Pagina 441 de 788

But the Chamberlain was seated on the bench of turf before the

house. He interrupted the conversation of the guests, a sign that

he was preparing to speak; in the moonlight shone his great

snuffbox (all of pure gold, set with diamonds; in the middle of

it was a portrait of King Stanislaw, under glass); he tapped on

it with his fingers, took a pinch, and said:-

"Thaddeus, your talk about the stars is only an echo of what you

have heard in school; as to marvels I prefer to take the advice

of simple people. I too studied astronomy for two years at Wilno,

where Pani Puzynin, a wise and a rich woman, had given the income

of a village of two hundred peasants for the purchase of various

glasses and telescopes. Father Poczobut,146 a famous man, was in

charge of the observatory, and at that time rector of the whole

university; however he finally abandoned his professor's chair

and his telescope and returned to his monastery, to his quiet

cell, and there he died as a good Christian should. I am also

acquainted with Sniadecki,147 who is a very wise man, though a

layman.