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spreads its rays [see note] above the earth, it shines on
the marshes and dries them up, and takes the moisture from
them and raises it on high. It is a subtle moisture, hardly
visible, known as vapor. It rises up to the middle of the air
where it gathers and coagulates, and it stays there. Then
little by little it comes about that it gets thicker and darker
to the point that it takes away our view of the sun. This
is a cloud. But it is not so dark that it takes from us all the
day's brightness. When it becomes too thick it
brings forth water that comes down to the earth and
the cloud stays white. For the sun, which is above the
cloud, shines through it so that it is not too dark, just as though
it were shining through a glass, or like a burning candle
inside a lantern, that gives us, outside, brightness even
though we cannot see the candle. In the same way, the
sun shines through the cloud below it
and gives us the brightness of day as it makes its
journey above the earth. And the cloud that continues to
thicken gathers itself together until it becomes black and
wet, and when there is water in it then the water comes
down to the earth, and in this way rain is formed. And when the water has completely