Chapter IV

What happens to them on the globe of Earth.

After resting a while, they ate two mountains for breakfast, which their people prepared quite neatly. Then they set out to explore the little country where they had landed. First they went from north to south. The ordinary strides of the Sirian and his people measured about thirty thousand royal feet; the dwarf of Saturn, who stood only a thousand fathoms tall, followed far behind, panting. He had to take some twelve steps for every stride of the other. Imagine, if such comparisons may be permitted, a very small muff dog following a captain of the King of Prussia's guards.

As these foreigners move fairly quickly, they had circled the globe in thirty-six hours. The sun, it is true—or rather Earth—makes a similar journey in a day; but we must remember that one travels much more comfortably by turning on one's axis than by walking on one's feet. Here they were, then, back where they had started, having seen that pool, almost imperceptible to them, called the Mediterranean, and that other little pond which surrounds the molehill under the name of the great Ocean. The dwarf had never been in deeper than mid-leg, and the other had scarcely wet his heel. Going and returning, above and below, they did all they could to discover whether this globe was inhabited. They stooped, lay down, felt everywhere; but their eyes and hands were not proportioned to the little beings crawling here, and they received not the slightest sensation to suggest that we and our fellow inhabitants of this globe have the honor of existing.

The dwarf, who sometimes judged a little too quickly, decided at once that there was no one on Earth. His first reason was that he had seen no one. Micromegas politely made him see that this was rather bad reasoning. "For," he said, "with your little eyes you cannot see certain stars of the fiftieth magnitude which I distinguish very clearly. Do you conclude that those stars do not exist?" "But," said the dwarf, "I felt about thoroughly." "But," replied the other, "you felt badly." "But," said the dwarf, "this globe is so badly constructed, so irregular, with a shape that strikes me as so ridiculous! Everything here seems in chaos. Do you see those little streams, not one of which runs straight; those ponds which are neither round nor square nor oval nor any regular shape; all those little pointed grains bristling over this globe that have scraped my feet?" (He meant the mountains.) "Do you notice, too, the shape of the whole globe: how flat it is at the poles, how awkwardly it turns about the sun, so that the polar regions must necessarily be barren? Really, what makes me think there is no one here is that sensible people, it seems to me, would not wish to live here." "Well," said Micromegas, "perhaps its inhabitants are not sensible people either. Still, there is some likelihood that this was not made for nothing. Everything here seems irregular to you, you say, because everything on Saturn and Jupiter is laid out by the measuring line. Well, perhaps that is precisely why there is a little confusion here. Have I not told you that on my travels I have always noticed variety?" The Saturnian answered all these arguments. The dispute would never have ended if, fortunately, Micromegas, growing heated as he spoke, had not broken the thread of his diamond necklace. The diamonds fell: pretty little gems of rather unequal size, the largest weighing four hundred pounds and the smallest fifty. The dwarf picked up a few and, bringing them close to his eyes, noticed that their cut made them excellent microscopes. He therefore took a little microscope a hundred and sixty feet in diameter and held it to his pupil; Micromegas chose one of two thousand five hundred feet. They were excellent; but at first nothing could be seen through them: adjustments were needed. At last the inhabitant of Saturn saw something imperceptible moving below the surface of the Baltic Sea: a whale. He picked it up very deftly with his little finger and, setting it on his thumbnail, showed it to the Sirian, who laughed for the second time at the extreme smallness of our globe's inhabitants. The Saturnian, convinced that our world was inhabited, promptly imagined it contained nothing but whales; and being a great reasoner, he tried to divine where so small an atom derived its origin and motion, whether it had ideas, a will, and freedom. Micromegas was much perplexed. He examined the animal very patiently, and the outcome of his examination was that there was no way to believe a soul lodged there. The two travelers were therefore inclined to think that there was no mind in our dwelling when, with the microscope's aid, they noticed something as large as a whale floating on the Baltic Sea. It is known that at that very time a flock of philosophers was returning from the polar circle, where they had gone to make observations no one had thought of before. The newspapers said their ship ran aground on the coast of Bothnia, and that they escaped with great difficulty. But in this world one never knows what goes on behind the scenes. I shall relate candidly how it happened, adding nothing of my own—which is no small effort for a historian.

