BOOK II. III. 6-9 



doiibtful. WTiether the sound of this vast mass 

 whirling in unceasing rotation is of enormous 

 volume and consequently beyond the capacity of 

 our ears to perceive, for my own part I cannot easily 

 say — any more in fact than whether this is true of the 

 tinkUng of the stars that travel round with it, 

 revolving in their own orbits ; or whether it emits a 

 sweet harmonious music that is beyond beUef 

 charming. To us who Uve within it the world 

 gUdes silently aUke by day and night. Stamped 

 upon it are countless figures of animals and objects 

 of aU kinds — it is not the case, as has been stated by 

 very famous authors, that its structure has an even 

 surface of unbroken smoothness, Uke that which we 

 observe in birds' eggs : this is proved by the evidence 

 of the facts, since from seeds of aU these objects, 

 faUing from the sky in countless numbers, particularly 

 in the sea, and usuaUy mixed together, monstrous 

 shapes are generated ; and also by the testimony 

 of sight — in one place the figure of a bear, in another 

 of a buU, in another a wain, in another a letter of the 

 alphabet," the middle of the circle across the pole 

 being more radiant. 



For my own part I am also influenced by the TkeworWi 

 agreement of the nations. The Greeks have desig- ^*""'^- 

 nated the world by a word that means * ornament,' * 

 and we have given it the name of mundus,'^ because 

 of its perfect finish and grace ! As for our word 

 caelum, it undoubtedly has the signification 

 ' engraved,' as is explained by Marcus Vari-o.'* 

 Further assistance is contributed by its orderly 



^ De Lingua Latina V 18: engraved (cadum 'chisel,' 

 caedcn) with the figures of the constellations. Caelum, ' the 

 vault of the sky,' is really for cavilum, from cavus. 



