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the sun. But when it is very close to the line, so that
it [the line] passes right through it, then the moon takes
away the sight of the sun from us so that we cannot see it
even though it is in its place. For at that time it casts a
shadow on the earth such that the rays of the sun are kept
away from that part of the earth where the sun would otherwise
shine. Those that are in that place have the shadow
behind them, but it does not appear commonly to everyone
throughout the world. For the moon is not as big as the
earth, so it is not big enough to shadow everything
except where it occurs that its path puts it exactly
between the earth and the sun. For this reason the philosophers
used to go to wherever they knew it [the eclipse] was [going to happen].
For through their reason and their studies they researched how to
prove the days and times and the things that would happen,
and from this they proved many things, which caused them
to esteem Our Lord all the more. So we see here below the
solar eclipse that is above us when the moon and sun are directly
above and below each other, with the moon staying in the lower
position. For the sun crosses the line and keeps going, getting
further away until it appears again just as it did before. And the