CHAPTER 21

The Natural History of the Selenites

I have already made it clear, I think, that the Selenites I saw resembled man in being erect, and in having four limbs, and I have compared their general appearance to that of insects. Cavor confirms me upon all these points. He says that on the moon, owing to the lesser gravitation, certain insects have been able to reach human height. His descriptions remind one of the ant, in its energy, intelligence and social organization, and more particularly in its having, besides the male and female sexes, a number of sexless creatures, such as the workers and the soldiers. For these Selenites, also, have a great variety of forms. The exterior Selenites I saw were mostly mooncalf herdsmen, butchers and the like. But within the moon there are, it seems, a number of other sorts differing in size, in power, and appearance. This is what Cavor says of a crowd of Selenites he saw when he was taken out of the balloon:

"It was an incredible crowd. Indeed, there seemed not two alike in it. All of them seemed to present an incredible exaggeration of some particular feature: one had an enormous arm; one seemed all leg; some had broad and low heads, others had high and narrow heads. There were several brain cases swollen like bladders to a huge size."

He goes on to say: "Every moment the crowd increased in number, and they pushed one another aside to get a glimpse of me. Presently I was helped into a sort of litter, and lifted upon the shoulders of strong-armed bearers, and so carried over the crowd towards the rooms that were provided for me in the moon. All about me were eyes, faces, masks, a noise like the rustling of beetle wings, and a great twittering of Selenite voices ... "

We gather that for some time he was kept a prisoner. Afterwards he was given more liberty, and the mysterious being who is the master of the moon appointed two Selenites "with large heads" to guard and study him, and to try to communicate with him. And amazing as it may seem, these two creatures, these beings of another world, were presently communicating with Cavor by means of earthly speech.

Cavor names them Phi-oo and Tsi-puff. Phi-oo was a creature with an excessively enlarged brain, and with the rest of his body dwarfed. Tsi-puff was a very similar insect, but his face was extraordinarily long, and his head was not round but pear-shaped.

These two creatures came to Cavor's cell and began imitating every sound he made. He seems to have grasped their intention quickly. He began repeating words to them and pointing to indicate their meaning. Phi-oo would attend to Cavor for some time, then point also and say the word he had heard.

The first word he learnt was "man", and the second "Moony"—which Cavor seems to have invented to replace "Selenite As soon as Phi-oo was assured of the meaning of a word he repeated it to Tsi-Puff, who remembered it without mistake. They mastered over one hundred English nouns in their first lesson. Later on they brought an artist with them to assist the work of explanation with sketches—Cavor's drawings being rather crude.

"It was only a matter of days," says Cavor, "before I was actually talking with these insects of the moon. Of course, at first it was a very tedious and limited intercourse, but gradually we began to communicate with each other more easily. It is most amazing to hear these extraordinary creatures continually piping a nearer approach to earthly speech—asking questions, giving answers ... "

And while these language exercises were going on Cavor seems to have been given still greater freedom. Thus he was able to set up his transmitting apparatus, and to send his messages to the earth. So far not the slightest attempt had been made to interfere with him, though he had made it quite clear to Phi-oo that he was signalling to the earth.

The following extracts are taken from the ninth, thirteenth and sixteenth messages. They give us some idea of the social life of the Selenites.

"In the moon," says Cavor, "every citizen knows his place in the social system. He is born to that place, and by careful training and surgery he is completely fitted to it. If, for example, a Selenite is intended to be a mathematician, his teachers and trainers set out at once to that end. They encourage his mathematical powers and discourage any other interests he might have. His brain grows continually larger, his limbs dry up and shrink, and so he attains his end.

"Or again, a Selenite intended to be a mooncalf herdsman is trained to become wiry and active, to find his pleasure and exercise in looking after mooncalves. He takes at last no interest in the deeper part of the moon, and he loves his work and finds happiness in doing his duty perfectly ... 

"These beings with big heads form a sort of aristocracy in this strange society, and at the head of them, is the Grand Lunar, into whose presence I am finally to come. The unlimited growth of the minds of this class is made possible by the absence of any bony skull.

"Most of these insects, however, are of the working-class. Some, who I suppose are bell-strikers, have enormously developed ears; some who are chemists have huge noses; and others—who I have been told are glass-blowers—seem mere lungs. But every one of these common Selenites I have seen at work is wonderfully adapted to the social need it meets. Fine work is done by little workers, amazingly dwarfed and neat. Some I could hold on the palm of my hand. And ruling over these workers are the most muscular beings I have seen in the moon, a sort of lunar police.

"My route sometimes takes me round by a huge shadowy cavern, very crowded and noisy, and here it is I see, peering out of a sort of bee-hive, the mothers of the moon world—the queen bees of the hive. They are noble-looking beings, quite beautifully adorned, but with very small heads. They are absolutely incapable of bringing up their children. As soon as possible the little ones are transferred to the charge of unmarried females, women 'workers', who in some cases possess brains almost as big as those of the males."

Just at this point, unhappily, this message broke off. Imperfect as the information in this chapter is, it gives a vague idea of an altogether strange and wonderful world—a world with which our own may have to deal we know not how speedily.