The Apple

There is an allegorical short story written by H.G. Wells entitled The Apple.  Several men in a “third-class carriage on a Sussex railway,” each absorbed in his own thoughts, begin to talk among themselves.  One announces that he is in possession of what he calls an “apple from the Tree of Knowledge,” and that he “must get rid of it.”

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Hercules And The Apple Of Athena

One of the fables of Aesop concerns Hercules and Athena.  One day, Hercules was proceeding along a pathway in the mountains when he spotted an apple lying on the ground.  Irritated at its presence, he decided to smash it with his club; and when he tried to do so, the apple doubled in size.  Shocked, he swung his club at it again, this time determined to crush it completely.

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