The Sleepwalkers (67 page)

The
relationship
between
Canon
Koppernigk
as
a
person,
and
the
event
known
as
the
Copernican
revolution,
is
summed
up
in
the
dedication
of
his
book
to
Pope
Paul
III.
The
relevant
passage
reads:

"I
may
well
presume,
most
Holy
Father,
that
certain
people,
on
learning
that
in
this
my
book
On
the
Revolutions
of
the
Heavenly
Spheres
I
ascribe
certain
movements
to
the
Earth,
will
cry
out
that,
holding
such
views,
I
should
at
once
be
hissed
off
the
stage...
Therefore
I
have
doubted
for
a
long
time
whether
I
should
publish
these
reflections
written
to
prove
the
earth's
motion,
or
whether
it
would
be
better
to
follow
the
example
of
the
Pythagoreans
and
others,
who
were
wont
to
impart
their
philosophic
mysteries
only
to
intimates
and
friends,
and
then
not
in
writing
but
by
word
of
mouth,
as
the
letter
of
Lysis
to
Hipparchus
witnesses...
In
considering
this
matter,
fear
of
the
scorn
which
my
new
and
[apparently]
absurd
opinion
would
bring
upon
me,
almost
persuaded
me
to
abandon
my
project."

He
then
goes
on
to
explain
that
only
the
constant
and
reproachful
admonitions
of
his
friends
persuaded
him
in
the
end
to
publish
his
book
which
he
had
kept
to
himself
and
withheld
from
the
public
"not
for
nine
years
but
for
nearly
four
times
nine
years".

Copernicus'
infatuation
with
the
Pythagorean
cult
of
secrecy
started
early,
and
stems
from
the
very
roots
of
his
personality.
The
letter
by
Lysis,
which
he
mentions
in
his
dedication,
plays
a
curious
part
in
it.
It
was
a
recent,
apocryphal
concoction;
young
Nicolas
Koppernigk
had
found
it
in
the
same
collection
of
Greek
epistolography,
published
in
1499,
which
contained
the
work
of
Simocatta.
³⁵
He
had
bought
the
book
as
a
student
in
Padua,
and
later
translated
the
Lysis
letter
into
Latin.
It
is
apparently,
apart
from
Simocatta,
the
only
lengthy
translation
from
the
Greek
that
Copernicus
ever
made
–
although
a
printed
Latin
version
of
the
letter
was
already
in
existence,
and
in
Copernicus'
possession.
This
was
contained
in
a
work
by
Cardinal
Bessarion,
also
published
by
Aldus
in
Padua;
³⁶
the
Lysis
letter
is
specially
marked
in
Copernicus'
copy
(another
marked
passage
is
in
praise
of
celibacy).
It
is
worth
while
to
quote
a
few
passages
from
this
forgery
which
made
such
a
deep
impression
on
Copernicus.

"Lysis greets Hipparchus.

After
the
death
of
Pythagoras,
I
could
not
believe
that
the
ties
between
his
pupils
would
be
broken.
Though
against
all
expectation
we
were,
as
if
by
a
shipwreck,
cut
adrift
and
dispersed
hither
and
yon,
it
remains
our
sacred
duty
to
remember
the
divine
teaching
of
our
master
and
not
to
divulge
the
treasures
of
philosophy
to
those
who
have
not
undergone
preliminary
purification
of
the
mind.
For
it
is
not
proper
to
divulge
to
all
and
sundry
what
we
have
acquired
with
such
great
effort,
just
as
it
is
not
permitted
to
let
ordinary
men
into
the
sacred
mysteries
of
the
Elysian
goddesses...
Let
us
remember
how
long
it
took
us
to
purify
our
minds
of
their
stains
until,
after
five
years
had
run
their
course,
we
became
receptive
to
his
teaching...
Some
of
his
imitators
achieve
many
and
great
things,
but
in
the
improper
way
and
not
in
the
manner
in
which
youth
should
be
taught;
thus
their
audience
is
encouraged
to
ruthlessness
and
insolence,
for
they
stain
the
pure
tenets
of
philosophy
with
rash
and
impure
demeanour.
It
is
as
if
one
were
to
pour
clean,
fresh
water
into
a
well
filled
with
dirt
–
for
the
dirt
will
only
get
agitated,
and
the
water
will
be
wasted.
This
is
what
happens
to
those
who
teach
and
are
taught
in
this
manner.
Thick
and
dark
forests
cover
the
minds
and
hearts
of
those
who
have
not
been
initiated
in
the
proper
manner,
and
disturb
the
mild
contemplation
of
ideas...
Many
tell
me
that
you
teach
philosophy
in
public,
which
was
forbidden
by
Pythagoras...
If
you
mend
your
ways
I
shall
love
you,
if
not,
you
are
dead
in
my
eyes..."
³⁷