Nosov stories for kids dunno on the moon. Dunno on the Moon: briefly and completely. Nikolai Nikolaevich NosovDunno on the Moon

Nikolai Nosov - a story from a fairy tale - Dunno on the Moon

Dunno on the Moon: a very brief summary

"Dunno on the Moon" Nosov's fairy tale, which is part of a series of books for children about a mischievous little man who gets into various interesting and funny stories.
The genre of the work is a novel - a fairy tale. The book is the last part of the series, which included "The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends" and "Dunno in the Sunny City".
The main character - Dunno - has already traveled to different cities on Earth and now he has a new idea - to go to the moon. The smartest shorty Znayka has already visited the moon and wrote a book about it. Znayka was sure that people live inside the moon. Many shorties were fascinated by his stories and therefore happily began to build a spaceship to fly to the moon. Dunno and Donut were very upset that they were not included in the list of the expedition: they climbed into the rocket, accidentally pressed the button and took off.
Once on the surface of the moon, Dunno fell deep into the depths and ended up in someone's garden. The little man was hungry and began to pluck the berries, for which he was caught. The stranger was put in jail. There he met the boy Kozlik. Kozlik and Dunno create a joint-stock company and start selling shares. But their idea was not successful and Dunno and Kozlik run away to another city without money. Due to the lack of money, the boys are sent to Stupid Island: the one who gets there gradually turns into a sheep.
The donut ends up in another lunar city. He, like Dunno, does not know how to trade and deceive people. Trying to start a business selling salt, Donut gets rich at first, but then fails.
Meanwhile, a missing rocket is discovered on Earth. Shorties quickly create a new rocket and fly to the moon. Having learned about the unjust structure of the lunar society, the inhabitants of the Earth help the poor to arrange a coup on the moon. Now the rich work equally with the poor, everyone has become equal. Shorties rescue Dunno and go back to their homeland.
...
The work Dunno on the Moon was created by the Soviet writer Nikolai Nosov, it teaches readers to always be smart about every action, think about the consequences, be friendly and not refuse help.
Interesting, instructive and funny stories about Dunno are read by both children and adults with pleasure. The fairy tales of N. Nosov teach children to be attentive, sociable, kind and sympathetic.

You can use the summary of Dunno on the Moon for a reader's diary, or you can choose a few sentences from this retelling.

Dunno on the Moon(full text)

PART I
Chapter 1
HOW ZNAIKA DEFEATED PROFESSOR ZVEZDOCHKIN

Everyone was very pleased. The only one who got hurt in this case was Donut. When Donut saw that now you can take in the store any thing that you might need, he began to wonder why he needed all that pile of costumes that he had accumulated at home. All these costumes were also out of fashion, and they still could not be worn. Having chosen a darker night, Donut tied his old suits in a huge bundle, secretly took them out of the house and drowned them in the Cucumber River, and instead of them he dragged himself new suits from the stores. It ended up that his room turned into some kind of warehouse for ready-made clothes. The suits lay in his closet, and on the closet, and on the table, and under the table, and on the bookshelves, hung on the walls, on the backs of chairs, and even under the ceiling, on strings.

From such an abundance of woolen products in the house, moths divorced, and so that she would not gnaw through the suits, Donut had to poison her daily with mothballs, from which there was such a strong smell in the room that the unaccustomed little man fell down. The donut itself smelled, through and through with this stupefying smell, but he got so used to it that he even stopped noticing it. For others, however, this smell was very noticeable. As soon as Donut came to visit someone, the hosts immediately began to feel dizzy from stupefaction. Donuts were immediately chased away and all windows and doors were quickly opened wide to ventilate the room, otherwise one could faint or go crazy. For the same reason, Donut did not even have the opportunity to play with the shorties in the yard. As soon as he went out into the yard, everyone around him began to spit and, holding their noses with their hands, rushed to run away from him in different directions without looking back. Nobody wanted to hang out with him. Needless to say, for Donut it was terribly insulting, and he had to take all the costumes he did not need to the attic.

However, that was not the point. The main thing was that Znayka also visited the Sunny City. There he met the little scientists Fuchsia and Herring, who at that time were preparing their second flight to the moon. Znayka also got involved in the construction of a space rocket and, when the rocket was ready, made an interplanetary journey with Fuchsia and Herring. Arriving on the Moon, our brave travelers examined one of the small lunar craters in the region of the lunar Sea of Clarity, visited the cave, which was located in the center of this crater, and made observations on the change in gravity. On the Moon, as is known, the force of gravity is much less than on the Earth, and therefore observations of the change in the force of gravity are of great scientific importance. After spending about four hours on the Moon, Znayka and his companions were forced to set off as soon as possible on their way back, since their air supplies were running out. Everyone knows that there is no air on the Moon, and in order not to suffocate, you should always take a supply of air with you. In condensed form, of course.

Returning to the Flower City, Znayka talked a lot about his journey. Everyone was very interested in his stories, and especially the astronomer Steklyashkin, who more than once observed the Moon through a telescope. Through his telescope, Steklyashkin was able to discern that the surface of the Moon is not flat, but mountainous, and many mountains on the Moon are not the same as ours on Earth, but for some reason are round, or rather, ring-shaped. Scientists call these ring mountains lunar craters, or cirques. To understand what such a lunar circus, or crater, looks like, imagine a huge round field, twenty, thirty, fifty or even a hundred kilometers across, and imagine that this huge round field is surrounded by an earthen rampart or mountain only two or three kilometers high. , - this will turn out to be a lunar circus, or a crater. There are thousands of such craters on the Moon. There are small ones - about two kilometers, but there are giant ones - up to one hundred and forty kilometers in diameter.

Many scientists are interested in the question of how lunar craters formed, from what they came from. In the Solar City, all the astronomers even quarreled among themselves, trying to resolve this complex issue, and were divided into two halves. One half claims that lunar craters came from volcanoes, the other half says that lunar craters are traces of the fall of large meteorites. Therefore, the first half of astronomers are called followers of the volcanic theory or simply volcanists, and the second - followers of the meteorite theory or meteorites.

Znayka, however, did not agree with either the volcanic or meteorite theory. Even before traveling to the moon, he created his own theory of the origin of lunar craters. Once, together with Steklyashkin, he observed the Moon through a telescope, and it struck him that the lunar surface is very similar to the surface of a well-baked pancake with its spongy holes. After that, Znayka often went to the kitchen and watched pancakes being baked. He noticed that while the pancake is liquid, its surface is completely smooth, but as it is heated in a frying pan, bubbles of heated steam begin to appear on its surface. Having stepped on the surface of the pancake, the bubbles burst, as a result of which shallow holes form on the pancake, which remain when the dough is properly baked and loses viscosity.

Znayka even wrote a book in which he wrote that the surface of the moon was not always hard and cold, as it is now. Once upon a time, the Moon was a fiery-liquid, that is, a ball heated to a molten state. Gradually, however, the surface of the moon cooled and became no longer liquid, but viscous, like dough. From the inside, it was still very hot, so hot gases escaped to the surface in the form of huge bubbles. Having come to the surface of the Moon, these bubbles, of course, burst. But while the surface of the Moon was still quite liquid, the traces of the bursting bubbles tightened and disappeared, leaving no trace, just as bubbles do not leave a trace on water during rain. But when the surface of the Moon cooled down to such an extent that it became thick like dough or like molten glass, the traces from the bursting bubbles no longer disappeared, but remained in the form of rings sticking out above the surface. Cooling more and more, these rings finally hardened. At first they were even, like frozen circles on the water, and then gradually collapsed and eventually became like those lunar ring mountains, or craters, that everyone can observe with a telescope.

All astronomers - both volcanists and meteorites - laughed at this Znayka theory.

Vulcanists said:

- Why else was this pancake theory needed, if it is already clear that lunar craters are just volcanoes?

Znayka answered that a volcano is a very large mountain, on the top of which there is a relatively small crater, that is, a hole. If at least one lunar crater were a volcano crater, then the volcano itself would be almost the size of the entire moon, and this is not observed at all.

Meteorites said:

- Of course, lunar craters are not volcanoes, but they are also not pancakes. Everyone knows that these are traces of meteorite impacts.

To this, Znayka replied that meteorites could fall on the Moon not only vertically, but also at an angle, and in this case they would leave traces not round, but elongated, oblong or oval. Meanwhile, on the Moon, all craters are mostly round, not oval.

However, both volcanists and meteorites were so accustomed to their favorite theories that they did not even want to listen to Znaika and contemptuously called him a pancake. They said that in general it is ridiculous even to compare the Moon, which is a large cosmic body, with some unfortunate pancake from sour dough.

However, Znayka himself abandoned his pancake theory after he personally visited the moon and saw one of the lunar craters close by. He managed to see that the ring mountain was not a mountain at all, but the remains of a giant brick wall that had collapsed from time to time. Although the bricks in this wall were weathered and lost their original rectangular shape, it was still possible to understand that these were bricks, and not just pieces of ordinary rock. This was especially well seen in those places where the wall had collapsed relatively recently and individual bricks had not yet had time to crumble into dust.

But the lunatics knew that this could not go on forever, that over time the air around the Moon would completely dissipate, which would cause the surface of the Moon, not protected by a significant layer of air, to be strongly warmed up by the sun's rays and it would be impossible to exist on the Moon even under a glass cap. That is why lunatics began to move inside the Moon and now live not from the outside, but from its inner side, since in fact the Moon is empty inside, like a rubber ball, and you can live just as well on its inner surface as on the outer one. .

This Znaykina book made a lot of noise. All the shorties read it with enthusiasm. Many scientists praised this book for being interestingly written, but still expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that it was not scientifically substantiated. And a full member of the Academy of Astronomical Sciences, Professor Zvezdochkin, who also happened to read Znaykin's book, simply seethed with indignation and said that this book was not a book at all, but some kind of damn nonsense, as he put it. This Professor Zvezdochkin was not exactly some very angry person. No, he was a rather kind little man, but very, how should I put it, demanding, uncompromising. In any business, he valued accuracy and order most of all, and could not stand any fantasies, that is, inventions.

Professor Zvezdochkin suggested that the Academy of Astronomical Sciences arrange a discussion of Znayka's book and dismantle it, as he put it, piece by piece, so that no one else should write such books. The Academy agreed and sent an invitation to Znaika. Znayka arrived, and the discussion took place. It began, as is customary in such cases, with a report that Professor Zvezdochkin himself volunteered to make.

When all the short men invited to the discussion gathered in the spacious hall and sat down on chairs, Professor Zvezdochkin ascended the podium, and the first thing they heard from him were the words:

- Dear friends, allow the meeting dedicated to the discussion of Znayka's book to be considered open.

After that, Professor Zvezdochkin cleared his throat loudly, slowly wiped his nose with a handkerchief, and began to make a report. Briefly outlining the contents of Znayka's book and praising it for its lively, vivid presentation, the professor said that, in his opinion, Znayka made a mistake and mistook for bricks what in reality were not bricks, but some kind of layered rock. Well, since there really were no bricks, the professor said, then there were, consequently, no short sleepwalkers. They could not exist, because if they were, they could not live on the inner surface of the Moon, since it has long been well known to everyone that all objects on the Moon, just like ours on Earth, are attracted to the center of the planet, and if the moon were really empty inside, no one would still be able to stay on its inner surface: he would immediately be attracted to the center of the moon, and he would dangle helplessly there in the void until he died of hunger.

