personne. Le philosophe l'embrassa, pleura avec elle, tout philosophe qu'il était; et la dame, après s'être pâmée, alla se consoler avec un petit-maître du pays.
Cependant nos deux curieux partirent; ils sautèrent d'abord sur l'anneau, qu'ils trouvèrent assez plat, comme l'a fort bien deviné un illustre habitant de notre petit globe; de là ils allèrent aisément de lune en lune. Une comète passait tout auprès de la dernière; ils s'élancèrent sur elle avec leurs domestiques et leurs instruments. Quand ils eurent fait environ cent cinquante millions de lieues, ils rencontrèrent les satellites de Jupiter. Ils passèrent dans Jupiter même, et y restèrent une année, pendant laquelle ils apprirent de fort beaux secrets qui seraient actuellement sous presse sans messieurs les inquisiteurs, qui ont trouvé quelques propositions un peu dures. Mais j'en ai lu le manuscrit dans la bibliothèque de l'illustre archevêque de ——, qui m'a laissé voir ses livres avec cette générosité et cette bonté qu'on ne saurait assez louer. Aussi je lui promets un long article dans la première édition qu'on fera de Moréri, et je n'oublierai pas surtout messieurs ses enfants, qui donnent une si grande espérance de perpétuer la race de leur illustre père.
Mais revenons à nos voyageurs. En sortant de Jupiter, ils traversèrent un espace d'environ cent millions de lieues, et ils côtoyèrent la planète de Mars, qui, comme on sait, est cinq fois plus petite que notre petit globe; ils virent deux lunes qui servent à cette planète, et qui ont échappé aux regards de nos astronomes. Je sais bien que le père Castel écrira, et même assez plaisamment, contre l'existence de ces deux lunes; mais je m'en rapporte à ceux qui raisonnent par analogie. Ces bons philosophes-là savent combien il serait difficile que Mars, qui est si loin du soleil, se passât à moins de deux lunes. Quoi qu'il en soit, nos gens trouvèrent cela si petit, qu'ils craignirent de n'y pas trouver de quoi coucher, et ils passèrent leur chemin comme deux voyageurs qui dédaignent un mauvais cabaret de village, et poussent jusqu'à la ville voisine. Mais le Sirien et son compagnon se repentirent bientôt. Ils allèrent long-temps, et ne trouvèrent rien. Enfin ils aperçurent une petite lueur, c'était la terre; cela fit pitié à des gens qui venaient de Jupiter. Cependant, de peur de se repentir une seconde fois, ils résolurent de débarquer. Ils passèrent sur la queue de la comète, et, trouvant une aurore boréale toute prête, ils se mirent dedans, et arrivèrent à terre sur le bord septentrional de la mer Baltique, le cinq juillet mil sept cent trente-sept, nouveau style.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation directly from the French of all seven chapters, Beuchot edition (1829), checked against the printed pages. Later editorial notes are omitted.
Journey of the two inhabitants of Sirius and Saturn.
Our two philosophers were ready to embark upon Saturn's atmosphere with a very handsome supply of mathematical instruments when the Saturnian's mistress, hearing of it, arrived in tears to remonstrate with him. She was a pretty little brunette, only six hundred and sixty fathoms tall, but her many charms made up for her shortness. "Oh, cruel man!" she cried. "After resisting you for fifteen hundred years, just as I was finally beginning to yield, when I have scarcely spent a hundred years in your arms, you leave me to go traveling with a giant from another world! Go, you are nothing but a seeker of curiosities; you have never loved. If you were a true Saturnian, you would be faithful. Where are you rushing off to? What do you want? Our five moons wander less than you; our ring is less changeable. It is settled: I shall never love anyone again." The philosopher embraced her and wept with her, philosopher though he was; and the lady, after fainting away, went to console herself with a local dandy.
Meanwhile our two curious travelers departed. First they leaped onto the ring, which they found quite flat, as an illustrious inhabitant of our little globe had very shrewdly surmised; from there they passed easily from moon to moon. A comet was passing close to the last one; they sprang onto it with their servants and instruments. After traveling some hundred and fifty million leagues, they encountered Jupiter's satellites. They crossed into Jupiter itself and stayed a year, during which they learned some splendid secrets that would now be in the press but for the gentlemen of the Inquisition, who found certain propositions a little hard to stomach. But I have read the manuscript in the library of the illustrious archbishop of ——, who let me see his books with a generosity and kindness beyond all praise. Accordingly I promise him a long article in the next edition of Moréri, and above all I shall not forget his children, who give such great hope of perpetuating their illustrious father's line.
