The Distance Learning School

by Kurd Lasswitz (1899)

(auf Deutsch)

"IT'S REALLY A LONG way home - that's evident on hot days like this. I think I'm tired. But some 演習 is good, of course." These were professor Frister's thoughts, as he went home from high school after four hours of teaching. Now he was comfortably seated in his 熟考する／考慮する. He sat at his desk, 長，率いる in his 手渡すs, 一打／打撃ing his grey hair away from his forehead. His hair was still wet after the 早い walk. "It is still some time before dinner. So, what to do? Work, of course. There are two large piles of blue 演習 調書をとる／予約するs - end exams - waiting to be 示すd, that must be finished. But not 権利 now! It is certainly very 利益／興味ing, to put a new 世代 of new individuals の上に the 跡をつける of 知識人 進歩 each year! Such a beautiful 使節団 it is to make the same knowledge come to life, and doing it with the same vigor, even for the twenty-eighth time. It is a pity though, that individuals repeat themselves pretty much. I am やめる 確かな what they have written in their exam 調書をとる／予約するs. Always the same errors. Very informative for a statistician, to see how the same 順応／服従 with the 法律s of human error manifests itself in the 開発 of each and everyone - very 利益／興味ing. But now, now I am just a little too tired." ”Not just the telephone, but also the television has been perfected to the extent that one can hear the （衆議院の）議長's words and at the same time also very 明確に see his image, his movements, every feature. It is now, of course, no longer necessary to travel a long way to school; teachers and students can 喜んで stay at home.” Frister grabbed a bundle of papers, which 含む／封じ込めるd his own examination of the 気温 curve and its daily changes - very important for the 可能性 of a heat-wave leave from school. He entered 深く，強烈に into it. There was one difficult item, which he still hadn't been able to solve. Certainly, he knew how it could be done, but the 計算／見積りs would take months to work through - where would he get the time for that? He dipped his pen, made a 公式文書，認める, put the pen 支援する, and 残り／休憩（する）d his 長，率いる between his 手渡すs again. "That would probably work," he thought. "But you must be really 警報 for it. And when? The four hours, the many lectures, the oversight, and the annoyance over the same stupidities - and the methods. On the whole, regarding 教育の methods, we are still very much behind. Then, should one not one day think of something better than this old custom of teachers and pupils coming together in a class and - now, this is of course an ideal 機能（する）／行事 - still, much energy is wasted - and it is rather tiresome. I believe, in this 尊敬（する）・点, 開発 of 科学（工学）技術 could find a more efficient path." Frister leaned 支援する in his 議長，司会を務める and の近くにd his 注目する，もくろむs for a moment. "Yes," his thoughts went on, "how pathetic our outdated, energy-wasting methods will seem when we look 支援する one hundred or two hundred years from now! Young people, with a sense of 責任／義務 more 堅固に implanted into their 骨髄, teachers who make use of the most modern techniques - no excuses, no 試みる／企てるs at cheating, no childishness, no いたずらs, no overstrain - ideal 条件s! Why can't I until then - maybe - take the time off - funny, that this never occurred to me - very funny - then I must ask, was there not someone knocking 権利 now? Oh, it is you, my 同僚 Mr. Voltheim - nice to see you! I was just thinking about you. You are a man of 発明. Do you know of some 設立, which may - how shall I put it? - modernize and 簡単にする teaching - hum - " "井戸／弁護士席," answered Voltheim's 発言する／表明する, "I'd like to think, that our distance learning school is やめる an excellent 設立." "Distance learning school? Why do you look at me with that strange look, dear 同僚? I am only a little 疲労，（軍の）雑役d - but please, have a seat." "I know very 井戸／弁護士席 that your lesson will begin soon, and I hope I will not 乱す you." "Today? Me? No, of course not. I am feeling very queer, I think I have a bit of a 頭痛. What day is it today?" "July the 8th, 1999, Mr. Science 議員." "井戸／弁護士席, yes - that's 権利. Hum! I was just thinking - Science 議員 - you can never resist making one of your little jokes, can you?" "That is やめる 簡単に your 肩書を与える as distance teacher of 地理学 at the 211th telephonetic general high school. But listen! It's （犯罪の）一味ing. The students are connected. You may begin." Frister really tried to look into his 同僚's 注目する，もくろむs, but the features of the other got blurred before him. He heard a faint, melodic 動揺させる, without understanding from where it （機の）カム. "It is surely one of Voltheim's jokes," he thought. "井戸／弁護士席 now, I will not 乱す him. We will soon see what he is up to." And laughing he said: "My dear 同僚, I am really not 用意が出来ている at all, and I have no idea どれでも what this distance learning school is." "Oh, but please, 議員" - Voltheim's 発言する／表明する was （疑いを）晴らす as he continued - you're trying to pull my 脚. Yesterday already you did 配達する your lecture for today into the phonograph. And you did 令状 a brochure about the distance learning school as 早期に as in 1977, don't you remember?" "I really can't, I'm afraid." Voltheim laughed out loud. "Now then, watch out," he said. "Can you see that strange picture gallery over there on the 塀で囲む?" Frister looked up. He was very much surprised. Indeed, on the 塀で囲む, where さもなければ there used to be a bookshelf, now some thirty rectangular でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるs were hanging. But the pictures within them were alive. There were young people between sixteen and nineteen years of age, making themselves comfortable, each and everyone in an armchair. And surely, those were his last year students, although in unusual 控訴s. There was his best student, whose clean-shaven 長，率いる just barely peeped up behind a newspaper. And Meyer was 現実に smoking contentedly on a cigar. Others chewed their breakfast. "井戸／弁護士席, I really believe those are my students over there," said Frister. "Very 利益／興味ing! If I only could understand what this means. Have I really been on vacation for a hundred years? Assume this is the 事例／患者, dear 同僚, and talk to me as if we now really have the year 1999 and as if I 一時的に have lost my memory." "With 楽しみ, 議員, if it amuses you. These young people certainly are the last year students of the 211th distance learning general high school. You see, they are in fact not at all in a classroom, instead most of them sit in their own apartments, 正確に like yourself. Only in 事例／患者s where parents don't have space enough to 融通する the entire distance learning 器具／備品 in their houses, do the students 始める，決める out for 特に arranged public distance learning 中心s. These young people live, as you know, in the most diverse places of our native country, because the distance learning communication may be 拡大するd up to a thousand キロメーターs and more." "I don't really know anything of this, dear 同僚. Just go on, please. Methods must have made truly 広大な／多数の／重要な 進歩 during my vacation." "I'd say they have! Not just the telephone, but also the television has been perfected to the extent that one can hear the （衆議院の）議長's words and at the same time also very 明確に see his image, his movements, every feature. It is now, of course, no longer necessary to travel a long way to school; teachers and students can 喜んで stay at home." "Most pleasing," Frister murmured. "But what about 奮起させるing each individual - " "Can still be done. As you can watch your students, they may 同様に see the teacher, only within a かなり larger でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる, in real-life size, so to speak. On the other 手渡す, the students cannot see each other, only hear, but when they talk you can hear everything. You only have to 圧力（をかける） the 重要な there at the 前線, then you are connected and may begin teaching." " I see! In that way 騒動s are out of the question! But is there really such a hurry? Tell me, dear 同僚, this 設立 must have cost the 明言する／公表する a lot of money?" "So what? After the 発見 of the immeasurable gold fields on New Guinea and the 石油 井戸／弁護士席s in German 中国, we have so much money that we really don't know of anything better to spend it on than 教育の 