psychic
The Visitor
Vocabulary
| reputation | perform | strange |
| mysterious | phenomena | reach |
| leader | eager | meet/met |
| uncover | fraud | message |
| order (2) | show (2) | show up |
| within (2) | without | pass (3) |
| invitation | document | write/wrote/written |
| whatsoever | in fact | explicitly |
| implicitly | instruct | security |
| chief | block (3) | entry |
| Kremlin | heavily | lightly |
| guard | place | whole |
| world | after | issue (2) |
| sense (2) | look up | stranger |
| behind | in front of | stand/stood |
| startled | press (2) | hide/hid/hidden |
| button (2) | alarm | ring/rang/rung |
| bell | entire | building |
| second (2) | commotion | throw/threw/thrown (2) |
| later | personnel | dash |
| immediately | surround | upon |
| interrogation | reveal | indeed |
| try | compound | answer |
| out loud | over (2) | over and over |
| again | question | right before |
| right (4) | appearance | only |
| head (2) | secret | secret police |
| feat | receive | foot/feet |
Mysterious Phenomena
Many years ago in Russia, there lived a man who had a reputation for performing strange and mysterious feats.
Word of the man soon reached the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin.
He became eager to meet this person — or uncover him as a fraud.
Message
So Stalin had a message sent to the man. It was an order: show up in Stalin’s office at the Kremlin. Within three days.
The man would not receive a pass, written invitation, or other official documents whatsoever.
In fact Stalin explicitly instructed the security chief to block the man’s entry into the Kremlin (The Kremlin was the most heavily guarded place in the whole world).
The Office Room
Two days after the order was issued, as Stalin worked on his desk, he sensed something. Looking up, he saw a stranger standing in front of him.
IMPOSSIBLE!
Startled, Stalin pressed hidden security buttons. Alarm bells rang out. The entire building was thrown into a commotion.
A few seconds later, security personnel dashed in Stalin’s office. They immediately surrounded the stranger.
Over and Over Again
Upon interrogation, the man revealed that he was indeed Wolf Messing, the person Stalin had ordered to try to enter his compound.
The officials demanded to know how Messing had managed to do what he had done.
He answered: “Before coming to the Kremlin, I would say to myself, out-loud, ‘Beria, Beria, Beria; I am Beria,’ over and over and over again.”
The security officials then questioned Kremlin guards. They said that right before Messing’s appearance in Stalin’s office, the only person who had passed them was the chief of security — and head of the Soviet secret police — Lavrenti Beria.
1. Approximately when did this event take place?
2. Was the main character an “ordinary” person?
3. Stalin was curious about this man. Yes or no?
4. Why do you think the Soviet leader wanted to see him?
5. It was virtually impossible to simply enter the Kremlin. True or false? Why or why not?
6. Was Stalin surprised, shocked and stunned?
7. According to Wolf, how did he gain entry into the Kremlin? According to Wolf,
8. What did the security guards say? The security guards said that……………………
A. What are some possible explanations for what had happened?
B. Could this have any practical applications in everyday life?
