The Sleepwalkers (186 page)

The
Act
of
Accusation,
read
in
September,
was
answered
a
few
weeks
later
by
an
Act
of
Contestation
by
Kepler
and
counsel;
this
was
refuted
by
an
Act
of
Acceptation
by
the
prosecution
in
December;
in
May,
next
year,
the
defence
submitted
an
Act
of
Exception
and
Defence;
in
August,
the
prosecution
answered
with
an
Act
of
Deduction
and
Confutation.
The
last
word
was
the
Act
of
Conclusion
by
the
defence,
a
hundred
and
twentyeight
pages
long,
and
written
mostly
in
Kepler's
own
hand.
After
that
the
case
was
sent,
by
order
of
the
Duke,
to
the
Faculty
of
Law
at
Tuebingen
–
Kepler's
university.
The
Faculty
found
that
Katherine
ought
to
be
questioned
under
torture,
but
recommended
that
the
procedure
should
be
halted
at
the
stage
of
territio
,
or
questioning
under
threat
of
torture.

According
to
the
procedure
laid
down
in
such
cases,
the
old
woman
was
led
into
the
torture
chamber,
confronted
with
the
executioner,
the
instruments
were
shown
to
her,
and
their
action
on
the
body
described
in
detail;
then
she
was
given
a
last
chance
to
confess
her
guilt.
The
terror
of
the
place
was
such
that
a
great
number
of
victims
broke
down
and
confessed
at
this
stage.
⁹
The
reactions
of
Ma
Kepler
were
described
in
the
Provost's
report
to
the
Duke
as
follows:

"Having,
in
the
presence
of
three
members
of
the
Court
and
of
the
town
scribe,
tried
friendly
persuasion
on
the
accused,
and
having
met
with
contradiction
and
denial,
I
led
her
to
the
usual
place
of
torture
and
showed
her
the
executioner
and
his
instruments,
and
reminded
her
earnestly
of
the
necessity
of
telling
the
truth,
and
of
the
great
dolour
and
pain
awaiting
her.
Regardless,
however,
of
all
earnest
admonitions
and
reminders,
she
refused
to
admit
and
confess
to
witchcraft
as
charged,
indicating
that
one
should
do
with
her
as
one
liked,
and
that
even
if
one
artery
after
another
were
to
be
torn
from
her
body,
she
would
have
nothing
to
confess;
whereafter
she
fell
on
her
knees
and
said
a
pater
noster
,
and
demanded
that
God
should
make
a
sign
if
she
were
a
witch
or
a
monster
or
had
ever
anything
to
do
with
witchcraft.
She
was
willing
to
die,
she
said,
God
would
reveal
the
truth
after
her
death,
and
the
injustice
and
violence
done
to
her;
she
would
leave
it
all
to
God,
who
would
not
withdraw
the
Holy
Ghost
from
her,
but
be
her
support...
Having
persisted
in
her
contradiction
and
denial
regarding
witchcraft,
and
having
remained
steadfast
in
this
position,
I
led
her
back
to
her
place
of
custody."
¹⁰

A
week
later,
Ma
Kepler
was
released,
after
fourteen
months
of
imprisonment.
She
could
not
return
to
Leonberg,
though,
because
the
populace
threatened
to
lynch
her.
Six
months
later,
she
died.

It
was
against
this
background
that
Kepler
wrote
the
Harmony
of
the
World
,
¹¹
in
which
the
third
planetary
law
was
given
to
his
engaging
contemporaries.

5.
Harmonice Mundi

The
work
was
completed
in
1618,
three
months
after
the
death
of
his
daughter
Katherine,
and
three
days
after
the
defenestration
of
Prague.
No
irony
was
intended
by
the
title.
Irony
he
only
permitted
himself
in
a
footnote
(to
the
sixth
chapter
of
the
Fifth
Book),
where
the
sounds
emitted
by
the
various
planets
as
they
hum
along
their
orbits
are
discussed:
"The
Earth
sings
Mi-Fa-Mi,
so
we
can
gather
even
from
this
that
Mi
sery
and
Fa
mine
reign
on
our
habitat."

The
Harmony
of
the
World
is
a
mathematician's
Song
of
Songs
"to
the
chief
harmonist
of
creation";
it
is
Job's
daydream
of
a
perfect
universe.
If
one
reads
the
book
concurrently
with
his
letters
about
the
witch-trial,
his
excommunication,
the
war,
and
the
death
of
his
child,
one
has
the
impression
of
being
abruptly
transported
from
one
play
by
his
Stratford
contemporary
to
a
different
one.
The
letters
seem
to
echo
the
monologue
of
King
Lear
–
"Blow
winds
and
crack
your
cheeks!
Rage!
Blow!
–
You
cataracts
and
hurricanes
spout
–
Till
you
have
drenched
our
steeples,
drowned
the
cocks
–
And
thou
all-shaking
thunder
–
Strike
flat
the
thick
rotundity
of
the
world."
But
the
book's
motto
could
be:
"Here
we
will
sit
and
let
the
sounds
of
music
creep
in
our
ears
–
Soft
stillness
and
the
night
become
the
touch
of
sweet
harmony.
–
There's
not
the
smallest
orb
which
thou
behold'st
–
But
in
his
motion
like
an
angel
sings...
–
Such
harmony
is
in
immortal
souls."