,907] AND CONTRACTION OF THE EARTH. 237 



equably diffused, will not incline any way in any degree, but will always 

 remain in the same state and not deviate. And this is my first notion.' 



" ' Which is surely a correct one,' said Simmias. 



" ' Also I believe that the earth is very vast, and that we who dwell in 

 the region extending from the river Phasis to the Pillars of Herakles, along 

 the borders of the sea, are just like ants or frogs about a marsh, and inhabit 

 a small portion only, and that many others dwell in many like places. For I 

 should say that in all parts of the earth there are hollows of various forms 

 and sizes, into which the water and the mist and the air collect; and that the 

 true earth is pure and in the pure heaven, in which also are the stars — that 

 is the heaven which is commonly spoken of as the ether, of which this is 

 but the sediment collecting in the hollows of the earth. But we who live in 

 these hollows are deceived into the notion that we are dwelling above on 

 the surface of the earth; which is just as if a creature who was at the 

 bottom of the sea were to fancy that he was on the surface of the water, and 

 that the sea was a heaven through which he saw the sun and the other stars — 

 he having never come to the surface by reason of his feebleness and sluggish- 

 ness, and having never lifted up his head and seen, nor ever heard from 

 one who had seen, this other region which is so much purer and fairer than 

 his own. Now this is exactly our case: for we are dwelling in a hollow of 

 the earth, and fancy that we are on the surface; and the air we call the 

 heaven, and in this we imagine that the stars move. But this is also owing 

 to our feebleness and sluggishness, which prevent our reaching the surface 

 of the air: for if any man could arrive at the exterior limit, or take the 

 wings of a bird and fly upward, like a fish who puts his head out and sees 

 this world, he would see a world beyond; and, if the nature of man could 

 sustain the sight, he would acknowledge that this was the place of the true 

 heaven and the true light and the true stars. For this earth, and the stones, 

 and the entire region which surrounds us are spoilt and corroded, like the 

 things in the sea which are corroded by the brine; for in the sea too there is 

 hardly any noble or perfect growth, but clefts only, and sand, and an endless 

 slough of mud : and even the shore is not to be compared to the fairer sights 

 of this world. And greater far is the superiority of the other. Now of 

 that upper earth which is under the heaven, I can tell you a charming tale, 

 Simmias, which is well worth hearing.' 



" ' And we, Socrates,' replied Simmias, ' shall be charmed to listen.' 

 " ' The tale, my friend,' he said, ' is as follows. In the first place, the 

 earth, when looked at from above, is like one of those balls which have 

 leather coverings in twelve pieces, and is of divers colors, of which the colors 

 which painters use on earth are only a sample. But there the whole earth is 

 made up of them, and they are brighter far and clearer than ours; there is 

 a purple of wonderful luster, also the radiance of gold, and the white which 

 is in the earth is whiter than any chalk or snow. Of these and other colors 

 the earth is made up, and they are more in number and fairer than the eye 

 of man has ever seen; and the very hollows (of which I was speaking) filled 

 with air and water are seen like light flashing amid the other colors, and 

 have a color of their own, which gives a sort of unity to the variety of earth. 

 And in this fair region everything that grows — trees, and flowers, and fruits — 



