How Lena Passed the Test
There once was a history professor named Larry that dedicated his life to creating two very difficult tests. Larry was very proud of his creations. He had spent many a year forming the most perfect questions with very specific answers. The level of difficulty was not necessarily hard, but the student taking the tests would need to know their stuff. Larry did, however, add one question to the end of each test that was near impossible to answer. Only a well-rounded, intelligent individual could figure both answers out. The answers to these two questions were "why?" and "why not?". Larry decided that anyone who wanted to take his tests would have to answer these two questions first; before taking the rest of the exam.
One day, a studying Ph.D. student came to the professor's doorstep. He had heard about the difficulty of the tests and was very sure of himself in being able to accept the challenge. He offered Larry a participation fee.
"I will only accept your participation fee if you can answer these two questions before the rest of the test."
The Ph.D. student looked at the questions and could not figure out the answers so he left in frustration to see how he could figure them out.
Then a well-known scholar from a neighboring city came to the professor's house with his dog for the tests.
"May I take your tests, sir? I have come to see your handy work."
"You may only take my tests if you can answer the last question of each test first."
The scholar looked at the questions and could not figure them so he left in sadness back to his city. The dog did not follow though, he decided to make his master happy and stick around with the professor. The dog managed to overhear the professor say the answers of the two questions and he scampered off to find his master.
Halfway home the dog was very thirsty and stopped to drink from a puddle. After drinking, he could not remember the answer to the questions! So he turned around and went back to the professor's house.
Upon hearing the answers a second time, the dog headed home in determination. This time he made it to his master and told him the answers and the two of them set out for Larry's house to take the exams.
Half way back to the professor's, the two grew thirsty again and drank from a stream. After drinking they forgot the answers yet again.
The master sent his dog to Larry's house to get the answers one final time while he hid outside in the bushes. The dog returned to his master with the correct responses. This time, neither drank anything nor ate and were determined to take the tests. The two knocked on Larry's door.
The scholar successfully answered Larry's exam questions and was able to take the test. He was deemed the most brilliant scholar in the state and received a reward.
The Ph.D. student found out about this and declared hatred against the scholar. The scholar heard word of this and defeated the student with his history project and the Ph.D. student was never heard from again.
Author's Note: This story is from the
Congo Unit and is based off of
How Gazelle Got Married. A lot of these story units are based off of women getting married and husbands taking care of them, but I decided to make it more relate-able to us! School. Test. Professors. This is our lives everyday, so the parallel in this story to the unit story works pretty well in my opinion! I hope you enjoyed it!
Bibliography: Dennett, Richard.
Notes on the Folklore of Fjort: How Gazelle Got Married. 1898
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