पाळण्यातले पाय Palnyatle Pay (The Feet Show in the Cradle - Young Isaac Newton)

नदीकाठच्या एका घरात आयझॅक हा चतुर, बोलका मुलगा आपल्या म्हाताऱ्या आजीसोबत राहत असे. तो दिवसभर पाणी कुठून येते, वारा कुठे राहतो असे नाना प्रश्न आजीला विचारून भंडावून सोडत असे.

In a small house by a riverbank lived a boy named Isaac and his elderly grandmother. The boy was clever and talkative, filled with special curiosity about everything he saw around him each day - when it rained he would ask where the water came from, when the wind blew he would ask where the wind lived, and seeing paper floating down the river he would ask why such things drift along with the water. His grandmother answered as best she could, but sometimes she simply didn't know, and would either fall silent or offer some vague reply to get by.

एके दिवशी नदीकाठावर बसलेल्या आयझॅकच्या मनात कल्पना आली की वाहत्या पाण्यात एवढी शक्ती आहे, तर तिचा उपयोग करून काही काम का करू नये. त्याने साठवलेल्या पैशांतून एक चक्र तयार करून प्रवाहात बसवले, आणि ते फिरू लागले, पण मित्रांनी हेवा वाटून ते मोडून टाकले.

One day, as Isaac sat on a rock with his feet dangling in the river while his grandmother ground grain at the millstone inside, watching the flowing water and hearing the mill's grinding sound, an idea struck him - 'This water even carries stones and pebbles along; if it has such power, why not put it to some other use?' Using the pocket money his grandmother had given him, saved up carefully, he bought a few materials and built a wheel attached to a rod, setting it near the current. As the force of the water made the wheel spin, he ran home overjoyed to show his grandmother, but by then some friends, jealous of him working alone, had smashed the wheel to pieces. Seeing this, his grandmother grew angry too, and she sent him to school in another village so he might learn to behave properly.

नव्या शाळेत एकदा गुरुजी धडा शिकवत असताना आयझॅक खिडकीबाहेर ढग पाहत होता आणि हवेच्या शक्तीबद्दल बोलला, तेव्हा गुरुजींनी त्याची चेष्टा केली. मात्र आयझॅकने आपला छंद सोडला नाही आणि गावाबाहेर उभारल्या जाणाऱ्या मोठ्या पवनचक्कीवरून प्रेरणा घेत त्याने स्वतःची छोटी पवनचक्की तयार केली.

At the new school, one day while the teacher was explaining a lesson, Isaac's attention was fixed on clouds racing across the sky outside the window. When the teacher angrily asked what he was looking at, Isaac replied that the air held such great power, so why wasn't it being put to use. The teacher mocked him and the class burst out laughing, but Isaac did not abandon his fascination. Around this time, hearing that a large windmill was being built outside the village, he rushed there, asked the labourers countless questions, and learned about windmills from a friend's father. Before the large windmill was even completed, he had built and successfully spun his own small one, earning everyone's admiration.

पवनचक्की पुरेशा हवेअभावी नीट फिरत नव्हती. एक उंदीर पळताना धक्क्याने पवनचक्की फिरलेली पाहून आयझॅकला युक्ती सुचली - त्याने डब्यात उंदीर बंद करून तो पवनचक्कीला जोडला, आणि उंदराच्या हालचालीने पवनचक्की फिरू लागली. हे पाहून गुरुजींनी भाकीत केले की हा मुलगा मोठा वैज्ञानिक होईल, आणि पुढे तेच घडले.

Isaac's windmill wasn't spinning properly because the surrounding wall blocked enough air, and this troubled him. Just then a tiny mouse scurried past, and its bump against the windmill made it spin - seeing this, an idea struck him. He built a small box, attached it to the windmill, and shut a large mouse inside - as the mouse kept running to escape, the box spun, and with it the windmill turned too. Around this time, when his grandmother came to visit, the teacher told her, 'The feet show in the cradle - Isaac Newton will make a name for himself as a great scientist.' This prophecy later proved true, and this very boy became immortal as a great researcher, discovering the force of Earth's gravity after watching an apple fall from a tree.