Learn Greek with Comprehensible Greek Audiobooks

---

PATROLOGOS edutainment

The prayer of Catherine 

At night before Catherine falls into her bed, she says this prayer: 

Oh my sweet Virgin, protect my father, my mother, my little brothers, my auntie and all my relatives. 

Protect all the world and the good children. Keep me safe till morning and make me a nice and prudent girl. 

Some times Catherine is distracted and she is saying her prayer with closed eyes from drowsiness. Then she is mistaken and she says: 

- Oh my aunty, protect my Virgin Mary. Or: - Make me worthy and keep me safe till morning to become a good girl. 

But this is nothing. Virgin Mary knows what she wants to say and she listens to her. 

The problem is, that many times Catherine, because of too much drowsiness, she is bored to say her prayer. And other times she forgets it and sometimes she gets stubborn and she cries. 

- Aren't you ashamed, that Virgin Mary is watching you? her grandmother tells her. - The Virgin can't see in this direction, Catherine replies. I know to which direction her eyes are turned. 

Indeed, the eyes of the Virgin are turned up high towards the roof. It's a good old image. It is hanged on the wall, over the little bed of Catherine. 

- Virgin Mary can see everywhere. She sees wherever she wants, her grandmother replies to her. But even if she doesn't see you, do you think she doesn't listen to you? 

Certainly. The Virgin Mary has ears. And Catherine is now thinking, that the ears of the Virgin can hear everything, no matter which way they are turned. However, Catherine although she admits this, she doesn't get up to say her prayer. 

The grandmother Catherine suffers a lot, in order to make her say her prayer. 

Sometimes the grandmother is bored of Catherine's stubbornness and she lets her sleep without prayer. - There, like a bad child, she tells her. 

The day after Catherine is not not a good girl at all. She is naughty. Her mom is arguing with her and on the table they don't allow her the fruit. 

Naturally! She didn't say her prayer, she didn't ask from the Virgin to help her! How could she then be a good girl? 

Catherine regretted. At night as soon as she feels sleepy she is saying her prayer on her own, without her being asked for it. Now Catherine is a good girl. 

She is so nice to see her and to listen to her. She kneels at her little bed and she lifts her head with the blond curls towards the image. 

She crosses her little hands in front of her chest and her little voice sweet and clean is heard saying: «Oh Virgin Mary, protect my father, my mother... 

Then like a little bird she bends on her little bed and she falls asleep. 

The mother 

Marica, Nitsa and Mimis, the three little brothers, they were playing in a room, that was all for them only. 

They had set in the middle their toys, their nice, new toys, gifts most of them of the last new year's eve. 

Marica was fixing up her doll. Nitsa was washing the little cup of her own doll, in order to give her drink her milk, as her mother was doing for her. Mimis was tuning again and again his railway toy. 

The children however were not happy. They were playing without desire and they were grumbling for nothing. 

- I told you a thousand times, Nitsa, not to wash in here the cups. You are spilling water everywhere, Marica said. - Where do you see the waters? she responded disturbed. It was just a drop that fell and has already dried up. 

- Come on, get out of the way, I tell you! The railroad is passing, Mimis was shouting. - Hey Mimi, what are those voices? Marica said. Are you forgetting, that the mother is sick? 

Mimis, who was running behind their wagons, as if he also was a tuned machine, he suddenly stopped. He opened his eyes widely, he looked like frightened towards the door and said slowly: - Oh my! What happened to me! 

Nitsa, while holding the little washcloth of her doll, came near him and she started talking to him seriously. She was talking to him like an grandma, who knows many things. 

- We have told you that so many times, poor you! It's not good for the mother to listen to noises. Where do you have your mind, my child? 

The child, who could not understand how could he forget it and instead he made noise, he refrained in a corner ashamed. And the railroad stopped its journey. 

- Ahh! But finally when is the mother going to be ok, said Marica in a while sighing, sitting her doll in a small chair. - What could make her get well sooner? asked Mimis timidly. 

- First of all so as not to listen your screams! Marica told him severely. - Fine with it. But what else? - What else? said the girls and they looked each other. Come, let's think. 

