The story of the universe. Volume 1 (of 4) : $b The starry skies
History
The story of the universe. Volume 1 (of 4) : $b The starry skies
Astronomy; Earth (Planet); Natural history
Besides these groups of animals, there are several others scattered
over the heavens. The three pairs of stars standing close together
at the feet of the Great Bear were likened to the footmarks of a
gazelle. They were called the Gazelle’s Springs, or Hoofs (Kafzât
el-dhibâ or Dhufra el-gizlân). Naturally the animal itself was
regarded as being in the neighborhood of its tracks. On the one hand,
Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, A and d, on the head of the Great Bear,
and on the other, as it appears, the stars of the Little Lion were
included under the name Gazelle (El-dhibâ). The latter group also
appears under the names the Gazelles and their Young (El-dhibâ w’
aulâdhâ).
The five stars of the Virgin, Beta, Eta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon,
were looked upon as so many yelping dogs (El-auwâ); Alpha and Beta
in the Archer as a pair of birds peculiar to Arabia (El-suradain);
Alpha (Fomalhaut) in the Southern Fish and Beta (Diphda) in the Whale
as two Frogs (El-difda el-awel and El-difda el-thâni); four stars
in the Great Dog and the Dove and as many Monkeys (El-kurûd), and
the two bright stars of the latter constellation as a pair of Ravens
(El-ag’riba).
All the creatures so far mentioned are familiar to the Arabs, the
camel most of all. Just as their language is rich in words which
refer to this useful animal, so also it plays the chief rôle in their
astronomical nomenclature. We have already met with some camel-groups
in the Arabian heavens. We find two more in the Bull and in the Crow.
The brightest star in the Hyades has the name of “the Large Camel”
(El-fenîk or El-fetîk), the others are called “the Small Camels”
(El-kilâs or El-kalâjis). The four principal stars of the Crow were
regarded as so many male-camels (El-adschmâl), analogous to the
above-mentioned four female-camels in a similar figure at the head of
the Dragon.
Just as frequently do we come across the ostrich in the Arabian
heavens. The Southern Crown bears the name of the Ostrich Nest (Udha
el-naâm), to which two pairs of ostriches (El-dhalîmain, Lambda
and Mu in the Archer) appear to belong. A second ostrich-nest was
formed from a number of stars in the upper part of Eridanus. In the
neighborhood are five hen-ostriches (El-naâmât, Zeta, Eta, Theta,
Tau, and Upsilon) in the belly of the Whale, and somewhat further
away are two male birds (El-dhalîm, Alpha in the Southern Fish and
Alpha in the River). The latter have a number of young ostriches
(El-rijâl stars in the Phœnix) between them. Ostrich eggs (El-baid),
or their shells (El-kaid), are represented by small stars in the
vicinity of the nest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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