The Peasant Painter

In celebration of the kingdom's harvest festival, the king decided to give his wife, his brother, and his daughter each a painting of the proceedings. He called upon his servants and told them to bring him the three most unique artists in the lands. Within the hour the servants returned with the royal portraitist, an architect, and a street painter from the slums. He informed the three men that he wished to purchase from them paintings of the festivals key points. When they were finished, they were to bring their work back to the palace so that the queen, the prince, and the princess could pick their favorites. Since it was most important to the king that the princess be happy, he promised an additional three bags of gold to the creator of her chosen piece. He sent them off and ordered them to return before sundown the day after the festival.

The festival came and the King wandered around the town to check in on the three artists to see how their work was coming. He found the portraitist inside the palace capturing the nobles enjoying their private feast. Outside, he discovered the architect studying the special carts and kiosks used by the merchants for the festival. He searched for the street painter as he made his rounds, but found him nowhere. He was concerned about the peasant's progress, but decided he would just see the finished product.

The day after the festival, the king waited for the paintings with his family. Around lunch, the Portraitist arrived first with his piece. It was a bright and colorful display of the nobles with focus on their clothes and jewelry. The garments popped, the gems sparkled, and the faces were spot on. The setting seemed to fall flat and the background was plain. All-in-all, the queen found it pleasing as it captured her perfectly and showed off her possessions. The queen requested the painting should the princess not want it.

By mid-afternoon, the architect arrived with his piece. It was a superbly technical display of architecture and design. The buildings and carts were drawn crisply and perfectly with proper shading for the mid-day sun. The people, however, were too stiff and had no warmth. All-in-all, the prince was drawn to it's technical aspects and requested it should the princess not desire it.

Then they waited for the peasant. And waited. And waited. Finally, just as the sun touched the horizon, the street painter arrived with his piece. As he uncovered it, the royal family gasped. It was perfect. The peasant had captured the entire festival from the top of a building. He captured the nobles leaving the palace in their fine dress. He captured the merchants' carts and kiosks set perfectly throughout the square. He captured the people dancing in the streets. He captured the fields, freshly reaped, off in the distance. He captured everything one would think would be there at the festival and more. The queen and prince didn't even bother to request it as the princess claimed it immediately.

The king congratulated the peasant and presented him with his reward. As the artists left, the portraitist and the architect asked the peasant how he became so talented at painting.

"I don't paint," he told them. "I just look at everything I think is most important and put it on the canvas."

"But you got everything," they complained. "What was the most important."

"I got everything, didn't I?"  The peasant then gave each of them a bag of gold and went on his way.

"Wait," they called. "Don't you want these?"

"Maybe," he said over his shoulder, "but I don't need them."