They had turned serious now all three of them. All three of them the same thought they had inside their little head: What could make the mother healthy faster. 

Suddenly, Nitsa began crying. - I can't find anything, she said, nothing. - I can't find either, said Mimis and he slapped his knees saddened, like an adult man. 

The nunny has told me, Marica said slowly, that in her land, when someone falls sick, they send offerings to the temple and the sick is cured. We should also send offerings, said the other two children, without even knowing what that word means. 

- Anything that hurts you, you make it silver and you offer it to Virgin Mary. Leg, arm, whatever hurts you, Marica explained. - We should send an entire silver mom! Nitsa said. 

But where are we going to find money? - No one should know anything! - Yes, but where are we going to find the money, that we need? 

The children were now agitated. Each one had something to propose. 

Suddenly Marica said: - Let's sell our toys, children! Let's give them to the nanny to sell them! - Yes, well said! Nice idea! Let's sell them all our toys. 

So much they got distracted the children however with their discussion, that they didn't understand that the door silently opened and the father showed up. He had heard their voices and he came to see what was happening. 

From the few things that he heard and he saw, he understood what was going on within the little souls of their children. 

Affected and barely keeping his tears, he approached them, he hugged all three of them and he said to them: 

- There is no necessity, oh my golden children, to sell your toys. There is no need to send offerings to the temple. Virgin Mary, who is everywhere, she has heard you and she had understood your agony. 

She will cure your mother. But for this it will help her also the love that you have for her. Because love is the biggest strength that exists in the human being. 

Come now let us slowly go all together, to see her for one moment and to send her over from afar the kiss of our love. 

The burden of sadness went instantly away from the hearts of the children. They hanged upon the arms of their fathers and they followed him. 

Putting off with difficulty their jolly voices, they approached the door of the mother's room. They opened it slowly slowly and from there each one sent her a kiss. 

The loving little brothers 

Little Costas and Lela were ready to go out. They would go for a walk with their father. 

Little Costas was in a state of great joy and he was jumping around inside the dining room. Suddenly little Costas stumbled on a big flower vase. The flower vase fell down and broke into a thousand pieces. 

Lela, being very sad for the carelessness of her brother, she run in order to help him. She bent down and she began to gather the broken pieces. 

At that moment the father came in. He saw what Lela was doing crouched and being angry he shouted: 

- You careless, you broke the flower vase, and on top you don't say anything! You shall stay home therefore, so that the other time you'll learn to be more careful. 

Lela lowered her eyes and didn't say anything. 

Little Costas bewildered looked for a moment at Lele, then at his father and said: - Not Lela, father! I shall stay at home, because I broke the flower vase. 

The father stood for a moment and looked at his children with emotion. Then he hugged both of them and he said: 

- You will come both with me, because both of you are good children. You, Lela, because without complaint you accepted to be punished for the sake of your brother. And you, little Costas, because you didn't consent in hiding your error. Come and give me a kiss and let us go. 

With a smiling face and tears in their eyes little Costas y Lela ran and kissed their father. Then all three of them happy they went outside. 

Lela and little Costas will never forget that day. They both gave through their love a great joy to their father. 

The complaint of Marica 

Marica has a hidden complaint. Marica loves her little cousins and her classmates with all her heart. They however do not love her. Marica understands that, because during their games they do not play with her. 

But how can they love her? Marica, while she is so good, she also has one very big defect. She is always dirty. 

Every morning, while all the people are washing, Marica does not want to wash herself. She is afraid of the water, as if it is fire. 

While all the children every day are combing their hair, Marica does not want to comb her hair. As if she is afraid that the comb is going to eat her with its teeth! 

If she wan't there her mother, in order to wash her and to clean her up, Marica would go out from her house, without drenching not even her fingers in the water. 

But all the efforts of her mother are in vain. As soon as Marica stays on her own, not even an hour passes and she is again dirty. 

How ugly she seems now! Her dresses are full of soil and her cheeks dusty and sweaty. 

Her hair is like a skein of tangled threads. Her shoes are full of mud. And if you say about her hands, alas! 

