The Question at the Wrong Moment

Chapter 1The Side Question

Rebbi was explaining how to divide a long line into equal sections.

Yanky thought of the long path outside his house. If people measured it with different-sized steps, would they get different numbers?

He called out the question before Rebbi finished.

Rebbi put down the chalk.

"That is an interesting question, but we need to finish this explanation first. Ask me after class."

Yanky nodded.

The question stayed in his mind while the explanation moved on without him.

Chapter 2A Question That Would Not Sit

Rebbi marked another section on the line.

Yanky imagined Totty taking big steps and his little brother taking small ones.

He almost raised the question again. Perhaps Rebbi had not understood how interesting it was.

Then Rebbi asked the class what each marked section represented.

Yanky looked at the board. He had missed the part that explained it.

His question had filled so much room that there was no room left for this one.

Chapter 3The Margin

Yanky picked up his pencil and wrote in the margin of his practice page: Big steps, little steps, same path?

He underlined the words once.

Now he did not have to hold the whole question in his head until class ended.

Rebbi repeated the instruction for the practice problem. Yanky listened this time.

He divided the drawn line into the requested sections and checked that they were equal.

The small note sat beside the work without pushing it away.

Chapter 4The Last Minute

When the boys began putting their things away, Yanky saw the note again.

He waited until Rebbi finished answering another boy's question about the homework.

Then he came forward with the paper.

"May I ask about the path now?"

"Yes. Thank you for waiting until we finished."

Yanky explained the big steps and small steps.

This time he did not have to rush between pieces of an explanation. Rebbi could hear the whole question.

Chapter 5Different Numbers

Rebbi drew two little sets of marks on scrap paper, one close together and one farther apart.

They talked about why different-sized steps could give different counts for the same path, and why measuring with the same unit helped people compare.

Yanky pointed to the shorter spaces.

"So my brother might count more steps, without the path getting longer."

"Exactly."

Yanky smiled. It had been worth asking. It had also been worth saving for a time when Rebbi could answer it.

Chapter 6Back to the Page

At home, Yanky showed Totty the note and the little drawing.

"Did you ask in class?"

"At first. Then I had to wait until afterward."

"Did waiting make you forget?"

Yanky tapped the margin.

"This kept it."

He finished the homework before adding another small question to the corner. That one could wait until the right lesson or a quiet moment with Rebbi.

He was not throwing the questions away. He was keeping them somewhere other than in the middle of every explanation.

Chapter 7A New Thought

During the next lesson, another idea came to Yanky.

His mouth nearly opened. He picked up his pencil instead.

The note was short enough that he could return to the board quickly.

Later, when Rebbi asked whether anyone had a question about that day's work, Yanky raised his hand. That question did belong in the lesson.

His other idea waited in the margin.

There was room for both, as long as he did not try to make them happen at the same moment.