What happens to them on Earth.

After resting for a while, they ate two mountains for breakfast, nicely prepared by their servants. Then they wanted to explore the little country where they had landed. They first went from north to south. An ordinary step for the Sirian and his servants measured about thirty thousand French royal feet. The dwarf from Saturn, who stood only a thousand fathoms tall, followed far behind, panting. He had to take about twelve steps for every stride the other took. Imagine, if such comparisons are allowed, a very tiny lapdog following a captain of the king of Prussia's guards.

Since these foreigners move quite fast, they went around the globe in thirty-six hours. The sun—or rather Earth—admittedly makes a similar trip in a day. But we must remember that turning on your axis is much easier than walking on your feet. So they returned to their starting point after seeing the puddle, almost invisible to them, called the Mediterranean, and the other little pond that surrounds the molehill under the name of the great Ocean. It had never come higher than halfway up the dwarf's lower leg, while the other had barely wet his heel. On their way out and back they did everything they could, looking above and below, to find out whether this globe was inhabited. They bent down, lay down, and felt around everywhere. But their eyes and hands were not suited to the tiny beings crawling here. They did not get the slightest sensation that could make them suspect that we, and our fellow inhabitants of this globe, have the honor of existing.

The dwarf sometimes reached conclusions a little too quickly. He decided straight away that there was nobody on Earth. His first reason was that he had seen nobody. Micromegas politely pointed out that this was rather poor reasoning. "Your little eyes can't see certain stars of the fiftieth magnitude that I can see very clearly," he said. "Do you conclude that those stars don't exist?" "But I felt around carefully," said the dwarf. "But you didn't sense things properly," the other answered. "But this globe is so badly built," the dwarf said. "It's so irregular, and its shape looks so ridiculous to me! Everything here seems chaotic. Look at those little streams, not one running straight; those ponds that aren't round, square, oval, or any regular shape; all those tiny sharp grains sticking out of the globe that have scraped my feet!" (He meant the mountains.) "And notice the shape of the whole globe: how flat it is at the poles, how awkwardly it goes around the sun, so that the polar climates are necessarily uncultivated. Really, I think there's nobody here because it seems to me that sensible people wouldn't want to live here." "Well," said Micromegas, "perhaps the people living here aren't sensible either. Still, there is some reason to think that this wasn't made for nothing. You say everything looks irregular here because everything on Saturn and Jupiter is laid out with a ruler. Well, perhaps that's the very reason there is a little confusion here. Didn't I tell you that on my travels I've always noticed variety?" The Saturnian answered all these arguments. The dispute would never have ended if Micromegas had not fortunately become so animated as he talked that he broke the string of his diamond necklace. The diamonds fell. They were pretty little gems of rather different sizes. The biggest weighed four hundred pounds and the smallest fifty. The dwarf picked some up. Bringing them close to his eyes, he realized that the way they were cut made them excellent microscopes. So he took a little microscope a hundred and sixty feet across and held it to his eye. Micromegas chose one measuring two thousand five hundred feet. They were excellent, but at first they saw nothing through them. They had to adjust them. At last the resident of Saturn saw something almost invisible moving below the surface of the Baltic Sea. It was a whale. He very skillfully picked it up with his little finger, set it on his thumbnail, and showed it to the Sirian. For the second time, the Sirian laughed at the extreme smallness of our globe's inhabitants. Convinced now that our world was inhabited, the Saturnian quickly imagined that it held nothing but whales. Being very fond of reasoning, he wanted to work out where such a tiny atom came from, what made it move, and whether it had ideas, a will, and freedom. Micromegas was at a loss. He examined the animal very patiently, and his conclusion was that there was no way to believe a soul lived in it. The two travelers were therefore leaning toward the view that there was no intelligence in our home when, through the microscope, they noticed something as large as a whale floating on the Baltic. As everyone knows, a flock of philosophers was then returning from the polar circle, where they had made observations nobody had previously thought of making. The newspapers said their ship ran aground on the coast of Bothnia and that they barely escaped. But in this world we never know what really goes on behind the scenes. I will tell you honestly how it happened, adding nothing of my own. For a historian, that is no small effort.