The gardener uncle Yiannis, one day that he saw her hands so dirty, said to her: - Come, Marica let me plant basil in your hands! What a shame!... 

And wait until you see what more she is doing! She is wiping her pen using her apron. And sometimes in fact she is also using her lips. 

But also all the things that are hers, they all look like her. Her doll, that was so beautiful, when they gave it to her, now she is all dirty and her face cannot be recognized. Her other little toys they are in the same and worst condition. Dirty and miserables. 

For this reason no other little girl wants to play with her. They all avoid her. 

And if you ask about her books and her notebooks, alas! They are all ripped, dismantled and without their covers. Their pages are crumpled in the edges, full of ink and of crumbs. 

How then could her classmates love her? how could they let her touch their books, their toys or their drawings? how could they play with her, since she is always dirty and they detest her? 

Marica is quite clever and diligent. She can write quite well. Nevertheless she never received a good grade in calligraphy. You can guess why. 

She spills inks everywhere from her pen. Inks at her books, inks at her notebooks, inks at her apron. Even also her face and her hair are stained with ink. You might think that she is doing it in purpose. 

Let her not have therefore any complaint, that the others do not love her and let her try become better. 

And if you, my little friends, happen to know any child, who has the defect of Marica, you should give him read this story. I believe, that you shall benefit him. 

The teaching that the flowers do 

Inside the classroom of little Costas, on a nice little table, there are placed a few flower vases. 

The children are always taking care on turns to decorate them with flowers of the season: violets, lilies, roses, daisies, carnations and others, that make the classroom cheerful and jovial. 

They say that the flowers, wherever they are, either in the gardens, or in the valleys, or in the forests, they have the habit to secretly talk with the air and with the butterflies. 

This is what they were whispering at one time the flowers in the ears of the children slowly slowly, in a way that nobody else could hear it. 

- Our beloved children, do you know why our petals are soft like the velvet? do you know why we smell so good? Because every day the sun brings life to us with its light, the clean air lulls us with its caresses and the morning mist washes us. 

You too are flowers like us. For this, if you also want to make red cheeks, you should live the more you can outside, in the clean air and in the sun, to wash all your body with the clean water. 

Look! You have put us here one next to the other and we form a nice bouquet. Yourselves also you can become in here an alive beautiful bouquet. 

These things once said slowly slowly the flowers. And the children heard them well. Because in the classroom of little Costas no one can see pale children or dirty or messy. All the children are like a bouquet of fresh flowers. 

The Sunday 

As soon as the sun dropped its light over the window, the mother, who had woken up a long time before she went to wake up the children. 

- Eh! children, get up. Aren't you listening to the bell that is calling us? - Right now, mommy, they cried out all together and jumped out from their bed. 

The mother washed Yiannis and Mimis, with fresh water she combed them and she begun to dress them. 

In the meanwhile little Helen was preparing the baby, as she had promised since the night before. Then her mother helped her dress herself too. 

The children now were ready. Their faces, bright red and clean. With their festive clothes they were shining out of beauty. In a while they set out to go to church. 

Their mother was holding the baby girl by the hand and the other three children were walking ahead, prudently one next to the other. 

When they entered into the church, there were not yet a lot of people and so they took a seat in the front of the temple. 

The priest Vangelis, with his golden stole, begun to chant. What a beautiful voice he had! He was chanting slowly, with devoutness, and the children were listening to him with their mouth open. 

They were looking at the icons and from time to time they lifted their head and they were looking at Jesus Pantocrator, with admiration Who was painted high up, on the great dome. 

The mother had said that from up there He blesses the whole world and to the children He seemed as being alive. 

In fact Mimis once said, that he saw His hand moving. And little Helen, said that He smiled at her with love, moving His head. 

In a while the deacon went up on the pulpit, in order to read the Gospel. The sacred book was opened in front of him, on a golden dove with its wings opened. 

On the right and the left side, were the pulpits of the chanters. Near the right pulpit, on a tall pew, the right chanter was chanting and across him the left chanter was responding, from his tall pew, him too. 

The children admire the crystalline gilded chandeliers, with their many candles, and they never stop looking at them, every time they are coming at the church. 

