Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven Fantasy and Realism

Have you never seen the moon?Once, a professor asked one of his students in a sarcastic tone. No, sir, replied the student, even more sarcastically, but it must be said that I have heard people speak of the moon. In fact, in a sense, most people who live under the moon will give such an interesting answer like this student.How many people have heard the moon talked about, but have never seen it, at least never seen it through a telescope!How many people have never even looked at their satellite topographic map! Seeing the topographic map of the moon, there is one feature that cannot fail to attract attention.Contrary to the layout of Earth and Mars, many lunar continents are concentrated in the southern hemisphere.Nor are these continents as well-defined and symmetrical as South America, Africa, and the Indian peninsula.The edges of the lunar continent are protruding, unpredictable and fragmented, with bays and peninsulas everywhere.It is easy to think of other archipelagos with complex topography, where all the land is divided into many small pieces.If sailing on the moon must be particularly difficult and dangerous, the sailors set sail on such rough coasts, and the hydrologists deserve our sympathy when they chart the topography of these dangerous coasts.

We'll also notice that there is much more landmass at the Moon's south pole than at its north pole.The North Pole has only one piece of land like a small round cap, surrounded by sea, completely isolated from other continents (note: the word sea is used here to refer to the boundless area that was probably covered by sea water a long time ago, But now it has become a vast plain. Original note).In Antarctica, the continent covers almost the entire southern hemisphere.Therefore, the lunar people may have already planted their flag at the South Pole.Neither the Duvilles nor the Lamberts have yet reached this unknowable spot on the earth.

As for the islands on the moon, there are really countless.All these islands seem to be planned out in circles, either elliptical or perfectly round, forming a vast archipelago, almost comparable to those islands scattered between Greece and Asia Minor. Many beautiful and moving islands in ancient mythology The legend of these islands adds life to these islands.Whenever we think of Naxos, Tenedos, Milos, and Karpados, we can't help but look for Ulysses. The warships of the Argonauts (Note: In Greek mythology, the Argonauts who went overseas with Jason to find the golden fleece.) Sheep shears.At least Michelle.Adam said this: what he saw on the lunar map were only a group of Greek islands.In the eyes of his two less fanciful friends, these coasts were rather shaped like New Brunswick. ) and Nova Scotia (Note: A province on the southeastern coast of Canada.) The fragmented terrain; yet in this very place where the French found the traces of the mythical hero, two Americans determined that the lunar industry and commerce were suitable. location of the city.

Before we conclude our description of the continental parts of the Moon, we should say a few words about its mountainous formations.We were able to clearly distinguish mountains, lonely ridges, craters and trenches.All the highs and lows on the moon are in this region.These mountains are very steep.In one place it seems like an infinite Switzerland, in another a continuous Norway, all of which arose during the formation of igneous rocks.The unevenness of the Moon's surface is due to the contraction of the body as it began to form.The lunar surface is conducive to the study of all kinds of strange phenomena in geology.According to some astronomers, although the surface of the moon is older than the surface of the earth in terms of time, it is still in its infancy in essence.Here, the original mountains are not eroded by water. Generally speaking, the erosion of water can play a leveling effect over time, and at the same time, it is not weathered by the air, so the shape of the mountains will never change.Here, igneous rocks cannot become sedimentary rocks, so the moon's mountainous form will always maintain its original purity.The same is true before the earth has not been eroded by tides and ocean currents, and sediments have not covered the surface.

Our gaze wanders for a moment over these vast continents before being drawn to those still wider oceans.Not only are the shapes, layouts, and forms of these oceans reminiscent of oceans on Earth, but like Earth, oceans occupy most of the Moon.But these were not fluid seas, but vast plains, the nature of which we three travelers hoped to be able to ascertain before long. We have to admit that astronomers have given these seas many names that at least the scientific community has always considered strange.Michelle.Ardonna took this picture of the moon and a Mrs. Scuderi (Note: 1607︱1701, French female novel treasure.) or a Cyrano.De Bergerac (Note: 1619︱1655, French writer, author of the interstellar fantasy travel novel "Another World".) Comparing the warmth pictures drawn by Mr., I feel that I still have a reason.

It's just that now it's no longer the emotional map of the seventeenth century, but a life map. Here, the lunar world is split into two, one side is feminine and the other is masculine.On the right is a woman's world, on the left is a man's world! As Michel spoke, he shrugged his shoulders at his two prose companions.Barbicane and Nicholl approached the map of the moon quite differently from their fanciful friend.Still, their fantasy-loving friends are not without reason.Leave it to the reader to judge. There is a sea of ​​clouds in the left hemisphere, how many times has human reason been immersed in this sea of ​​clouds.There is a sea of ​​rain not far away, which is the sea formed by the infinite troubles of life.Another sea of ​​storms was excavated next to it. Here, a person is wrestling with his own lust, but it is often the latter who wins the final victory.And then disappointments, betrayals, treachery, and the continual misery of the world wear him out, and what has he found in the last phase of his life?He found the vast and boundless sea of ​​humor, and finally tasted a few drops of nectar in the dew bay!Clouds, rain, storms, humor, what else is there in life?Isn't it all included in these four words?

