XLII.
THE OPINION OF THE ASTRONOMER IS EXPLAINED AND JUSTIFIED.
"I suppose he discovered in me, through the obscurity of the room, some
tokens of amazement and doubt, for, after a short pause, he proceeded
thus:
"'Not to be easily credited will neither surprise nor offend me; for I
am, probably, the first of human beings to whom this trust has been
imparted. Nor do I know whether to deem this distinction a reward or
punishment; since I have possessed it, I have been far less happy than
before, and nothing but the consciousness of good intention could have
enabled me to support the weariness of unremitted vigilance.'
"How long, sir, said I, has this great office been in your hands?"
"'About ten years ago,' said he, 'my daily observations of the changes
of the sky, led me to consider, whether, if I had the power of the
seasons, I could confer greater plenty upon the inhabitants of the
earth. This contemplation fastened on my mind, and I sat, days and
nights, in imaginary dominion, pouring, upon this country and that, the
showers of fertility, and seconding every fall of rain with a due
proportion of sunshine. I had yet only the will to do good, and did not
imagine that I should ever have the power.
"'One day, as I was looking on the fields withering with heat, I felt,
in my mind, a sudden wish that I could send rain on the southern
mountains, and raise the Nile to an inundation.
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