After listening to all this, Znaika got up from his seat and said mockingly:

"You talk as if you've ever had to hang out in the center of the moon before!"

- And you seemed to chat? snapped the professor.

“I didn’t hang out,” Znayka objected, “but I flew in a rocket and watched objects in a state of weightlessness.

What else is there to say about weightlessness? the professor growled.

“And here’s the thing,” Znaika said. — Let it be known to you that during the flight in the rocket I had a bottle of water. When the state of weightlessness set in, the bottle floated freely in space, as did every object that was not attached to the walls of the cabin. Everything was fine until the water completely filled the bottle. But when I drank half of the water, oddities began: the remaining water did not stay at the bottom of the bottle and did not collect in the center, but spread evenly along the walls, so that an air bubble formed inside the bottle. This means that the water was attracted not to the center of the bottle, but to its walls. This is understandable, since only masses of matter can attract each other, and emptiness cannot attract anything to itself.

- Hit the sky! Zvezdochkin grumbled angrily. — Compared the bottle with the planet! Do you think it's scientific?

Why isn't it scientific? Znayka answered authoritatively. - When the bottle moves freely in interplanetary space, it is in a state of weightlessness and is likened to a planet in everything. Inside it, everything will happen in the same way as inside the planet, that is, inside the Moon, in the event that, of course, the Moon is empty from the inside.

- Exactly! - picked up Zvezdochkin. “Just explain to us, please, why did you get it into your head that the Moon is empty inside?”

The listeners who came to listen to the report laughed, but Znayka was not embarrassed by this and said:

“You could easily get it into your head if you thought a little. After all, if the Moon was initially fiery-liquid, then it began to cool not from the inside, but from the surface, since it is the surface of the Moon that comes into contact with the cold world space. Thus, the surface of the Moon first of all cooled and hardened, as a result of which the Moon began to look like a huge spherical vessel, inside of which it continued to be - what? ..

- The molten substance that has not yet cooled down! shouted one of the listeners.

- Right! - Znayka picked it up. - A molten substance that has not yet cooled down, that is, simply speaking, a liquid.

“You see, you yourself say it’s liquid,” Zvezdochkin chuckled. Where did the emptiness come from in the Moon, if there was liquid there, you garden head?

“Well, this is not at all difficult to guess,” Znayka calmly replied. “After all, the hot liquid, surrounded by the solid shell of the Moon, continued to cool, and as it cooled, it decreased in volume. You probably know that every substance, cooling down, decreases in volume?

“I suppose I know,” the professor muttered angrily.

“Then everything should be clear to you,” Znayka said delightedly. If the liquid matter was reduced in volume, then inside the Moon, an empty space should have been obtained by itself in the manner of an air bubble in a bottle. This empty space became larger and larger, located in the central part of the Moon, as the remaining liquid mass was attracted to the solid shell of the Moon, just as the remaining water was attracted to the walls of a bottle when it was in a state of weightlessness. Over time, the liquid inside the Moon completely cooled down and solidified, as if sticking to the solid walls of the planet, due to which an internal cavity was formed in the Moon, which could gradually be filled with air or some other gas.

- Right! someone shouted.

And now there were shouts from all sides:

- Right! Right! Well done, Znaika! Hooray!

Everyone clapped their hands. Someone shouted:

- Down with Zvezdochkin!

Immediately, two short men grabbed Zvezdochkin - one by the collar, the other by the legs - and dragged him from the podium. Several short men picked up Znayka in their arms and dragged her to the podium.

- Let Znayka make a report! shouted around. - Down with Zvezdochkin!

- Dear friends! - said Znayka, finding himself on the podium. — I can't make a report. I didn't prepare.

- Tell us about the flight to the moon! shouted the little ones.

- About the state of weightlessness! someone shouted.

— About the Moon?.. About the state of weightlessness? Znayka repeated in confusion. — Well, let it be about the state of weightlessness. You probably know that a space rocket, in order to overcome the gravity of the Earth, must acquire a very high speed - eleven kilometers per second. While the rocket is gaining this speed, your body is experiencing large g-forces. The weight of your body, as it were, increases several times, and you are pressed against the cabin floor with force. You can't lift your arm, you can't lift your leg, it seems to you that your whole body is filled with lead. It seems to you that some terrible weight has fallen on your chest and does not allow you to breathe. But as soon as the acceleration of the spacecraft stops and it begins its free flight in interplanetary space, the overloads end, and you stop experiencing gravity, that is, to put it simply, you lose weight.

- Tell me how you felt? What did you experience? someone shouted.

- My first feeling when losing weight was that the seat was quietly removed from under me and I had nothing to sit on. It felt like I was missing something, but I couldn't figure out what. I felt a slight dizziness, it began to seem to me as if someone had purposely turned me upside down. At the same time, I felt that everything inside me froze, turned cold, as if frightened, although there was no fright itself. After waiting a little and making sure that nothing bad had happened to me, that I was breathing as usual, and seeing everything around, and thinking normally, I stopped paying attention to the fading in the chest and in the abdomen, and this unpleasant sensation passed by itself. When I looked around and saw that all the items in the cabin were in place, that the seat, as before, was under me, it no longer seemed to me that I was turned upside down, and the dizziness also disappeared ...

- Tell me! Tell more! the short men yelled in unison, seeing that Znayka had stopped.

Some of them even tapped their feet on the floor with impatience.

“Well, then,” Znayka continued. - After making sure that everything was in order, I wanted to lean on the floor with my feet, but I did it so abruptly that I jumped up and hit my head on the cabin ceiling. I did not take into account, you understand, that my body had lost weight and that now it was enough just a little effort to jump to a terrible height. Since my body weighed nothing at all, I could hang freely in the middle of the cabin in any position, without going down and up, but for this I had to be careful and not make sudden movements. Objects that we had not secured before flying were also floating freely around me. The water from the bottle did not pour out even if the bottle was turned upside down, but if it was possible to shake the water out of the bottle, then it collected into balls, which also floated freely in space until they were attracted to the walls of the cabin.

“Tell me, please,” one short man asked, “did you have water in the bottle, or maybe some other drink?”

“There was plain water in the bottle,” Znayka answered curtly. What could be another drink?

“Well, I don’t know,” the little man spread his hands. — I thought soda or maybe kerosene.

Everyone laughed. And another shorty asked:

“Have you brought anything back from the moon?”

“I brought back a piece of the moon itself.

Znayka took out a small bluish-gray stone from his pocket and said:

- There are many different stones lying on the surface of the Moon, and, moreover, very beautiful ones, but I did not want to take them, since they could turn out to be meteorites accidentally brought to the Moon from world space. And I beat off this stone with a hammer from the rock when we descended into the lunar cave. Therefore, you can be quite sure that this stone is a piece of the real Moon itself.

A piece of the moon went from hand to hand. Everyone wanted to take a closer look at him. While the shorties looked at the stone, passing it from hand to hand. Znayka told how he and Fuchsia and Herring traveled on the Moon and what they saw there. Everyone really liked Znaikin's story. Everyone was very pleased. Only Professor Zvezdochkin was not very pleased. As soon as Znayka finished his story and left the podium, Professor Zvezdochkin jumped out onto the podium and said:

Dear friends, it was very interesting for all of us to hear about the Moon and everything else, and on behalf of all those present, I offer my heartfelt thanks to the famous Znayka for his interesting and informative presentation. However ... - said Zvezdochkin and with a stern look raised his index finger.

- Down with! shouted one of the short men.

“However…” Professor Zvezdochkin repeated, raising his voice. - However, we have gathered here not at all in order to hear about the Moon, but in order to discuss Znaykin's book, and since we did not discuss the book, it means that we did not fulfill what was planned, and since we did not fulfill what was planned, then it will still have to be done, and since it will still have to be done, then it will still have to be done and subjected to consideration ...

No one ever found out what Zvezdochkin wanted to examine. The noise rose so that it was impossible to understand anything. Only one word was heard from everywhere:

- Down with!

Two short men again rushed to the podium, one grabbed Zvezdochkin by the collar, the other by the legs, and dragged him straight into the street. There they put him in a park on the grass and said:

- That's when you fly to the moon, you will speak on the podium, but for now, sit here on the grass.

From such an unceremonious treatment, Zvezdochkin was so stunned that he could not utter a word. Then he gradually came to his senses and shouted:

- This mess! I will complain! I'll write to the paper! You will also recognize Professor Zvezdochkin!

He shouted like that for a long time, waving his fists, but when he saw that all the short men had gone home, he said:

- At this meeting, I declare it closed.

Then he got up and went home.

Chapter 2
THE MYSTERY OF THE MOONSTONE

The next day, a report appeared in the newspapers about the discussion of Znayka's book. All residents of the Sun City read this report. Everyone was interested to know whether the Moon is actually empty inside and whether it is true that short people live inside the Moon. The report detailed everything that was said during the discussion, and even what was not said at all. In addition to the report, the newspapers published many feuilletons, that is, playful articles that told about various funny adventures of the lunar shorties. All the pages of the newspapers were full of funny pictures. These pictures depicted the Moon, inside of which short men walked upside down and clung to various objects with their hands so as not to be attracted to the center of the planet. In one of the drawings, a short man was depicted, from whom the force of gravity pulled off his shoes and trousers, while the short man himself, left in one shirt and hat, firmly held onto a tree with his hands. Everyone's attention was drawn to a cartoon depicting Znayka dangling helplessly in the center of the moon. Znaika had such a bewildered expression on his face that no one could look at him without laughing.

As for the presence of shorties or some other living creatures on the Moon, this already belongs to the realm of pure fantasy, wrote Professor Zvezdochkin. There is no scientific evidence for the existence of shorties on the moon. If what Znayka discovered on the lunar surface was in fact a brick wall once made by intelligent beings, then there is no evidence that these intelligent beings have survived to the present and chose the inner cavity of the Moon as their residence. Science needs reliable facts, wrote Professor Zvezdochkin, and no idle fiction can replace them for us. As Znaika read Professor Zvezdochkin's article, he was seized by some kind of acute sense of shame, mixed with chagrin. What the professor wrote about the presence of a solid core inside the Moon was irrefutable. Everyone who is familiar with the basics of physics had to agree with this, and Znayka was perfectly familiar with the basics of physics.

How could I have missed such a simple thing? - Znayka was perplexed and was ready to tear his hair out of annoyance. “Well, of course, there was a solid core inside the moon, which means that empty space could only form around this core, and not in the center. Oh, I'm an ass! Oh I'm a horse! Oh I'm an orangutan! You should have been so embarrassed! How could you not think of such nonsense! It's a shame! After reading the article to the end, Znayka began to walk from corner to corner around the room and shook his head every minute, as if he wanted to shake unpleasant thoughts out of her.

