[110b]
If I may tell a story, Simmias, about the things on the earth that is below the heaven, and what they are like, it is well worth hearing.”“By all means, Socrates,” said Simmias; “we should be glad to hear this story.”“Well then, my friend,” said he, “to begin with, the earth when seen from above is said to look like those balls that are covered with twelve pieces of leather; it is divided into patches of various colors, of which the colors which we see here may be regarded as samples, such as painters use.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 1 translated by Harold North Fowler; Introduction by W.R.M. Lamb. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1966.
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