"One day a great artist named Cimabue paid a visit to the countryside. He was impressed by a sketch which the young shepherd had made.
"He gained the consent of Giotto's father to take his son to Florence. There he promised to teach the boy how to paint.
"So Giotto became Cimabue's apprentice, or helper. He worked hard and learned a great deal. But, like all boys, he was fun-loving. One day he played a joke upon his master.
"Cimabue had gone out, leaving in the studio an unfinished portrait of a gentleman. When he returned, there was a fly sitting upon the nose of his painting.
"He tried to brush off the fly but it would not move. He looked more closely and discovered what had happened. His mischievous young apprentice, Giotto, had painted that fly!
"The master was not angry. He enjoyed the joke and recognized the lad's skill.
"Giotto became known as the father of one of the first schools of painting.
"Florence is also a city of great men!
"One day, long ago, a nine-year-old boy named Dante went to the feast of flowers, which is celebrated every year. Here, among the beautiful blossoms, he beheld one more beautiful and sweet than all the rest.