- "Idle fiction"! he muttered with annoyance, recalling Professor Zvezdochkin's article. - Try to prove now that there are no fictions here, if you didn’t even realize that there was a solid substance in the center of the Moon! .. Oh, shame! looked at one point, then jumped up, as if stung, and began to rush around the room again.

- No, I will prove that this is not idle fiction! he shouted. “There are shorties on the moon. It cannot be that they were not. Science is not just bare facts. Science is fiction... that is... ugh! What am I saying?.. Science is not fantasy, but science cannot exist without fantasy. Fantasy helps us think. Bare facts alone mean nothing. All facts must be comprehended! Having said this, Znayka slammed his fist on the table with force. - I'll prove! he shouted.

Then his eyes fell on a cartoon in the newspaper, where he was depicted in the center of the moon with such an idiotic expression on his face that it was impossible to look calmly.

- Here you go! he growled. - Try to prove it, when there is such a mug here!

On the same day, Znayka left the Sun City. All the way he kept repeating to himself:

I will never do science again. Even if they cut me to pieces. No no! And there is nothing to think!

But, returning to the Flower City, Znayka gradually calmed down and began to dream again about scientific activities and new travels:

“It would be nice to build a large interplanetary ship, take a significant supply of food and air and arrange a long expedition to the moon. It must be assumed that in the outer shell of the Moon there are holes in the form of caves or craters of extinct volcanoes. Through these holes it will be possible to penetrate inside the Moon and see its central core. If this core exists, and it undoubtedly exists, then the lunar shorties live on its surface. Between the outer shell and the central core of the Moon, a sufficient amount of air must have been preserved, so living conditions on the surface of the core should be quite favorable for shorties.

So Znaika dreamed, and he already wanted to start preparing for a new trip to the moon, but suddenly he remembered everything that had happened, and said:

- No! Gotta be tough! Since I decided not to engage in science, it means that I must fulfill it. Let someone else fly to the moon, let someone else find shorties on the moon, and then everyone will say: “Znayka was right. He is a very smart shorty and foresaw things that no one else had foreseen before him. And we were wrong! We didn't believe him. We laughed at him. They wrote all sorts of mocking articles about him, drew cartoons. And then everyone will be ashamed. And Professor Zvezdochkin will be ashamed. And then everyone will come to me and say: “Forgive us, dear Znaechka! We were wrong." And I will say: “Nothing, brothers, I am not angry. I forgive you. Although I was very hurt when everyone laughed at me, but I'm not vindictive. I'm good! After all, what is most important for Znayka? For Znayka, the most important thing is the truth. And if the truth has triumphed, then everything, then, is in order, and no one should be angry with anyone.

So reasoned Znayka. After thinking it over carefully, he decided to forget about the moon and never think about her again.

This decision turned out to be still not so easy for Znayka. The fact is that he still had a piece of the Moon, that is, that moonstone, which he beat off with a hammer from the rock when he descended with Fuchsia and Herring into the moon cave. This moonstone, or lunit, as Znaika called it, lay in his room on the windowsill and caught his eye every minute. Glancing at the lunit, Znaika immediately remembered the Moon and everything that had happened, and was upset again.

One day, waking up at night, Znayka looked at the lunit, and it seemed to him that the stone glowed in the dark with some kind of soft bluish light. Surprised by this unusual phenomenon, Znayka got out of bed and went to the window to examine the moonstone up close. Then he noticed that there was a full, bright moon in the sky. The rays from the moon fell directly through the window and illuminated the stone so that it seemed as if it glowed by itself. After admiring this beautiful sight, Znayka calmed down and went to bed.

Another time (this happened in the evening) Znayka sat for a long time reading a book, and when he finally decided to go to bed, it was already deep into the night. Having undressed and put out the electricity, Znayka climbed into bed. By chance his gaze fell on the lunit. And again it seemed to Znaika that the stone glowed by itself, and this time even somehow especially brightly. Knowing that all this was just the effect of moonlight, Znayka did not pay attention to the stone and was about to fall asleep, when he suddenly remembered that there was a new moon that night, that is, simply put, there could not be any moon in the sky. Getting out of bed and looking out the window, Znayka was convinced that the night was indeed dark, moonless. In a sky as black as coal, only the stars sparkled, but there was no moon. Despite this, the moonstone lying on the window sill glowed so that it was not only visible itself, but also illuminated part of the window sill around it.

Znayka took the lunit in his hand, and his hand lit up with a faint, flickering light, as if pouring from a stone. The more Znayka looked at the stone, the brighter, it seemed to him, he shone. And it already seemed to Znaika that the room was not as dark as it had been at first. And he could already make out in the darkness the table, and the chairs, and the bookshelf. Znayka took a book from the shelf, opened it and put a moonstone on it. The stone illuminated the page so that individual letters could be distinguished around and words could be read.

Znayka realized that the moonstone emitted some kind of radiant energy. He immediately wanted to run to tell the shorties about his discovery, but remembered that they had all been sleeping for a long time, and did not want to wake them up.

The next day, Znayka said to the shorties:

“Tonight, brothers, come to me. I'll show you a very interesting thing.

- What kind of thing? - everyone was interested.

- Come here, you'll see.

Everyone, of course, was very interested to know what kind of thing Znayka would show. Hurry was so excited with impatience that he could not even eat anything at dinner. Finally, he could not stand it, went to Znayka and stuck to him with such force that Znayka was forced to reveal his secret. Thus, the shorties knew everything in advance, but this only increased their curiosity. Everyone wanted to see with their own eyes how the stone glows in the dark.

As soon as the sun disappeared over the horizon, everyone was already in Znaika's room.

“You came early,” Znayka said to the shorties. “The stone cannot glow now, as it is still too light. It will glow when it's completely dark.

“It’s okay, we’ll wait,” Syrupchik answered. We're in no hurry.

“Well, wait,” Znaika agreed. - In the meantime, so that you do not get bored, I will tell you about this interesting phenomenon.

He put a moonstone on the table in front of the short men who sat around him and began to talk about the fact that there are substances in nature that acquire the ability to glow in the dark after being exposed to rays of light. This glow is called luminescence. Some substances acquire the ability to emit visible rays of light even under the influence of invisible ultraviolet, infrared or cosmic rays.

“It can be assumed that the moonstone is just such a substance,” said Znayka.

To keep the little ones busy with something else. Znayka presented them with his theory that the Moon is such a big ball, inside of which there is another ball, and on this inner ball live lunar shorties, or lunatics.

While Znayka communicated all this useful information to his friends, darkness gradually thickened in the room. The shorties stared with all their might at the moonstone that lay in front of them, but did not notice any glow.

Hasty, who was the most disorganized, twitched all the time with impatience and could not sit still.

Why doesn't it glow? So when will it shine? he kept repeating.

- Wait a bit. It’s still very light, ”Znayka reassured him.

Finally, darkness fell so that neither the stone nor even the table on which he lay could be seen. And Znaika kept repeating:

“Wait a little, it’s still very light.

“Indeed, brothers, it’s so bright that at least write pictures!” - Supported Znayka Tube.

Someone quietly laughed. In the darkness it was impossible to make out who.

- All this is some kind of nonsense! - said Toropyzhka. “I don't think the stone will glow.

“And why should he glow, if it’s already light,” said Vintik.

Someone laughed again. Louder this time. Looks like it was a Dunno. He was the funniest.

- You, Hurry, are in a hurry somewhere. You want everything as soon as possible, said Syrupchik.

- Don't you want to? Toropyzhka grumbled angrily.

- Where should I hurry? Siropchik answered. - Is it bad here? Warm, light, and flies don't bite.

At this point, all the shorties could not stand it and laughed out loud. Everyone liked Syrupchik's saying about flies so much that they began to repeat it in different ways.

Finally Guslya said:

- What flies are there! All flies sleep for a long time!

- Right! Dr. Pilyulkin picked up. The flies are sleeping, and it's time for us to sleep! The show is over!

“Don’t be angry, brothers, there’s just some kind of mistake,” Znayka justified himself. “Yesterday the stone glowed, so I give you my word of honor!”

- Well, do not worry, what is there! Tomorrow we will come again,” Shpuntik said.

“Of course, we’ll come: it’s light and warm here, and flies don’t bite,” someone picked up.

Everyone, laughing, and pushing, and stepping on each other's heels in the darkness, began to get out of the room. Znayka deliberately did not turn on the electricity, as he was ashamed to look shorties in the eyes. As soon as everyone had dispersed, he threw himself on the bed with a flourish, buried his face in the pillow and put his head in his hands.

— So me, fool, and need to! he muttered in despair. “Couldn’t keep your mouth shut—now pay the price!” Not only did he disgrace himself in the Sunny City, now everyone will laugh here too! ..

Znayka was ready to beat himself out of annoyance, but, realizing that the time was already late, he decided not to violate the daily routine and, having undressed, went to bed. During the night, however, he woke up and, casually looking at the table, found that the stone was glowing. Wrapped up in a blanket and thrusting his feet into slippers, Znayka went up to the table and, taking the stone in his hands, began to examine it. The stone glowed with a pure blue light. It all seemed to consist of a thousand flashing, flickering dots. Gradually, his glow became brighter. It was no longer blue, as at first, but of some incomprehensible color: either pink or green. Having reached its maximum brightness, the glow gradually faded away, and the stone ceased to glow.

Without saying a word, Znayka put a stone on the windowsill and, in deep thought, lay down on the bed.

Since then, he has often observed the glow of the moonstone. Sometimes it came later, sometimes earlier. Sometimes the stone glowed for a long time, all night, sometimes it did not glow at all. No matter how hard Znayka tried, he could not catch any regularity in the glow of the stone. It was never possible to say in advance whether a stone would glow at night or not. Therefore, Znayka decided to keep quiet and say nothing to anyone yet.

In order to better study the properties of the moonstone, Znayka decided to subject it to chemical analysis. However, even here there were insurmountable difficulties. The moonstone did not want to combine with any other chemical substance: it did not want to dissolve either in water, or in alcohol, or in sulfuric or nitric acid. Even a mixture of strong nitric and hydrochloric acids, in which even gold dissolves, had no effect on the moonstone. What could a chemist say about a substance that does not combine with any other substance? Is it only that this substance is some noble metal like gold or platinum. However, the moonstone was not a metal, therefore, it could not be either gold or platinum.

Having lost hope of dissolving the moonstone, Znayka tried to decompose it into its constituent parts by heating in a crucible, but the moonstone did not decompose from heating. Znayka tried to burn it in a flame, but also to no avail. The moonstone, as they say, did not burn in fire and did not sink in water ... However, it is not true ... The moonstone sank in water, only the trouble was that it did not always do this. In some cases, the moonstone sank, as a piece of sugar or salt usually sinks in water, while in other cases it floated on the surface of the water, like a cork or a dry tree. This meant that the weight of the moonstone, due to some incomprehensible reasons, changed, and from a substance that was heavier than water, it turned into a substance lighter than water. It was some completely new, hitherto unknown property of solid matter. Not a single mineral on earth possessed such amazing properties.

