Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/181





all the interesting star-scenery that we pass as we travel in our year-long, never-ending path around the sun, the most magnificent and impressive is the figure of the beautiful constellation of Orion.

This constellation is not only one of the largest, but its stars are so particularly vivid as a group and so uniquely arranged as a design, that they never fail to catch the eye of even the casual observer,—like the carpenter, who, on noticing it for the first time, humorously exclaimed, "Well, look at the house-roof up in the sky!" thus unconsciously recognizing the stars as being united in a common picture or constellation.

All the ancient legends agree in describing Orion as a giant of extraordinary height and the greatest hunter in the world. Classical evidence is abundant as to his huge stature, though obviously, this evidence is not trustworthy. Pliny reports that an earthquake in Crete disclosed the bones of a giant 46 cubits in length, held by some to be Orion. A cubit is an ancient measure of about 18 inches so that if Pliny's report is correct, Orion was 69 feet tall.

There are many stories which relate the adventures of Orion