Chapter Four: The Gleason’s Map
The Tale of Two Dragons: Discovering the True Earth, Book 1
This is a fun story about two little dragons that ponder about the Earth. One happens to come across a Gleason’s Map and it piques her curiosity about what is said versus what is observable about the Earth.
Did you miss the beginning? Read Chapter One, Two and Three here »
Enjoy reading Chapter Four below.
Sincerely,
Cedra
Chapter Four: The Gleason’s Map
Even though Durga was a young dragon, she was as persistent as she was insightful. The evening sky quickly shifted to night, and more stars soon appeared. She sat slumped, with her elbow on her knee and chin in her claw. She still held the old parchment, trying to recall what she had learned about the Earth.
Finally, it came to her. A broad smile appeared on Durga's face as she stretched her wings wide and stood tall. A wind gust spread, and she announced, “I think that might be the point!”
"What might be the point?" Maya said, startled by the grandiosity of her dragon friend.
"That we don't think about it. What if it's not true?" Durga proposed.
"What's not true?" Maya asked, with a bit of frustration and confusion.
"That we live on a spinning globe," Durga said obviously.
Durga turned her gaze towards the parchment she held. With a squinted brow and an intense look, she examined the page.
Maya noticed the parchment for the first time and asked, "Hey, what you got there?"
"Oh, this?" Durga said, looking up. "I found it while rummaging through Old Dragon’s library. It's a map. It's called the Gleason's Map. I find it very curious. It says it's accurate and true."
"Well, shouldn't all maps be accurate and true? Otherwise, they wouldn't be much use." Maya laughed in self-amusement, imagining someone getting lost using an inaccurate map and not understanding why they were lost.
"Yes, of course," Durga agreed. "But this map shows all the continents of the world on a level plane, not a round globe."
"Neat! Where are we?" Maya asked excitedly.
"We are here," Durga said, showing her North America.
“That looks kind of small. I’m used to seeing North America look much bigger on the map and look how small Greenland is.”
“Yes, I noticed that too,” replied Durga. “I think it’s because when you take this accurate map and stretch it over a round globe, it makes the land in the North look all spread out and a lot bigger than it actually is.”
Watch this one-minute video to see how the Gleason’s Map gets wrapped around a globe and distorts the size of the countries.
“Hey, this map looks a bit like the United Nations map,” Maya exclaimed.
“You’re right, Maya! Good eye.” Durga said, complimenting her little friend.
It was moments like this that Durga appreciated her little dragon friend, despite her being younger. The United Nations is a convening of world governments, that promotes globalism by encouraging international cooperation and addressing issues that affect the entire world. Oddly, their logo most certainly resembled this Gleason’s map.
"But what's that?" Maya pointed to the edge of the map. All of the lands of the world were centered on the map and surrounded by the great oceans, but a new land feature appeared that Maya wasn't familiar with. It showed land covered in ice surrounding the whole world.
"That's the Ice Wall," Durga said.
"The what?" Maya asked and scratched her head.
To be continued…
Chapter Five: The True Earth coming out next issue!
Post-Reading Discussion
Engage in thoughtful discussion with your children. Allow them to reflect on the story and any lessons learned.
What was the name of the map that the dragon found?
How is it different than other maps?
View the Gleason’s Map here and explore it together.