would be for
Mars, so far from the sun, to have gotten by with less than two
moons. Whatever the case may be, our explorers found it so small that
they feared not being able to land on it, and they passed it by like
two travelers disdainful of a bad village cabaret, pressing on
towards a neighboring city. But the Sirian and his companion soon
regretted it. They traveled a long time without finding anything.
Finally they perceived a small candle, it was earth; this was a
pitiful sight to those who had just left Jupiter. Nevertheless, from
fear of further regret, they resolved to touch down. Carried by the
tail of a comet, and finding an aurora borealis at the ready, they
started towards it, and arrived at Earth on the northern coast of the
Baltic sea, July 5, 1737, new style.

CHAPTER IV.

What happened on planet Earth.

After resting for some time they ate two mountains for lunch, which
their crew fixed up pretty nicely. Then they decided to get to know
the small country they were in. They went first from north to south.
The usual stride of the Sirian and his crew was around 30,000 feet.
The dwarf from Saturn, who clocked in at no more than a thousand
fathoms, trailed behind, breathing heavily. He had to make twelve
steps each time the other took a stride; imagine (if it is alright to
make such a comparison) a very small lapdog following a captain of
the guards of the Prussian king.

Since our strangers moved fairly rapidly, they circumnavigated the
globe in 36 hours. The sun, in truth, or rather the Earth, makes a
similar voyage in a day; but you have to imagine that the going is
much easier when one turns on one's axis instead of walking on one's
feet. So there they were, back where they started, after having seen
the nearly imperceptible pond we call _the Mediterranean_, and the
other little pool that, under the name _Ocean_, encircles the
molehill. The dwarf never got in over his knees, and the other hardly
wet his heels. On their way they did all they could to see whether
the planet was inhabited or not. They crouched, laid down, felt
around everywhere; but their eyes and their hands were not
proportionate to the little beings that crawl here, they could not
feel in the least any sensation that might lead them to suspect that
we and our associates, the other inhabitants of this planet, have the
honor of existing.

The dwarf, who was a bit hasty sometimes, decided straightaway that
the planet was un