Sirius is the head star of Canis Major and the brightest star in the sky. This dog sits at the feet of Orion watching Lepus, the Hare.
TAURUS, THE BULL
"Aries glorious in his golden wool,
Looks back and wonders at the mighty Bull."
—Manilius.
This is the bull that Orion chases backwards across the winter's sky, although only his foremost portion is visible among the stars. The rest of this creature might be imagined as hidden behind a cloud; but no, mythologists say the other half is immersed beneath the waves of the sea. Beneath the waves of the sea! It looks to us as if he were defending himself with considerable gusto against the advance of Orion, for did we not see him clamber backwards up the slope in the east only an hour and a half ahead of the giant who rose with his star club lifted menacingly above his head?
"Thy hoofs, unwilling, climb the sphery vault;
Thy red eye trembles in an angry glare,
When the hounds follow, and in fierce assault
Bay through the fringes of the lion's hair."