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In about 1503, during Christopher
Columbus's fourth and final trip to America, his ship was seriously damaged in
a storm. Columbus and his men had to live on a small island for several months
while they tried to repair their ship and return to Spain.
At first, the local people on the island
were very kind to the European visitors, giving them all the food and clothes
they needed to survive. However, as the months passed, the local people became
more and more unhappy with their guests, who were tricking and stealing from
them. Finally the locals decided to stop helping. Without food or any way to
leave the island, Columbus's group was soon in serious trouble.
Luckily for Columbus, he had a book about
the stars and planets on his ship. It described the movements of all the
objects in the night sky. The book, written by a well-known German scientist, said
there would be a total lunar eclipse(月食)and how
long it would last.
Columbus worked out the difference in time
between Germany and North America. He then had a meeting with the local leaders
just before the eclipse would take place. In this meeting, Columbus told them his
god was angry because the local people were no longer giving food. So his god
would take away the Moon to punish them. At the moment Columbus finished
talking, just as he had planned, the Moon began disappearing.
The local leaders grew frightened and
quickly agreed to provide Columbus with food and anything else he wanted. But
first, Columbus's god had to return the Moon. Columbus told them he would have
to discuss the idea with his god on his ship. Knowing the Moon would stay
completely hidden for about 48 minutes, Columbus returned just before the Moon
began to reappear. From that day on, until they finally left, Columbus and his
men no longer had any trouble getting the food they needed.
