Schwarzschild tried to explain to them that the nature of the moon had not changed; it was an optical illusion, caused by a thin layer of clouds crossing in front of it, making it seem larger and faster than it was. He spoke to them with the same tenderness he would have used with his children, but he did not manage to convince them. Nor could he himself shake off the feeling that everything had begun to move more swiftly since the start of the war, as though the world was slipping off a precipice.
