A Flash of Light

It was a cold day and Valentine Huay walked briskly down the cobbled street. It was getting dark and he was in a neighbourhood he was not very familiar with. He was on his way home and was thinking about the warm room and the glowing  fire that would greet him on his arrival. A carriage pulled by horses rattled past as Valentine reached the corner of the street. To avoid being trampled by the horses, he stepped back on to the pavement. 

      Befor Valentine could cross the road, he heard a rustling sound behind him. He turned and saw in the shadows of a wide doorway a man standing with his hat in his hand. 'Please, sir said the man, spare some money for a poor blind beggar.Valentine was a kind man and had thought a lot about the problems of blind people. He had often wondered how he could be of help to the blind. Seeing the blind beggar he at once removed one of his gloves, and putting his hand into his pocket pulled from it a coin which he put in the blind beggar's hat. 

       The blind beggar thanked him and Valentine walked away. He was halfway acrossthe road when he heard the beggar call out, 'Sir, sir! Please, just a moment.'

Valentine turned once again and returned to face the blind man. 'Surely, sir,' said the beggar who was on honest man, 'you have a made; you have given me a franc instead of a sou.The words of the beggar astonished Valentine. He was not surprised by the man's honesty but by the fact that he could tell so quickly the difference between a franc and a sau. How did you know that i had given you a franc? asked Valentine. 'Oh,' replied the beggar, 'it is enough for me to pass my finger over it. This was like a flash light. Valentine allowed the beggar to keep the franc although it was a greate deal of money in those days. As he continued his walk he thought to himself, It the blind can distinguish at the least touch a piece of money, why should they not distinguish a mark, a letter or a figure?In short, they should be able to distinguish any sign so long as it is raised.

        With this idea Valentine took home a blind boy whom he found begging at a church door.The blind boy became his first pupil and learnt very quickly how to read from raised signs. With the help of money raised from the public, Valentine Hauy was able to start a school for the blind. Some years later, a blind man called Louis Braille (1809-52) also a Frenchman like Valentine hauy, perfected a system of writing specially for the blind.