The Painted Bulls

Murti was a renowned artist. He traveled from town to town, showcasing his paintings, which sold for high prices. Once, he painted a picture of two oxen fighting, and his admirers praised it highly.

“How lifelike they look, as if ready to spring out of the picture!” said one admirer.

“It is a masterpiece. I can almost feel the wrath of the oxen for each other,” another remarked. Murti swelled with pride and decided to throw a party for his flatterers.

One day, Murti and his followers stopped at a village on their way to the capital to show his paintings to the king. A crowd gathered to see the great artist.

“Murti, why don’t you let these village bumpkins have a taste of your genius?” one of his friends suggested. Murti laughed and reached for the painting of the two fighting oxen. The masterpiece was taken out of a trunk and handed to him.

Murti held the large roll in his hands. “Villagers,” he announced as he unrolled the painting, “this is the painting you may enjoy. The rest may be too difficult for you to understand. This one is realistic.”

A hush fell over the crowd, and suddenly, a peasant boy laughed.

“They look real enough,” the boy said with an enigmatic smile.

“Then how dare you laugh at my work of art?” asked Murti, baffled.

“I have seen so many ox-fights,” the boy explained. “When oxen fight and but each other with their horns, they always keep their tails tucked between their rumps. But in your picture, they look so funny with their tails flicking about!”

Suddenly, the villagers began to laugh, their amusement echoing in the air.

Embarrassed, Murti rolled up his picture and left the village, reflecting on the boy’s innocent but piercing observation. This encounter reminded him that art is not just about technical skill but also about capturing the true essence of the subject.