1.Have you ever wondered what is meant by the saying，“The boy is father of the man”？Here are a few very short stories which may help you to understand the saying，and to see how true it often is.
2.A Swedish boy fell out of a window and was badly hurt，but with clenched teeth he kept back the cry of pain.The king，who saw him fall，said that such a boy would make a useful man in any time of danger.
And so he did，for he became a famous general .
3.A boy，who lived among the mountains in the north of Italy，used to crush flowers to get the colour out of their petals，and with this paint he painted the white wall of his father‘s house with all sorts of pictures.He was the great artistTitian.
4.An old painter used to watch a little fellow who amused himself making drawings on his paint-pots，his easel，his stool，and anything else he could find todraw on.The painter said，“That boy will beat me one day.”And so he did，for he was the famous sculptorand painter Michael Angelo.
5.A German boy was reading a ver y exciting novel.When he was right in the middle of it he saidto himself，“Now this will never do.I get too much excited over stories like this.I can’t study so well after it.So here goes！”and he flung the book into the river.He read no more useless books，and attended only to his studies，until he became one of the most learned men who ever lived.He was Fichte，the great German writer.
6.Now you begin to see how the boy can be the father of the man.Every boy has in him the beginnings of the man he is to become，and the kind of boy he is now tells us the kind of man he will be.
7.Boys cannot all become great men，but they can all become good men，if they care to do so.And how can they do this？Simply by attending to their habits.They must get rid of their bad habits，and try to learn good and useful ones，and they must do so while they are young.