The Science of Human Nature: A Psychology for BeginnersPyle, William Henry
Science
The Science of Human Nature: A Psychology for Beginners
Pyle, William Henry
Educational psychology; Psychology
Will | was a farmer's | son | who attended school | in town. | His
clothes | were poor and his boots | often smelled | of the farmyard |
although he took great | care of them. | Since Will had not gone to
school | as much | as his classmates, | he was often | at a
disadvantage, | although his mind | was as good | as theirs,--| in fact,
he was brighter | than most | of them. | James, | the wit | of the
class, | never lost an opportunity | to ridicule | Will's mistakes, |
his bright | red | hair, | and his patched | clothes. | Will | took the
ridicule | in good part | and never | lost his temper. | One Saturday |
as Will | was driving | his cows | to pasture, | he met James | teasing
| a young | child, | a cripple. | Will's | indignation | was aroused |
by the sight. | He asked | the bully | to stop, | but when he would not,
| Will pounced | upon him | and gave him | a good | beating, | and he
would not | let James go | until he promised | not to tease | the
crippled | child | again. |
A COSTLY TEMPER
A man | named John | Murdock | had a servant | who worried him | much by
his stupidity. | One day | when this servant was more | stupid | than
usual, | the angry | master | of the house | threw a book | at his head.
| The servant | ducked | and the book flew | out of the window. |
"Now go | and pick that book up!" | ordered the master. | The servant |
started | to obey, | but a passerby | had saved him | the trouble, | and
had walked off | with the book. | The scientist | thereupon | began to
wonder | what book | he had thrown away, | and to his horror, |
discovered | that it was a quaint | and rare | little | volume | of
poems, | which he had purchased | in London | for fifty | dollars. |
But his troubles | were not over. | The weeks went by | and the man had
almost | forgotten his loss, | when, strolling | into a secondhand |
bookshop, | he saw, | to his great delight, | a copy of the book | he
had lost. | He asked the price. |
"Well," | said the dealer, | reflectively, | "I guess we can let you
have it | for forty | dollars. | It is a very | rare book, | and I am
sure | that I could get seventy-five | dollars for it | by holding on a
while." |
The man of science | pulled out his purse | and produced the money, |
delighted at the opportunity of replacing | his lost | treasure. | When
he reached home, | a card | dropped out | of the leaves. | The card was
his own, | and further | examination | showed that he had bought back |
his own property. |
"Forty dollars' | worth of temper," | exclaimed the man. | "I think I
shall mend my ways." | His disposition | afterward | became so | good |
that | the servant became worried, | thinking the man | must be ill. |
* * * * *
[Illustration: FIGURE VIII--LOGICAL MEMORY--"A FARMER'S SON"]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account