The world is divided into five belts; according to this division, some parts of it are inhabited by moderation, while others are uninhabited by excessive cold or heat. The first belt is the northern, uninhabited because of the cold; Its stars never set with us. The second is the solstice belt, facing from the highest part of the zodiac to the north, temperate and inhabited. The third, the equinox belt, which coincides with the central circumference of the Zodiac, is scorched and uninhabited. The fourth is winter, facing from the lowest part of the Zodiac to the South Pole, temperate and inhabited. The fifth is south, around the South Pole, covered with earth from above, uninhabited because of the cold. The three middle zones know the difference of seasons: for while in the first is the solstice, in the second is the equinox, and in the third is winter. The outer belts never see the sun. Therefore, in one day's voyage north of the island of Thule [19] even the sea is frozen.

Chapter 10. About the Countries of the World

There are four climates, or cardinal points: the east, from the rising of the solstice to the winter [rising of the sun]. South - from there to winter sunset; the west, from [winter sunset] to [sunset of] the solstice; then the north stretches from sunset to sunrise [the period of] the solstice. Of these, east and west are called "the doors of heaven," and for those who are in the middle of the earth, [east and west are always in the same place]. And for those who dwell in the north, the winter's day is shorter, and the day at the equinox is longer, for the rising and setting [of the sun], as it moves, crowds out the other cardinal directions.

Chapter 12. About the movement of the planets

Between heaven and earth hang seven stars, separated by certain intervals, and called "wandering," because they move in the opposite direction to the world: for the world moves to the left, but they are always directed to the right. And although [the sky], which is constantly rotating with infinite speed, hinders them [147] and draws them [with it] to the west, nevertheless they continue to move in the opposite direction, each in its own way, finding themselves now lower and sometimes higher because of the inclination of the zodiac. When their movement is hindered by the rays of the sun, it becomes abnormal, and they either [move] in the opposite direction or stop.

Chapter 13. On the order of the planets

Above the planets [is] the star Saturn; its nature is icy; [circle] of the Zodiac it passes in 30 years. Then [comes] Jupiter, temperate [by nature]; [passes the Zodiac] in 12 years. The third is Mars, the flaming one; for 2 years. In the middle is the Sun; in 365 days and a quarter. Below the Sun is Venus, which is also called the Morning and Evening [star]; [passes the zodiac], in 347 days, never moving away from the sun more than 46 parts [i.e., degrees], the nearest to it is the star Mercury, which makes a revolution 9 days faster, rising now before the sun, now after its sunset, never moving more than 22 parts away from it. The last is the Moon, which completes the circle of the Zodiac in 27 days and the third, after which, remaining next to the Sun, it does not appear in the sky for 2 days. Saturn and Mars [are invisible because of their proximity to the Sun] for 170 days at the most; Jupiter is at least 296 days, but usually 10 days more; Venus – 68 or at least 52 days; Mercury – 13, maximum 18 days. But they disappear when they move near the sun, no more than 11 parts [degrees]; sometimes they appear after 7 parts.

Chapter 14: On the Apses of the Planets

Each of the planets has its own circle among the stars, which the Greeks called an apse; these circles are different from those of the world, for the centre of the world or heaven is the earth which lies between the two peaks or poles, and it is also the centre of the Zodiac, which is inclined between these poles. All this is known and, having been drawn with a compass, becomes quite obvious. The lpsids of the planets have some other center, so the circles [they describe] are different, and they move in different ways. Since the lower [halves of each] apse should be shorter, and the highest [positions of each planet] relative to the center of the earth are as follows: Saturn in Scorpio, Jupiter in Virgo, Mars in Leo, the Sun in Gemini, Venus in Sagittarius, Mercury in Capricorn, the Moon in Taurus, and accordingly the other halves [of the orbits of each planet] are on the contrary the lowest and closest to the center of the earth, so it seems to us that that [the planets] move more slowly when they are in the upper [half] of their revolution. [In fact] their natural motion, which is definite and different from the others, does not accelerate or decelerate, but since the lines drawn from the circumference of the apse to the center approach like radii in a circle, the same motion appears to us now faster and sometimes slower, according to the proximity [of the planet] to the center. Their motion quickens when they are near the earth, and slows down when they rise higher, which is best observed in the motion of the moon.

Chapter 15. Why do they change color?

Each planet has its own color: Saturn is white, Jupiter is clear, Mars is fiery, Lucifer is joyful, Vesper [21] is brilliant, Mercury is radiant; the moon has an insinuating color, the sun when it rises is blazing. However, their colors change according to the altitude, so that [the planet] becomes similar to the one in whose region it has fallen, and all approaching the alien orbit are colored in [alien] color; [approaching] a colder one into pale, a hotter one into a red one, a windy one into a shimmering one; but approaching the sun, or the intersections of the apses, or the extreme points of the orbit, [the planets are covered] with black darkness. [148]

Chapter 19. On the motion and magnitude of the Sun

It is said that the solar fire is nourished by water, and that the sun is much larger than the moon, and since the moon is also larger than the earth, [the sun is so huge that, regardless of the point of observation] appears to everyone to be of the same magnitude. As for the fact that it does not appear to us to be larger than a cubit, this is due to its extreme height and distance. However, at sunrise it appears large in India, and in Britain it is greater at sunset. Having a fiery nature, it increases its heat even more, becoming incandescent in too rapid a movement. The course of the sun divides [time] into days, months, seasons, and years, and as it approaches the earth and recedes, it distributes the temperature of the air according to the seasons, for if it remained in the same places all the time, the other places would be destroyed either by cold or heat.

Chapter 20. About the nature and location of the Moon