The Natural Sun
Announcements about our sun and its natural conditions
- Chapter 26 -
More about form, dress and convention upon the first pair of sub-equators
Concerning shape, especially of the inhabitants of the northern belt, this resembles approximately those still extant presently as Asian mountain dwellers, namely in the western Caucasus, excepting that they are half as big again on average than the latter.
2
The female sex is of exceptional tenderness, except for the soles of their feet which are somewhat hard and rough like a file to protect against skidding and falling upon the smooth solar ground. Because, to have a fall here would be more hazardous for bigger and heavier bodies than upon the main equator, the ground being harder than upon the latter.
3
The rest of the female body being, as said, exceedingly tender, soft and well rounded withal. Her hair is by nature brilliant-white, whilst her skin colour is like the sun seen through a pale rose petal. Because upon this belt, people also possess their own light; so if a woman of this equator stood upon one of your mountains at night she would light up a substantial region not with white, but on account of her body, a pale red light. Only her hair would shed an intensely white light that your eyes could not bear, night or day.
4
Her eyes are large and very lively; the apple of the eye is brilliant white and the opening of the iris light blue with a dark green, not black, cornea for greater light tolerance and clear vision in every direction.
5
Therewith sketching a further description of her shape unnecessary in view of everyone's familiarity with all the outer attractions of the exterior of a perfect female form.
6
From this described form, the full physical character can be gauged. To know what is to be understood here by character, be advised that the aggregate type inherent in a complete form, is to be understood.
7
This means: when for example you see a beautiful, perfect foot together with a well-proportioned midriff; an equally beautiful well-rounded arm, a softly rounded neck and a proportionately small head and well developed face, then all this adds up to a beautiful form that cannot really be faulted in that all is perfect: foot like body, the breasts, arms, neck and head. When you admire the details in a painting you have paid tribute to the form.
8
But probing further and asking: what does this form say or bespeak? You get the overall result from a fleeting glance, noting the connections and taking in the total impression: for this consists in the glimpsed harmony which is to be understood as character.
9
Knowing this and having the form revealed to you, it will be easy for you to determine the character itself.
10
And what do such women dress like? Her clothing consists of no more than a rather large loincloth as seen on the inhabitants of the main belt. A white coat hangs from the left arm to the right hip over half the body, divided at the arm leaving the right arm and breast free.
11
Women wear a red band over their brow signifying love for wisdom.
12
This gives a woman's outline.
13
What do the men look like? He is nearly a head taller than the woman. His form is noble and perfect throughout.
14
The man too has a rather hard sole on his feet at times resembling a so-called rasp. The legs are very muscular but not harsh to look at. Likewise body and hands. His neck is round from behind but parted by two powerful muscles to the gullet leaving a furrow between the two muscles.
15
His chin is graced with a rich parted beard yellow in colour tapering off to green. The abundant hair of his head is of a light yellow colour with dark green eyebrows and his eyes are shaped like those of the woman.
16
His ears are rather large in proportion to his head. His head or rather face, always evinces the bent for wisdom and experience with a deeper red facial colour than that of the woman.
17
His body too, in different parts, is darker than that of the woman.
18
Dress consists of a white Toga reaching down to the knees, trimmed down the sides as well as the bottom and the neck end. Neither men nor women cover their heads.
19
Therewith we have a vivid view of man's shape and character.
20
You will ask: we now have the human character-type in the northern belt but what are things like in the southern belt?
21
Men are just as in the northern belt except they are bigger in size, whilst women are more beautiful still.
22
Only their apparel is different. Here it is the woman who wears the Toga, trimmed with red and tightened by a belt around a slim body. Men wear a loincloth reaching down below the knees as well as a half coat like the women of the northern belt.
23
Here the woman's headband is blue, whilst the man wears a small red cap upon his head signifying that he has a especial predilection towards wisdom. The woman's blue headband signifies her constancy, usually in being a follower of the man's wisdom.
24
At the main central equator we saw the people's inquisitiveness but this is as nothing compared to this sub-equator, where the male of the northern belt especially is capable of gaping at a natural spectacle, just standing on one spot for several years by your measure. Consequently, I certainly see to it that a natural spectacle does not last too long on either of these two belts.
25
Most natural spectacles normally take place at the convergence of the two water-belts with the two lofty alpine chains (by which the main equator is separated from these two sub-equators). These plays of nature are especially drawn out during the central belt eruptions, but since such water-belts are of a width approaching two Earth diameters, our inquisitive people don't get to see them much. During especially violent eruptions some of the spherical flares are indeed sometimes flung over the Alps and into these belts, yet due to their enormous distance, they appear no larger than your moon through a powerful telescope, even if of the latter's size. Besides, the drop of such spherical flares takes only a few seconds by your measure leaving the inhabitants of this belt somewhat disappointed.
26
Their main observations however are devoted to the stellar sky and the inhabitants, especially of the northern belt, often exhaust themselves in all kinds of speculations as to what one or other stars purport, what they are and for what purpose were they created.
27
The people of the southern belt even have a kind of aid for the eye, somewhat like your camera obscura, catching and then analysing the image of a star with much diligence. They nevertheless don't get much further than yourselves with binoculars, since they gain no more than the movement of the stars and their magnitude, being ahead of you only so-to-say that, as inhabitants of a fixed star, they are able to more precisely determine the movements and sizes of other fixed stars i.e. so far as their eyes and instruments will reach. Once these fail them however, all calculations are, as with yourselves, at an end.
28
These two belts differ also in that the people of the northern belt place less store by watching than by speculations and conclusions, whilst the people of the southern belt first watch everything most carefully and only then progress to all sorts of speculations and inferences.
29
Thus we have summed up the predilections of these people, and now we shall also take a look at how the people of these two belts live, both as individuals and societies.
30
Regarding the settling of this belt as upon the main equator, the people indeed live in separate houses, the style of which we shall not examine till next time, that being the wise men's way of not disturbing them in their reflections.
31
There nevertheless are upon the shores of minor inland seas and more notably upon the high plateaus, certain communities consisting of several grand buildings strung together with a city-like appearance. These are communally owned cooperatives, usually occupied by the wise men of the country.
32
But we shall examine their individual units and their efficacy next time, so we shall leave it for today.