“Yes,” replied my companion.  “Usually, when a Man of the Moon comes to that time of life in which he feels that he is losing his strength of mind and body, he invites all his friends to a banquet.  After explaining what little hope he has of adding anything to the fine actions of his life, he asks for permission to depart.  If he has led a bad life, he is ordered to live; but if he has been a good man, his dearest friend kisses him, and plunges a dagger in his heart.”

As he was talking, the son of the man in whose house we were staying entered the room.  My companion quickly rose on his four feet, and made the young man a profound bow.  I asked him why he did this.  He told me that on the Moon parents obey their children, and old men are compelled to show to young men the greatest respect.

“They are of opinion,” said my companion, “that a strong and active young man is more capable of governing a family than a dull, infirm sexagenarian.  I know that on your Earth old men are supposed to be wise and prudent.  But, as a matter of fact, their wisdom and prudence consists merely of a timid frame of mind and a disinclination to take any risks.”

The father then entered the room, and his son said to him in an angry voice: 

“Why have you not got our house ready to sail away?  You know the walls of the city have gone some hours ago.  Bring me at once your image!”

The man brought a great wooden image of himself, and his son whipped it furiously for a quarter of an hour.

“And now,” said the young man at last, “go and hoist the sails at once!”

III.—­Marvels of the Moon

There are two kinds of towns on the Moon:  travelling towns and sedentary towns.  In the travelling towns, each house is built of very light wood, and placed on a platform, beneath the four corners of which great wheels are fixed.  When the time arrives for a voyage to the seaside or the forest, for a change of air, the townspeople hoist vast sails on the roofs of their dwellings, and sail away altogether towards the new site.

In the sedentary towns, on the other hand, the houses are made with great strong screws running from the cellars to the roofs, which enable them to be raised or lowered at discretion.  The depth of the cellar is equal to the height of every house; in winter, the whole structure is lowered below the surface of the ground; in spring, it is lifted up again by means of the screw.

As, owing to the father’s neglect, the house in which we were staying could not set sail until the next day, my companion and I accepted an invitation to stay the night there.  Our host then sent for a doctor, who prescribed what foods I should smell, and what kind of bed I should lie in.

“But I am not sick!” I said to the Man of the Sun.

“If you were,” he replied, “the doctor would not have been sent for.  On the Moon, doctors are not paid to cure men, but to keep them in good health.  They are officers of the state, and, once a day, they call at every house, and instruct the inmates how to preserve their natural vigour.”