In Alphonse Daudet's short story "The Last Lesson," Franz, a young student, reflected on several things for a moment:

• The sounds of the Prussian soldiers drilling in the back: Franz realized that this was the distraction that had been drawing people to the back of the sawmill and preventing them from attending school.
• His inability to speak French Franz was ashamed that he did not know how to write.

You can find the story online at sites like Project Gutenberg: The Last Lesson