The Alpha-Bestiary
N is for Nestor,
The newt from Novosibirsk,
Who detested living where the weather was brisk,
So off he sailed for Nicaragua in a bark canoe,
Paddling his way with a digeridoo.
In the ocean’s middle he met a whale
Slapping the ocean with his mighty tail.
Stop!” Nestor cried as the wave closed o’er him,
But the tail-slapping whale chose to ignore him,
Which got the best of Nestor,
The newt from Novosibirsk
N is for Nestor,
The newt from Novosibirsk,
Who detested living where the weather was brisk,
So off he sailed for Nicaragua in a bark canoe,
Paddling his way with a digeridoo.
In the ocean’s middle he met a whale
Slapping the ocean with his mighty tail.
Stop!” Nestor cried as the wave closed o’er him,
But the tail-slapping whale chose to ignore him,
Which got the best of Nestor,
The newt from Novosibirsk
Novonikolayevsk was founded in 1893 on the Ob river, where a Trans-Siberian Railway bridge was to be built (it was completed in 1897). In the early 20th century it became the northern terminal of the Turkesatn-Siberian Railway. The Soviet Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies of Novonikolayevsk took control of the city in December 1917. In May 1918, the Československá legie (Czechoslovak Legion), who were supposed to be shipped to Vladivostok and then to the Eastern front to fight against the Central Powers (led by Germany), but the People's Commissar for War, Leon Trotsky, ordered their disarmament and arrest, causing them to rise in opposition to the revolutionary government and, together with the anti-Boshevik White Guards, captured Novonikolayevsk. After they seized Vladivostok they declared the city to be an Allied protectorate. Then they began advancing to the west, taking all the large cities in Siberia while the Whites formed local governments behind their lines. In July US president Woodrow Wilson called for American and Japanese forces to assist them, joined by Italian, British, and French (Vietnamese) troops. But the Bolsheviks' Red Army launched a successful counter-offensive and retook Novonikolayevsk in 1919. In 1926 it was renamed Novosibirsk (New Siberia), because its original name had honored both the last czar Nikolai II and the Christian saint Nicholas.
ReplyDeleteNewts are semiaquatic slamanders that alternate between aquatic and terrestrial habitats over the course of a year, sometimes even staying in the water full-time, especially for purposes of reproduction.