The engineer heard him. He met Nab and Spiletto, then the other two, Harbert and the sailor, and weakly returned their handshakes.
Again, a few words came out of his mouth, which he certainly wanted to say before, and which revealed what thoughts were going through his mind. This time his words were already understandable.
– Island or mainland? – he whispered.
– Oh! Pencroff shouted. – What about us, only if you’re alive, Mr. Smith! An island or a mainland? We’ll see that later.
The engineer nodded weakly, then closed his eyes again. But it was no longer unconsciousness, but sleep. Nab, Harbert, and Pencroff came out of the cave and headed for the high dune where several crooked trees grew. The sailor could not stay on the way and repeated several times:
– Island or mainland! Think of something like this when you can barely breathe! That’s a guy!
The next day, March 28, when the engineer finally woke up around eight o’clock, just as his first words were yesterday:
– Island or mainland?
As you can see, the thought kept wandering through his head.
– We don’t know anything about that faith yet, Mr. Smith! – replied Pencroff.
– Don’t you know?
– But we will find out, – Pencroff said, – when we examine this country under your leadership.
– I think we can start now, – replied the engineer and stood up. The others looked at him in silence. Cyrus Smith crossed his arms and said:
– So, friends, you don’t know yet whether fate threw us on the mainland or on the island?
“No, Mr. Cyrus,” the boy replied.
– We’ll find out tomorrow, – the engineer continued. “There’s nothing you can do about it.”
<Why this question? And why can’t anything be done without her answer?
The answer is simple: the answer to this question will decide everything the losers will do:
If it’s a LAND, prepare for the march and try to reach some people and civilization.
If it is an ISLAND, then:
If it’s NEAR the mainland, they’ll start building a ship.
If it is FAR on the mainland, they will start building at home and preparing for a long stay, maybe forever…
So without answering Smith’s question, it’s really not really possible to “do anything”!
<The most key issue in our lives>
We’re basically in a similar situation to Verne’s losers:
We just found ourselves (= born) one day in this world of ours: the nation, the planet, the Universe…
… Left to fend for themselves,…
… To do with our lives what we consider most appropriate.
What will be our MOST BASIC and KEY QUESTION, which we should ask ourselves at the very beginning and from which everything else will depend and everything else in our lives will depend – and which, on the contrary, is THEIR FIRST and INDEPENDENT OF SOMETHING OTHER BEFORE ? 1
<Divide into groups of “firefighters”, “sailors”, “bikers” and “ambulances”! In each group, try to find this FIRST QUESTION together in five minutes, which has nothing in front of it and from which everything else is derived! Of course, with the REASONING why they think this question is the most important!
After five minutes, we will compare all your answers together and find out who answered the closest reality!
VARIANT: You can also do this in a discussion with the whole class, or as a competition between two groups, each trying to ask a question that would precede the question of their opponents…>
The goal:
To find out that our “First Question” is very similar to that of Cyrus Smith – in fact it is an analogy: “Island or mainland?” In other words:
“Is this – the Universe, the Earth, the matter, this life, – EVERYONE, or is there something beyond ITS BOUNDARIES?”
Are we an “ISLAND” and there is nothing but us – or are we part of an infinitely larger “FORTRESS” and our world is just a outcrop of this transcendent reality?
The answer to this question will determine everything:
If there is NO “beyond” this world, then we will “BUILD A HOUSE”: we will settle here and focus exclusively on it and seek our happiness exclusively within its borders.
If there is also something “beyond” the borders of the world, then we must ask ourselves a supplementary question: IS THIS WORLD “BEHIND BORDERS” WORTH IT? WHAT DOES IT OFFER?
If IT’S WORTH IT, “WE WILL BUILD A SHIP”: we go after it and we don’t care what we leave “on the island” of the world because of it…
If it is NOT WORTH, then we will still “BUILD A HOUSE” and never again worry about the nonsense “beyond the world.”
But in any case, our whole value system, our whole endeavor, our life goals, everything will depend on this key question and answer!
So, briefly and succinctly: IS THERE A GOD? LIFE AFTER DEATH? EXCEEDING THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, in which ours is as if “immersed”?
<There?>
Why do you think so? Or isn’t it?
