DAILY MOTION OF THE EARTH.

The following dialogue took place one evening on deck:—

“Well, my little fellow, what is there which so attracts your attention? for you have scarcely moved for this last half-hour.

I have been looking at the stars, father.

What is so wonderful in them this evening?

[Pg 6]There is something wonderful in them which I never noticed before.

What is that?

I will tell you. When I first came upon deck after tea, I saw a bright star rising like as if it came out of the water. While looking at its pretty light, it seemed to get higher and higher up the sky.

Did it run away from the other stars, and get a head of them?

No. But I thought it did at first, until I had watched, and then I found that the stars around about kept at the same distance from my bright star, and appeared to keep company with it while climbing the sky.

And what else did you see?

Afterwards I thought I would watch the beautiful Sirius. This seemed to be moving on, too. Then I looked at others. But they all appeared to be rolling along after one another.

What do you make of all this?

I can make nothing of it.

What puzzles you, my boy?

Several things. I cannot understand where all the stars are rolling to, why they all keep together so cleverly in their motion, or why they are moving at all.

Did you see any stars setting as well as rising?

Yes, father.

Well, as I want you to find out this subject yourself, I shall allow you to stay up later this evening, to give you time to make a few more[Pg 7] observations. Now, follow your bright star a little further. Look at that blue one overhead, and trace his journey. Have your eyes upon Sirius, and the band of Orion.

I will, father, and thank you.”

The boy was left at his star-gazing, and intently was his mind fixed¹ upon his work. It was no vacant stare he gave at the heavens. He had an object before him.

The conversation was afterwards renewed by the father:—

“I should think you were sleepy, James.

No, father: the stars kept my eyes open.

How, now, does your star get on?

Look up there. He has got as far as that.

Where is the blue-coloured one?

O, that has gone down to the western edge.

What of my old friend Sirius, and his neighbour Orion?

They have been travelling the same road.

Well, you must stop star-gazing to-night.

But will you not explain the reason of this curious motion, my dear father, before I go down?

No, my lad, you must have another look at the stars to-morrow evening first.”

The little fellow retired² slowly and thoughtfully to his berth³; and dreamed of stars and ships in mingled⁴ confusion. How he longed for the sun to leave off his shining! He never watched that orb⁵ so as he did that day! He saw it rise, ascend⁶, descend⁷, and set. When[Pg 8] the short twilight⁸ was over, the little twinkling bodies came out one by one, as a few western clouds changed from gorgeous red to colours of a darker hue⁹. He first distinguished¹⁰ Sirius, and then the band of Orion. The blue star took some time to come forth¹¹; but when it did, there it was right overhead, as it had been early the last evening. The bright star was again on the tip of the distant waves. He stared again. He remembered how he had left them all the night before, and now the stars seemed in their old places again. His kind father came up to him.

“O, father,” cried the boy, “all my stars have gone back into their places again this evening.

Did you see them travel back as you saw them travel forward?

No. But there they are, though I do not know how they got there.

I think I saw you looking pretty often at the sun, to-day. Did you notice anything peculiar¹² about his movements?

Yes. I noticed that he seemed to go the same road as my stars did the evening before.

But you saw him ascend in the east, rise nearly overhead, and then set in the west. You did not observe your stars do that.

No, father; but I have it. It took a long while for the sun to go all that distance; and I fancy that if I had watched my bright star as long, I should have seen that set in the west also.

Certainly you would.

[Pg 9]Well, but how did they get back into their places again?

How will the sun manage to get on the east side, to-morrow morning?

Ah! I see. What will explain the movement of the stars will explain the movement of the sun.

I think you will find it so.

There is only one way by which I can account for this—they must all turn round the earth. Is that it, father?

Everybody used to think so.

But what surprises me is this; as the stars are turning round us, none get before or behind the others. They keep the same distance apart.

Do you not know that all the stars are stuck in a huge mass of blue stuff, called the sky, and that when the sky turns all of them must turn with it, and, unless they tumble out, they must keep in their places?

O, father, you are joking.

Well, then, if they are not joined together, why do they move so uniformly?

That I cannot tell.

No two of the stars are of equal distance from us. They are all scattered¹³ through space, like a lot of marbles in a scramble¹⁴.

Then if they had to move round the world, I am sure they never would keep in such order, especially as some would have to go so much faster than others; for they have a much greater distance to go. They cannot turn round the earth in that way. But yet they seem to do so.

Yes. But just look forward. Do you see[Pg 10] how the head of the vessel¹⁵ is dipping into the Bay of Biscay?

I do, father.

But do you notice that as the bow of the ship sinks and rises, all the stars to the southward seem to dance up and down?

Now I understand. Like as these stars appear to dance about according to the motion of the ship, so the apparent motion of the stars round the earth in twenty-four hours must be owing to the motion of the earth. The earth must turn over once a day. It is easier to imagine this, than to imagine such extraordinary motions to take place among the stars.”

1 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 berth   

n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊

参考例句：

• She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
• They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。

4 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

5 orb   

n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形

参考例句：

• The blue heaven,holding its one golden orb,poured down a crystal wash of warm light.蓝蓝的天空托着金色的太阳，洒下一片水晶般明亮温暖的光辉。
• It is an emanation from the distant orb of immortal light.它是从远处那个发出不灭之光的天体上放射出来的。

6 ascend   

vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上

参考例句：

• We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。
• We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。

7 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

8 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

9 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

10 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

13 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

14 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

15 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。