目的s." "井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席! How much is my salary then?" "Surely you know that! As Science 議員 - 50,000 示すs. But now to the point. The 進歩 of school hygiene is, of course, not any lesser. The overstrain problem is solved. These armchairs, where the students sit, are in the most ingenious way equipped with (a)自動的な／(n)自動拳銃 手段ing 器具s, where 団体／死体 負わせる, pulse, 圧力, exhale 容積／容量, and 消費 of brain energy are 陳列する，発揮するd. As soon as the permitted 量 of brain energy has been used up, the psychograph 示すs the level of 疲労，（軍の）雑役, the 関係 between student and teacher is automatically interrupted and the student in question is その為に 免除されたd from その上の 指示／教授／教育. As soon as a third of the class has been 'bounced out' in this way, you must end the lesson." "Very good it seems. However, if I am a little tired, as today, for instance -" "With a salary like that! But this is also 供給するd for. When you wish to begin, then you really have better to put on this 示すd brain-保護 貯蔵所d. Then you will be 保護するd from the 危険 of using up more brain 力／強力にする in school than resonable, considering your students' capacity and your own salary bracket. Now, 圧力（をかける） the button. Can you hear, it is （犯罪の）一味ing? Now, your image is also shown to the students, so you may talk to them." "But what shall I say? I am not 用意が出来ている you know," whispered Frister 静かに to Voltheim. "It will come to you," he answered その上に. "As an experienced teacher - just let the students do the talking. On each でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる you can read the 指名する. Your lecture is here in the phonograph, and all you need is to 圧力（をかける） there." It was すぐに obvious that the teacher through a remote 機能（する）／行事 had appeared before the class, that is, the students could see him. Rathenberg stowed away his newspaper, Meyer quickly put his cigar butt aside, and Suppard and Neumann swallowed the last bites of their breakfast rolls. Frister 調査するd the picture でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるs. One of the students - this was Meyer - made a 屈服する and said: "I was absent during the previous lesson." "Why?" "I had to have my second brain convolution massaged." Frister shook his 長，率いる. How could he 決定する whether this was a valid 陳謝 によれば modern 基準s? "Why then was that necessary?" he asked, 調印 to Voltheim that he needed his 援助. "井戸／弁護士席," Meyer said, "my parents had my dreams photographed, and it appeared that I always dream about horses." "Lies!" whispered Voltheim. "Horses became extinct long ago." "But horses have been extinct for a long time," Frister said. "正確に, Sir, that's why I had to get my massage." "Oh, come on, 地理学 is the best brain massage you can get." Frister noticed that two of the でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるs, which were still empty, did not 活動させる／戦時編成する until just now. He read the 指名するs and said: "井戸／弁護士席, Heinz, why did you come only now?" "I am so sorry, Sir, yesterday my mum forgot our pocket protein machine at the women's club in Spitsbergen, and I had to fetch it quickly. Since it was very 風の強い, I was somewhat 延期するd." "And you, Schwarz, why are you so late?" "I, I - yesterday my father was 任命するd Privy 議員 of Electricity-" "Now, I fail to see the causal 関係 there." "井戸／弁護士席, we were connected to the 祝賀, to the central sparkling ワイン line, and therefore I could not go 直接／まっすぐに to my room." "Subterfuges!" whispered Voltheim. "Revelry." "井戸／弁護士席 井戸／弁護士席," Frister said, "the facts are not 完全に （疑いを）晴らす to me. Now tell me, Meyer, what did we cover during the previous lesson?" "I am sorry, Sir, I was not 現在の yesterday." "Oh, yes, that's 権利. Can you tell me, Brandhaus?" "I am sorry, Sir, I could not work yesterday. Here is an excuse from my father." Brandhaus 圧力（をかける）d the button on his phonograph, and one could hear the bass 発言する／表明する of an older man: "予定 to overexertion of his arm muscles yesterday, my son Siemens could not do his homework. Brandhaus." "What?" Frister wondered. "Surely, you don't use your 武器 for 熟考する／考慮するing?" "Our engine is out of order, so