Making your observations. Znayka noticed that usually the temperature of the moonstone was two to three degrees higher than the temperature of the surrounding objects. This meant that along with radiant energy, the moonstone also emitted thermal energy. However, such an increase in temperature was again not always observed. This meant that the release of thermal energy did not occur constantly, but with some interruptions. Sometimes the temperature of the moonstone turned out to be several degrees below ambient. What that meant was simply impossible to understand.

All these strange things puzzled Znayka and eventually bored him. Unable to explain all these oddities, Znayka stopped studying the properties of the stone and, as they say, waved his hand at him. The moonstone lay in his room on the windowsill, like some useless thing, and slowly covered with dust.

You read online a chapter from the book by Nikolai N Nosov: Dunno on the Moon: a summary of the tale and the full text. All Nosov's tales: you can read, according to the content on the right.

Classics of children's literature from the collection of works, fairy tales, stories for children and schools: ..................

Lied Dunno! In fact, he really wanted to fly to the moon. He did not leave the hope that Znayka would somehow forget what had happened and would not carry out his threat. However, he hoped in vain. Znaika did not forget anything. After some time, the day of departure was appointed, and Znayka compiled a list of short men who were supposed to fly to the moon. As expected, Dunno was not on this list. It also didn't include Donut and some of the other shorties who didn't handle weightlessness well.

Dunno, as they say, was heartbroken. He didn't want to talk to anyone. The smile disappeared from his face. He lost his appetite. At night he could not sleep for a minute, and the next day he walked so dull that it was a pity to look at him.

- Is it still possible to forgive Dunno? - Herring said to Znaika. In my opinion, he will no longer be naughty. Moreover, he tolerates the state of weightlessness so well. It would be too much punishment for him.

“This is not a punishment, but a precautionary measure,” Znaika answered sternly. “A trip to the moon is not a pleasure trip. Only the smartest and most disciplined shorties should go on this journey. Dunno tolerates the state of weightlessness very well, but the state of his mental abilities leaves much to be desired. Dunno himself will suffer from his indiscipline and will let others down. And space is not a thing to be trifled with. Let Dunno better wait until the next time, and during this time he will try to grow wiser. This is my last word!

Over time, Dunno gradually calmed down and no longer killed himself, as before. His appetite returned. Sleep has also improved. Together with other shorties, Dunno came to the Space City, watched how the rocket was tested, how travelers trained before going into space, listened to lectures by Fuchsia and Herring about the Moon, about interplanetary flights. It seemed that he was completely reconciled to his fate and no longer dreams of traveling to the moon. Even Dunno's character seemed to have changed. The most observant shorties noticed that Dunno often began to think about something. When he had fits of thoughtfulness, a kind of dreamy smile appeared on his face, as if Dunno was happy about something. No one, however, could guess what set him in such a joyful mood.

Once Dunno met Donut and said:

- Listen, Donut, now you and I are comrades in misfortune.

- By what misfortune? Donut didn't understand.

“Well, they don’t take you to the moon, and neither do I.”

- I can't go to the moon. I'm too heavy. The rocket won't lift me,” Donut said.

- Nonsense! Dunno answered. - Everyone who flies in a rocket will be in a state of weightlessness, so for a rocket it doesn’t matter if you are heavy or not heavy. Nobody will weigh anything. Understood?

Why don't they take me then? It's not fair! Donut exclaimed.

- How unfair! – picked up Dunno. So unfair that it's impossible to say. You and I must correct this injustice.

- How to fix it?

- At night, on the eve of departure, we will climb into the rocket and hide. And in the morning, when the rocket flies into outer space, we will get out. They will not return the rocket because of us.

– Is it possible to do such things? Donut asked.

– Why not? Here's the weirdo! The most important thing, you understand, is that they do not have time to land us while we are on Earth. And they won’t land in space, you don’t have to worry.

"Where are we going to hide?"

- In the food compartment. It is very convenient and there are a lot of different products.

– The mass of products is good! Donut said. “But the rocket is designed for forty-eight travelers.

- Nonsense! Dunno said. - Where has it been seen that there were forty-eight travelers. What kind of figure is this, think for yourself. For an even score, you need to have fifty. And where forty-eight fit, fifty will fit in there. Then, after all, you and I do not need a place in the cabin: we will sit in the food compartment. In tightness, as they say, but not offended.

– Do you know for sure that there is food in the food compartment? Donut asked.

- I saw it with my own eyes, I can’t move! Dunno swore. I, brother, studied the rocket all along and across. Anything you want, I'll find with my eyes closed.

“Well, then, okay,” Donut agreed.

In the evening, on the eve of the day appointed for departure, Dunno and Donut did not go to bed. After waiting for all the shorties to fall asleep, they slowly got out of the house and went to Space City. The night was dark, and Donut's skin was shivering with fear. At the thought that he would soon be carried away into outer space, his soul went, as they say, into the heels. He already repented that he had got involved in such a dangerous enterprise, but he was ashamed to admit to Dunno that he had chickened out.

It was already quite late when Dunno and Donut reached the Space City. The moon has risen and the surroundings have become brighter. Creeping past the houses, our friends found themselves on the edge of a round square, in the center of which stood a space rocket. She gleamed with her steel sides in the bluish light of the moon, and it seemed to Dunno and Donut that the rocket glowed by itself, as if it were made of some kind of luminous metal. There was something bold and impetuous in its outlines, irresistibly rushing upwards: it seemed that the rocket was about to break from its place and fly up.

Trying to slip through unnoticed. Dunno and Donut crouched down to the ground and crossed the square in such a twisted form. Finding himself near the rocket, Dunno pressed the button with his finger, which was in its tail section. The door opened noiselessly, and a small metal ladder descended to the feet of the travelers. Seeing that Donut was slow, Dunno took his hand. Together they climbed the steps and entered the so-called lock chamber. It was like a small room with two hermetically sealed doors. One door, through which Dunno and Donut entered, led outside, the other led inside the spaceship.

As soon as the friends entered the airlock, the outer door automatically closed. Donut saw that the path to retreat was cut off, and everything went cold inside him from fear. He wanted to say something, but his tongue seemed to stiffen in his mouth, and his head became like an empty bucket. He no longer understood what he was thinking about, and did not know if he was thinking about anything at all. For some reason, the words of a song that he once heard were constantly revolving in his head: “Farewell, beloved birch! Farewell, dear pine!" From these words, he felt somehow insulted and sad to the point of tears.

Dunno, meanwhile, pressed the button at the second door. The door opened just as silently. The stranger took a firm step towards her. Donut automatically followed him.

- Farewell, beloved birch! he muttered grimly. - That's the whole story for you!

There was a click. The second door slammed shut just as tightly as the first. It was like an impenetrable wall that fenced off our travelers from the outside world, from everything with which they were still connected.

“That’s the whole story for you,” Donut repeated again and scratched his hand behind his ear.

Dunno at that time had already opened the elevator doors and, pulling Donut by the sleeve, said:

- So go! You can still scratch!

Donut silently climbed into the elevator car. He was pale as a ghost. With a measured murmur, the cabin began to rise upwards. When she rose to the desired height, Dunno came out of her and said:

- Well, get out! What are you there like lifeless anyway?

Donut got out of the elevator and saw that he found himself in a narrow, crooked corridor, which, as it were, circled around the elevator shaft. Having passed along the corridor, Dunno stopped at a round metal door, which resembled the door of a steamship firebox.

- Here he is. Here is the food compartment, - Dunno said.

He pressed the button. The door opened, as if its mouth had gaped open. Dunno climbed into this mouth, feeling for steps in the darkness with his feet. Once at the bottom of the compartment, he found a switch on the wall and turned on the light.

“Well, let’s get down here as soon as possible!” he called to Donut.

The donut went down. Fear shook his hamstrings, so he stumbled and rolled down the stairs and into the compartment. True, he was not very hurt, since everything in the compartment - the walls, the bottom, and even the steps were pasted over with soft elastoplastic. Inside the rocket, all rooms were covered with such plastic. This was done so that someone would not accidentally hurt themselves, falling into a state of weightlessness.

Seeing that the fall did not cause Donut any harm, Dunno closed the door and said with a cheerful smile:

- Here we are at home! Try to find us here!

- How are we going to get back? Donut asked scared.

- As we got in, so we will get out. See, there's a button at the door? Press it and the door will open. It's all about buttons.

Dunno began to press various buttons and open the doors of closets, thermostats and refrigerators, on the shelves of which a wide variety of food products were stored. Donut, however, was so upset that even the sight of the food did not please him.

- What happened to you? You don't seem happy? Dunno was surprised.

- No, why not? I am very glad, - Donut answered with the air of a criminal who was decided to be executed for some terrible atrocities.

- Well, if you're happy, then let's go to bed. It's already quite late.

Having said this, Dunno stretched out at the bottom of the compartment, placing his own fist under his head instead of a pillow. Donut followed suit. Sitting comfortably on the soft plastic, he began to consider his position, and the thought gradually matured in his head that it was best for him to abandon this trip. He decided to immediately confess to Dunno that he no longer wanted to fly, but he thought that Dunno would begin to laugh at him and accuse him of cowardice. Finally, he still plucked up enough courage that he decided to confess his own cowardice, but at that time he heard Dunno's regular snoring. After making sure that Dunno was sound asleep, Donut got up and, trying not to step on his hands, crept to the door.

“I'll get out of the rocket and run home, that's the whole story for you,” he thought. “And let Dunno fly to the moon if he so desires.”

Holding his breath, Donut climbed the stairs and pressed the button by the door. The door opened. Donut got out of the food compartment and began to wander along the crooked corridor, trying to find the elevator door. He was not as familiar with the structure of the rocket as Dunno, so he walked around the corridor several times, each time getting to the food compartment. Fearing that Dunno would wake up and discover his disappearance, Donut became nervous and lost his mind again. Finally, he managed to find the elevator door. Without thinking twice, he climbed into the cockpit and pressed the first available button. The cabin, instead of going down, went up. But Donut paid no attention to this and, leaving the cabin, began to look for the airlock door, through which it was possible to go outside. Of course, he could not get into the lock chamber, because it was not here, but instead he got into the push-button cabin and began to feel the walls in the darkness, trying to find the switch. He could not find the switch, but in the middle of the cabin he came across a small table on which he felt for the button. Imagining that this button turned on the light, Donut pressed it and immediately jumped up, finding himself in a state of weightlessness. At the same time, he heard the measured noise of a jet engine running.

Some of the most ingenious readers probably immediately realized that Donut pressed the very button that turned on the electronic control machine. And the electronic control machine, as it was envisaged by the designers, turned on the weightlessness device, the jet engine and all other equipment by itself, thanks to which the rocket went into space flight at a moment when no one expected it.

If any of the inhabitants of Space City had woken up at that moment and looked out the window, they would have been extremely surprised to see how the rocket slowly separated from the ground and smoothly rose into the air. It happened almost silently. A thin stream of heated gases escaped from the lower nozzle of the engine with a slight hiss. The reactive force from this jet was enough to impart forward motion to the rocket, since, thanks to the presence of a weightlessness device, the rocket itself weighed absolutely nothing.

