Tejas Rajagopalan

Grade: 9

University School - Hunting Valley

Instructor: Ashley Worthington

School of Knowledge

Short Story

School of Knowledge

The two men entered the large marble building. They were enlightened, and their knowledge and intelligence were almost tangible as they stepped closer to the building. The two names of the men were Plato and Aristotle. Alas, each man was flawed. Plato's intelligence met his ego; he thought that he was right about his theory of the classical elements. Aristotle was the same; even in his elevated sense, he could not see past the classical elements.

What building had they entered? The building, constructed out of marble, was elegant… almost heavenly. The top of the building was high, surrounded by clouds. Plato looked up and thought he had seen a little angel peering at him. Before he was able to look closer, it was gone. As they walked into the building, a golden sign bore the following words: School of Knowledge. Plato and Aristotle continued walking, following a lit hallway until they reached a large wooden door. Aristotle walked up and pushed the door slightly, but it did not budge. Plato then walked up and knocked, two times. The door was pulled open on the inside, and the two men walked backward a step. It revealed an enormous hall, a school, with many people in it. It reflected a large library, except instead of wood it was all made from marble. Aristotle and Plato walked forward, aweing in the glory of the room. They walked to the nearest person, an older man who was bent down on a blackboard with a peculiar instrument.

"Greetings, scholar," Plato remarked. "What are you holding?" The man looked up from his board. "Hello!" He responded. "This, my friends, is a special compass. It creates absolute perfect circles." The man demonstrated the use, drawing a circle on the board. "Very impressive!" Aristotle exclaimed. "Your name is?" he inquired. "Euclid, sirs. What is yours?" "My name is Plato, and this is my apprentice, Aristotle," Plato said. Euclid continued to use the compass, to create circles of different sizes. Plato stared at the compass… He felt a certain aura coming from it. It was glowing with knowledge. Plato snapped out of it as Aristotle tapped on his shoulder, beckoning for the elder man to look around.

"My friend," Plato began. "What is this marvelous place?" Euclid's expression brightened. "This is the School of Knowledge. A combination of two great places of learning, the School of Athens, and the House of Knowledge." "The House of Knowledge...?" Aristotle began. "Oh yes!" Euclid responded. "A wonderful place, a university in modern Egypt. So many new things… so many."

Euclid beckoned for the two scholars to follow him. He walked to a balcony near where he was originally and revealed an almost stadium-like area. It dropped down maybe ten feet and expanded for what seemed like forever. He could see so many people… a man with white hair sticking out drawing E = mc². A man showing an interesting chart with letters on it, such as H and Au, and Ag, sitting in a chair, his long white hair stretching to his shoulders. A woman teaching various people something on a whiteboard, with the word 'RADIOACTIVITY' on the top. "This, this is the peak of intelligence. All the smartest people gathered here, to teach everybody else their findings. The people you must see are Mr. Einstein, Mr. Mendeeleev, and Mrs. Curie." Euclid exclaimed.

Aristotle coughed, "Are you sure… these people are right?" "Of course they are! They wouldn't be here if they were!" Euclid responded. "No, they have it wrong. The elements… What are Hydrogen and Helium? Nonsense! It's earth, fire, air, and water. It always has been!" Plato said, with a voice of conviction. Euclid's smile faded into a sort of weak grin. "My friends, things have changed. I believe you were in this School a millennia ago before you departed for reasons we do not know." "My friend, you must see this stupidity! Enough!" Plato yelled. Plato began to walk down the stairs and to the man with the long hair.

"You!" He yelled. The man slowly turned around, stopping his lecture. His pupils turned to face Plato as well. The man coughed. "Good day, my sir. My name is Dmitri Mendeleev… how may I help you?" Plato angrily started, "Your assumptions on these elements are wrong, you must know that the elements are five, not in the triple digits!" Mendeleev stared at him blankly. "You seem like one of the many scholars I had dealt with back when I made these discoveries… Alas." The man got up, and the board suddenly cleaned itself of chalk. "You, Plato, created the classical elements." The board drew the four classical elements he created by itself. "These could be true, but modern research has proven that these are not elements." Plato scoffed. "Plato, your mind is split between what you think you know and what is true. Simply put, you are wrong. However, you influenced the periodic table. You developed the system for elements for the future." Mendeleev remarked. Plato thought to himself. He searched his mind, deeply. For the millennia he had missed, he had missed a lot.

After a moment- he finally understood. He wasn't right, but even Mendeleev might've not been right. Mendeleev finished his thought. "You see, everyone is right in their regard. Properly, we could be wrong about everything, even things we have proven, but in the end, does it matter?" Plato thought for a moment. Aristotle, beside him, thought for a moment. They both glanced across the vast room, filled with what could be almost infinite knowledge. Plato walked over to a table, where numerous people were sitting next to. An Indian man was standing near a chalkboard, writing down different letters in a language he did not understand. The only word he could read was 'Tamil.' Aristotle walked over to a group of people that was looking at a chalkboard. Moving to the front, he saw a woman writing down various ways to transition paragraphs in essays. Both men, fully immersed in the teachings of the two scholars, took a deep sigh, and listened to the lecture. Fin.

Theme: Acceptance and humility. Learning and striving to accept and also learn from others.