III. The Cause of the Delay in the Falling of the Ship Karnak (pg. B56 – B65)
Chapitre 3 Cause d’un retard dans la chute du Karnak
Capítulo 3 A causa de um atraso na queda da nave Karnak.
The captain of Karnak reports to Beelzebub that an “inevitability” lies directly in the line of their course and will hinder their “falling” by the shortest route. At the very place where their ship must pass, there will also pass, the great comet “Sakoor,” which always leaves a great deal of “zilnotrago” in its track, which on entering the planetary body of a being disorganizes most of its functions.
The captain thinks that there are two alternatives that are so clearly different: either avoid the zilnotrago by steering the ship around this zone, which would greatly prolong their voyage, or wait somewhere until the zilnotrago is dispersed, which would take still longer.
Beelzebub answers that: there is nothing to be done. When faced with an event arising from forces immeasurably greater than one’s own, one must submit.
His opinion is they ought to give preference to the captain’s suggestion and stop somewhere until the path is cleared of the noxious zilnotrago. That would at least spare their ship useless damage.
And they will try to fill the time of this unforeseen delay with something useful for them all. He adds that it would give him great pleasure to talk with the captain about contemporary ships in general and their ship in particular.
He urges the captain to make all the arrangements for this necessary stop and then, when he is quite free, go back and they could pass the time of their unavoidable delay in conversation useful for them all.
As soon as the captain left, Hassein asked Beelzebub about the beings living on the planets of that solar system where he had spent so many years. And Beelzebub starts his reply saying that three-brained beings dwell on almost all planets of that solar system, and higher being-bodies or “souls”, as they are called on some planets, can be coated in almost all of them. And he adds that on each planet of that solar system the planetary bodies of the three-brained beings are coated and take on an exterior form corresponding to the nature of that planet, adapting to it in every detail.
Beelzebub was about to say more, but just then the captain of the ship entered. So, promising the boy to tell him about the beings of the planet Earth some other time, he began to talk with the captain about contemporary cosmic ships.