The First Men in the Moon

The first man on the Moon is a novel by British writer Herbert George Wells. The book was first published in 1901 under the title The First Men in the Moon. In Bruns publisher / Minden German first publication takes place in 1905 under the title The first man in the moon.

Content

During a stay on the land of the unsuccessful businessman and playwright Bedford gets to know the unconventional scientist Cavor. Cavor developed in his house a new material on which does not affect the force of gravity; he gives him the name Cavorit. Cavor and Bedford, the first-person narrator of the novel, build in Cavors house is a large hollow sphere in which they fly to the moon.

When they reach the moon, reigns there overnight. On the lunar surface is snow. From inside the ball from watching the travelers, as the sun rises. After sunrise, the snow melts, shrubs and large mushrooms pop out of the ground. When they leave the ball and explore the countryside, they get lost.

In search of the ball they encounter a herd of cows Moon, guarded by ant -like moon people. The Moon People by Cavor and Bedford called Selenites (after the Greek moon goddess Selene ). Become hungry eat Cavor and Bedford fungi that cause a frenzy. During the rush, they encounter a group of six Selenites, they capture and abduct the inside of the moon. Bedford loses consciousness.

As Bedford awakens, he finds himself with Cavor in a small chamber. After the Selenites have brought their captives food, they run them through caves where there are strange machines. On the floor of flow blue glowing streams that provide light. When they reach a dark abyss, the Selenites want to force their prisoners to enter a bridge that leads into the darkness. Bedford and Cavor refuse to go on. In the ensuing battle Bedford kills three Selenites. Bedford and Cavor flee.

Through a hole in the ceiling they enter a cave at the bottom of glowing mushrooms grow. Bored throws Cavor fungi through the hole, thus he brings the Selenites on their trail. Through a well Cavor and Bedford climb into a cave, in which the Selenites slaughter the moon cows. While they walk through the cave, they are attacked by the Selenites. As Bedford provides resistance to flee the attackers. About a huge spiral staircase Cavor and Bedford return to the lunar surface.

There, they split up to search the globe. Bedford takes the ball. He returns to the agreed meeting place to bring back to Cavor. He finds a message Cavors in which it writes that he has been injured and is pursued by the Selenites.

When the sun goes down, it starts to snow. Bedford is forced to leave Cavor with a heavy heart. Through an increasingly violent snowstorm to Bedford struggles through to the ball. With his last strength he climbs into the ball and leaves the Moon.

Bedford lands on a sandbank near the English seaside resort of Littleton. In an unguarded moment a curious boy climbs into the ball and flies with her through a series of unfortunate circumstances of it, so Bedford can not fly to the moon.

A short time later receives a Dutch scientist radio messages coming from the moon. Cavor told that he is again fallen into the hands of the Selenites. He was taken away from them in the interior of the moon. There he can move freely. He describes the life of the Selenites. Finally he is brought to the ruler of the Selenites, the Grand Lunar. This Cavor questioned about the habits of the people on earth. When he reported on the war on Earth, and that people jubilantly go into battle, it can take the Great Lunar hardly.

After the meeting with the Grand Lunar Cavors messages are increasingly overshadowed by disturbances that were obviously created by the moon. In a recent message he tried in haste, by passing on the formula for Cavorit. The transmission but is interrupted and not resumed.

The ultimate fate Cavors remains open.

Summary

The first man on the moon is one of the lesser-known novels by Herbert George Wells. The protagonists Cavor and Bedford are not portrayed as friends, they even have armed. Cavor is too naive when it comes to the nature of the Selenites, which also brings about his downfall. Bedford, however, is concerned only with his material advantage. He brings two gold ingots, which he has found in the caves of the earth. It is a pure science fiction novel with an open end where it is not clear what happened to Cavor.

The novel was filmed several times. 1902 appeared the French short film Le voyage dans la lune, which is based on the first man on the Moon and Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon. In 1964 the film The First Men in the Moon with the English actors Lionel Jeffries as " Cavor ," and Edward Judd as " Bedford ".

Expenditure

• HG Wells: The first man on the moon. Roman ( Original title: The First Men in the Moon ). German by Werner von Grunau. Complete edition. DTV ( German Taschenbuch -Verlag), Munich 1996, 319 pp., ISBN 3-423-12237-4