A Poor Boy’s Initiative

At a school in Vignola, Italy, a teacher was completely absorbed in what he was teaching. He noticed, however, that some of his students were constantly looking out the window. At first, the teacher thought it was childish curiosity, but when the disturbance continued for a long time, the teacher decided to go look through the window himself. He was shocked to see a nine-year-old boy, shabbily dressed and shivering with cold, standing under the window. The teacher shouted at him for disturbing his class.

The poor boy was in tears. “I’ve done nothing wrong”, he said, “I was just here to listen to your lessons and learn something before going to the store; if you don’t want me here I won’t come back.”

“Why don’t you come to school?” “I have no money for the tuition,” said the boy.

“Well, let me see if you’re really serious about learning, Tell something about the topics I explained yesterday and on days before that.”

The boy remembered everything. The astonished teacher said, “Don’t worry about the six lire. Come to study, and I will make the necessary arrangements.”

The boy made such progress that at the end of the year the teacher didn’t know what else to teach him. Many others came forward to help him continue his education. He went on to become a great scholar, a fantastic history professor, and an outstanding Italian writer. The boy was Ludovico Antonio Muratori.