“It is of your age, my child, to think that only in fighting can one be brave; but I could fill a big book with all the different kinds of courage.”
“Tell me, then! How could I be brave if there were no war?”
The blind man groped for the boy’s hand and held it for a moment.
“I think you are brave now.”
“But that is impossible; I have done naught.”
“Suppose that next year when you finish the highest class of the Parnassos, you were to get the first prize?”
“Yes,” assented Aleko, “I shall get it.”
“Very well; how much is it?”
“Three hundred drachmæ.”
“Would that sum not be sufficient to keep you for a year at least without working, if you wished to go to a higher class in the Municipal School?”