96 THE KING'S MIRROR 



ing, while the strength of winter is so overpowering that 

 summer seems like a mere shadow, and where in many 

 places both snow and ice lie all through summer just as 

 in winter, as is true of Iceland and particularly of Green- 

 land. But I have heard that in the southlands there are 

 no severe winters, the sun being as hot in winter as it is 

 with us in summer; and that in winter, when the sun 

 has less power, both grain and other crops grow, while 

 in summer the earth cannot endure the fervent heat of 

 the sun and consequently yields neither grass nor grain; 

 so that in regions like Apulia and even more so in the 

 land of Jerusalem the heat of summer causes as great 

 distress as the cold of winter with us. Now when you 

 tell me that the sun's path waxes faster here in the north 

 than yonder in the south, I cannot see the reason why; 

 for there the sun's heat is as great in winter as it is with 

 us in summer; and it is so much greater in summer that 

 all vegetation on the earth is scorched by it. Therefore 

 it seems to me more likely that the sun's path waxes 

 most rapidly where the heat is most intense. Now if 

 you can and will clear this up for me so that I can 

 grasp it, I shall listen gladly and attentively. 



Father. I shall begin my talk on the subject that I am 

 now to take up with a little illustration, which may help 

 you to a clearer insight, since you find it so difficult to 

 believe the facts as stated. If you take a lighted candle 

 and set it in a room, you may expect it to light up the 

 entire interior, unless something should hinder, though 

 the room be quite large. But if you take an apple and 

 hang it close to the flame, so near that it is heated, the 

 apple will darken nearly half the room or even more. 



