Chapter 26. School Questions.

March 26, 2000

A carefree flock of cheerful children spilled out of the classroom during recess. Despite their different social statuses, they all engaged with the same chaotic energy in some very entertaining and highly active games, due to their childlike, unspoiled view of life and naive worldview. The difference in their social standing, or the status of their parents, didn't matter in the slightest to them, for they had not yet come to know the true meaning and purpose of money in this world, nor the colossal influence of public or private power on various events. They built their relationships with each other based on personal qualities, merits, or, conversely, vices, the most vivid expression of which were their actions and inactions. Therefore, without the slightest exaggeration, it should be asserted that childhood, characterized by sound relationships that arise during socialization among children, is the most private and most just stage of an individual's life in human society. This is because true children are almost always ruled by genuine and sincere feelings, and by no means by reason. Such feelings are never wrong, for the greatest deeds, both positive and negative, in our world are accomplished precisely thanks to deep feelings, and despite, though it may seem otherwise at first glance, deep thoughts.

Does this not also attest to the fact that among this chaos of carefree cheerfulness, not only those who were extremely lenient with their education and discipline were swirling, but also those who considered themselves to be among the most conscious and humble children? In these moments, those who were truly conscious children when alone, by being in a crowd, in this pernicious overabundance of human society, became in fact the most genuine savages and barbarians. In their entirety, they represented chaos, but individually, of course, with some exceptions, they were conscious and harmonious. In many ways, they gave themselves over to the pleasures of chaos also because on an unconscious level of their perception of the world and society, they perfectly understood that a crowd never bears and never will bear responsibility for any deeds or inactions, for responsibility is the prerogative of the individual. But how do you single out an individual from a crowd when in its entirety it is relentlessly raging, when each individual, cloaked in a single garment of unbridledness, loses their unique and original appearance for a certain time?

"And yet, Maximilian, tell me—how did you manage to cheat?! Mrs. Freiderlein always checks and supervises us with special care... I don't understand... These questions were indeed particularly difficult, but... your admission amazed me! No, don't worry... I won't give you away... but it is incomprehensible to me how you managed to fool Mrs. Freiderlein!" Gerhardt Belz said, breathing heavily and quickly, after he managed to catch up to his classmate, who had been overcoming all the school obstacles in his path with astonishing agility until that moment.

"This world is intricate, but in it, you can achieve everything you want, achieve success, you understand, Gerhardt? Does it matter what qualities you use to do it? The main goal... Does it matter whether you achieve it with the help of cunning or hard work, when you are at the top?"

"But Mrs. Freiderlein teaches us to be different—to be honest, not to lie, and not to use deception to achieve our goals..."

"Our life consists of more than just school and the words of Mrs. Freiderlein, doesn't it? On the street, they tell us one thing, at home, another, at school, a third, and in the sports section, a fourth. So who among them is right, and therefore closer to the truth? Why should school claim the exclusive right to define truth, and not, for example, the street, family, or the sports section?"

"Because everyone goes to school, Maximilian... it must be in everyone's life! Some may not have a family, some may not have enough time to go to a sports section, and some may not spend their free time on the street at all, but everyone has gone and should go to school—it's the law, there is and can be no other way in this world! It is only with the help of school that one can first learn what love, friendship, betrayal, injustice, and honesty are. School makes us more disciplined, it gives us the opportunity for social socialization, and knowledge... well, knowledge can be acquired at any time and in any place..."

A few moments later, the teacher, Mrs. Freiderlein, appeared in the school corridor. With the appearance of this very original thirty-three-year-old woman in the heart of that continuously raging chaos, panic arose. Like a kind of harmonious light, Mrs. Freiderlein instantly, in a single moment, cut through the darkness of disorder, with every moment of her presence continuing to scatter the chaos more and more, establishing in its place the quite strong foundations of an undisputed order. The bell roared loudly. The children reluctantly took their seats. Today, Mrs. Freiderlein was to announce the grades of her students for the test with school questions, which her charges had answered in one way or another, to one degree or another, during the previous class.

"So, children!" Mrs. Freiderlein said solemnly. "Today I will announce your grades for the test, the questions of which you answered in the last class. I will be honest with you that many of the results, frankly speaking, amazed me, and especially the results of Maximilian Winkler—he managed to get the maximum score: he answered all the questions asked correctly. Even the strongest students failed to do what Maximilian did. Maximilian, is there anything you want to tell us? Tell us how you managed to achieve what the most responsible and prepared students in our class could not?"

Overwhelmed by such suddenly given attention—and in what size and quality!—Maximilian Winkler hastily stood up and with indescribable trepidation in his voice, he said: