The Crystal Egg by H. G. Wells. Short summary

5 seconds

The antique dealer looked closely at the crystal egg displayed in the window and saw another world in it. But he died, and his widow sold the jewel for next to nothing.

1 minute

Two buyers were attracted to a crystal egg displayed in an antique dealer Cave’s window. He first set a high price, and when the buyers agreed, he said the egg was not for sale. His wife caused a scandal in front of strangers. Cave moved the egg to a friend, a young scientist named Weiss.

Cave’s secret was that one night he went down to the shop and saw that the egg glowed strangely under the beam of the lantern. He began to peer into the crystal ball and saw as if he could see the country from a bird’s eye view. Turning the egg, he was able to move the focus of observation.

Together with Wace, Cave began to study the egg. It was like a window to another world. Studying it at night, Cave noticed familiar constellations. Weisplayed the calculations and it turned out that they were looking at the surface of Mars through the egg.

Cave took the egg home and died. His widow sold the egg for nothing.