Et in articulo mortis

摘要

The Chinese had a tradition about eclipses. Such things happened, they said, when a dragon tries to swallow the Sun: but the dragon would go away if people shouted at it. The Chinese were, of course, correct. There really are dragons that swallow suns, and they will go away — but you have to shout very loudly indeed. The first signs of dragons came in 2618 of the Common Era (Nebular Year 4667532109 ± 1044 Calibrated), when several nearby stars ceased to exist. The first were red dwarfs far beyond naked-eye visibility.