A Question for Astronomers — 301
A teacher in a western county in Canada, while making his first visit to his “constituents,” came into conversation with an ancient “Varmount” lady, who had taken up her residence in the “backwoods.” Of course, the school and former teachers came in for criticism; and the old lady, in speaking of his predecessor, asked: “Wa’ll, master, what do yer think he larnt the schollards?” “Couldn’t say, ma’am. Pray, what did he teach?” “Wa’al, he told ’em that this ’ere airth was reound, and went areound; and all that sort ’o thing. Now, master, what do you think about sich stuff? Don’t you think he was an ignorant feller?” Unwilling to come under the category of the ignorami, the teacher evasively remarked: “It really did seem strange; but still there are many learned men who teach these things.” “Wa’al,” says she, “if the airth is reound, and goes reound, what holds it up?” “Oh, these learned men say that it goes around the sun, and that the sun holds it up by virtue of the law of attraction.” The old lady lowered her “specs,” and, by way of climax, responded: “Wa’al, if these high larn’t men sez the sun holds up the airth, I should like tu know what holds the airth up when the sun goes down!”