They also admire the silver vigil lamps, that are lit and hunging in front of the icons. 

The whole church smells very nice by the incense! The priest Vangelis whispers prayers slowly inside the chancel. He also comes out in front of the middle gate of the iconostasis and there he spells the prayers louder. 

At the end, holding up the silver grail, he passes through the people and then they all bow their heads downwards with reverence. In fact, some people kneel down as well. 

The liturgy is over. The priest Vangelis is giving out the holy bread. The children take the holy bread and they kiss his hand, then they kiss the icons and they get out of the church with their mother. 

Immediately they ran to the street baker, because they feel great hunger. Each one of them has in his pocket the sunday's gratuity, that the father and the mother are giving to them. 

When they had advanced towards the house, the mother saw, that little Helen was not eating pastry. - Didn't you buy pastry, little Helen? - I am not hungry mom. - Strange! Said she and she looked at her with some concern. 

In a while they arrived at home. The moment that they were entering inside, their mother shouted scared: - Where is little Helen? 

The children went outside again, in order to see what was going on. Down there at the edge of the street, they saw her standing and talking with a little child. 

- She is talking with a beggar child, said Yiannis to his mother. Last Sunday also this child was standing on the same spot. He is wearing some clothes that are very used. 

- This is not a reason, my child, for not speaking to him, said the mother. And I understand very well what is going on. Your sister did not buy a pastry in order to give her money to this poor boy. 

- Yes, mother, Mimis then said. She could have bought a pastry and also give money to the little beggar. - And still money would remain, Yiannis said. 

In the meanwhile little Helen saw, that they had stopped her mother and her brothers and were looking at her from afar. She quickly ran near them. 

- Did you give it all to him? Yiannis asked her with curiosity. - That is why you didn't buy a pastry, right? We caught you, lady, Mimis told her too. 

Little Helen blushed. She was standing with eyes looking down and she was afraid to look at her mother. 

She was thinking like this: since the children are talking to me like that it means, that the mother is not pleased with me. And she is right, because I hid from her the truth. I lied to her, that I was not hungry. 

The mother spoke however and her voice was full of joy. - Listen children, little Helen has done something very nice and very kind! 

You said before, that she could buy a pastry and also give away the rest of the money to the poor child. 

Yes she could, but she felt the need to do something even better. To sacrifice this small pleasure, in order to give one even bigger to the poor boy. 

And instead of telling her, Mimis, «we caught you», as they say to those, who have done some bad act, you should have told her: 

«Oh my little sister, I see it, that you have the best heart than all of us!» These things their mother said and they started again to walk towards the house. 

They were all looking now to little Helen with pride, who was walking ahead, holding her little sister by the hand. Her face was shining with beauty and she seemed exactly the same like the little angels, that they had seen in the church, painted on the icons. 

The best workers 

One little hand, my dear friends, is painted in the picture. It is a little hand like yours with five fingers. Five little fingers, that have their little nails cut and clean. 

This of course you know it. There isn't any need for me to tell it to you! Do you know however, that every little finger also has a name; 

The fat finger, that is found on the side, it appears that it is the leader. And certainly it is the leader, since in every task that the other fingers are doing, it is always helping. For this reason it's name is: Great Finger or thumb. 

The other finger, which is near the great finger, has the habit of pointing. Sometimes in fact this habit is very bad. Watch out, when this finger points on the street to some unknown man. It is a very ugly habit. 

This finger that points, is called Index finger. And you must tell to your Index finger, that it is not nice when people are seeing it on the street pointing. 

The third finger is longer than all the others. For this reason it's little brothers have put it in the middle and they are calling it: Middle finger. Therefore mister Middle seems longer and boastful. 

The fourth finger, because it is close to the Middle finger, we call it: «next to the middle» and because some people on this finger they put on a ring we also call it Ring finger. This finger always helps the Middle finger. 

The fifth finger is the most slender and the most handsome, but it is also the smallest of all; for this reason it's name is Little finger. 

Your five little fingers live in a little house, that is called hand. At this moment, that you are seeing the hand in the picture, the fingers are having a council. 

