Part 2

Once, when Leonardo da Vinci was only a little child, there was a small dog, smaller than a cat. His hair was white for the most part, spotted here and there with large black dots and a head of the same color, excepting a dark brown muzzle. He was a lonely little mutt, unloved, uncared for, the perfect picture of a forlorn animal. He lived on the capricious generosity of passersby, and his little ribs showed plainly through his fur, stained brown with the dust and filth of streets. He wandered all over the earth, following whoever gave him a kind look until he could walk no further, then stopping to rest, eating what he could find, and continuing in his meaningless, endless journey. After three years of this miserable existence, the poor dog stumbled by a home, delirious with hunger and exhaustion. Crawling weakly up on the front step, he collapsed with a pitiful whimper. A kind-hearted little boy of only five years heard his pitiful cry and ran to his aid...