As soon as the rocket rose to a sufficient height, the electronic control machine turned on the turning mechanism, due to which the head of the rocket began to describe circular motions, tilting more and more with each circle. But now the rocket acquired such an angle of inclination that the Moon fell into the field of view of an optical device equipped with a photocell. The light from the moon was converted by a photoelectric cell into an electrical signal. Having received this signal, the electronic control machine activated a homing device, as a result of which the rocket, having made several damped oscillatory movements, stabilized and flew straight towards the moon. Thanks to the homing device, the rocket, as they say, was aimed at the moon. As soon as the rocket, for some reason, deviated from the given course, the homing device returned the rocket to this course.

At first, Donut did not even understand what a terrible thing he had done. Feeling that he had fallen into a state of weightlessness, he began to make attempts to get out of the push-button cabin, imagining that there was no state of weightlessness in some other place. After a series of efforts, he succeeded, and he returned back to the elevator. This time, he properly understood the buttons that were in the elevator car, and pressed exactly the one that ensured the descent of the car to the lowest floor, that is, to the tail of the rocket. Leaving the elevator, he found himself in front of the door to the lock chamber, through which, as already mentioned, it was possible to go outside. Next to the door, Donut found a button on the wall. However, no matter how much he pressed this button, no matter how much he pounded on the door with his feet, the door did not even think of opening. Unknown to Donut, the only way Donut could open the airlock door was if he put on a space suit. And, I must say, it’s good that Donut didn’t know this. If he pressed the button, having previously put on a spacesuit, the door would open and Donut, leaving the rocket, would fall straight into outer space. Of course, in this case, he would never have been able to return home, as he would have remained forever flying in space in the manner of a planet.

Having beaten his fists and heels against the door, Donut decided to return to Dunno and categorically demand that he let him out of the rocket. However, he could not fulfill this decision, since he forgot on which floor he left Dunno. He had to travel on all floors, climb all the offices, cabins, compartments. The time was late. The donut was very tired and also wanted to sleep brutally. It could be said that Donut was exhausted from his feet, if he could even stand on his feet. Due to the state of weightlessness, Donut was not able to stand on his feet at all, but swam in the manner of a crucian carp in a jar, now and then knocking his head against the walls and somersaulting in the air. In the end, he stopped thinking at all. His head became cloudy, his eyes began to close by themselves, and, exhausted from his last strength, he fell asleep just at the moment when he was going up in the elevator car.

Dunno, meanwhile, was peacefully sleeping in the food compartment and did not even feel that the space flight had begun. In the middle of the night, however, he woke up and could not understand why he was here and not at home in bed. Gradually he remembered that he had climbed into the rocket on purpose. Feeling weightlessness and paying attention to the measured noise of the jet engine, Dunno realized that the spacecraft was in flight. “So, while I was sleeping, Znayka and the rest of the shorties boarded the ship and went to the moon. Everything turned out exactly as I expected!” Dunno thought.

His face broke into a happy smile, and inside something seemed to tremble, tossing with joy. He already wanted to get out of his shelter and, having found Znayka, confess to him that he climbed into the rocket without asking. After thinking a little, he decided to wait for the rocket to fly away from the Earth.

“I can always tell Znaika. You can’t rush with this matter, ”Dunno thought.

At this time, he remembered Donut and, looking around, said:

- Excuse me, dear friends, but where is the Donut? After all, we climbed into the compartment with him!

Then Dunno noticed that the compartment door was wide open.

“Aha! So, Donut has already woken up and got out, Dunno realized. Well, if so, then it makes no sense for me to sit here alone. ”

Dunno got out of the compartment and, opening the elevator door, saw Donut in the cabin.

“Ah, that’s where you got to!” – exclaimed Dunno. - Do you feel it? We're already flying!

- What? - Asked, waking up, Donut and yawned in the entire width of his mouth.

- Let's fly! Dunno shouted happily.

- Where are we flying? Donut asked and began rubbing his eyes with his fists.

- To the moon. Where else?

- Which moon?

- Well, on what ... You don’t know what kind of moon it is!

It was only then that Donut began to understand what had happened. For some time he stared dumbfounded at Dunno, and then how he screams in a wild voice:

- To the moon?!

- To the moon! Dunno happily confirmed.

- Are we flying?

Let's fly, that's the point! Dunno shouted and, unable to contain his joy, rushed to hug Donut.

Donut was breathless with fear, his lower jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and he looked at Dunno with a fixed, unblinking gaze.

“Where is everyone else?” Did you not see them? Dunno asked, not noticing the strange state of Donut.

- What are the rest of the steel? he asked, stuttering with excitement. Donut.

- Well, where are all the shorties? Where is Znaika?

- Are they ra-ra-are they here?

– But how? Why do you think we're flying? While you and I slept in the compartment, everyone came and took off. Understood?.. Now you and I will go up and find everyone in the cabins.

Dunno pressed the button, and the elevator took them to the floor above.

"They'll be surprised when they see us!" - Dunno said, stopping in front of the door of one of the cabins. - Now let's go in and say: "Hello, here we are!" Ha ha ha!

Shaking with laughter, Dunno opened the door to the cabin and, seeing that there was no one there, said:

"For some reason, there's no one here!"

He immediately looked into another cabin:

“And there’s no one here for some reason!”

He repeated these words every time he looked into the empty cabin. Finally said:

- I know! They are in the salon. There must be some important meeting taking place there now, so everyone went there.

Going down to the salon, friends made sure that it was empty there.

- There is no one here at all! – exclaimed Dunno. “Looks like we're alone in the rocket.

- How alone? Donut got scared.

“So, alone,” Dunno spread his hands.

Who then launched the rocket?

- Don't know.

“The rocket couldn’t have launched by itself!

“I couldn’t,” Dunno agreed.

“So someone started it,” Donut said.

Who could launch it?

- Well I do not know.

Dunno looked at Donut suspiciously and asked:

“Maybe you started it?”

- I? Donut was surprised.

- Well, yes, you!

How could I launch it? Donut shrugged. - I don't know how to start it.

- Why did you get out of the compartment? – asked Dunno. Why weren't you in the compartment when I woke up? Where did you go, confess?

“Yes, you know, I changed my mind about flying at night and wanted to go home, yes, you know, I got lost in the rocket, and then I couldn’t open the door, so I thought about leaving and stayed,” Donut babbled in confusion.

“Didn’t you press any buttons anywhere?” After all, to launch a rocket, just press one button. Understood?

“Honestly, I didn’t press anything anywhere. I just accidentally got into some small booth and pressed one very, very small button on the table ...

- It seems, in this one, - Donut mumbled, opening his mouth like a fish pulled out of the water.

Did you press this button?

“It seems to be this one,” Donut admitted.

- Well, it is! – exclaimed Dunno. “So it was you who launched the rocket!” What are you supposed to do now?

“Isn’t it possible somehow to stop the ra-a-aketa?”

- How can you stop it?

- Well, press some more k-k-button.

- I'll give you a button! You press a button, the rocket will stop, and you and I will get stuck in the middle of the world space! No, we'd rather fly to the moon.

“But on the Moon, they say, there is nothing to eat,” said Donut.

“Nothing, it’s good for you, you’ll lose weight a little,” Dunno answered angrily. - Next time you will know how to touch the buttons without asking!

As soon as Donut remembered food, his thoughts took a new direction. He suddenly wanted to eat with terrible force. Now he could think of nothing but food.

So he said:

“Listen, Dunno, can’t we have something to eat?” I haven't eaten anything since yesterday.

“Eat, well ... You can probably eat, although you didn’t deserve it,” Dunno answered grumblingly.

Returning to the food compartment, the friends opened the thermostat, which contained hot space cutlets, space jelly, space mashed potatoes and other space dishes. All these dishes were called space because they were placed in long plastic tubes, in the manner of liver sausage. By putting the end of such a tube to the mouth and squeezing it in the hands, it was possible to ensure that food fell from the tube directly into the mouth, which was very convenient in conditions of weightlessness. After destroying several of these tubes, the friends had a bite of space ice cream, which turned out to be extremely tasty. This space ice cream had only one drawback: hands were terribly cold from it, because all the time you had to squeeze a cold plastic tube in your hands - otherwise the ice cream could not get into your mouth.

As soon as Donut was full, his mood immediately improved.

- Well, it turns out that you can eat well in a rocket! - he said.

And it began to seem to him that nothing terrible had happened and that the rocket did not fly at all, but continued to stand on the ground.

- Listen, Dunno, why do you think that we are flying somewhere? I don't think we're going anywhere,” Donut said.

“Where do you think the state of weightlessness comes from?” Dunno answered.

“Do you remember when we were at home, I hit my nose on the table. After all, then we did not fly anywhere, but there was weightlessness.

“Now we will go up to the astronomical cabin and look out the window,” Dunno said. “The porthole will show where we are.

Friends quickly climbed into the astronomical cabin. Looking out the side windows, they saw around the bottomless black sky dotted with large stars, among which shone a dazzlingly bright sun. It seemed to be day, but at the same time it was night. This never happens on Earth. When the sun is visible on Earth, the stars are not visible, and, conversely, when there are stars, there is no sun. The moon shone brightly in one of the upper windows. It seemed somewhat larger than it usually seems to us from Earth.

“Absolutely clear,” said Dunno. We are already far away from Earth. We are in space!

- That's the whole story for you! Donut muttered disappointedly.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Nosov

Dunno on the Moon

Chapter first

How Znayka defeated Professor Zvezdochkin

And that's not all, of course. The inhabitants of the Sun City found out that the short men from the Flower City were engaged in construction, and came to their aid: they helped them build several so-called industrial enterprises. According to the project of the engineer Klepka, a large clothing factory was built, which produced a wide variety of clothing, from rubber bras to winter coats made of synthetic fiber. Now no one had to pore over with a needle to sew the most ordinary trousers or a jacket. At the factory, everything was done for short cars. Finished products, as in the Sunny City, were taken to stores, and there everyone already took what they needed. All the concerns of the factory workers were reduced to inventing new styles of clothing and making sure that nothing was produced that the public did not like.

However, that was not the point. The main thing was that Znayka also visited the Sunny City. There he met the little scientists Fuchsia and Herring, who at that time were preparing their second flight to the moon. Znayka also got involved in the construction of a space rocket and, when the rocket was ready, made an interplanetary journey with Fuchsia and Herring. Arriving on the Moon, our brave travelers examined one of the small lunar craters in the region of the lunar Sea of Clarity, visited the cave, which was located in the center of this crater, and made observations on the change in gravity. On the Moon, as is known, the force of gravity is much less than on the Earth, and therefore observations of the change in the force of gravity are of great scientific importance. After being on the moon for about four hours. Znayka and his companions were forced to set off as soon as possible on the return journey, since their air supplies were running out. Everyone knows that there is no air on the Moon, and in order not to suffocate, you should always take a supply of air with you. In condensed form, of course.