But let us return to our travelers. On leaving Jupiter they crossed a space of about a hundred million leagues and skirted the planet Mars, which, as everyone knows, is five times smaller than our little globe. They saw two moons attending that planet which have escaped our astronomers' eyes. I know perfectly well that Father Castel will write, and quite amusingly too, against the existence of these two moons; but I defer to those who reason by analogy. Those good philosophers know how difficult it would be for Mars, so far from the sun, to manage with fewer than two moons. Be that as it may, our travelers found it all so small that they feared there would be nowhere to sleep, and went on their way like two travelers who scorn a bad village inn and press on to the next town. But the Sirian and his companion soon regretted it. They traveled a long time and found nothing. At last they saw a little gleam: it was Earth, a pitiful sight to people coming from Jupiter. Nevertheless, afraid of regretting their decision a second time, they resolved to land. They moved onto the comet's tail and, finding an aurora borealis ready to hand, stepped into it and reached Earth on the northern shore of the Baltic Sea, on July fifth, seventeen hundred and thirty-seven, New Style.
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation made independently and directly from the French of all seven chapters, Beuchot edition (1829), not from the Musean edition. Later editorial notes are omitted.
The two residents of Sirius and Saturn travel together.
Our two philosophers were ready to set out into Saturn's atmosphere, with a very nice supply of mathematical instruments, when the Saturnian's lover heard the news and came in tears to protest. She was a pretty little brunette, only six hundred and sixty fathoms tall, whose many charms made up for her small size. "Oh, you cruel man!" she cried. "I resisted you for fifteen hundred years. At last I was beginning to give in, and I've barely spent a hundred years in your arms, yet you're leaving me to travel with a giant from another world! Go on! You're interested in nothing but finding things out. You've never felt love. If you were a true Saturnian, you'd be faithful. Where are you rushing off to? What do you want? Our five moons wander less than you do, and our ring changes less. That's it: I'll never love anyone again." The philosopher embraced her and cried with her, philosopher though he was. After fainting, the lady went off to find comfort with a local dandy.
Meanwhile our two curious travelers set out. First they jumped onto the ring, which they found fairly flat, just as a distinguished resident of our little globe had correctly guessed. From there they easily went from moon to moon. A comet was passing very close to the last one. They leaped onto it with their servants and instruments. After traveling about a hundred and fifty million leagues, they came to Jupiter's satellites. They went onto Jupiter itself and stayed there for a year. During that time they learned some wonderful secrets that would now be in print if the gentlemen of the Inquisition had not found some of the statements a little hard to take. But I have read the manuscript in the library of the distinguished archbishop of ——. He let me see his books with a generosity and kindness that cannot be praised enough. In return, I promise him a long entry in the next edition of Moréri. Above all, I will not forget his children, who give such great hope of continuing their distinguished father's family line.
But let us return to our travelers. On leaving Jupiter, they crossed about a hundred million leagues of space and passed close to Mars. As everyone knows, that planet is five times smaller than our little globe. They saw two moons attending it that our astronomers had missed. I know very well that Father Castel will write against the existence of these two moons, and will even be quite amusing about it. But I put my trust in people who reason by analogy. Those good philosophers know how difficult it would be for Mars, so far from the sun, to manage with fewer than two moons. In any case, our travelers found it so small that they were afraid they would find nowhere to sleep. They went on their way like two travelers who turn their noses up at a bad village inn and push on to the next town. But the Sirian and his companion soon regretted it. They traveled for a long time and found nothing. At last they noticed a faint light: it was Earth. To people coming from Jupiter, it looked pitiful. Still, afraid of regretting their decision a second time, they chose to land. They moved onto the comet's tail, found the northern lights ready and waiting, got into them, and reached Earth on the northern shore of the Baltic Sea on July fifth, seventeen thirty-seven, according to the new calendar.
About this section
Chapter III is part of Micromegas by Voltaire. This page sets the French original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 3 of 7 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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