§730 Incandescent bulbs; Hydroelectricity (1831-1913): IX-9.

IX-9 (§730):

When the ardent lamp of inextinguishable fire
Shall be discovered at the temple of the Vestals,
A child finds the fire, water passing through sieves:
Water of Nimes shall perish, the markets of Toulouse shall decline.

(Quand lampe ardente de feu inextinguible
Sera trouvé au temple des Vestales,
Enfant trouve feu, eau passant par trible:
Perir eau Nymes, Tholose cheoir les halles.)

NOTES: Here is a remarkable solution by Centurio (1953, p.193), with some obstacles unconquered: « When the burning lamp with the inextinguishable fire Shall be discovered in the temple of Vestals, A child shall be found to let the fire and water run through a sieve [durch ein Sieb]: The water fails in Nimes, the market falls in Toulouse. When the electric light, which does not extinguish, shall be discovered “in the temple of Vestals”, then each child can switch on the light and procure water through a pipe of supply. The last line is unclear.»

The ardent lamp of inextinguishable fire: = The incandescent bulb lit with an alternating current constantly supplied by a hydroelectric power plant.

The Vestals: A metaphor for the modern scientists and engineers serving Vesta, a divine symbol of discoveries and inventions of our electro-magnetic civilization: e.g., Generator (dynamo) by Michael Faraday and Motor by Joseph Henry in 1831; Maxwell’s equations about the electro-magnetic field by James Maxwell in 1865; Electric bulbs with carbon filaments by Thomas Edison in 1879; Induced motor for an alternating current by Nikola Tesla in 1883; Mathematical expression of alternating current circuits by Charles Steinmetz in 1893; Tungsten filaments by William Coolidge in 1909; Incandescent bulbs filled with nitrogen gas by Irving Langmuir in 1913, later Argon replacing Nitrogen (cf. Asimov, 1996, s.v.).

The temple of the Vestals: The intelligent world of those servants.

A child finds the fire: = Even a child can get the electric fire by switching on.

Trible: « * trible, s.m., crible (a sieve).» (Godefroy).

Water passing through sieves: This phrase expresses the generation of electricity in a hydroelectric power plant, sieves referring to the indispensable equipments of filtering the natural water taken from a river off foreign objects to secure water wheels of a generator. A recent news of this winter (December 2014) says that one of the sieves of the water channel of a hydroelectric power plant of TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated) in Tsunan, Niigata, caused, having been blocked up by masses of snow because of failed procedures, an unexpected flood which brought about a landslide with traffic hindrance resulting in the isolation of a village.

Cf. Water Screening equipments of power plants: 

plant a [http://www.suiryoku.com/gallery/niigata/sinanoga/sinanoga.html ];

plant b [ http://www.suiryoku.com/gallery/niigata/nakatgw2/nakatgw2.html ].

Water of Nimes shall perish: Even if the famous fountain of Nimes welling up out of the ground might dry up, the electric fire shall be eternal as long as power plants can be favoured by natural rivers. « The site [of Nimes] juxtaposes the whole of carcareous hills into contact of a source with deep and fresh waters, ... » (Dupont,1956, p.3; cf. p.2 and p.41-43, too).  

The markets of Toulouse shall decline: The electrification of our daily lighting will expel from the great markets of large cities like Toulouse much of the conveniences such as oil, lamps, candles, etc.
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