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To-day they listened little to him, and gave no heed at all to

the Sieve, or to the Dragon, or even to the Scales; to-day the

eyes and thoughts of all were absorbed by a new guest, recently

observed in the sky. This was a comet of the first magnitude and

power,144 which had appeared in the west and was flying towards

the north; with a bloody eye it looked askance upon the Chariot,

as though it wished to seize the empty place of Lucifer; behind,

it threw out a long tail, and with it encircled a third part of

the sky, gathered in hundreds of stars as with a net, and drew

them after it; but it aimed its own head higher, towards the

north, straight for the polar star.