Series of Short Stories about Great People: Benjamin Franklin.

stepanoff (51)in #story • 7 years ago

1876. Paris. Spring. The end of April. The dawn. I stand at the open window and take up the first minutes of a new day, a new sun. Young and spring greenery. Air. It is not air; it's just a balm of some kind, almost as sweet as it is in the homeland, in New England. Although, now it should be said otherwise. I am, you know, the ambassador of the new independent American state in France. No, all the same moments of the beginning of a new day are the most magical and we miss them so often: here and now the whole Paris is still asleep. I noticed that here it is not in vogue to get up early for some reason. Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. By the way, I have thought up this proverb by myself. Well, perhaps, I should direct attention of the Parisians to the enormous benefit of the early rise and offer them some ways to achieve progress and success. So here are just some of my suggestions: at dawn, to fire guns, to ring all bells, as well as to wake the Parisians with signals of trumpets and drums, to introduce a special tax on blind shutters that prevent the penetration of morning light into the house. And in the period from March 20 to September 20, to legally forbid to light candles and thereby encourage citizens to make the most use of the daylight hours. Here you will see, madam and monsieur, the measures proposed by me will bring a colossal benefit and will give an incredible saving on candles alone.

And you know, I did publish my project, in one of the newspapers, to be honest, under a pseudonym. The Parisians laughed very much, but in fact, it was a joke. Although, after all, it contained a considerable part of common sense. If you do not believe, then try to go to bed early, get up early, do not sleep away the moment of the birth of a new day. Moreover, one day at a time, you will notice that your life will begin to change; new original thoughts will come into your mind. No, for all that, not for toffee, you will not say better: Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

This simple recipe helped me in many ways to become who I am now. By the way, you probably saw my portrait on a hundred dollar bill of the US Federal Reserve System and, among other things; I came up with a catch phrase "Time is money."