Дава Собел – Galileo’s Daughter: A Drama of Science, Faith and Love (страница 1)
Galileo’s Daughter
A drama of science, faith and love
Dava Sobel
To the fathers,
Galileo Galilei
&
Samuel Hillel Sobel, MD,
in loving memory
Table of Contents
[I] She who was so precious to you
[II] This grand book the universe
[III] Bright stars speak of your virtues
[IV] To have the truth seen and recognised
[V] In the very face of the Sun
[VI] Observant executrix of God’s commands
[VII] The malice of my persecutors
[VIII] Conjecture here among shadows
[IX] How our father is favoured
[X] To busy my self in your service
[XI] What we require above all else
[XIII] Through my memory of their eloquence
[XIV] A small and trifling body
[XV] On the right path by the grace of God
[XVI] The tempest of our many torments
[XVII] While seeking to immortalise your fame
[XVIII] Since the Lord chastises us with these whips
[XIX] The hope of having you always near
[XX] That I should be begged to publish such a work
PART FOUR Care of the Tuscan Embassy, Villa Medici, Rome
[XXI] How anxiously I live, awaiting word from you
[XXII] In the comfort of the Holy Office of the Inquisition
[XXIII] Vainglorious ambition, pure ignorance and inadvertence
[XXIV] Faith rested in the miraculous Madonna of Imprueta
[XXV] Judgment passed on your book and your person
[XXVI] Not knowing how to refuse him the keys
[XXVII] Terrible destruction on the feast of San Lorenzo
[XXVIII] Recitation of the penitential psalms
[XXIX] The book of life, or, A prophet accepted in his own land
[XXXI] Until I have this from your lips
[XXXII] As I struggle to understand
[XXXIII] The memory of the sweetnesses
FLORENTINE WEIGHTS, MEASURES, CURRENCY
[I] She who was so precious to you
MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LORD FATHER
WE ARE TERRIBLY SADDENED by the death of your cherished sister, our dear aunt; but our sorrow at losing her is as nothing compared to our concern for your sake, because your suffering will be all the greater, Sire, as truly you have no one else left in your world, now that she, who could not have been more precious to you, has departed, and therefore we can only imagine how you sustain the severity of such a sudden and completely unexpected blow. And while I tell you that we share deeply in your grief, you would do well to draw even greater comfort from contemplating the general state of human misery, since we are all of us here on Earth like strangers and wayfarers, who soon will be bound for our true homeland in Heaven, where there is perfect happiness, and where we must hope that your sister’s blessed soul has already gone. Thus, for the love of God, we pray you, Sire, to be consoled and to put yourself in His hands, for, as you know so well, that is what He wants of you; to do otherwise would be to injure yourself and hurt us, too, because we lament grievously when we hear that you are burdened and troubled, as we have no other source of goodness in this world but you.
I will say no more, except that with all our hearts we fervently pray the Lord to comfort you and be with you always, and we greet you dearly with our ardent love.
FROM SAN MATTEO, THE 10TH DAY OF MAY 1623.
Most affectionate daughter,