HOW THE WORLD WORKS

Know what you know well, what you know vaguely and abstractly, and what you do not know and go on…

Go on and on…reading…until i feel totally comfortable about world view and it feels obvious the world concretised

HOW THE WORLD WORKS

OUR PAST

UNIVERSE AND STARS

Galaxies ..Solar System ..Earth …Life (millions of species)

Coming of Man

Early man, Agriculture

Coming of Civilizations --

Ancient civilizations, Greek, Roman, Indus, Vedic, Chinese Civilizations etc

Foundations of Belief systems --

Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, Dark ages, Renaissance, Bacon, Descartes, Voltaire

Copernicus, Galileo, Newton

And ALL GREAT Scientists

ALL Romantic Writers

All MODERNISTIC PHILOSOPHERS –

Hume, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Locke, Russel, Sartre, Wittgenstein, William James

Age of Enlightenment, Post Kantian Descent, Postmodernism

Capitalism, Industrial Revolution, Imperialism, Inventions and Businessmen, Privatization.

THE LION, THE ASS, AND THE FOX | RETOLD BY LEO TOLSTOY | MASTER READING - LISTENING WITH GRAMMAR ANALYSIS | AESOP STORIES | EFL RESOURCES

THE LION, THE ASS, AND THE FOX

The Lion, the Ass, and the Fox went out to hunt. They caught a large number of animals, and the Lion told the Ass to divide them up. The Ass divided them into three equal parts and said: "Now, take them!"

The Lion grew angry, ate up the Ass, and told the Fox to divide them up anew. The Fox collected them all into one heap, and left a small bit for herself. The Lion looked at it and said:

"Clever Fox! Who taught you to divide so well?"

She said:

"What about that Ass?"

THE LION, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX | RETOLD BY LEO TOLSTOY | MASTER READING - LISTENING WITH GRAMMAR ANALYSIS | AESOP STORIES | EFL RESOURCES

THE LION, THE WOLF, AND THE FOX

An old, sick Lion was lying in his den. All the animals came to see the king, but the Fox kept away. So the Wolf was glad of the chance, and began to slander the Fox before the Lion.

"She does not esteem you in the least," he said, "she has not come once to see the king."

The Fox happened to run by as he was saying these words. She heard what the Wolf had said, and thought:

"Wait, Wolf, I will get my revenge on you."

So the Lion began to roar at the Fox, but she said:

"Do not have me killed, but let me say a word! I did not come to see you because I had no time. And I had no time because I ran over the whole world to ask the doctors for a remedy for you. I have just got it, and so I have come to see you."

The Lion said:

"What is the remedy?"

"It is this: if you flay a live Wolf, and put his warm hide on you—"

When the Lion stretched out the Wolf, the Fox laughed, and said:

"That's it, my friend: masters ought to be led to do good, not evil."

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB | RETOLD BY LEO TOLSTOY | MASTER READING - LISTENING WITH GRAMMAR ANALYSIS | AESOP STORIES | EFL RESOURCES

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB

A Wolf saw a Lamb drinking at a river. The Wolf wanted to eat the Lamb, and so he began to annoy him. He said:

"You are muddling my water and do not let me drink."

The Lamb said:

"How can I muddle your water? I am standing downstream from you; besides, I drink with the tips of my lips."

And the Wolf said:

"Well, why did you call my father names last summer?"

The Lamb said:

"But, Wolf, I was not yet born last summer."

The Wolf got angry, and said:

"It is hard to get the best of you. Besides, my stomach is empty, so I will devour you."

THE TWO COMPANIONS | RETOLD BY LEO TOLSTOY | MASTER READING - LISTENING WITH GRAMMAR ANALYSIS | AESOP STORIES | EFL RESOURCES

THE TWO COMPANIONS

Two Companions were walking through the forest when a Bear jumped out on them. One started to run, climbed a tree, and hid himself, but the other remained in the road. He had nothing to do, so he fell down on the ground and pretended that he was dead.

The Bear went up to him, and sniffed at him; but he had stopped breathing.

The Bear sniffed at his face; he thought that he was dead, and so went away.

When the Bear was gone, the Companion climbed down from the tree and laughing, said: "What did the Bear whisper in your ear?"

"He told me that those who in danger run away from their companions are bad people."

THE REEDS AND THE OLIVE-TREE | RETOLD BY LEO TOLSTOY | MASTER READING - LISTENING WITH GRAMMAR ANALYSIS | AESOP STORIES | EFL RESOURCES

THE REEDS AND THE OLIVE-TREE

The Olive-tree and the Reeds quarreled about who was stronger and sounder. The Olive-tree laughed at the Reeds because they bent in every wind. The Reeds kept silence. A storm came: the Reeds swayed, tossed, bowed to the ground,—and remained unharmed. The Olive-tree strained her branches against the wind,—and broke.

THE WOLF AND THE GOAT | RETOLD BY LEO TOLSTOY | MASTER READING - LISTENING WITH GRAMMAR ANALYSIS | AESOP STORIES | EFL RESOURCES

THE WOLF AND THE GOAT

A Wolf saw a Goat browsing on a rocky mountain, and he could not get at her; so he said to her:

"Come down lower! The place is more even, and the grass is much sweeter to feed on."

But the Goat answered:

"You are not calling me down for that, Wolf: you are troubling yourself not about my food, but about yours."