I would have been 軍隊d to turn the phonograph manually to listen to my annotations, but I couldn't do that." "How did you bring that overexertion on to yourself?" "By practicing on my 飛行機で行くing bicycle." Embarrassed Frister looked around at Voltheim. "Could be," he murmured. "He probably took a trip up in the 空気／公表する with a few young ladies and danced too many 空気／公表する quadrilles." "Listen, dear 同僚, it doesn't seem to be より小数の excuses in use in the distance learning school than in my own time." And he turned 支援する to the students. "井戸／弁護士席 then, Rathenberg, what did we go through?" "The 光学の telephone 中心s connected to America. But we don't have those anymore. They were all の近くにd 負かす／撃墜する, since they were 取って代わるd by the 化学製品 remote antenna. The recently discovered jets of a 化学製品 解答 are すなわち able to 侵入する the hot 中心 of the globe. Thus it is possible to speak 権利 through the middle of the earth by 化学製品 means." Frister shook his 長，率いる in surprise 支援する and 前へ／外へ. ”Since it became possible to use solar 放射（能） 直接／まっすぐに as working 力／強力にする, the 専門家技術者s got to be the 判決，裁定 広い地所, 会社にする／組み込むing all the 道具s of mankind within their しっかり掴む, and they created a nation based on 株 ...” The student 解釈する／通訳するd this as a 調印する of 不賛成 and continued: "Sir, you について言及するd the 'Kreuzberg-Chimborasso' line yourself, but it was also shut 負かす／撃墜する this morning. I just read that in the Berliner Fernanzeiger." "All and 井戸／弁護士席 - now, Hornbox, go on." "The most important 明言する／公表するs in America are the Empire of California, the Kingdom of New York, the Anarchist 共和国 of Cuba, the Papal 明言する／公表する of Mexico and the South American Sun Realm." "井戸／弁護士席, what do you know!" Frister thought. But all he said was: "Go on, Schwarz." Schwarz went on with such a flow, that Frister hardly could follow his words: "Since it became possible to use solar 放射（能） 直接／まっすぐに as working 力／強力にする, the 専門家技術者s got to be the 判決，裁定 広い地所, 会社にする／組み込むing all the 道具s of mankind within their しっかり掴む, and they created a nation based on 株, by 購入（する）ing all 利用できる land in South America between the tropic circles. Because they derived their 力／強力にする 直接／まっすぐに from the sun, they called this nation the Sun 明言する／公表する. Over the high mountains, and over the treetops and steppes of the wide plains, they pulled their 放射（能） collectors -" "But Schwarz, you are not moving your lips at all when you speak. And why do you play with your fingers all the time there on your desk? You are reading out loud, I assume?" "Oh but please, Sir" - and Schwarz continued fumbling on his desk - "I am playing on the speech machine. You see, I can't speak by myself, because I have 燃やすd my tongue very 不正に." ”Oh but please, Sir" - and Schwarz continued fumbling on his desk - "I am playing on the speech machine. You see, I can't speak by myself, because I have 燃やすd my tongue very 不正に.” "井戸／弁護士席, please continue." "That's how far we had come." Frister was embarrassed when he turned to Voltheim. "Now what?" he asked. "Let your phonograph do the talking." Frister 圧力（をかける）d on the 器具, and to his big surprise he now heard his own 発言する／表明する: "We will now take a look at the 探検隊／遠征隊s to the South 政治家. Nowadays it is certainly 平易な for us to glide in 飛行機で行くing machines over the ice 砂漠, but consider the difficulties 伴う／関わるd still one hundred years ago, such courage that was 要求するd, on those frail water ships and simple dog sleds, just to dare to proceed into inaccessible 地域s. If our ancestors had been as indolent as you are, we would never have reached the South 政治家. They were a 完全に different type of people! It would never have occurred to a student of the nineteenth century to 内密に eat synthetic asparagus during a lesson, as I recently had the misfortune of noticing, その上に a 楽しみ 国境ing on gluttony. Just give a thought to the agonies of hunger those explorers had to 耐える いつかs! It happened that for weeks they had nothing but raw bird lard, but not even then did they lose their courage. Still while they 苦しむd the most terrible hunger, one of those heroes wrote in his diary these words 