day and night in concultures (was: equinox)

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Nik Taylor wrote:

>Pablo Flores wrote:
>> I once began to think, just as an exercise, about how the seasons =
would go
>> on in a planet with two or more suns.
>A great story to read relating to this is Asimov's _Nightfall_ (?),
>there's also a book by Asimov based on that short story.
I've read it! It was a long time ago (I must have been 12 o 13 at that =
time) but I still remember quite a lot of it. I didn't read the book =
tho, just the story.

I also read a short story in an omnibus collection... Stories from all =
around the world, translated into English. This one is called "The =
Lens", by Annemarie van Ewyck. It takes place in a planet called =
Mertcha, in the mathematical centre of the Galaxy (well, now we know =
there's a major black hole there, but...). The description is =
impressive. I quote:

"[...] And I had looked forward so much to this first, languorous ride =
through the broad avenues of Tiel, under a sky full of radiance. I had =
longed for the blaze of the billions of stars that shine down on this =
small red planet in the mathematical centre of the galactic lens. A =
world where darkness is an artificial condition and where black-out =
curtains are as familiar a feature as light-switches elsewhere. [...]"

There is a sun, but it's weak compared to the stars. In the Holy Place =
of Tiel, starlight comes down and focuses on the center of a labyrinth =
that people can walk. If you're lucky, as you get inside the labyrinth, =
you get higher and higher in your spirit, and in the centre, with half =
the galaxy concentrated over you, you enter holy ecstasy and you're =
invited to stay and meditate with the monks in the Place.


>Imagine a language with no word for star!
If it hadn't one, someone from another planet would come and teach the =
natives one. I'm Elvish about this :-) I'd prefer many stars and no sun.

The "language with no word for X" topic is interesting even after being =
worn out by thousands of opinions. Of concultures and conlangs I can =
remember now, there's the one in planet Gethen, in Ursula K. LeGuin's =
"The Left Hand of Darkness". There are a lot of words for snow and in =
general for weather (some are mentioned). But there's no verb meaning =
"to fly", and also no word for "war". These people can pillage, ravage, =
burn down, assault, murder, etc., but never in large numbers or in an =
organized fashion, so the concept of war doesn't exist.


Going back to seasons, I wonder if someone has read (also Ursula's) =
"Exile Planet". The planet revolves around a giant star in an orbit of =
about 60 Earth years. Children are conceived mainly in autumn, so "the =
Winter" is either at the beginning or the end of a person's life... =
No-one except the oldest ones live enough to see two winters.



>"Public media should not contain explicit or implied descriptions of =
sex
>acts.  Our society should be purged of the perverts who provide the
>media with pornographic material while pretending it has some redeeming
>social value under the public's 'right to know.'" - Kenneth Star, 1987
Great quote!


--Pablo Flores

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