The inscription recalls an episode that occurred in 1835, when the young student John Bosco was challenged by a professional acrobat to four contests. The first was a race through the city; the second a long jump from one bank to another of a small stream; the third was a test of dexterity making a stick jump on the fingertips, the arm and the face, without letting it fall; the fourth was a test of climbing on an elm tree. John Bosco won each of these contests and, rather than accepting money for the bet, he had his meal paid for in a restaurant, the Albergo del Muletto.