Returning to the Flower City, Znayka talked a lot about his journey. Everyone was very interested in his stories, and especially the astronomer Steklyashkin, who more than once observed the Moon through a telescope. Through his telescope, Steklyashkin managed to discern that the surface of the Moon is not flat, but mountainous, and many mountains on the Moon are not like ours on Earth, but for some reason are round, or rather, ring-shaped. Scientists call these ring mountains lunar craters, or cirques. To understand what such a lunar circus, or crater, looks like, imagine a huge round field, twenty, thirty, fifty or even a hundred kilometers across, and imagine that this huge round field is surrounded by an earthen rampart or mountain only two or three kilometers high. , - so you get a lunar circus, or a crater. There are thousands of such craters on the Moon. There are small ones - about two kilometers, but there are also gigantic ones - up to one hundred and forty kilometers in diameter.

Many scientists are interested in the question of how lunar craters formed, from what they came from. In the Solar City, all the astronomers even quarreled among themselves, trying to resolve this complex issue, and were divided into two halves. One half claims that lunar craters originated from volcanoes, the other half says that lunar craters are traces of the fall of large meteorites. Therefore, the first half of astronomers are called followers of the volcanic theory or simply volcanists, and the second - followers of the meteorite theory or meteorites.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Nosov

Dunno on the Moon

Chapter first

How Znayka defeated Professor Zvezdochkin

However, that was not the point. The main thing was that Znayka also visited the Sunny City. There he met the little scientists Fuchsia and Herring, who at that time were preparing their second flight to the moon. Znayka also got involved in the construction of a space rocket and, when the rocket was ready, made an interplanetary journey with Fuchsia and Herring. Arriving on the Moon, our brave travelers examined one of the small lunar craters in the region of the lunar Sea of Clarity, visited the cave, which was located in the center of this crater, and made observations on the change in gravity. On the Moon, as is known, the force of gravity is much less than on the Earth, and therefore observations of the change in the force of gravity are of great scientific importance. After being on the moon for about four hours. Znayka and his companions were forced to set off as soon as possible on the return journey, since their air supplies were running out. Everyone knows that there is no air on the Moon, and in order not to suffocate, you should always take a supply of air with you. In condensed form, of course.

Returning to the Flower City, Znayka talked a lot about his journey. Everyone was very interested in his stories, and especially the astronomer Steklyashkin, who more than once observed the Moon through a telescope. Through his telescope, Steklyashkin managed to discern that the surface of the Moon is not flat, but mountainous, and many mountains on the Moon are not like ours on Earth, but for some reason are round, or rather, ring-shaped. Scientists call these ring mountains lunar craters, or cirques. To understand what such a lunar circus, or crater, looks like, imagine a huge round field, twenty, thirty, fifty or even a hundred kilometers across, and imagine that this huge round field is surrounded by an earthen rampart or mountain only two or three kilometers high. , - so you get a lunar circus, or a crater. There are thousands of such craters on the Moon. There are small ones - about two kilometers, but there are also gigantic ones - up to one hundred and forty kilometers in diameter.

Many scientists are interested in the question of how lunar craters formed, from what they came from. In the Solar City, all the astronomers even quarreled among themselves, trying to resolve this complex issue, and were divided into two halves. One half claims that lunar craters originated from volcanoes, the other half says that lunar craters are traces of the fall of large meteorites. Therefore, the first half of astronomers are called followers of the volcanic theory or simply volcanists, and the second - followers of the meteorite theory or meteorites.

Znayka even wrote a book in which he wrote that the surface of the moon was not always hard and cold, as it is now. Once upon a time, the Moon was a Fiery-liquid, that is, a ball heated to a molten state. Gradually, however, the surface of the moon cooled and became no longer liquid, but viscous, like dough. From the inside, it was still very hot, so hot gases escaped to the surface in the form of huge bubbles. Having come to the surface of the Moon, these bubbles, of course, burst. But while the surface of the Moon was still quite liquid, the traces of the bursting bubbles tightened and disappeared, leaving no trace, just as bubbles do not leave a trace on water during rain. But when the surface of the Moon cooled down to such an extent that it became thick like dough or like molten glass, the traces from the bursting bubbles no longer disappeared, but remained in the form of rings sticking out above the surface. Cooling more and more, these rings finally hardened. At first they were even, like frozen circles on the water, and then gradually collapsed and eventually became like those lunar ring mountains, or craters, that everyone can observe with a telescope.

All astronomers - both volcanists and meteorites - laughed at this Znaykin theory.

Vulcanists said:

- Why else was this pancake theory needed, if it is already clear that lunar craters are just volcanoes?

Meteorites said:

- Of course, lunar craters are not volcanoes, but they are also not pancakes. Everyone knows that these are traces of meteorite impacts.

This Znaykina book made a lot of noise. All the shorties read it with enthusiasm. Many scientists praised this book for being interestingly written, but still expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that it was not scientifically substantiated. And a full member of the Academy of Astronomical Sciences, Professor Zvezdochkin, who also happened to read Znaykin's book, simply seethed with indignation and said that this book was not a book at all, but some kind of damn nonsense, as he put it. This Professor Zvezdochkin was not exactly some very angry individual. No, he was a rather kind little man, but very, how should I put it, demanding, uncompromising. In any business, he valued accuracy and order most of all, and could not stand any fantasies, that is, inventions.

Professor Zvezdochkin suggested that the Academy of Astronomical Sciences arrange a discussion of Znayka's book and take it apart, as he put it, piece by piece, so that no one else would be reluctant to write such books. The Academy agreed and sent an invitation to Znaika. Znayka arrived, and the discussion took place. It began, as is customary in such cases, with a report that Professor Zvezdochkin himself volunteered to make.

- Dear friends, allow the meeting dedicated to the discussion of Znayka's book to be considered open.

After listening to all this, Znaika got up from his seat and said mockingly:

“You talk as if you've ever had to hang out in the center of the moon before!”

- And you seemed to chat? snapped the professor.

“I didn’t hang out,” Znayka objected, “but I flew in a rocket and watched objects in a state of weightlessness.

– What is the state of weightlessness? the professor growled.

“And here’s the thing,” Znaika said. “Let it be known that during the flight in the rocket I had a bottle of water. When the state of weightlessness set in, the bottle floated freely in space, as did every object that was not attached to the walls of the cabin. Everything was fine until the water completely filled the bottle. But when I drank half of the water, oddities began: the remaining water did not stay at the bottom of the bottle and did not collect in the center, but spread evenly along the walls, so that an air bubble formed inside the bottle. This means that the water was attracted not to the center of the bottle, but to its walls. This is understandable, since only masses of matter can attract each other, and emptiness cannot attract anything to itself.

- Hit the sky! Zvezdochkin grumbled angrily. - Compared the bottle with the planet! Do you think it's scientific?

- Exactly! - picked up Zvezdochkin. “Just explain to us, please, why you got it into your head that the Moon is empty inside?”

The listeners who came to listen to the report laughed, but Znayka was not embarrassed by this and said:

- Not yet cooled molten substance! shouted one of the listeners.

- Right! Znaika picked up. - A molten substance that has not yet cooled down, that is, simply speaking, a liquid.

“You see, you yourself say it’s liquid,” Zvezdochkin chuckled. Where did the emptiness come from in the Moon, if there was liquid there, you garden head?

“I suppose I know,” the professor muttered angrily.

“Then everything should be clear to you,” Znayka said delightedly. - If the liquid substance was reduced in volume, then inside the Moon, by itself, an empty space should have been obtained in the manner of an air bubble in a bottle. This empty space became larger and larger, located in the central part of the Moon, as the remaining liquid mass was attracted to the solid shell of the Moon, just as the remaining water was attracted to the walls of a bottle when it was in a state of weightlessness. Over time, the liquid inside the Moon completely cooled down and solidified, as if sticking to the solid walls of the planet, due to which an internal cavity was formed in the Moon, which could gradually be filled with air or some other gas.

- Right! someone shouted.

And now there were shouts from all sides:

- Right! Right! Well done, Znaika! Hooray!

Everyone clapped their hands. Someone shouted:

- Down with Zvezdochkin!

Immediately, two short men grabbed Zvezdochkin - one by the scruff of the neck, the other by the legs - and pulled him off the podium. Several short men picked up Znayka in their arms and dragged her to the podium.

- Let Znayka make a report! shouted around. - Down with Zvezdochkin!

- Dear friends! - said Znayka, finding himself on the podium. - I can't report. I didn't prepare.

- Tell us about the flight to the moon! shouted the little ones.

- About the state of weightlessness! someone shouted.

– About the Moon?.. About the state of weightlessness? Znayka repeated in confusion. - Well, let it be about the state of weightlessness. You probably know that a space rocket, in order to overcome the gravity of the Earth, must acquire a very high speed - eleven kilometers per second. While the rocket is gaining this speed, your body is experiencing large g-forces. The weight of your body, as it were, increases several times, and you are pressed against the cabin floor with force. You can't lift your arm, you can't lift your leg, it seems to you that your whole body is filled with lead. It seems to you that some terrible weight has fallen on your chest and does not allow you to breathe. But as soon as the acceleration of the spacecraft stops and it begins its free flight in interplanetary space, the overloads end, and you stop experiencing gravity, that is, to put it simply, you lose weight.

- Tell me how you felt? What did you experience? someone shouted.

- My first feeling when losing weight was as if the seat was quietly removed from under me and I had nothing to sit on. It felt like I was missing something, but I couldn't figure out what. I felt a slight dizziness, it began to seem to me as if someone had purposely turned me upside down. At the same time, I felt that everything inside me froze, turned cold, as if frightened, although there was no fright itself. After waiting a little and making sure that nothing bad had happened to me, that I was breathing as usual, and seeing everything around, and thinking normally, I stopped paying attention to the fading in the chest and in the abdomen, and this unpleasant sensation passed by itself. When I looked around and saw that all the items in the cabin were in place, that the seat, as before, was under me, it no longer seemed to me that I was turned upside down, and the dizziness also disappeared ...

- Tell me! Tell more! - the short men yelled in unison, seeing that Znayka had stopped.

Some of them even tapped their feet on the floor with impatience.

“Tell me, please,” one short man asked, “did you have water in the bottle, or maybe some other drink?”

“There was plain water in the bottle,” Znayka answered curtly. What could be another drink?

“Well, I don’t know,” the little man spread his hands. “I thought soda or maybe kerosene.

Everyone laughed. And another shorty asked:

“Did you bring anything back from the moon?”

“I brought back a piece of the moon itself.

Znayka took out a small bluish-gray stone from his pocket and said:

- There are many different stones lying on the surface of the Moon, and, moreover, very beautiful ones, but I did not want to take them, since they could be meteorites accidentally brought to the Moon from world space. And I beat off this stone with a hammer from the rock when we descended into the lunar cave. Therefore, you can be quite sure that this stone is a piece of the real Moon itself.

- Dear friends, it was very interesting for all of us to hear about the Moon and everything else, and on behalf of all those present, I express my heartfelt gratitude to the famous Znayka for his interesting and informative speech. However ... - said Zvezdochkin and with a stern look raised his index finger.

- Down with! shouted one of the short men.

