Chapter 42 CHAPTER 10 THE FUN OF WINTER

Life in the polar regions is sadly one-dimensional.Man is entirely at the mercy of the vagaries of the weather, and the onslaught of storms and bitter cold has a hopelessly monotonous quality.It is impossible to go out most of the time, so I have to be locked in the snow house.The long days and months passed like this, and the winterers really seemed to live the life of moles. The next day, the temperature dropped several degrees, and the sky was full of snowballs, swallowing all the light of the day.The doctor saw himself stuck in the house, arms folded, with nothing to do but to unblock the blocked entry corridors all the time, and to re-sand the ice walls dampened by the heat of the room, but the snow The house is very strong, and the snow mass increases the thickness of the ice wall and enhances the resistance of the snow house.The warehouse is also intact.Everything that was taken off the ship was neatly stacked in what these doctors called the wharves of merchandise.But although these warehouses were no more than sixty paces from the igloo, it was impossible to go there once the moraine appeared, and a certain amount of food had to be kept in the kitchen constantly to meet daily needs.

The prudent measure of unloading the Pearl Boise was very timely.The ship was crushed bit by bit under a slow, imperceptible, yet irresistible pressure, and it was evident that the fragments were of little use.But the doctor always hoped to cobble together a boat to go back to England!But the time to start building the boat had not yet come. Therefore, most of the time, the five winterers are very idle.Hatteras lay in bed brooding; Altamon drank or slept, and the doctor took special care to shake them out of their trance, for he was always apprehensive of a terrible quarrel.The two rarely talk.

Likewise, at mealtimes the cautious Croubney was always careful to direct the conversation, to control it so as not to excite pride;He endeavored to educate, amuse, and interest his companions, and when he was not compiling his travelogues he talked aloud on subjects of history, geography, or meteorology under the same circumstances, and with a lighthearted presents things in the same way, and draws lessons from the smallest incident; his inexhaustible memory is never lacking; he applies his theories to present men, and tells them that such facts arise from environment, he refines his theory through the strength of his personal arguments.

This venerable man may be said to be the soul of this little world, a soul shining with frank and honest feelings.In him his companions could find one hundred per cent confidence; he could even command the admiration of Captain Hatteras, who still adored him; and he spoke, did, and used so well that the five were thrown six degrees from the pole. The existence of the local people seemed so natural that when the doctor spoke one thought he was listening in his Liverpool consulting room. But how different is this situation from that of those castaways on the islands of the Pacific, and how fascinating are the stories of these Robinsons!There, after all, there is a fertile land, rich in nature, offering countless resources of all kinds; in these beautiful places, only a little imagination and labor are needed to obtain material pleasures; trees grow for him, caves Open to shade him, the brook flows to quench his thirst; the graceful shade shades him from the sun, and no dreadful cold threatens them in mild winters; a seed dropped unintentionally will in a few months be in the land harvested from fertile land.This is the perfect happiness outside of society.Moreover, these magical islands, these pitiful lands were all on the way; there was always hope for the wrecked man, who waited patiently for someone else to free him from his blissful life.

But here, on the shores of this new America, what a difference!The doctor made this kind of comparison occasionally, but he buried it in his heart, especially when he had to be idle, he would curse. He longed fervently for the thaw to travel again, but he watched the moment with apprehension, for he foresaw the embarrassing situation between Hatteras and Altamon.If they reach the extreme together, what will happen to the rivalry between the two? Nothing should be prevented from happening, let adversaries come to a sincere understanding, a sincere exchange of ideas; but let an American and an Englishman, two men whose common cause makes them all the more hostile, the one impregnated with the hubris of the island, the other What a task it was to bring them together with the speculative, bold, reckless spirit that filled his country!

When the doctor thinks of this inescapable rivalry of man, of this rivalry between nations, he cannot help, not shrugging his shoulders, as he never would, but lamenting the frailty of man. He had often spoken to Johnson on this subject, and the old sailor and he were two intimate friends on this subject; they discussed what measures were to be taken, what detente was to be achieved, and they had a vague vision of a future of increasing complexity. . But the bad weather continued; they could not even try to leave God's fortress for an hour.Should have stayed in the igloo day and night.They got bored, except the doctor, who always found a way to keep himself busy.

Don't have any entertainment possibilities?It's really not life, Altamon asked one night, hibernating like a snake like this. Because, replied the doctor, unfortunately we are not large enough to organize any entertainment of any kind! So, the American said again, do you think that if we had more people, we would have less trouble to spend our free time? No doubt they'll find a way not to get bored when the entire crew is out wintering in the Arctic. Indeed, says Altamon, I'm curious to know how they do it, and it takes a really resourceful mind to find joy in such an environment.They don't propose charades, I think!

No, but not at all, replied the doctor, who resorted to two means of entertainment in these extreme north regions: newspapers and plays. What!They run a newspaper?the American asked again. They act?bell yelled. Indeed, they found a real pleasure in it, and likewise Captain Barry, during his winter at Melville Island, engaged his crew with great success in both of these amusements. Well, frankly, Johnson replied, I'd rather be there, which is curious. Strange and funny, My Honest Johnson, with Lieutenant Beecher as theater director and Captain Sabina as editor in chief of the Winter Column or North Georgia Gazette.

Good question, said Altamon. This paper was published every Monday from November, 1819, to March 20, 1820, and it carried all the events of the wintering, hunting, miscellaneous news, meteorological events, temperatures; it included or More or less interesting columns, but don't look there for the spirit of Stein or the charming chapters in the Daily Telegraph; I think that the profession of a reporter will not be more comfortable than this. Indeed, said Altamon, I am curious to know the summary of the paper.My dear doctor, the article on it should be frozen from the first word to the last word.

