1. Afternoon class
"So you all know what this hazy white thing that was called a river or a trace of milk flow is really?"
The teacher asked, pointing to the place that looked like a galactic belt white-smoldering from top to bottom, in a large black picture of constellation hanging on the blackboard.
Campanella raised his hand.
Then four or five people raised their hands.
Giovanni was also about to raise his hand, but hurriedly stopped.
He had read in a magazine that they were all stars, but these days Giovanni was so sleepy in the classroom, and he didn't have time to read or books to read, so he felt as if he didn't know everything anyway.
But the teacher found it early on.
"Giovanni, you maybe understand."
Giovanni stood up vigorously, but when he got up he couldn't answer clearly anymore.
Zanelli turned around from his seat in front, looked at Giovanni and chuckled.
Giovanni was already jittery and turned red.
The teacher said again.
"If we take a closer look at a galaxy through a big telescope, what is a galaxy mostly made of?"
Giovanni thought it's a star, but again he couldn't answer right away.
The teacher looked puzzled for a moment, then looked Campanella and said, "Then Campanella."
Then Campanella who had raised his hand so vigorously, stood up unsteadily, couldn't answer.
The teacher surprisingly stared at him for a moment, then hurriedly said, "OK, Alright."
The teacher pointed to the star map by himself and said.
"If we look at this hazy white galaxy through a big, good telescope, it looks like so many little stars.
Isn't that right, Giovanni?"
Giovanni turned red and nodded.
But Giovanni's eyes filled with tears.
Yes, I knew, and of course Campanella also knew.
It was in a magazine that I had read with Campanella in his father's house.
As soon as Campanella read the magazine, he brought a big book from his father's study.
Then he opened the page about galaxies, and we looked at the beautiful pictures with white dots all over the black pages for a long time.
Campanella should have remembered that.
At this time, I had a hard time working in the mornings and afternoons, and I no longer played happily with everyone at school and didn't talk much to Campanella.
Campanella knew that and felt sorry for me and deliberately didn't answer.
I thought of it that way and felt very sorry for myself and Campanella.
The teacher said again.
"So, if this Milky Way was a real river, every little star is a grain of sand and gravel in this river.
And if this was a milk flow, it is more similar to Milky Way.
Every star is like a fine ball of fatty oil in the milk.
If so, what is the water of that river?
It is a vacuum, which transmits light at a certain speed, and the sun and the earth are also floating in it.
In other words, we also live in the water of Milky Way.
Just as the deeper the water is, the bluer it appears to be, the deeper and farther the bottom of Milky Way is, the more stars appear to be clustered together.
So it looks white and hazy. Look at this model."
The teacher pointed to a big double-sided convex lens with many glowing grains of sand inside.
"The shape of Milky Way looks just like this.
Every single one of these grains of sand is a star shining by itself, just like our sun.
If our sun is in the middle of this, and the earth is very close to it.
And if you look around in the lens from the center of this at night.
This or this side of glass is thin, so only a few grains, or stars, can be seen.
This or this side of glass is thick, so many grains, or stars, can be seen, and it looks hazy white.
This is the theory of galaxies.
About the size of this lens and the stars within it, it's time to end, so I'll talk in the next science class.
Today is a celebration of the galaxy, so go out and take a good look at it.
That's all for now. Put away your books and notebooks."
And then there was a lot of noise in the classroom for a while as lids of desk were opened and closed and books were put on another books, but soon everyone stood up, bowed, and left the classroom.
- To return to table of contents of Night on the Galactic Railroad
The teacher asked, pointing to the place that looked like a galactic belt white-smoldering from top to bottom, in a large black picture of constellation hanging on the blackboard.
Campanella raised his hand.
Then four or five people raised their hands.
Giovanni was also about to raise his hand, but hurriedly stopped.
He had read in a magazine that they were all stars, but these days Giovanni was so sleepy in the classroom, and he didn't have time to read or books to read, so he felt as if he didn't know everything anyway.
But the teacher found it early on.
"Giovanni, you maybe understand."
Giovanni stood up vigorously, but when he got up he couldn't answer clearly anymore.
Zanelli turned around from his seat in front, looked at Giovanni and chuckled.
Giovanni was already jittery and turned red.
The teacher said again.
"If we take a closer look at a galaxy through a big telescope, what is a galaxy mostly made of?"
Giovanni thought it's a star, but again he couldn't answer right away.
The teacher looked puzzled for a moment, then looked Campanella and said, "Then Campanella."
Then Campanella who had raised his hand so vigorously, stood up unsteadily, couldn't answer.
The teacher surprisingly stared at him for a moment, then hurriedly said, "OK, Alright."
The teacher pointed to the star map by himself and said.
"If we look at this hazy white galaxy through a big, good telescope, it looks like so many little stars.
Isn't that right, Giovanni?"
Giovanni turned red and nodded.
But Giovanni's eyes filled with tears.
Yes, I knew, and of course Campanella also knew.
It was in a magazine that I had read with Campanella in his father's house.
As soon as Campanella read the magazine, he brought a big book from his father's study.
Then he opened the page about galaxies, and we looked at the beautiful pictures with white dots all over the black pages for a long time.
Campanella should have remembered that.
At this time, I had a hard time working in the mornings and afternoons, and I no longer played happily with everyone at school and didn't talk much to Campanella.
Campanella knew that and felt sorry for me and deliberately didn't answer.
I thought of it that way and felt very sorry for myself and Campanella.
The teacher said again.
"So, if this Milky Way was a real river, every little star is a grain of sand and gravel in this river.
And if this was a milk flow, it is more similar to Milky Way.
Every star is like a fine ball of fatty oil in the milk.
If so, what is the water of that river?
It is a vacuum, which transmits light at a certain speed, and the sun and the earth are also floating in it.
In other words, we also live in the water of Milky Way.
Just as the deeper the water is, the bluer it appears to be, the deeper and farther the bottom of Milky Way is, the more stars appear to be clustered together.
So it looks white and hazy. Look at this model."
The teacher pointed to a big double-sided convex lens with many glowing grains of sand inside.
"The shape of Milky Way looks just like this.
Every single one of these grains of sand is a star shining by itself, just like our sun.
If our sun is in the middle of this, and the earth is very close to it.
And if you look around in the lens from the center of this at night.
This or this side of glass is thin, so only a few grains, or stars, can be seen.
This or this side of glass is thick, so many grains, or stars, can be seen, and it looks hazy white.
This is the theory of galaxies.
About the size of this lens and the stars within it, it's time to end, so I'll talk in the next science class.
Today is a celebration of the galaxy, so go out and take a good look at it.
That's all for now. Put away your books and notebooks."
And then there was a lot of noise in the classroom for a while as lids of desk were opened and closed and books were put on another books, but soon everyone stood up, bowed, and left the classroom.
- To return to table of contents of Night on the Galactic Railroad