The right hemisphere is dedicated to women, and the seas here are smaller, and their descriptive names sum up all the changes in a woman's life.A young girl leans over to gaze at the Sea of ​​Tranquility, and the lake of dreams reflects a welcoming future with a smile.In the sea of ​​wine, there are waves of tenderness and breeze of love everywhere!Then came the Sea of ​​Breeding, the Sea of ​​Danger, then the Sea of ​​Fog, but this sea seemed too small, and finally the Sea of ​​Tranquility, where all vain passions, futile dreams, and unsatisfied passions were washed away, and then followed With the waves of the sea slowly flowing into the Dead Sea!

What a strange sequence of names!It is also very rare to divide the moon into two different hemispheres like this at the same time!But the two hemispheres joined together like man and woman, forming the round sphere of life, carried into space.Is there no reason for the visionary Michel to explain the fantasies of those ancient astronomers in this way? But while his fancy was thus running wild in those lunar seas, his two solemn companions saw everything geographically.About this new world, they have already memorized it by heart.Currently they are measuring angles and diameters. To Barbicane and Nicholl, the Sea of ​​Clouds was nothing but an endless low-lying area, dotted with craters; Fifteen degrees south latitude and twenty degrees west longitude.The Mare Storm is the largest plain on the lunar surface, covering an area of ​​328,300 square miles, with its center at 10 degrees north latitude and 45 degrees east longitude.In the center stands Kepler (Note: 1571︱1630, German astronomer.) and Aristotle (Note: Greek astronomer in the third century BC.) These two amazing four shot mountains.

To the north of the Sea of ​​Clouds, beyond a few mountains, is the Sea of ​​Rains. Its center is located at 35 degrees north latitude and 20 degrees east longitude. It is almost round in shape and covers an area of ​​193,000 square miles.Not far away is Humor Sea, a pond of only 44,200 square miles, located at 25 degrees south latitude and 40 degrees east longitude.Finally, on the coast of the southern hemisphere there are the Bays of Insult, Dew, and Orris, all small bays wedged in the middle of deep mountains. The hemisphere belonging to the woman is changeable, and it is characterized by many seas but a small area.To the north is the Cold Sea, which is located at 55 degrees north latitude and 0 degrees longitude, with an area of ​​76,000 square miles. It borders the Dead Sea and the Dream Sea. Six thousand square miles, the dangerous sea has a clear boundary, it is a round sea, located at 16 degrees north latitude and 55 degrees west longitude, with an area of ​​40,000 square miles, like the Caspian Sea surrounded by mountains.Below is the Sea of ​​Tranquility, located at the equator at 5 degrees north latitude and 25 degrees west longitude, with an area of ​​121,502 square miles. To the south is the Sea of ​​Wine, with an area of ​​28,800 square miles. It is located at 15 degrees south latitude and 32 degrees west longitude, and to the east is the Breeding Sea, which has the largest area of ​​219,300 square miles and is located at 3 degrees south latitude and 50 degrees west longitude.Finally, there is a sea in the northernmost and southernmost part of this hemisphere. The northern one is called the Humboldt Sea with an area of ​​6,500 square miles, and the southern one is called the South China Sea with an area of ​​26,000 square miles.

At the center of the lunar disk, there is a long, narrow central bay that straddles the equator and lies on the zero meridian, like a hyphen between the two hemispheres. According to Nicholl and Barbicane, the side of the earth's satellite that we can see is composed in this way.After careful calculation, they found that the area of ​​the hemisphere of the moon is 4,728,160 square miles, of which 3,317,600 square miles are volcanoes, mountains, craters, and islands. , which is the solid part of the moon, and the other 1,410,400 square miles are seas, lakes, and swamps, that is, the part with water.But all this the venerable Michel considers irrelevant.

We can see that this hemisphere is only 1/13.5 of the Earth's hemisphere.However, lunar scientists have found more than 50,000 craters.It can be seen that the surface of the moon is bulging and full of cracks, just like a colander. No wonder the British gave it a not very poetic nickname: growing cheese.Therefore, Michelle.When Ardan heard Barbicane mention this nickname, he jumped up with anger. This is how the Anglo-Saxons of the nineteenth century treated the fair Diana, fair-haired Phoebe, lovely Isis, charming Astaros, Queen of Night, Latona and daughter of Jupiter, full-faced The attitude of Red Light's sister of Apollo.