Luck

Storyteller:  I was at a dinner in London given in honor of one of the most celebrated English military men of his time. I do not want to tell you his real name and titles. I will just call him Lieutenant General Lord Arthur Scoresby. I cannot describe my excitement when I saw this great and famous man. There he sat, the man himself, in person, all covered with medals. I could not take my eyes off him. He seemed to show the true mark of greatness. His fame had no effect on him. The hundreds of eyes watching him, the worship of so many people did not seem to make any difference to him. Next to me sat a clergyman, who was an old friend of mine. He was not always a clergyman. During the first half of his life he was a teacher in the military school at Woolwich. There was a strange look in his eye as he leaned toward me and whispered – "Privately – he is a complete fool." He meant, of course, the hero of our dinner. This came as a shock to me. I looked hard at him. I could not have been more surprised if he has said the same thing about Nepoleon, or Socrates, or Solomon. But I was sure of two things about the clergyman. He always spoke the truth. And, his judgment of men was good. Therefore, I wanted to find out more about our hero as soon as I could. Some days later I got a chance to talk with the clergyman, and he told me more.  These are his exact words: About forty years ago, I was an instructor in the military academy at Woolwich, when young Scoresby was given his first examination. I felt extremely sorry for him.  Everybody answered the questions well, intelligently, while he – why, dear me – he did not know anything, so to speak. He was a nice, pleasant young man. It was painful to see him stand there and give answers that were miracles of stupidity. I knew of course that when examined again he would fail and be thrown out. So, I said to myself, it would be a simple, harmless act to help him as much as I could. I took him aside and found he knew a little about Julius Ceasar's history. But, he did not know anything else. So, I went to work and tested him and worked him like a slave. I made him work, over and over again, on a few questions about Ceasar, which I knew he would be asked. If you will believe me, he came through very well on the day of the examination.  He got high praise too, while others who knew a thousand times more than he was sharply criticized. By some strange, lucky accident, he was asked no questions but those I made him study. Such an accident does not happen more than once in a hundred years. Well, all through his studies, I stood by him, with the feeling a mother has for a disabled child. And he always saved himself by some miracle. I thought that what in the end would destroy him would be the mathematics examination.  I decided to make his end as painless as possible. So, I pushed facts into his stupid head for hours. Finally, I let him go to the examination to experience what I was sure would be his dismissal from school. Well, sir, try to imagine the result. I was shocked out of my mind. He took first prize! And he got the highest praise. I felt guilty day and night – what I was doing was not right. But I only wanted to make his dismissal a little less painful for him. I never dreamed it would lead to such strange, laughable results. I thought that sooner or later one thing was sure to happen: The first real test once he was through school would ruin him. Then, the Crimean War broke out. I felt that sad for him that there had to be a war.  Peace would have given this donkey a chance to escape from ever being found out as being so stupid. Nervously, I waited for the worst to happen. It did. He was appointed an officer.  A captain, of all things! Who could have dreamed that they would place such a responsibility on such weak shoulders as his? I said to myself that I was responsible to the country for this. I must go with him and protect the nation against him as far as I could. So, I joined up with him. And anyway we went to the field. And there – oh dear, it was terrible. Mistakes, fearful mistakes. Why he never did anything that was right? nothing but mistakes. But, you see, nobody knew the secret of how stupid he really was. Everybody misunderstood his actions. They saw his stupid mistakes as works of great intelligence. They did, honestly! His smallest mistakes made a man in his right mind cry, and shout and scream too – to himself, of course. And what kept me in a continual fear was the fact that every mistake he made increased his glory and fame. I kept saying to myself that when at last they found out about him, it will be like the sun falling out of the sky.

 

He continued to climb up, over the dead bodies of his superiors. Then, in the hottest moment of one battle down went our colonel. My heart jumped into my mouth, for Scoresby was the next in line to take his place. Now, we are in for it, I said…The battle grew hotter. The English and their allies were steadily retreating all over the field. Our regiment occupied a position that was extremely important. One mistake now would bring total disaster. And what did Scoresby do this time – he just mistook his left hand for his right hand…that was all. An order came for him to fall back and support our right. Instead, he moved forward and went over the hill to the left. We were over the hill before this insane movement could be discovered and stopped. And what did we find? A large and unsuspected Russian army waiting! And what happened – were we all killed? That is exactly what would have happened in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred.  But no – those surprised Russians thought that no one regiment by itself would come around there at such a time. It must be the whole British army, they thought. They turned tail, away they went over the hill and down into the field in wild disorder, and we after them. In no time, there was the greatest turn around you ever saw. The allies turned defeat into a sweeping and shining victory. The allied commander looked on, his head spinning with wonder, surprise and joy.  He sent right off for Scoresby, and put his arms around him and hugged him on the field in front of all the armies. Scoresby became famous that day as a great military leader – honored throughout the world. That honor will never disappear while history books last. He is just as nice and pleasant as ever, but he still does not know enough to come in out of the rain. He is the stupidest man in the universe.

