Jules Verne

“ The avaricious old man was found to value his life above his money; he made a lamentable outcry about it, but he unfastened his girdle at last, and put it out of the car.
Very different was the case with Palmyrin Rosette. He avowed over and over again his intention of never quitting the nucleus of his comet. Why should he trust himself to a balloon, that would blaze up like a piece of paper? Why should he leave the comet? Why should he not go once again upon its surface into the far-off realms of space? ”

“ Gallia has nothing to do with you. Gallia is mine; and you must submit to the government which I please to ordain.”
“And who told you that Gallia is not going back to the earth?” asked the professor, with a look of withering scorn.
“Why, isn't her mass diminished? Isn't she split in half? Isn't her velocity all altered?” demanded the captain.
“And pray who told you this?” again said the professor, with a sneer.
“Everybody. Everybody knows it, of course,” replied Servadac.
“Everybody is very clever. And you always were a very clever scholar too. We remember that of old, don't we?” ”

“ Then, addressing Count Timascheff, he added:
“Altogether, I think, count, the countries of Europe are fairly represented by the population of Gallia.”
“True, captain,” answered the count; “we have only a fragment of a world, but it contains natives of France, Russia, Italy, Spain, and England. Even Germany may be said to have a representative in the person of this miserable Jew.”
“And even in him,” said Servadac, “perhaps we shall not find so indifferent a representative as we at present imagine.” ”

“ On the 18th, Rosette was overheard in furious altercation with Ben Zoof. The orderly had been taunting the astronomer with the mutilation of his little comet. A fine thing, he said, to split in two like a child's toy. It had cracked like a dry nut; and mightn't one as well live upon an exploding bomb?—with much more to the same effect. The professor, by way of retaliation, had commenced sneering at the “prodigious” mountain of Montmartre, and the dispute was beginning to look serious when Servadac entered. ”

“ It was, perhaps, only natural that this clustered mass of birds, as representing the whole of the feathered tribe upon the surface of Gallia, should resort to Gourbi Island, of which the meadows seemed to be the only spot from which they could get sustenance at all; but as this sustenance would be obtained at the expense, and probably to the serious detriment, of the human population, it was absolutely necessary that every possible resistance should be made to the devastation that was threatened. ”

“ Once satisfied that Servadac and his friends would co-operate with him in the raid upon “the thieves,” Ben Zoof became calm and content, and began to make various inquiries.
“And what has become,” he said, “of all our old comrades in Africa?”
“As far as I can tell you,” answered the captain, “they are all in Africa still; only Africa isn't by any means where we expected to find it.”
“And France? Montmartre?” continued Ben Zoof eagerly. ”

“ The next thing requisite was to arrive at a true estimate of the number of the population. Without including the thirteen Englishmen at Gibraltar, about whom he was not particularly disposed to give himself much concern at present, Servadac put down the names of the eight Russians, the two Frenchmen, and the little Italian girl, eleven in all, as the entire list of the inhabitants of Gourbi Island.
“Oh, pardon me,” interposed Ben Zoof, “you are mistaking the state of the case altogether. You will be surprised to learn that there are twenty-two people on the island.” ”

“ The Jew, afraid to disobey, but with his eye ever upon the main chance, stipulated that at the end of their voyage the Spaniards should pay for their passage—terms to which, as they would to any other, they did not demur, knowing that they had not the slightest intention of giving him a single real. ”

“ A group of Spaniards had just begun dancing their national fandango, and the extraordinary lightness which had become the physical property of every object in the new planet made the dancers bound to a height of thirty feet or more into the air, considerably above the tops of the trees. ”

“ But all in vain: not a single fresh discovery rewarded his sufferings.
No one was quite exempt from the feverish excitement which prevailed during the last days of December. Lieutenant Procope superintended his final arrangements. The two low masts of the schooner had been erected firmly on the shore, and formed supports for the montgolfier, which had been duly covered with the netting, and was ready at any moment to be inflated. ”

“ There were wild ducks in thousands; snipe, larks, rooks, and swallows; a countless variety of sea-birds—widgeons, gulls, and seamews; besides a quantity of game—quails, partridges, and woodcocks. The sportsmen did their best ”

“ Instead, however, of uttering any expressions of welcome or rejoicing at the captain's return, Ben Zoof broke out into the most vehement ejaculations:
“Thieves, captain! beastly thieves! Bedouins! pirates! devils!”
“Why, Ben Zoof, what's the matter?” said Servadac soothingly.
“They are thieves! downright, desperate thieves! those infernal birds! That's what's the matter. It is a good thing you have come. Here have I for a whole month been spending my powder and shot upon them, and the more I kill them, the worse they get ”