The Painting & The Cat

A Fable by Mark TwainThe Painting & the Cat 

Illustrated By: Tristan Liu

The fable is a fictional story meant to teach a moral lesson. See what lesson about the nature of perception Mark Twain is trying to show us. 

This story is adapted from a fable written by Mark Twain's. He's the same writer who brought us Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Once upon a time an artist painted a small and very beautiful picture.  He hung it on the wall across from a mirror so that he could see its reflection in the mirror. Said the artist, "This doubles the distance and softens it, and it's twice as lovely as it was before."

 

A Fable by Mark Twain

 

The animals out in the woods heard of this through the artist's housecat, who was greatly admired by them because he was so learned, and so refined and civilized, and so polite and high-bred, and could tell them so much which they didn't know before, and were not certain about afterward. They were much excited about this new piece of gossip, and they asked questions, so as to get at a full understanding of it. Their first question was what a picture is, and the cat explained.

"It is a flat thing," he said; "wonderfully flat, marvelously flat, enchantingly flat and elegant. And, oh, so beautiful!"

That excited them almost to a frenzy, and they said they would give the world to see it. Then the bear asked:

"What is it that makes it so beautiful?"

"It is the looks of it," said the cat.

 

A Fable by Mark Twain

 

This filled them with admiration and uncertainty, and they were more excited than ever. Then the cow asked:

"What is a mirror?"

"It is a hole in the wall," said the cat. "You look in it, and there you see the picture, and it is so dainty and charming and ethereal and inspiring in its unimaginable beauty that your head turns round and round, and you almost swoon with ecstasy."

The donkey had not said anything as yet; he now began to throw doubts. He said there had never been anything as beautiful as this before, and probably wasn't now. He said that when it took a whole basketful of adjectives to whoop up a thing of beauty, it was time for suspicion.

It was easy to see that these doubts were having an effect upon the animals, so the cat went off offended. The subject was dropped for a couple of days, but in the meantime curiosity was taking a fresh start, and there was a revival of interest. Then the animals assailed the donkey for spoiling what could possibly have been a pleasure to them, on a mere suspicion that the picture was not beautiful, without any evidence that such was the case.

 

A Fable by Mark Twain

 

The donkey was not troubled; he was calm, and said there was one way to find out who was in the right, himself or the cat: he would go and look in that hole, and come back and tell what he found there. The animals felt relieved and grateful, and asked him to go at once--which he did.

But he did not know where he ought to stand; and so, through error, he stood between the picture and the mirror. The result was that the picture had no chance, and didn't show up. He returned home and said:

"The cat lied. There was nothing in that hole but a donkey. There wasn't a sign of a flat, beautiful thing visible. It was a handsome donkey, and friendly, but just a donkey, and nothing more."

The elephant asked:

"Did you see it good and clear? Were you close to it?"

"I saw it good and clear, O Hathi, King of Beasts. I was so close that I touched noses with it."

"This is very strange," said the elephant; "the cat was always truthful before--as far as we could make out. Let another witness try. Go, Baloo, look in the hole, and come and report."

So the bear went. When he came back, he said:

"Both the cat and the donkey have lied; there was nothing in the hole but a bear."

Great was the surprise and puzzlement of the animals. Each was now anxious to make the test himself and get at the straight truth. The elephant sent them one at a time.

First, the cow. She found nothing in the hole but a cow.

The tiger found nothing in it but a tiger.

The lion found nothing in it but a lion.

The leopard found nothing in it but a leopard.

The camel found a camel, and nothing more.

 

A Fable by Mark Twain

 

Then Hathi the elephant declared he would have the truth, if he had to go and fetch it himself. When he returned, he abused his whole subjectry for liars, and was in an unappeasable fury with the mental blindness of the cat. He said that anybody but a near-sighted fool could see that there was nothing in the hole but an elephant.

MORAL, BY MARK TWAIN

 

A Fable by Mark Twain

 

You can find in a text whatever you bring, if you stand between it and the mirror of your imagination. 

 

end


Posted in North America, STORIES FOR KIDS, United States of America, World Tales.

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