The Mysterious Stranger, and Other Stories

  A FABLE

  Once upon a time an artist who had painted a small and very beautifulpicture placed it so that he could see it in the mirror. He said, "Thisdoubles the distance and softens it, and it is twice as lovely as it wasbefore."

  The animals out in the woods heard of this through the housecat, who wasgreatly admired by them because he was so learned, and so refined andcivilized, and so polite and high-bred, and could tell them so muchwhich they didn't know before, and were not certain about afterward.They were much excited about this new piece of gossip, and they askedquestions, so as to get at a full understanding of it. They asked what apicture was, 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 theworld to see it. Then the bear asked:

  "What is it that makes it so beautiful?"

  "It is the looks of it," said the cat.

  This filled them with admiration and uncertainty, and they were moreexcited than ever. Then the cow asked:

  "What is a mirror?"

  "It is a hole in the wall," said the cat. "You look in it, and thereyou see the picture, and it is so dainty and charming and ethereal andinspiring in its unimaginable beauty that your head turns round andround, and you almost swoon with ecstasy."

  The ass had not said anything as yet; he now began to throw doubts.He said there had never been anything as beautiful as this before, andprobably wasn't now. He said that when it took a whole basketful ofsesquipedalian adjectives to whoop up a thing of beauty, it was time forsuspicion.

  It was easy to see that these doubts were having an effect upon theanimals, so the cat went off offended. The subject was dropped for acouple of days, but in the meantime curiosity was taking a fresh start,and there was a revival of interest perceptible. Then the animalsassailed the ass for spoiling what could possibly have been a pleasureto them, on a mere suspicion that the picture was not beautiful, withoutany evidence that such was the case. The ass was not troubled; hewas calm, and said there was one way to find out who was in the right,himself or the cat: he would go and look in that hole, and come back andtell what he found there. The animals felt relieved and grateful, andasked him to go at once--which he did.

  But he did not know where he ought to stand; and so, through error,he stood between the picture and the mirror. The result was that thepicture had no chance, and didn't show up. He returned home and said:

  "The cat lied. There was nothing in that hole but an ass. There wasn'ta sign of a flat thing visible. It was a handsome ass, and friendly, butjust an ass, and nothing more."

  The elephant asked:

  "Did you see it good and clear? Were you close to it?"

  "I saw it good and clear, O Hathi, King of Beasts. I was so close that Itouched noses with it."

  "This is very strange," said the elephant; "the cat was always truthfulbefore--as far as we could make out. Let another witness try. Go, Baloo,look in the hole, and come and report."

  So the bear went. When he came back, he said:

  "Both the cat and the ass have lied; there was nothing in the hole but abear."

  Great was the surprise and puzzlement of the animals. Each was nowanxious to make the test himself and get at the straight truth. Theelephant 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 Hathi was wroth, and said he would have the truth, if he had to goand fetch it himself. When he returned, he abused his whole subjectryfor liars, and was in an unappeasable fury with the moral and mentalblindness of the cat. He said that anybody but a near-sighted fool couldsee that there was nothing in the hole but an elephant.

  MORAL, BY THE CAT

  You can find in a text whatever you bring, if you will stand between itand the mirror of your imagination. You may not see your ears, but theywill be there.