 

 Until now, nobody knew it but Scoresby and myself. He has been followed, day by day, year by year, by a strange luck. He has been a shining soldier in all our wars for years.  He has filled his whole military life with mistakes. Every one of them brought him another honorary title. Look at his chest, flooded with British and foreign medals. Well, sir, every one of them is the record of some great stupidity or other. They are proof that the best thing that can happen to a man is to be born lucky. I say again, as I did at the dinner, Scoresby's a complete fool.

 

Bill wrote this letter to Mary:

We've talked on the phone and in my apartment, and now I'm writing this letter. Maybe if I put my thoughts and feelings in writing, you'll understand them better.

 

I love you. I want to marry you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. You are the most wonderful woman I have ever met. You are not a "load." You are not a "troublemaker."

Yes, you have problems. So do I. And together, we can solve these problems more easily than if we were apart. Problems are a part of life. But so is happiness. Let's share our problems and happiness instead of experiencing them alone.

 

We are not a bad "fit." We are a perfect match. I do not look down on you. I look up to you. I admire you. I think you are smart, brave, and independent. Don't tell me to go find another woman. I don't want another woman. I have found the perfect woman.

Every day, I think about your beautiful smile, your happy laugh. I think about the long walks we used to take, holding hands all the way. Remember how we used to sit on the grass in the park and watch the parrots?

We were going to get married, and now you want to be "just friends." Whatever I did or said that was wrong, please tell me so we can work this out. I don't want to lose you.

1. So, What do you think ladies? What will happen next? What would you do if you were in Mary's situation?

2. If you have similar love stories you can share it with us through your comments.

The Secret of Our Dreams

 

Dreams are pictures, sounds and feelings that happen during sleep. In the course of history people have had many explanations for dreams. In ancient Greece dreaming was thought to be a kind of contact with the gods. Sometimes they were regarded as signs of what may happen in the future.

Theories of Dreaming                 

Over the past many dream theories have emerged. The most famous expert on dreaming was Sigmund Freud, an Austrian doctor. At the end of the 19th century he found out that a part of our brain is the subconscious . Our mind keeps everything that we might want but cannot have there. It is a place where we keep our desires and wishes . In dreams we act out these wishes.

Dreams and Sleep

 

Our sleep is divided into five stages. In the first stage we do not sleep very deeply and we wake up easily. During the following stages our sleep gets deeper and deeper. After the fourth stage REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep begins. During this phase our heart rate and breathing gets faster. Blood pressure goes up and the brain starts to work but the body does not. That is why we don’t act out our dreams because the body is inactive.

Most dreaming occurs in this phase. There can be up to seven such REM phases in one night.

What happens in dreams?

 

Dreaming is an activity of the brain. It produces electrical waves which can be measured with an electroencephalograph. Dreams occur when brain waves are especially fast.

Everyone dreams. If you think that you never dream, you are wrong. Most of the time we cannot remember our dreams. Theorists say that we dream mostly about the thoughts and wishes that we repress . Others say that if dreaming is not so intense it is difficult to remember them anyway. Another reason may be that dreams are never the same, they have to be repeated in order for us to remember them.

Most people cannot control their dreams, they just happen. Very few people experience lucid dreaming. They can control what happens in their dreaming while they are asleep.

Even blind people dream. They may see images of events that they have experienced before they became blind. On the other hand a person who was born blind does not see pictures in dreams, but they can hear, smell and taste in them.

People often have the same dreams over and over again. They may be events in your life that have caused problems which you have not solved yet. Nightmares are dreams that are so terrible that you usually wake up. There is medical treatment for nightmares. You can go to therapists who try to find out why you have nightmares and how to deal with them.

Common Dreams

Some experts think that dreams are full of symbolic messages that mean something which is deep inside us. Here are a few popular dreams and how you could interpret them:

·         Being naked in public
In a dream we sometimes realize that we are completely naked. This may mean that there is something to hide.

·         Falling
Almost everyone has experienced falling from a place high up. Then suddenly they wake up. This may mean that something is out of control and you cannot stop it. It also may mean that you have failed in something that you have done, like your work or at school.

·         Being chased
Many people dream of someone chasing them, a very frightening dream. It symbolizes running away from problems that you may have.

·         Flying
Flying dreams often mean that you are in control of things. You are very strong-willed and can observe everything . It is often a symbol of having success.

 

 

Now lets watch a documentary video about our dreams