Micromégas
- Langue:
- anglais
- État:
- Œuvre complète
- Paternité:
- Écrite par l'auteur
- État du texte:
- Aucun bruit de numérisation détecté (mesure automatique sur tout le texte, non vérifiée à la main)
- Étendue:
- ~8 000 mots · 38 passages
Citer cette œuvre
- APAVoltaire. (n.d.). Micromegas [Micromégas]. Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/fr/works/voltaire/micromegas
- MLAVoltaire. Micromegas [Micromégas]. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/fr/works/voltaire/micromegas.
- ChicagoVoltaire. Micromegas [Micromégas]. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/fr/works/voltaire/micromegas.
Référence de l'édition que reproduit SigPhi : SigPhi en est la reproduction numérique, pas l'éditeur. L'année de l'édition ne figure pas dans les métadonnées (d'où « n.d. ») et le traducteur n'apparaît que lorsqu'il est connu.
De quoi il s'agit
Micromégas : un habitant de Sirius haut de trente-sept kilomètres visite la Terre et n'y trouve pas les humains, tant ils sont petits.
Contexte et histoire
De la science-fiction de 1752, et probablement la première de la littérature française. La plaisanterie est sérieuse : vue du dehors, notre importance est une question d'échelle. Quand les géants finissent par trouver les humains et les entendent discuter de métaphysique, ils éclatent de rire. Voltaire écrivait en français : ceci est une vieille traduction anglaise, du domaine public. Pour citer, l'original.
Contexte éditorial, non une source citable : contrairement aux passages de l'œuvre, ces données ne peuvent pas être vérifiées dans le corpus.
Since our strangers moved fairly rapidly, they circumnavigated the globe in 36 hours. The sun, in truth, or rather the Earth, makes a similar voyage in a day; but you have to imagine that the going is much easier when one turns on one's axis instead of walking on one's feet. So there they were, back where they started, after having seen the nearly imperceptible pond we call _the Mediterranean_, and the other little pool that, under the name _Ocean_, encircles the molehill. The dwarf never got in over his knees, and the other hardly wet his heels. On their way they did all they could to see whether the planet was inhabited or not. They crouched, laid down, felt around everywhere; but their eyes and their hands were not proportionate to the little beings that crawl here, they could not feel in the least any sensation that might lead them to suspect that we and our associates, the other inhabitants of this planet, have the honor of existing. The dwarf, who was a bit hasty sometimes, decided straightaway that the planet was uninhabited. His first reason was that he had not seen anyone. Micromegas politely indicated that this logic was rather flawed: "For," said he, "you do not see with your little eyes certain stars of the 50th magnitude that I can perceive very distinctly. Do you conclude that these stars do not exist?" "But," said the dwarf, "I felt around a lot." "But," answered the other, "you have pretty weak senses." "But," replied the dwarf, "this planet is poorly constructed. It is so irregular and has such a ridiculous shape! Everything here seems to be in chaos: you see these little rivulets, none of which run in a straight line, these pools of water that are neither round, nor square, nor oval, nor regular by any measure; all these little pointy specks scattered across the earth that grate on my feet?…