- I am hungry, says the Thumb finger. - I am hungry too, but I don't have anything to eat! says the Index finger. 

- What are we going to do? asks the Middle finger. - I don't know... whispers the Ring finger, scratching his head. 

- Let's get to work! the Little finger shouts. Whoever works, eats! Whoever doesn't work, doesn't eat! Therefore, if you want us to eat, we must get to work. 

The five brothers listened to the advice of the small one and since then they started to work. In their work they are accompanying them also the other five little brothers, who are sitting on the other hand. 

And they never went hungry. They are getting tired, they are suffering, they are getting hurt, they are getting dirty, they are suffering from calluses, but they are always working. 

They are feeding us, they are dressing us, they are building houses for us, they are entertaining us, they are curing us. They are giants indeed. 

Indeed, how many things are the people performing with such worthy workers that they have. 

The little captain 

It was given as a gift to Little Dimitris on his saint's day a military cap with golden gallons. Three little classmates of his came to wish him all the best and to play with him. 

Little Dimitris full of joy showed to his friends the military cap and he said: - Behold what my father have given to me for the day of my Saint! Doesn't it really look like a military one? - How beautiful it is! little Costas shouted. It is exactly like those that the officers are wearing! 

- Do you know what we could do? Pericles said, whose little head was always generating ideas for game playing. Let's do as if we are an army. And you, Dimitris, you will be our captain, since it is your name day today and you also have the golden military cap. 

- And I will carry the flag! George shouted, who wanted himself too to have the supremacy. - Here it is, take it already! Little Dimitris said. 

He put in his hand a small pole and he tied his handkerchief on the other edge. Himself he put on the military cap, and it suited him perfectly. 

- Attention! Forward... march! One, two, one, two! Quick march! And they started marching within the alleyways of the garden. 

- Battalion... Halt! commanded the captain and he pointed to the others the enemy. It was Blackish, their big cat, that was lying down reposefully on the paddock wall. - There is the enemy! Fire! Bam! Boom! 

The brave army took a stand and were shooting with their little wooden rifles. The shootings were shouted out loud from their mouths. The cat however remained indifferent and sleepy in his place, without even turning to look at them. - Attack him! March! The captain commanded again. 

But while they were running fast towards the wall, the captain tripped on a rock and he majestically fell down on the alleyway. Pericles and little Costas immediately ran to lift him up. 

- Are you hurt? little Costas asked him looking scared. Little Dimitris lifted himself up. His face was all pale. He showed his chubby leg, that was injured on the knee. He had scratched himself by a pointy gravel and from the wound blood flowed... 

- Ah! it hurts a lot! Shouted the little captain and he almost started to cry. He detained himself however, because they came to his mind the words, that his father had told him, when he give him the military cap. - Now you will look like a real soldier, Dimitris my son, and you must behave like a man. 

Well, the soldiers never cry, and neither the captains, little Dimitris was thinking. But while Pericles and little Costas were helping him with all the formality to go limping to the house, his eyes snorted because of the pain and one tear rolled down his cheek. 

Right behind George was coming with his flag. - What happened to you children? the mother asked, when the army stopped under the window of the dining room. 

- We were playing the soldiers, little Costas said with his face lowered to the ground and with slurred words, and while we were fighting the war, our captain was badly injured! 

The mother immediately ran outside. She took the wounded hero in her arms, she brought him inside and she washed his knee with boiled water, that she always kept in a bottle. 

- Well done! she told him, you are good boy and you are not crying! - I employed my best effort in order not to cry. The father said, that the real officers are never crying, little Dimitris replied. 

- Indeed, my son, the father said, who, in the meanwhile, had come. I see that you will become a brave man when you will grow. 

- Of course he will become brave! Said Pericles. If I were in his place, I would agitate the world with my crying. Hooray therefore for our captain! - Hooray! they all shouted, while little Dimitris was laughing out of his joy. 

The school of the birds 

- Also the birds are going to school every morning! The teacher was saying one day in the classroom of Phroso. But that school has neither walls, like ours, nor roof. Its roof is the sky and its floor the branches of a great oak tree on the prairie. 

