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Ben Franklin

There was a man named Josiah Franklin.
He owned a candle and soap shop in Boston,
Massachusetts. The sign for the shop was shaped like a blue
ball. Josiah had children, but there were often not living at
home. Josiah invited guests to his home to talk and teach his
children, but the guests were not aware that they were
invited to teach the Franklin children. Both Josiah and his
wife felt strongly about educating their children; they took
their childrens' education very seriously. Benjamin, one of
their children, always listened to the guests; he was a very
bright child. Benjamin taught himself to read when he was
only five years old. His parents wished that they could send
Ben to school, but they were very poor. Once three very
important men visited Josiah and told him of a new law
which said that children must attend school. Josiah sent Ben
to the Boston Latin School because the only expenses were
books and fire wood. At the Latin School all the children
were expected to learn fables by heart. The fables had
lessons which the school master thought was an important
part of learning. Ben's best friend's name was Nathan. Ben
helped Nathan learn the fable "The Wolf and the Kid", while
Ben learned "The Dog and his Shadow". At the time of the
recital of the fables the school master said, "and Ben will
recite "The Wolf and the Kid", which was Nathan's fable.
Ben thought, "If I say that it is Nathan's fable, then the school
master will get into trouble. If I recite the fable, then Nathan
will get into trouble." Ben did nothing; he simply stood there
looking up into the sky. Everyone said that Ben was lazy and
that he could not even learn one fable. Josiah Franklin stood
up and explained his son's behavior and the school master
was very embarrassed. Josiah and Nathan's father both took
their sons to the Writing School. Ben was good in every
subject except math. An example of the type of math that
Ben had trouble with is; 848 plus 262 equals...