井戸／弁護士席 価値（がある） considering -" "Emil, would you like to have synthetic asparagus this evening? It is not expensive." A high-pitched 女性（の） 発言する／表明する was suddenly to be heard between the words of the （衆議院の）議長. This interruption was 迎える／歓迎するd with a peal of laughter from all of the students. In 憤慨 Frister turned around to Voltheim. "What was that?" he asked. Even Voltheim was smiling. "I suppose," he said, "your 合法の wedded wife must have entered the room with that question yesterday, 正確に while you were 準備するing for your lecture, and of course the phonograph 再生するd those words faithfully." "My dear 同僚, there is still something ominous about this distance learning school -" "井戸／弁護士席 now, there is also a good 味方する to it. This laughter paroxysm 発揮するd the students so much, that eight flaps fell 負かす／撃墜する. These students are overtired. Three more, and you will have to end the lesson." "Oh, that would 控訴 me 罰金, since I am - as I believe I already told you - a bit exhausted myself. Now just listen, what is that again, that loud bell?" "It is the signal from the director. He wants to speak with you." Indeed, Frister now 明確に heard an unfamiliar 発言する／表明する: "Excuse me, my dear 議員, for intruding. But I just got to know that our 同僚 Brechberger has run into a chimney with his 空気／公表する bicycle and is somewhat shocked. You must be so good as to fill in for him the next lesson." "Oh, I will be happy to -" The director hang up. "Now what can I do, my dear Voltheim," Frister complained - "the other students still seem やめる amused, and I dare not touch the phonograph any more." "Then, let them repeat what you have gone through." Frister turned again to his class: "Now, please repeat what I said." He could see how all of the students now, almost at the same time, 圧力（をかける）d on their phonographs, where they had 保存するd the lecture. The machines started spinning. Lecture words from two dozen phonographs sprang to his ear in unsettled concord, and it buzzed and hummed ever faster and faster, he turned dizzy in this 素晴らしい 混乱, he groaned, he 一打／打撃 his brow and - - all at once it was 静かな - - 完全に 静かな - - "Oh, the brain 貯蔵所d!" he thought. "Surely I am too tired, then teaching is automatically stopped - I am switched off. Thank God!" Then suddenly he jumped to his feet. The でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるs before him had disappeared. His old 調書をとる／予約するs were 支援する there again. "But tell me now, what is this, dear Voltheim -" His 同僚 Voltheim stood beside him and said: "Excuse me so much, professor - I hope I didn't wake you up. When I （機の）カム in, you were sleeping so 平和的に, that I sat 負かす／撃墜する all 静かな here on the sofa, so I wouldn't 乱す." "So, I was dozing? I could still hear you coming! Can you imagine, I dreamt something remarkable. A fifty thousand 示す salary. But at the end I was supposed to take the place of a 同僚 -" "Yes, unfortunately that is reality, that is why I （機の）カム - our 同僚 Treter -" "You don't say! At what time then?" "早期に tomorrow, at eight o'clock." "In the classroom?" "Where else?" "I thought, in the distance learning school. Are you surprised? Yes, if you only knew! I had a hundred years of vacation, you see! 井戸／弁護士席, please sit 負かす／撃墜する, dear 同僚. Tomorrow, then? I would prefer that, since today I really feel a bit used up." (English translation copyright © Karl-Erik Tallmo, 2000.) 公式文書，認める: Kurd Lasswitz (1848-1910), German philosopher and 上級の high school teacher, who wrote several 調書をとる／予約するs about physics and epistemology 同様に as about Kant. He also edited a 批判的な 版 of Gustav Theodor Fechner (the inventor of psychophysics). Lasswitz wrote a number of modern fairy tales, illustrating さまざまな 科学の 概念s. The story "Distance Learning School" ("Die Fernschule") is from the collection "Nie und Immer" ("Never and Always"), the second 容積／容量, 肩書を与えるd "Traumkristalle" ("Dream 水晶s"). The 版 used here was printed in Berlin in 1928. 製図／抽選: Picture telephone by George Roux, 1910. (初めは made for a story by Jules Verne, "La Journée d'un 新聞記者／雑誌記者 américain en 2889".) [支援する]