Their teacher is mister Blackbird, with the beautiful black dress of his and with his melodic voice. As soon as he whistles, all his winged students gather around him and the lesson begins. 

Each student says his lesson singing! And each one explains in his own way, how he finds the seeds and how he catches the insects and the worms. 

The most cheerful pupil is the Finch with his green-yellow overcoat. He thinks, that it is always springtime. 

A very careful student is the cute Goldfinch, with the little red fez on the head and with the golden gallons. 

The Robin is always boasting for his beautiful waistcoat and for this sometimes he becomes inattentive. The clever Magpie, again, with the plume on the head, is always talking about the forest. 

The Crow often remembers the myth of the cunning fox and of the cheese. The Swallow is narrating his voyages. 

The Lark, him also with the plume in the head, is singing about the joy that he feels when he darts like an arrow high up the sky or when he falls like a stone down on the fields. 

Let us not forget the Cuckoo as well, the lazy one with his monotonous song, as well as the cunning Sparrow. 

But the students of this school are so many, that we need much time in order to mention them all. 

When the class ends, the nightingale, poorly dressed, looks around with his clever little eyes and he begins a melodic song, that no other bird can sing. 

Then also mister Mirlo whistles one more time and all the birds like a lightning they scatter to the four points of the sky. 

Autumn 

The autumn brought with it the blessed rain and the cool weather. 

The sky now is not like in the summer always blue. Black clouds are often covering it and the birds are not signing any more on the trees. 

The trails of the forest are covered with dried leaves and the naked branches seem as if they are cold. 

Thanasis and little Eugenia, two small children from the village, they are climbing the slope and they are entering into the forest. Their mother is sending them in order to collect dry leafs, for Moschoula, their little goat in order to sleep on them and not being cold. 

Many children are coming to the forest and they pretend to be working like the adults, only in order to play. But these two children have not come in order to play. Thanasis is pulling the little cart and little Eugenia is carrying a big sack in her back. 

They started the gathering of the leaves. In order to fill the small cart and the sack, they must crouch and crouch again many times. 

They work with their heart, they sweat, they get tired. They don't stop but only for a moment, from time to time, in order to catch their breath. 

The sun rises and the grayish clouds are shining! How beautiful is the forest now! And how good it smells the wet soil! 

The leaves, that they are gathering, are red, yellow, brown and when the sun falls upon them, they look like gold. 

They are gathering many more armfuls. The little cart has been loaded, the sack has been filled to the brim. They take back again the road to the village. 

The road now is downhill. Little Eugenia bends more and more by the weight of the sack. Thanasis has heated up, he has turned red. The two brothers being tired they stopped and they sat down a little, in order to rest. 

- Tomorrow we will come again, to pick up pine cones, Eugenia said. The mother will need them to start the fire in the winter. 

- We should come again to pick up slugs, Thanasis said. I saw many over the herbs! We shall bring them to mother in order to cook them. 

- No, this is not our job. They might be poisonous. The slugs and the mushrooms, the person who picks them must know them. 

The sun, that came out from the clouds, was slowly heating the countryside. The children now see their home shack looking white from afar. From its chimney escapes some little smoke. 

- The children know what does it say this smoke. It says that the bean soup is boiling on the fire and this gives them strength. A little bit more and they have arrived. 

And there is their mother, who is waiting for them on the threshold of the door. She sees them and she shouts from afar: Wellcome my children. Come and the food is ready. 

Ah! how yummy it will seem to them and with how much appetite they shall eat this bean soup, that they have earned with their toil there little laborers! 

The little Photes 

The small village of Photes did not have a school. Little Photes who wanted to get an education, as he was saying, he was going to the school of the neighboring village, that was quite far away. 

One night Photes was returning late to his village. His mother had asked him to do the shopping and he was late. 

It was the end of the autumn and when he reached to the forest, thick fog had fallen. 

Photes could hardly discern the pathway. Luckily he had passed from there so many times, otherwise he could take some other route. 

Thus as he was walking, it seemed to him that he heard shouting and groaning on his right side inside a field. He stopped in order to look, but inside such a thick fog he could not discern anything. 