No one ever found out what Zvezdochkin wanted to examine. The noise rose so that it was impossible to understand anything. Only one word was heard from everywhere:

Two short men again rushed to the podium, one grabbed Zvezdochkin by the scruff of the neck, the other by the legs, and dragged him straight out into the street. There they put him in a park on the grass and said:

- This mess! I will complain! I'll write to the paper! You will also recognize Professor Zvezdochkin! He shouted like that for a long time, waving his fists, but when he saw that all the short men had gone home, he said:

- At this meeting, I declare closed. P

Then he got up and also went home.

Chapter Two

Moonstone Mystery

All this was published, of course, only for the amusement of the public, but in one of the newspapers a completely serious and scientifically substantiated article by Professor Zvezdochkin was published, who admitted that he was wrong in the dispute with Znaika, and apologized for his harsh expressions. In his article, Professor Zvezdochkin wrote that the presence of empty space inside the Moon does not contradict the laws of physics and may well take place, so Znayka is not as far from the truth as it might seem at first. At the same time, it is difficult to assume, the professor wrote, that this empty space is located in the center of the Moon, since the central part of the Moon is filled with solid matter, which was formed even before the lunar surface cooled and hardened, and therefore, before the beginning of create empty space. The fact is that both now and in ancient times, the inner layers of the Moon experienced tremendous pressure from the outer layers, which weigh many thousands and even millions of tons. As a result of such a monstrous pressure, the substance inside the Moon could not, according to the laws of physics, be in a liquid state, but was in a solid form. And this means that when the Moon was still fiery-liquid, there was already a solid central core inside it, and when the internal cavity of the Moon began to form, it began to form not in the center, but around this central solid core, more precisely, between this central the core and relatively recently solidified surface of the Moon. Thus. The moon is not a hollow ball, like a rubber ball, as Znayka suggested, but such a ball, inside of which there is another ball, surrounded by a layer of air or some other gas. As for the presence of shorties or some other living creatures on the Moon, this already belongs to the realm of pure fantasy, wrote Professor Zvezdochkin. There is no scientific evidence for the existence of shorties on the moon. If what Znayka discovered on the lunar surface was in fact a brick wall once made by intelligent beings, then there is no evidence that these intelligent beings have survived to the present and chose the inner cavity of the Moon as their residence. Science needs reliable facts, wrote Professor Zvezdochkin, and no idle fiction can replace them for us. As Znaika read Professor Zvezdochkin's article, he was seized by some kind of acute sense of shame, mixed with chagrin. What the professor wrote about the presence of a solid core inside the Moon was irrefutable. Everyone who is familiar with the basics of physics had to agree with this, and Znayka was perfectly familiar with the basics of physics.

Page 1 of 36

PART I

Chapter first. How Znayka defeated Professor Zvezdochkin

Two and a half years have passed since Dunno made a trip to the Sunny City. Although for you and me this is not so much, but for little shorties, two and a half years is a very long time. After listening to the stories of Dunno, Knopochka, and Patchkuli Pestrenky, many of the little ones also made a trip to the Sunny City, and when they returned, they decided to make some improvements in themselves. The flower city has changed since then so that now it is unrecognizable. Many new, large and very beautiful houses appeared in it. According to the project of the architect Vertibutylkin, even two revolving buildings were built on Kolokolchikov Street. One is a five-story, tower-type, with a spiral descent and a swimming pool around (going down the spiral descent, you could dive right into the water), the other six-story, with swinging balconies, a parachute tower and a ferris wheel on the roof. A lot of cars, spiral vehicles, tube-planes, air-powered motorcycles, caterpillar all-terrain vehicles and other different vehicles appeared on the streets.
And that's not all, of course. The inhabitants of the Sun City found out that the short men from the Flower City were engaged in construction, and came to their aid: they helped them build several so-called industrial enterprises. According to the project of the engineer Klepka, a large clothing factory was built, which produced a wide variety of clothing, from rubber bras to winter coats made of synthetic fiber. Now no one had to pore over with a needle to sew the most ordinary trousers or a jacket. At the factory, everything was done for short cars. Finished products, as in the Sunny City, were taken to stores, and there everyone already took what they needed. All the concerns of the factory workers were reduced to inventing new styles of clothing and making sure that nothing was produced that the public did not like.
Everyone was very pleased. The only one who got hurt in this case was Donut. When Donut saw that now you can take in the store any thing that you might need, he began to wonder why he needed all that pile of costumes that he had accumulated at home. All these costumes were also out of fashion, and they still could not be worn. Having chosen a darker night, Donut tied his old suits in a huge bundle, secretly took them out of the house and drowned them in the Cucumber River, and instead of them he dragged himself new suits from the stores. It ended up that his room turned into some kind of warehouse for ready-made clothes. The suits lay in his closet, and on the closet, and on the table, and under the table, and on the bookshelves, hung on the walls, on the backs of chairs, and even under the ceiling, on strings.
From such an abundance of woolen products in the house, moths divorced, and so that she would not gnaw at the suits, Donut had to poison her daily with mothballs, from which there was such a strong smell in the room that the unaccustomed little man fell down.
The donut itself smelled, through and through with this stupefying smell, but he got so used to it that he even stopped noticing it. For others, however, this smell was very noticeable. As soon as Donut came to visit someone, the hosts immediately began to feel dizzy from stupefaction. Donuts were immediately chased away and all windows and doors were quickly opened wide to ventilate the room, otherwise one could faint or go crazy. For the same reason, Donut did not even have the opportunity to play with the shorties in the yard. As soon as he went out into the yard, everyone around him began to spit and, holding their noses with their hands, rushed to run away from him in different directions without looking back. Nobody wanted to hang out with him. Needless to say, for Donut it was terribly insulting, and he had to take all the costumes he did not need to the attic.
However, that was not the point. The main thing was that Znayka also visited the Sunny City. There he met the little scientists Fuchsia and Herring, who at that time were preparing their second flight to the moon. Znayka also got involved in the construction of a space rocket and, when the rocket was ready, made an interplanetary journey with Fuchsia and Herring. Arriving on the Moon, our brave travelers examined one of the small lunar craters in the region of the lunar Sea of Clarity, visited the cave, which was located in the center of this crater, and made observations on the change in gravity. On the Moon, as is known, the force of gravity is much less than on the Earth, and therefore observations of the change in the force of gravity are of great scientific importance. After being on the moon for about four hours. Znayka and his companions were forced to set off as soon as possible on the return journey, since their air supplies were running out. Everyone knows that there is no air on the Moon, and in order not to suffocate, you should always take a supply of air with you. In condensed form, of course.
Returning to the Flower City, Znayka talked a lot about his journey. Everyone was very interested in his stories, and especially the astronomer Steklyashkin, who more than once observed the Moon through a telescope. Through his telescope, Steklyashkin was able to discern that the surface of the Moon is not flat, but mountainous, and many mountains on the Moon are not the same as ours on Earth, but for some reason are round, or rather, ring-shaped. Scientists call these ring mountains lunar craters, or cirques. To understand what such a lunar circus, or crater, looks like, imagine a huge round field, twenty, thirty, fifty or even a hundred kilometers across, and imagine that this huge round field is surrounded by an earthen rampart or mountain only two or three kilometers high. , - so you get a lunar circus, or a crater. There are thousands of such craters on the Moon. There are small ones - about two kilometers, but there are also gigantic ones - up to one hundred and forty kilometers in diameter.
Many scientists are interested in the question of how lunar craters were formed, what they came from. In the Solar City, all the astronomers even quarreled among themselves, trying to resolve this complex issue, and were divided into two halves. One half claims that lunar craters originated from volcanoes, the other half says that lunar craters are traces of the fall of large meteorites. Therefore, the first half of astronomers are called followers of the volcanic theory or simply volcanists, and the second - followers of the meteorite theory or meteorites.
Znayka, however, did not agree with either the volcanic or meteorite theory. Even before traveling to the moon, he created his own theory of the origin of lunar craters. Once, together with Steklyashkin, he observed the Moon through a telescope, and it struck him that the lunar surface was very similar to the surface of a well-baked pancake with its porous holes. After that, Znayka often went to the kitchen and watched pancakes being baked. He noticed that while the pancake is liquid, its surface is completely smooth, but as it is heated in a frying pan, bubbles of heated steam begin to appear on its surface. Having stepped on the surface of the pancake, the bubbles burst, as a result of which shallow holes form on the pancake, which remain when the dough is properly baked and loses viscosity.
Znayka even wrote a book in which he wrote that the surface of the Moon was not always hard and cold, as it is now. Once upon a time, the Moon was a Fiery-liquid, that is, a ball heated to a molten state. Gradually, however, the surface of the moon cooled and became no longer liquid, but viscous, like dough. From the inside, it was still very hot, so hot gases escaped to the surface in the form of huge bubbles. Having come to the surface of the Moon, these bubbles, of course, burst. But while the surface of the moon was still quite liquid, the marks from the bursting bubbles were tightened and disappeared, leaving no trace, just as bubbles do not leave a trace on water during rain. But when the surface of the Moon cooled down to such an extent that it became thick like dough or like molten glass, the traces from the bursting bubbles no longer disappeared, but remained in the form of rings sticking out above the surface. Cooling more and more, these rings finally hardened. At first they were even, like frozen circles on the water, and then gradually collapsed and eventually became like those lunar ring mountains, or craters, that everyone can observe with a telescope.
All astronomers - both volcanists and meteorites - laughed at this Znaykin theory.
Vulcanists said:
- Why else was this pancake theory needed, if it is already clear that lunar craters are just volcanoes?
Znayka answered that a volcano is a very large mountain, on the top of which there is a relatively small crater, that is, a hole. If at least one lunar crater were a volcano crater, then the volcano itself would be almost the size of the entire moon, and this is not observed at all.
Meteorites said:
- Of course, lunar craters are not volcanoes, but they are also not pancakes. Everyone knows that these are traces of meteorite impacts.
To this, Znayka replied that meteorites could fall on the Moon not only vertically, but also at an angle, and in this case they would leave traces not round, but elongated, oblong or oval. Meanwhile, on the Moon, all craters are mostly round, not oval.
However, both volcanists and meteorites were so accustomed to their favorite theories that they did not even want to listen to Znaika and contemptuously called him a pancake. They said that in general it is ridiculous even to compare the Moon, which is a large cosmic body, with some unfortunate pancake from sour dough.
However, Znayka himself abandoned his pancake theory after he personally visited the moon and saw one of the lunar craters close by. He managed to see that the ring mountain was not a mountain at all, but the remains of a giant brick wall that had collapsed from time to time. Although the bricks in this wall were weathered and lost their original square shape, it was still possible to understand that these were bricks, and not just pieces of ordinary rock. This was especially well seen in those places where the wall had collapsed relatively recently and individual bricks had not yet had time to crumble into dust.

