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Isaac's playmates were enchanted with his new windmill. They thought that nothing so pretty, and so wonderful, had ever been seen in the whole world.
"But , Isaac," said one of them, "you have forgotten one thing that belongs to a mill."
"What is that?" asked Isaac; for he supposed, that, from the roof of the mill to its foundation, he had forgotten nothing.
"Why, where is the miller?" said his friend.
"That is true!—I must look out for one," said Isaac; and he set himself to consider how the deficiency should be supplied.
He might easily have made the miniature figure of a man; but then it would not have been able to move about, and perform the duties of a miller. As Captain Lemuel Gulliver had not yet discovered the island of Lilliput, Isaac did not know that there were little men in the world, whose size was just suited to his windmill. It so happened, however, that a mouse had just been caught in the trap; and, as no other miller could be found, Mr. Mouse was appointed to that important office. The new miller made a very respectable appearance in his dark gray coat. To be sure, he had not a very good character for honesty, and was suspected of sometimes stealing a portion of the grain which was given him to grind. But perhaps some two-legged millers are quite as dishonest as this small quadruped.
As Isaac grew older, it was found that he had far more important matters in his mind than the manufacture of toys, like the little windmill. All day long, if left to himself, he was either absorbed in thought, or engaged in some book of mathematics, or natural philosophy. At night, I think it probable, he looked up with reverential curiosity at the stars, and wondered whether they were worlds, like our own,—and how great was their distance from the earth and what was the power that kept them in their courses. Perhaps, even so early in life, Isaac Newton felt a presentiment that he should be able, hereafter, to answer all these questions.
"But , Isaac," said one of them, "you have forgotten one thing that belongs to a mill."
"What is that?" asked Isaac; for he supposed, that, from the roof of the mill to its foundation, he had forgotten nothing.
"Why, where is the miller?" said his friend.
"That is true!—I must look out for one," said Isaac; and he set himself to consider how the deficiency should be supplied.
He might easily have made the miniature figure of a man; but then it would not have been able to move about, and perform the duties of a miller. As Captain Lemuel Gulliver had not yet discovered the island of Lilliput, Isaac did not know that there were little men in the world, whose size was just suited to his windmill. It so happened, however, that a mouse had just been caught in the trap; and, as no other miller could be found, Mr. Mouse was appointed to that important office. The new miller made a very respectable appearance in his dark gray coat. To be sure, he had not a very good character for honesty, and was suspected of sometimes stealing a portion of the grain which was given him to grind. But perhaps some two-legged millers are quite as dishonest as this small quadruped.
As Isaac grew older, it was found that he had far more important matters in his mind than the manufacture of toys, like the little windmill. All day long, if left to himself, he was either absorbed in thought, or engaged in some book of mathematics, or natural philosophy. At night, I think it probable, he looked up with reverential curiosity at the stars, and wondered whether they were worlds, like our own,—and how great was their distance from the earth and what was the power that kept them in their courses. Perhaps, even so early in life, Isaac Newton felt a presentiment that he should be able, hereafter, to answer all these questions.
Explanation:
Isaac's friends were charmed with his new windmill. They felt they had not seen anything more wonderful or prettier than the windmill. But one of his friends pointed out that he had forgotten one thing that belonged to a mill. Isaac was surprised and asked what he had missed because he was sure that from the foundation to the roof of the mill, he had not forgotten any detail. His friend asked him where the miller was! Isaac agreed, he said he must search for one miller now and thought how the shortcoming could be overcome.
Isaac thought his model was complete and perfect!
He could have easily made a small figure of a man to suit his model-sized windmill. But he would have to make it move about and make it do the duties of a miller. During Isaac's time, Gullivers Travels, the famous book had not been written. Gulliver had not discovered the island of Lilliputs. Lilliputs are tiny people, about six inches tall - an imaginary character in the famous Gulliver's Travels. Such a small sized man would suit the model-sized windmill of Isaac. Isaac did not know it then. Isaac was wondering what to do for the miller. Just then, a mouse had been trapped in the mouse-trap set at Isaac's home. He appointed Mr. Mouse as the miller. The size of the mouse suited the size of the windmill. The new miller looked very respectable in his grey overcoat. But he was not a very honest miller, because he stole a portion of grain every time he was given grains to make flour! Maybe even two-legged millers (real millers - human beings) are sometimes as dishonest as these small four-legged animals.
Mr. Mouse - Not an honest miller!
As Isaac become older, he realized he had more important issues in his life than just making miniature toys of windmill and the miller. If he was alone, throughout the day, he was in deep thought or he deeply concentrated in some mathematics or natural philosophy book. During the nights, he looked up the sky and thought with deep respect to the stars, wondered whether the stars were worlds like our earth, what was the distance of stars from earth, what was the power that held them in their positions. Even in his young age, maybe he had an intuition that he should be able to answer the questions about our universe.
Meanings of difficult words:
No. | Words | Meanings |
1 | enchanted | charmed, filled with delight |
2 | reverential | with a deep respect to |
3 | presentiment | an intuitive feeling about the future |
4 | quadruped | four-legged animal |
Reference:
State Council of Educational Research and Training (2019). Term-2 English Standard-8. Sir Isaac Newton- The Ingenious Scientist (pp. 84-97). Published by the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation
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