But Basilio kept on, for perseverance was his chief trait.
His fortune seemed to change somewhat when he entered the third year.

His professor happened to be a very jolly fellow, fond of jokes and of making the students laugh, complacent enough in that he almost always had his favorites recite the lessons--in fact, he was satisfied with anything.

At this time Basilio now wore shoes and a clean and well-ironed camisa.

As his professor noticed that he laughed very little at the jokes and that his large eyes seemed to be asking something like an eternal question, he took him for a fool, and one day decided to make him conspicuous by calling on him for the lesson.

Basilio recited it from beginning to end, without hesitating over a single letter, so the professor called him a parrot and told a story to make the class laugh.