The 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 is 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."
The artist's housecat also admired the lovely reflection of the painting in the mirror. To the cat, the mirror and its reflection looked like a hole in the wall. The artist said to the housecat, "Why, if any of your animals friends can give me a fresh perspective on this painting, they can have it."
When the animals in the woods heard this news, they were much excited about this new prize they could win. The housecat was already 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 asked questions so as to get at a full understanding of the matter. Their first question was what a picture is, and the cat explained.
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 win it for themselves. Then the bear asked:
"What is it that makes it so beautiful?"
"It is the looks of it," said the cat. "Colors and swirlings, almost magical you might say."
This filled them with admiration and uncertainty, and they were more excited than ever. Then the cow asked:
"You say the painting is hung on a hole in the wall. We must go to the painting so we can give a 'fresh perspective,' whatever that means. What does that mean, anyway?"
"It is simple," said the cat in a serious voice, and the animals admired the cat all the more for the big words he could toss about so casually and apparently even understood. "You need to look at the painting," said the housecat. "It is so dainty and charming and ethereal and inspiring in its unimaginable beauty that your head will turn round and round, and you will almost swoon with ecstasy. To to give a fresh perspective on the painting, all you do is to describe what you see."
The animals knew this was a nearly impossible task, yet given the prize at hand, most felt inclined to at least try. Why not? After all, stranger things had happened.
They knew this was a nearly impossible task, yet given the prize at hand, most felt inclined to at least try.
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. And even if it was as beautiful as all that, what's there to say about it?
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. After all, it isn't every day one has a chance to win a beautiful new painting! 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 so beautiful, without any evidence that such was the case.
After all, it isn't every day one has a chance to win a beautiful new painting!
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 at the painting in that hole in the wall, and come back and give his fresh perspective. The animals felt relieved and grateful, and asked him to go at once--which he did.
But the donkey did not know where he ought to stand as he faced that hold in the wall. 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. All he could see was a donkey, and one that looked confused.
Said the donkey to the cat, "What you said is not true. There is nothing in that hole in the wall but a donkey! There isn't any flat, beautiful thing. It is a handsome donkey to be sure, and friendly, but just a donkey and nothing more."
The cat relayed this observation to the painter, who said simply, "The donkey was seeing himself in the painting."
The cat relayed the painter's remark to the donkey. When the donkey gathered his friends, the elephant asked him, "Did you see the painting good and clear? Were you close to it?"
"I saw it good and clear, O King of Beasts," said the donkey. "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, bear, look in the hole, and come and report."
That is very strange," said the elephant.
So the bear went. He, too, stood between the painting and the hole in the wall, facing the mirror. When he came back, he said, "Both the cat and the donkey have lied; there is nothing in that hole in the wall 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.
Then 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 that hole in the wall but an elephant.
The beaver stepped up. "I'll give it a try," said she. When the beaver got to the hole in the wall, she held off a bit at the side. "No need to rush," thought she, craning her next. She tiptoed up to the hole in the wall. Looking at it from the side, she saw the lovely painting in all its glory. It showed a hilltop on a bright and sunny day. "How pretty it is, with the sunlight shining just so," said the beaver to the housecat. "Why, it looks like about 4pm on a midsummer evening."
The beaver stepped up. "I'll give it a try," said she.
When the housecat relayed the beaver's observation to the painter, he was very pleased. "Now that is a fresh perspective!" he said. "All your other friends were just putting themselves in front of the art. This painting is for your beaver friend who could see it just as it was." The beaver hung the treasure of a painting outside her dam for all to see.
I love this story