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many nights and many days, in order to
view the stars which rose in the east
and moved above their heads. Certainly
these philosophers did not seek after rich
food or delicious wine, nor did they fill their stomachs
as beasts do, who do not look beyond their
pastures, as so many today do also, who have no
care beyond filling their stomachs with good wine
and food, and then coveting their white, soft beds
and sleeping there like swine. Rather, they kept
watch and studied for many nights and were not fatigued
thereby. But they were much cheered by seeing
the firmament move in such a way and so nobly holding
its course. They also saw the stars move until
they set in the west, some in one place and the some in another,
and some sooner than others. And so the wise
philosophers and others watched the firmament
until daybreak, when they again saw the sun rising
in the clear, vermilion sky, as it ascended for the first half
of the day and descended in the second half, until it approached