Tale 37: The Marvelous Painting (Ash)


Ash thinks for a moment for a story to tell. "What's the name of the trickster girl you usually tell about when you are playing Flynn Devine, again?" he asks Brock.

"Rava Athamur?" Brock asks. "What about her?"

"May I try making up a tale about her?" Ash asks.

"Fire away." Brock smiles. "Do well and I may include the tale in my next performance as Flynn."

"Who's Flynn Devine?" Melody is confused.

"Brock is a superb actor, and has all these characters he portrays in sketches and storytelling." Ash explains. One of these characters is Flynn Devine, a wandering minstrel famed for his cunning and way with words."

"One of the recurring characters in Flynn's tales is Rava Athamur, a young lady trickster." Brock explains. "The stories about her I tell are fan favorites." He motions for Ash to begin. "Go ahead, Ash."

"Once Rava was traveling through a town, and picked up tips on how to paint from the local artists. "Rava didn't mind that you needed years of practice to become a great artist--she announced to one and all she was a great artist. The king of the land heard of this, and although he knew very well about Rava's wiles, he allowed her to paint some of the nobility at the palace."

Misty snickers in anticipation at this. "Many at the court, despite their ugly appearances, told Rava to paint them as heroes, gods, and goddesses. One duke, though he was as fat as a Snorlax, told Rava to paint him as a strong and muscular warrior." Ash continues. "An ugly duchess--so ugly a Mismagius would've been prettier--told Rava to paint her as a beautiful goddess. A lady with pronounced buck teeth asked for a pop idol's smile, and the list went on and on."

Melody's laughter is the loudest as she pictures how ugly the king's court looks. "When Rava had seen the entire court, the king warned her to paint them just as they were, flaws and all, or else. This posed a dillema for Rava--if she didn't paint the court as their idealized selves, they'd have her head; and if she didn't paint them just as they were, flaws and all, the king would have her head." Ash explains. "So how was she going to paint them?"

"Paint them half and half?" Brock guesses. Misty stifles a giggle at what such a portrait would look like.

"How did she paint them?" Melody is piqued as to what happened next.

"Rava agreed to the king's request, and was given a fine room to work in and enough food for a month." Ash continues. "But she did not allow anyone inside, but would occasionally ask for new paint or new brushes to keep up the ruse that she was working."

The lightbulb goes off in Melody's head. "Oh, I get it! Rava didn't paint anything at all for a month!"

Ash grins--it's time for the twist in his tale. "When the month was up, Rava told the court that the portraits were so amazing, only those with noble blood could see and appreciate them. When she drew back the curtain, all the court could see was a blank wall!"

Brock laughs the hardest as he pictures the court's reaction. "Naturally the court started fighting over how noble they were, or who had common blood in them." Ash concludes. "The king heard the ruckus and demanded an explanation. Rava explained that she had kept her promise by painting exactly as much beauty as the court showed her--which was no beauty at all! The king couldn't argue with that logic, and gave Rava a bag of gold just to get out of there."

"That was pretty clever!" Misty comments as she applauds.

"I'll have to remember this tale for my next Flynn performance." Brock agrees as Ash takes a bow...

(the real tale is based on a Tyl Eulenspiegel tale from the Netherlands with a similar title, which you can find on Google Books)