Do you have anything to substantiate your claim?
Again, a few words came out of his mouth, which he certainly wanted to say before, and which revealed what thoughts were going through his mind. This time his words were already understandable.
– Island or mainland? – he whispered.
– Oh! Pencroff shouted. – What about us, only if you’re alive, Mr. Smith! An island or a mainland? We’ll see that later.
The engineer nodded weakly, then closed his eyes again. But it was no longer unconsciousness, but sleep. Nab, Harbert, and Pencroff came out of the cave and headed for the high dune where several crooked trees grew. The sailor could not stay on the way and repeated several times:
– Island or mainland! Think of something like this when you can barely breathe! That’s a guy!
The next day, March 28, when the engineer finally woke up around eight o’clock, just as his first words were yesterday:
– Island or mainland?
As you can see, the thought kept wandering through his head.
– We don’t know anything about that faith yet, Mr. Smith! – replied Pencroff.
– Don’t you know?
– But we will find out, – Pencroff said, – when we examine this country under your leadership.
– I think we can start now, – replied the engineer and stood up. The others looked at him in silence. Cyrus Smith crossed his arms and said:
– So, friends, you don’t know yet whether fate threw us on the mainland or on the island?
“No, Mr. Cyrus,” the boy replied.
– We’ll find out tomorrow, – the engineer continued. “There’s nothing you can do about it.”
<Why this question? And why can’t anything be done without her answer?
The answer is simple: the answer to this question will decide everything the losers will do:
If it’s a LAND, prepare for the march and try to reach some people and civilization.
If it is an ISLAND, then:
If it’s NEAR the mainland, they’ll start building a ship.
If it is FAR on the mainland, they will start building at home and preparing for a long stay, maybe forever…
So without answering Smith’s question, it’s really not really possible to “do anything”!
<The most key issue in our lives>
We’re basically in a similar situation to Verne’s losers:
We just found ourselves (= born) one day in this world of ours: the nation, the planet, the Universe…
… Left to fend for themselves,…
… To do with our lives what we consider most appropriate.
What will be our MOST BASIC and KEY QUESTION, which we should ask ourselves at the very beginning and from which everything else will depend and everything else in our lives will depend – and which, on the contrary, is THEIR FIRST and INDEPENDENT OF SOMETHING OTHER BEFORE ? 1
<Divide into groups of “firefighters”, “sailors”, “bikers” and “ambulances”! In each group, try to find this FIRST QUESTION together in five minutes, which has nothing in front of it and from which everything else is derived! Of course, with the REASONING why they think this question is the most important!
After five minutes, we will compare all your answers together and find out who answered the closest reality!
VARIANT: You can also do this in a discussion with the whole class, or as a competition between two groups, each trying to ask a question that would precede the question of their opponents…>
The goal:
To find out that our “First Question” is very similar to that of Cyrus Smith – in fact it is an analogy: “Island or mainland?” In other words:
“Is this – the Universe, the Earth, the matter, this life, – EVERYONE, or is there something beyond ITS BOUNDARIES?”
Are we an “ISLAND” and there is nothing but us – or are we part of an infinitely larger “FORTRESS” and our world is just a outcrop of this transcendent reality?
The answer to this question will determine everything:
If there is NO “beyond” this world, then we will “BUILD A HOUSE”: we will settle here and focus exclusively on it and seek our happiness exclusively within its borders.
If there is also something “beyond” the borders of the world, then we must ask ourselves a supplementary question: IS THIS WORLD “BEHIND BORDERS” WORTH IT? WHAT DOES IT OFFER?
If IT’S WORTH IT, “WE WILL BUILD A SHIP”: we go after it and we don’t care what we leave “on the island” of the world because of it…
If it is NOT WORTH, then we will still “BUILD A HOUSE” and never again worry about the nonsense “beyond the world.”
But in any case, our whole value system, our whole endeavor, our life goals, everything will depend on this key question and answer!
So, briefly and succinctly: IS THERE A GOD? LIFE AFTER DEATH? EXCEEDING THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, in which ours is as if “immersed”?
<There?>
Why do you think so? Or isn’t it?
Do you have anything to substantiate your claim?