On reflection, Znayka realized that these walls could only be made by some kind of intelligent beings, and when he returned from his trip, he published a book in which he wrote that once upon a time intelligent beings lived on the moon, the so-called lunar shorties, or sleepwalkers. In those days, there was air on the Moon, as there is now on Earth. Therefore, sleepwalkers lived on the surface of the moon, just like we all live on the surface of our planet Earth. However, as time went on, there was less and less air on the Moon, which gradually flew away into the surrounding world space. In order not to die without air, lunatics surrounded their cities with thick brick walls, over which they erected huge glass domes. From under these domes, the air could no longer escape, so it was possible to breathe and not be afraid of anything.
But the lunatics knew that this could not go on forever, that over time the air around the Moon would completely dissipate, which would cause the surface of the Moon, not protected by a significant layer of air, to be strongly warmed by the sun's rays and it would be impossible to exist on the Moon even under a glass cap. That is why lunatics began to move inside the moon and now live not on the outside, but on its inner side, since in fact the moon is empty inside, like a rubber ball, and you can live just as well on its inner surface as on the outer one. .
This Znaykina book made a lot of noise. All the shorties read it with enthusiasm. Many scientists praised this book for being interestingly written, but still expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that it was not scientifically substantiated. And a full member of the Academy of Astronomical Sciences, Professor Zvezdochkin, who also happened to read Znaykin's book, simply seethed with indignation and said that this book was not a book at all, but some kind of damn nonsense, as he put it. This Professor Zvezdochkin was not exactly some very angry individual. No, he was a rather kind little man, but very, how should I put it, demanding, uncompromising. In any business, he valued accuracy and order most of all, and could not stand any fantasies, that is, inventions.
Professor Zvezdochkin proposed to the Academy of Astronomical Sciences that they arrange a discussion of Znayka's book and take it apart, as he put it, piece by piece, so that no one else should write such books. The Academy agreed and sent an invitation to Znaika. Znayka arrived, and the discussion took place. It began, as is customary in such cases, with a report that Professor Zvezdochkin himself volunteered to make.

When all the short men invited to the discussion gathered in the spacious hall and sat down on chairs, Professor Zvezdochkin ascended the podium, and the first thing they heard from him were the words:
- Dear friends, allow the meeting devoted to the discussion of Znayka's book to be considered open.
After that, Professor Zvezdochkin cleared his throat loudly, slowly wiped his nose with a handkerchief, and began to make a report. Briefly outlining the content of Znayka's book and praising it for its lively, vivid presentation, the professor said that, in his opinion, Znayka made a mistake and mistook for bricks what in reality were not bricks, but some kind of layered rock. Well, since there really were no bricks, the professor said, then there were, consequently, no short sleepwalkers. They could not exist, because if they were, they could not live on the inner surface of the Moon, since it has long been well known to everyone that all objects on the Moon, just like ours on Earth, are attracted to the center of the planet, and if the moon were really empty inside, no one would still be able to stay on its inner surface: he would immediately be attracted to the center of the moon, and he would dangle helplessly there in the void until he died of hunger.
After listening to all this, Znaika got up from his seat and said mockingly:
“You talk as if you've ever had to hang out in the center of the moon before!”
- And you seemed to chat? snapped the professor.
“I didn’t hang out,” Znayka objected, “but I flew in a rocket and watched objects in a state of weightlessness.
– Why is there still a state of weightlessness? the professor growled.
“And here’s the thing,” Znaika said. “Let it be known that during the flight in the rocket I had a bottle of water. When the state of weightlessness set in, the bottle floated freely in space, as did every object that was not attached to the walls of the cabin. Everything was fine until the water completely filled the bottle. But when I drank half of the water, oddities began: the remaining water did not stay at the bottom of the bottle and did not collect in the center, but spread evenly along the walls, so that an air bubble formed inside the bottle. This means that the water was attracted not to the center of the bottle, but to its walls. This is understandable, since only masses of matter can attract each other, and emptiness cannot attract anything to itself.
- Hit the sky! Zvezdochkin grumbled angrily. - Compared the bottle with the planet! Do you think it's scientific?
Why isn't it scientific? Znayka answered authoritatively. - When the bottle moves freely in interplanetary space, it is in a state of weightlessness and is likened to a planet in everything. Inside it, everything will happen in the same way as inside the planet, that is, inside the Moon, in the event that, of course, the Moon is empty from the inside.
- Exactly! - picked up Zvezdochkin. “Just explain to us, please, why you got it into your head that the Moon is empty inside?”
The listeners who came to listen to the report laughed, but Znayka was not embarrassed by this and said:
“You could easily get it into your head if you thought a little. After all, if the Moon was initially fiery-liquid, then it began to cool not from the inside, but from the surface, since it is the surface of the Moon that comes into contact with the cold world space. Thus, the surface of the Moon first of all cooled and hardened, as a result of which the Moon began to look like a huge spherical vessel, inside of which it continued to be - what? ..
- Not yet cooled molten substance! shouted one of the listeners.
- Right! Znaika picked up. - A molten substance that has not yet cooled down, that is, simply speaking, a liquid.
“You see, you yourself say it’s liquid,” Zvezdochkin chuckled. Where did the emptiness come from in the Moon, if there was liquid there, you garden head?
“Well, this is not at all difficult to guess,” Znayka calmly replied. “After all, the hot liquid, surrounded by the solid shell of the Moon, continued to cool, and as it cooled, it decreased in volume. You, presumably, know that each substance, cooling, decreases in volume?
“I suppose I know,” the professor muttered angrily.
“Then everything should be clear to you,” Znayka said delightedly. If the liquid matter was reduced in volume, then the inside of the Moon should naturally have an empty space in the manner of an air bubble in a bottle. This empty space became larger and larger, located in the central part of the Moon, as the remaining liquid mass was attracted to the solid shell of the Moon, just as the remaining water was attracted to the walls of a bottle when it was in a state of weightlessness. Over time, the liquid inside the Moon completely cooled down and solidified, as if sticking to the solid walls of the planet, due to which an internal cavity was formed in the Moon, which could gradually be filled with air or some other gas.
- Right! someone shouted.
And now there were shouts from all sides:
- Right! Right! Well done, Znaika! Hooray!
Everyone clapped their hands. Someone shouted:
- Down with Zvezdochkin!
Immediately, two short men grabbed Zvezdochkin - one by the scruff of the neck, the other by the legs - and pulled him off the podium. Several short men picked up Znayka in their arms and dragged her to the podium.
- Let Znayka make a report! shouted around. - Down with Zvezdochkin!
- Dear friends! - said Znayka, finding himself on the podium. - I can't report. I didn't prepare.
- Tell us about the flight to the moon! shouted the little ones.
- About the state of weightlessness! someone shouted.
– About the Moon?.. About the state of weightlessness? Znayka repeated in confusion. - Well, let it be about the state of weightlessness. You probably know that a space rocket, in order to overcome the gravity of the Earth, must acquire a very high speed - eleven kilometers per second. While the rocket is gaining this speed, your body is experiencing large g-forces. The weight of your body, as it were, increases several times, and you are pressed against the cabin floor with force. You can't lift your arm, you can't lift your leg, it seems to you that your whole body is filled with lead. It seems to you that some terrible weight has fallen on your chest and does not allow you to breathe. But as soon as the acceleration of the spacecraft stops and it begins its free flight in interplanetary space, the overloads end, and you stop experiencing gravity, that is, to put it simply, you lose weight.
- Tell me how you felt? What did you experience? someone shouted.
- My first feeling when losing weight was that the seat was quietly removed from under me and I had nothing to sit on. It felt like I was missing something, but I couldn't figure out what. I felt a slight dizziness, it began to seem to me as if someone had purposely turned me upside down. At the same time, I felt that everything inside me froze, turned cold, as if frightened, although there was no fright itself. After waiting a little and making sure that nothing bad had happened to me, that I was breathing as usual, and seeing everything around, and thinking normally, I stopped paying attention to the fading in the chest and in the abdomen, and this unpleasant sensation passed by itself. When I looked around and saw that all the items in the cabin were in place, that the seat, as before, was under me, it no longer seemed to me that I was turned upside down, and the dizziness also disappeared ...
- Tell me! Tell more! - the short men yelled in unison, seeing that Znayka had stopped.
Some of them even tapped their feet on the floor with impatience.
“Well, then,” Znayka continued. - After making sure that everything was in order, I wanted to lean on the floor with my feet, but I did it so abruptly that I jumped up and hit my head on the cabin ceiling. I did not take into account, you understand, that my body had lost weight and that now it was enough just a little effort to jump to a terrible height. Since my body weighed nothing at all, I could hang freely in the middle of the cabin in any position, without going down and up, but for this I had to be careful and not make sudden movements. Objects that we had not secured before leaving for the flight also floated freely around me. The water from the bottle did not spill out even if the bottle was turned upside down, but if it was possible to shake the water out of the bottle, then it collected into balls, which also floated freely in space until they were attracted to the walls of the cabin.
“Tell me, please,” one short man asked, “did you have water in the bottle, or maybe some other drink?”
“There was plain water in the bottle,” Znayka answered curtly. What could be another drink?
“Well, I don’t know,” the little man spread his hands. “I thought soda or maybe kerosene.
Everyone laughed. And another shorty asked:
“Did you bring anything back from the moon?”
“I brought back a piece of the moon itself.

Znayka took out a small bluish-gray stone from his pocket and said:
- There are many different stones lying on the surface of the Moon, and, moreover, very beautiful ones, but I did not want to take them, since they could be meteorites accidentally brought to the Moon from world space. And I beat off this stone with a hammer from the rock when we descended into the lunar cave. Therefore, you can be quite sure that this stone is a piece of the real Moon itself.
A piece of the moon went from hand to hand. Everyone wanted to take a closer look at him. While the shorties looked at the stone, passing it from hand to hand. Znayka told how he and Fuchsia and Herring traveled on the Moon and what they saw there. Everyone really liked Znaikin's story. Everyone was very pleased. Only Professor Zvezdochkin was not very pleased. As soon as Znayka finished his story and left the podium, Professor Zvezdochkin jumped onto the podium and said:
– Dear friends, it was very interesting for all of us to hear about the Moon and everything else, and on behalf of all those present, I offer my heartfelt thanks to the famous Znayka for his interesting and informative presentation. However ... - said Zvezdochkin and with a stern look raised his index finger.
- Down with! shouted one of the short men.
“However…” Professor Zvezdochkin repeated, raising his voice. - However, we have gathered here not at all in order to hear about the Moon, but in order to discuss Znaykin's book, and since we did not discuss the book, it means that we did not fulfill what was planned, and since we did not fulfill what was planned, then it will still have to be done, and since it will still have to be done, then it will still have to be done and subjected to consideration ...
No one ever found out what Zvezdochkin wanted to examine.

The noise rose so that it was impossible to understand anything. Only one word was heard from everywhere:
- Down with! Two short men again rushed to the podium, one grabbed Zvezdochkin by the scruff of the neck, the other by the legs, and dragged him straight out into the street. There they put him in a park on the grass and said:
- That's when you fly to the moon, you will speak on the podium, but for now, sit here on the grass. From such an unceremonious treatment, Zvezdochkin was so stunned that he could not utter a word. Then he gradually came to his senses and shouted:
- This mess! I will complain! I'll write to the paper! You will still recognize Professor Zvezdochkin! He shouted like that for a long time, waving his fists, but when he saw that all the short men had gone home, he said:
- At this meeting, I declare closed. Then he got up and went home.