In olden times a dispute arose between two painters in a hill-place,
each of the two affirming that he was superior in art to the other.
They went before the king, and fell at his feet. Then each of them
explained how he was a better artist than the other. As the king could
not settle their dispute, he pointed to the entrance hall, and ordered
each of them to paint one of its walls. When their work was finished,
he would be in a position to decide which of them was the better
artist.
They set to work, divided from one another by a curtain. One of them
painted a picture, and completed it in six months. But the other in six
months covered the surface of his wall with mosaic work. Having
finished his picture, the first artist came before the king and said,
“O king, my picture is finished, may it please you to set eyes upon
it.”
When the king, attended by his ministers, had passed through the
doorway and gazed upon the picture, he was well pleased and said, “The
painting is excellent.” Then the other artist fell at his feet and
said, “Now vouchsafe to look at my picture.” When he had drawn the
curtain aside, and the king saw several figures standing well out, he
marvelled greatly and said, “Of the two paintings this is the most
excellent.” Then the artist drew the curtain once more in front of his
work, and fell at the king’s feet and said, “O king, this is no
painting. I have decorated the wall in mosaic.”
Thereupon the king’s astonishment waxed still greater, and he said,
“This is the one who is the best artist.”