No, no, replied the doctor, in short, what seems a little childish in Liverpool philosophy or London literature is enough for the crew buried in the snow, would you like to judge? how!Your memory taught you to use it at your fingertips? No, but you have Pali's travelogue on your Pearl Boise, and I'll just read to you his account. great!cried the doctor's companions. Nothing could be easier. The doctor went to the drawing-room cupboard to find the required book, and he found the passage in question without any effort. Listen, he said, here are a few excerpts from the North Georgia paper.Here is a letter to the editor:

We accept your proposal to start a newspaper with a real sense of satisfaction.I have no doubt that under your leadership it will bring us much joy and much relief from the weight of the Hundred Days of Darkness. What interests me, on my part, enables me to examine the repercussions of your proclamation among our generals, and I assure you, to borrow a phrase from the London papers, that the matter had a profound effect on the public. The day after your notice appeared there was an immediate and rare and unprecedented demand for ink on board.The green rug of our table was suddenly covered with so much shavings of quills that one of our servants was hurt by this, and trying to shake them off got one of the shavings lodged in his nail. In short, it was clear to me that Sergeant Muldoon had sharpened no less than nine pocket knives. All our desks can be seen groaning under the uncharacteristic weight of writing racks which have not seen the sun for two months, and the deep cargo compartments have been opened many times to take out Lots of reams, eager to wake up from hibernation. I must not forget to tell you that I have some doubts that someone would like to publish a few articles in your column, which lack originality and are not unpublished, and I am afraid that they do not quite suit your plans.I should admit that no later than last night an author was seen bending over a table with an open volume of The Spectator in one hand, while in the other he was melting ink with the flame of a lamp!There is little benefit in advising you to be wary of such cunning; don't make us read in Yesterday's Column what our ancestors read over breakfast more than a century ago. Well, well, said Altamon, and the doctor had finished reading by this time: there was indeed something pleasant in it, and it must have been written by a shrewd young man. Cleverness is true, replied the Doctor. Listen, here is some interesting news. Someone was looking for a middle-aged woman of good reputation to help with makeup for the ladies of the South Georgia Theater Royal.She gets a decent salary and she drinks tea and beer as she pleases.Please contact the theater committee.Note: Widows take precedence. Indeed, they are not bored, my countrymen, said Johnson. Is the widow gone? Take it for granted, replied the Doctor, for here is a reply to the theater committee: Gentlemen, I am a widow; I am twenty-six years old, and I can give irrefutable evidence of my character and my talents.But before I do makeup for the actresses in your theatre, I want to know if they wear shorts and if I can send me some strong sailors to help tighten their corsets.If so, gentlemen, pin your hopes on me. A． B． (P.S.: Can you use soju instead of lager?) ah!great!cried Altamon, Here I see the handmaid who tied you to the capstan.Yes, Captain Barry's companions were happy. Like all who achieve their goals, Hatteras replied. Hatteras broke in this sentence, and then fell into his usual silence.The doctor, unwilling to pause on this question, hastily read again. Now, he says, is a picture of the crucifixion of the North Pole; one can vary infinitely; but a few of these phenomena are quite real, judge: Get some air in the morning, step out of the cabin and take a cold shower at the cook's well. Going out hunting, approached a beautiful reindeer, aimed at it, wanted to fire, but due to a wrong judgment, it didn't fire, because the detonator became damp. I was on the road with a loaf of bread in my pocket, and when I tried to eat it, I found it was so hard with the cold that it would have crushed the teeth instead of the teeth. Knowing that a wolf was looking at the boat, he hurriedly left the dinner table, only to find that the cat had eaten the dinner when he came back. Returning from a stroll, lost in deep and salutary contemplation, suddenly awakened by a bear's embrace. You see, my friends, added the doctor, that it is not difficult to think of other unpleasant things, but it is a pleasure to examine them, so long as they need to be endured. True, replied Altamon, the Winter Column is an interesting paper, a pity we cannot subscribe! What if we try to do one, Johnson said. Five of us!At best we have as many editors as there are enough readers, Crowburny said. Well, Mr. Crawburn, said Johnson, tell us about Captain Barry's play, have they got something new? Undoubtedly, the two-volume Ekla on board the ship came in handy at the root, and was staged every fortnight, but the repertoire soon became stale, and the occasional authors sprang into action , Barrie himself composed a sitcom for Christmas, which was a huge success, entitled The Voyage to the Northwest, or The Voyage's End. Good question, answered Altamon, but I admit that I find it hard to finish when I am asked to deal with it. You are right, Bell said, who knows how it will end? good!Why, exclaimed the doctor, bother with the last scene, when the previous ones went so well?Let Heaven decide, my friends, and play our parts as best we can, and since the end belongs to the Lord of all things, let us have faith in his talents, who know how to teach us how to get out. Let's dream about it all, replied Johnson, it's getting late, it's bed time, go to bed. You are in a hurry, my old friend, said the doctor. What do you think, Mr. Crawburn, how comfortable I am in bed!Moreover, I have the habit of dreaming well, I dream of hot countries!So, really, I've spent half my life at the equator and the other half at the poles. Ouch, said Altamon, you have a fortunate constitution. As you say, replied the bosun. It would be cruel, then, said the doctor, to let the righteous Johnson go on crumbling.His tropical sunshine awaits him, let's go to sleep.