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Chapter 3 The Moon

1. Concerning the animals, there are, as already mentioned in the beginning, as on earth many species and classes, both in the air, earth and water.

2. Among all these animals, there is only one tame species under the name according to your earthly language: moon sheep; all other species are not tame, i.e. they are not serviceable to the human society. This moon sheep is, as already mentioned, to the moon inhabitants what the reindeer is to the Nordic peoples. It's shape is as follows: The body is perfectly round, like a filled flour sack, this body is supported by four feet, which are not longer than a span, and are provided with four claws. The head is perfectly similar to an earth sheep, and sits on a neck a cubit long and a quarter cubit wide from top to bottom. It has two long ears, similar to those of a donkey; On the head it carries only one horn, which is provided in all directions with finger-long, very pointed outgrowths. Furthermore, it has a lion-like tail, which is provided with a rich tuft of hair at the end. It's color is white and the whole body is covered with wool like your sheep.

3. Well, what is it's usefulness? It's usefulness is of the greatest importance for the lunar dweller; for it firstly nourishes him with it's abundant gold-colored milk; secondly, the lunar people prepares from it's abundant wool all their clothing, which consists of a kind of shirt and coat, and is the same for the male and female gender; Thirdly, it loosens the earth with it's horn, and the people then throw the seeds of their root fruits into the loosened soil, which fruits then, as already said, reach full edible ripeness in the short time of your fortnight. Such an animal not infrequently lives three hundred lunar days; when it dies, it's fur is stripped off, and is used for beds in the subterranean chambers, but the flesh is dragged to an insect pile, which insects are not unlike your ants; These insects consume all the flesh from the bones in a short time. When this was done, then the people come again, and take the bones together with the horn with them, and make their necessary tools from them. This is the entire usefulness of this tame animal.

4. There are still a lot of animals on the moon-earth, which have more or less similarity with the animals of the earth; only they are all much smaller than the animals on earth, and all are also smaller than the already known sheep, which is also the king among the animals there. Of all the moon-animals, two are especially noteworthy - i.e., besides the sheep - is firstly the three-footed marmoset and secondly, the one-footed ducker and jumper.

5. The three-footed marmoset is the physical size of a cat; it's head resembles that of an aardvark, with the only difference that it's mouth splits halfway down it's neck. It's two front feet perfectly resemble monkey paws; But concerning it's single hind foot, it resembles an elephant's trunk, and can be contracted to a span, at which point it also becomes disproportionately thick in relation to the whole animal, but in the opposite case it can be extended to a length of three fathoms.

6. You will now of course ask: Why such a strange shape for an animal? It shall not be difficult to solve this riddle for you. You see, as already known, the temperature of the moon is completely different from the temperature of the earth; for in the course of a period of nearly twenty-eight days of the earth, the moon earth is covered by deep snow, then in the next seven days of the moon earth, it is often flooded in all directions, and again soon after it is afflicted by an insufferable heat from the sun.

7. Now see, this animal mentioned must be because of it's purpose, always with it's head in the atmospheric air, therefore it needs just this trunk-like foot; for at the time of night or winter it stands on it's extended foot, reaching out above the surface of the snow, lures a species of night bird, which are not unlike the small earth-bats, into it's vicinity, catches them there, or rather lets them fly into it's wide-open mouth, which breathes pleasant warmth, and then consumes them at once. See, this is the one purpose of this long foot.

8. But when the snow has begun to melt, and the water often covers the miles-wide plains, which are also enclosed by high mountain rings on the habitable side of the moon, by means of this hind foot, this animal must again reach with it's body over the surface of the water, so that it does not drown. At the time of the day's heat however it goes into the rivers, and stands there often for several days in the water, so that it is with the head and the two paws above the surface of the water; If the water rises, it lengthens it's foot, and if it falls, it shortens the foot proportionately, and if such a river often dries up completely, then it continues to move in such a way that it pushes itself forward by the greatest possible lengthening of the hind foot; then it holds with the front feet firmly onto some earth-object, until it has pulled the trunk foot completely to itself, when it then again sticks the four long toes at the end of the rear foot into the earth, and so again pushes the whole body quite nimbly forward. It continues this walk until it reaches water again, where it quickly enters it again with it's hind foot in the manner mentioned earlier. It's food during the day is a kind of flying crustacean, which are not unlike your so-called stag beetles.

9. As for the so-called jumper and ducker, in possession of only one foot, this animal is nothing other than a variety of the already known marmoset; only it possesses by far more elasticity than the foot of the marmoset, for which reason it's movement is also jumping. It is called a ducker because it is able to contract in such a way that in it's ducking state it looks like a medium-sized loaf of bread lying on the ground; But when he wants to jump, he suddenly expands to a length of 5 cubits. Through this sudden expansion, it then throws itself to a height of two to three cubits, and this always in an arc-like direction forward, so that such a jump not infrequently reaches a distance of six to seven cubits. This jumping continues one after the other, this animal is often very fast, and moves especially in the daytime so fast, that it catches up with every bird in the air. It's food is the same as that of the marmoset, and so is it's dwelling; and so such animals, along with many others, inhabit only the plains, and come into very rare contact with the people, because they live only on the mountains.

10. On the mountains, however, apart from the well-known sheep and the ant-like insects, there are only a considerable number of small birds, the largest of which hardly attain the size of your sparrows; the smallest, however, are scarcely larger than your flies.

11. The waters are also inhabited by varieties of fish, worms, and especially many crustaceans, one of which was mentioned before as a flying species. Of the moving animals, the so-called blue sphere is especially remarkable, because this is a creature that has no equal on earth. This blue sphere can divide into two hemispheres, which are attached to each other with small muscle bands. It feeds by crushing worms between it's two hemispheres, sucks the juice into itself, and then washes the larvae away again in the water. This blue sphere, which has the size of a large melon, has this property that at night time it offers such a strong glow on it's surface, that the rivers and lakes get a much brighter glow than the sea of the earth around the tropics; For you will not yet know that the sea around the tropics of the earth shines as strongly as the snow in your region when the moon is full; just so, behold, the sea also shines around the tropics.

12. All other animals of the moon would be of less interest for you, because they have more or less similarity with the animals of the earth, only that they are proportionally much smaller; and secondly, because you could not understand their spiritual purpose for now, and if you could understand it, it would be of as little use for you as the snow which fell on the earth a thousand years before Adam.

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