somewhat different. We know that the world is not all sleight of hand and
deception because here we are in it, we are part of it. Actually, we are the
white rabbit being pulled out of the hat. The only difference between us and
the white rabbit is that the rabbit does not realize it is taking part in a magic
trick. Unlike us. We feel we are part of something mysterious and we would
like to know how it all works.
P.S. As far as the white rabbit is concerned, it might be better to
compare it with the whole universe. We who live here are microscopic insects
existing deep down in the rabbit’s fur. But philosophers are always trying to
climb up the fine hairs of the fur in order to stare right into the magician’s
eyes.
Are you still there, Sophie? To be continued . . .
Sophie was completely exhausted. Still there? She could not even remember if
she had taken the time to breathe while she read.
Who had brought this letter? It couldn’t be the same person who had sent the
birthday card to Hilde Moller Knag because that card had both a stamp and a post-
mark. The brown envelope had been delivered by hand to the mailbox exactly like the
two white ones.
Sophie looked at her watch. It was a quarter to three. Her mother would not be
home from work for over two hours.
Sophie crawled out into the garden again and ran to the mailbox. Perhaps there
was another letter.
She found one more brown envelope with her name on it. This time she looked
all around but there was nobody in sight. Sophie ran to the edge of the woods and
looked down the path.
No one was there. Suddenly she thought she heard a twig snap deep in the
woods. But she was not completely sure, and anyway it would be pointless to chase
after someone who was determined to get away.
Sophie let herself into the house. She ran upstairs to her room and took out a big
cookie tin full of pretty stones. She emptied the stones onto the floor and put both
large envelopes into the tin. Then she hurried out into the garden again, holding the
tin securely with both hands. Before she went she put some food out for Sherekan.
“Kitty, kitty, kitty!”
Once back in the den she opened the second brown envelope and drew out the
new typewritten pages. She began to read.
A STRANGE CREATURE
Hello again! As you see, this short course in philosophy will come in
handy-sized portions. Here are a few more introductory remarks:
Did I say that the only thing we require to be good philosophers is the
faculty of wonder? If I did not, I say it now: THE ONLY THING WE REQUIRE
TO BE GOOD PHILOSOPHERS IS THE FACULTY OF WONDER.
Babies have this faculty. That is not surprising. After a few short months
in the womb they slip out into a brand-new reality. But as they grow up the
faculty of wonder seems to diminish. Why is this? Do you know?
If a newborn baby could talk, it would probably say something about
what an extraordinary world it had come into. We see how it looks around and
reaches out in curiosity to everything it sees.
As words are gradually acquired, the child looks up and says “Bow-wow”
every time it sees a dog. It jumps up and down in its stroller, waving its arms: