Before the War
In the last years of the nineteenth century, no one believed that this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than our own. We had no idea that we were being studied almost as carefully as a scientist studies the small creatures in a drop of water. With great confidence, people travelled around this world and believed that they were in control of their lives. No one gave a thought to possible threats from other planets.
At most, people believed there might be living things on Mars, perhaps less developed than us and ready to welcome visitors. But across the great emptiness of space, more intelligent minds than ours looked at this Earth with jealous eyes, and slowly and surely made their plans against us. And early in the twentieth century, the great shock came.
The planet Mars, I need not remind the reader, goes around the sun at an average distance of 224,000,000 kilometres, and receives from the sun half of the light and heat that is received by this world. It must be, if scientific thinking is correct, older than our world, and life on its surface began a long time before this Earth cooled down. Because it is hardly one seventh of the size of Earth, it cooled more quickly to the temperature at which life could begin. It has air and water and all that is necessary to support living things.
But people are so blind that no writer, before the end of the nineteenth century, suggested that much more intelligent life had developed there than on Earth. It was also not generally understood that because Mars is older and smaller than our Earth, and further from the sun, it is nearer life's end as well as further from its beginning. Mars is getting colder, as one day our planet must too. Its physical condition is still largely a mystery, but we know that even in the middle of the day, in its warmest areas, the temperature is lower than during our coldest winter. Its air is much thinner than ours, its oceans have become smaller until they cover only a third of its surface, and from its far north and south the ice is steadily moving forwards. The end of all life, which is a distant possibility for us, is an immediate problem for the Martians.
This has brightened their intelligence, increased their abilities and hardened their hearts. And looking across space, with instruments and minds more powerful than we can dream of, they see, at a distance of only 56,000,000 kilometres, a morning star of hope - our own warmer planet with its green land and grey seas, its cloudy atmosphere and its growing population.
We, the people who live on this Earth, must seem to them at least as different and less developed as monkeys are to us. And before we criticize them for thinking in this way, we must remember how badly we have treated not only the animals of this planet, but also other people. Can we really complain that the Martians treated us in the same way?
It seems that the Martians calculated their journey very cleverly - their mathematical knowledge appears to be much more developed than ours. During 1894, a great light was seen on the surface of the planet by a number of astronomers. I now believe that this was a fire built to make an enormous gun in a very deep pit. From this gun, their shots were fired at us.
Дайны өмнө
19-р зууны сүүлийн жилд, хэн ч энэ ертөнц дээр биднээс илүү оюун ухаантай зүйл байгаа гэж үздэггүй байлаа. Бид нар усны дусал шиг жижиг хэсэгийг судалдаг байсныг бодохоор бид ямар ч ойлголтгүй бололтой. Итгэлтэйгээр өөрсдийнхөө амьдралыг хянаж, энэ дэлхийг тойрсон гэж бодож байлаа. Хэн ч өөр гаригаас аюул ирэх боломжтой гэж боддоггүй байлаа. Ихэнхдээ, хүмүүс Марс дээр байгаа зүйлс хүчирхэг мөн зочдыг хүлээж авахад бэлэн биднээс илүү хөгжилтэй гэж итгэж байлаа. Гэхдээ энэ нь хоосон бодол байлаа, бид нараас илүү оюун ухаантай, ажуухнаар атаархагч нүдээр ажиглаж, бидний эсрэг төлөвлөгөө боловсруулж хийж байлаа. 20-р зууны эхээр шоконд орохоор зүйл болсон. Марс гариг нь нарнаас дунджаар 224 сая километр зайтай, нарнаас ирж байгаа дулааны хагасийг нь дэлхий хүлээн авч байгаа. Хэрвээ шинжлэх ухаанч зөв бодсон бол манай дэлхийгээс илүү уртай настай мөн урт хугацааны турш дэлхийн гадаргуу хүйтэн байсан. Учир нь дэлхийн хэмжээний 7-ний нэг нь хүнд. Энд температур хурдан хөргөлттэй. Энд агаар, ус нь амьдралын гол чухал зүйлс. Гэхдээ хүмүүс сохор, 19-р зууны сүүл үе хүртэл дэлхий дээр илүү сайхан ухаалаг амьдарч байсан. Энэ мөн ерөнхий ойлголтгүй байсан, Марс нь дэлхийгээс жижигхэн тэгээд их настай, нарнаас хэт их хол энд эхлээд төгсгөл хүртэл амьдрал бага үлдсэн. Марс хөрсөөр байна нэг л өдөр бидний гариг ч мөн адил тийм болно. Физик нөхцөл нь нууцлаг байдлаар томорсоор байна, гэхдээ хамгийн дулаан газар ч өвлийн хүйтнээс илүү темпертуртай байдагийг бид мэднэ. Агаар нь биднийхээс ч илүү нимгэн байдаг, далай нь жижгэрсээр гадаргуугийн 1/3 хүртэл болсон, хойноос, урдаас мөс нүүсээр л байна.
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