Then he got scared and he started running with all his might, but a brave thought made him stop again: 

- There is someone, he said to himself, who is suffering and is asking for help. Maybe I can help him. I must look to see where he is. 

This thought brought back all the courage to little Photes. The groaning continued. He turned back and he walked towards the place, from which he had fled. 

He paid better attention and he distinguished the voice of a small child. Guided by the voice, he wasn't late to find a little girl fallen on the ground. 

Because of the fog she had lost the way and she had entered in the fields. She had fallen inside a quite deep ditch and she could not get up. She had been hit on a rock and blood was running from her forehead. 

Photes lifted up the little girl, and he cleaned her with clean water that was in the ditch. 

Then he bandaged the wound in her forehead with the clean handkerchief that he found in her purse. 

After all this he took her from the hand and he brought her out from the ditch. 

The little girl was shaking and she could not talk. And only when they moved on, she said that her house was in the beginning of the village. How much her parents rejoiced as soon as they saw her! 

The little girl fell in the arms of her mother and she could not speak. Photes explained what had happened. 

- We thank you very much good boy, the parents said to him. And little Photes went to his home pleased. 

The little boat skipper 

The grandfather of little Dimitris was a sailor. Now he was old and he was not traveling anymore. Very often however he was remembering the travels, that he was doing when he was young and he was narrating them to his grandson. 

And little Dimitris could not want anything more. When the grandfather was saying the strange stories of his journeys, little Dimitris was thinking, that it is very good for someone to be sailor. You are always traveling and you see so many places. 

One day, little Dimitris managed to convince his grandfather, to fabricate for him a nice little wooden boat. 

- And do you think, grandfather, that it will sail well my boat? little Dimitris was asking. - It will sail perfectly well, if you set its sails well. No boat can sail well, if the captain is not doing his job well. 

When little Dimitris listened these words, he went serious and he thought with pride: - I will be a good captain! And of course, can anybody else be the captain, since the boat is mine? 

Therefore, he could not just wait for the moment for his boat to finish. He would place on it its masts, its sails and its little colored flag. He would paint it and he would put it in the water in the small harbours, that were on the beach near their home. 

Little Dimitris however was also a pupil and he had to go to school as well. 

Before the grandfather made him the little boat, Dimitris was a very diligent student. The teacher loved him and he always gave him good grades. But when the little boat left from the hands of the grandfather and went to the hands of little Dimitris, things changed. 

Quite often little Dimitris did not reach school on time. Why was this happening to little Dimitris? He, who in other times was so diligent and was continually receiving praise from his teacher? 

I am going to tell it to you with great regret. Little Dimitris was leaving early from his home in order to go to school. On the way there however, as he was passing by the beach, he was wasting time, because he was putting his little boat to float in the little harbours. 

When he would finish his playing, he was hiding his little boat within some rocks, that himself only knew their hidden place and he would run to school in order to be on time for the class. 

In the beginning he managed. But as the days went by, he enjoyed it so much to stay longer on the little harbour, to play with his little boat. 

- Eh! how are you doing with your boat captain? the grandfather was asking him. - Great! The grandson was saying. My boat is sailing perfectly and I believe, that quite soon I shall become captain on a big boat. 

Two weeks passed and at school something very bad happened for little Dimitris. 

The teacher ordered, through another child, to the grandfather of little Dimitris, to go to the school because he wanted to see him. 

The grandfather hasted and he went to the school all worried. He was thinking, that something bad must have happened to little Dimitris. 

He entered in the office and he waited for the teacher. In a little while the teacher came in together with little Dimitris. 

- I called you, said the teacher to the grandfather, in order to tell you, that I am not at all pleased from your grandson. He is falling behind in the class and at school he comes always late. 

Little Dimitris then blushed. His eyes filled with tears, when he saw the saddened face of his grandfather. And because little Dimitris was never telling lies, he confessed what he was doing along the way and was getting to school later. 

- Can you see, my child, his grandfather told him, what have you done? If you want to become a good captain, you must learn to govern yourself first. 

Little Dimitris understood very well the words of his grandfather. He promised, that he would not do it again and that he would not neglect his learnings for the game. 

End of the first part