The Secret Sculptor
Vijaypal, the king of Chandragiri, was a great admirer of art. A large number of sculptors and painters were in his payroll. He never stopped encouraging them to seek perfection in their works. Once a year he held an exhibition of sculptures and paintings. He invited entries from gifted artists belonging to other lands too. A panel of worthy critics, most of whom were people of other lands, judged the works and decided which ones among them were extraordinary. The king rewarded their makers. Rewards for sculptures were almost always bagged by the sculptors of Chandragiri. This was because the court sculptor of King Vijaypal, Shridhar, was a great genius. He had trained up a group of young men extremely well. King Vijaypal was very fond of Shridhar. The master sculptor had not only enhanced the prestige of Chandragiri in the world of art but also had declined highly lucrative offers from other kings. It so happened that Shridhar fell sick and died rather untimely. The king was very sad. However, he made Shridhar's son, Shekhar, his court sculptor, in the way of paying tribute to the memory of Shridhar The king did not expect Shekhar to prove as brilliant as his father. But, to his pleasant surprise, it is Shekhar who was voted the best sculptor by the experts from different kingdoms who judged the entries in the next exhibition. They declared that Shekhar was no less talented than the late Shridhar. But the truth was different.
The piece of sculpture that passed as Shekhar's creation was in fact the work of another young man, Vimal. Shekhar, despite his father's sincere efforts at making him a worthy sculptor, had failed to become one. On his death bed, Shridhar told Vimal, his dearest and most successful student, "Continue to patronize Shekhar in every possible way till he has learned your art thoroughly well." Vimal was deeply devoted to his teacher. Besides, he had no ambition for fame. His only joy lay in working hard. And such was the secrecy with which he worked that it appeared as if he did nothing more than assisting Shekhar. King Vijaypal had a daughter named Mallika. She was extremely beautiful. One day the king thought, "My daughter will marry and leave me in a short time. Also, as she will grow older, the charm she possesses now will begin to fade. It will be nice to make a statue of hers now." There was also another reason for the king to feel inspired to make a statue of her daughter. Princes from the neighboring kingdoms had begun visiting his palace to propose marriage with Mallika. Now, Mallika was reluctant to appear before them. Besides, any prince who once saw her would insist on marrying her whether he deserved her or not. That would create problems. They could be shown the statue of the princess instead of the princess herself. The king decided to entrust Shekhar with the task of making Mallika's statue. In order to serve as the model for the sculptor, he first had the chief painter of his court, an old man, draw a portrait of the princess. Then he asked Shekar to do the needful. A special room was allocated to Shekhar.
He was to work on Mallika's statue there. Vimal excepting, nobody was to be allowed in. The work went on. Needless to say, it was Vimal who went on working on the stone. All Shekhar did was to hand out to him a hammer or a chisel according to his need. Most of the time Shekhar slept or sat dozing. One day Princess Mallika grew inquisitive. She stealthily entered the sculptor's apartment and observed him at work. The work had not been completed. That is why she could not appreciate it. Suddenly she heard Vimal asking Shekhar, "I don't believe that the portrait represents the princess. It is just a beautiful picture. If the king had asked me to sculpt out just a beautiful maiden instead of asking me to follow a painting in doing so, I would have done the work promptly". What Vimal meant was, so beautiful a portrait could not have been the portrait of a real girl. But the princess misunderstood his remark. Besides, she did not like the half-done sculpture. "I doubt if you know anything of sculpture!" she blurted out. Startled, Vimal looked back. "Wonderful! Why don't you stand before me so that I can carve out your figure on the stone with greater accuracy? The portrait gives out only half of your charm!" spoke out Vimal. The artist in him had forgotten manners! The princess took offense. She went to the king and said, "Father! why have you employed a worthless fellow to make my image? I saw Shekar idling away his time!" The king knew that the only man who was with Shekhar was his assistant, Vimal. He was furious with him.
But instead of awarding any severe punishment to him on account of his unmannerly conduct, he ordered him to leave the kingdom. He was under the impression that Vimal was only tampering with Shekhar's work. A few months passed. The king wanted to know the progress of the work. But the work remained where Vimal had left it. Questioned by the king, Shekhar confessed that all the sculptures that passed as his were Vimal's! He won't dare touch the half-done statue of Mallika. The king threw Shekhar into jail. Then came the time for the annual exhibition. This time a sculpture sent by a neighboring king bagged the first prize. The judges said that the sculptor was the most gifted artist they had ever known. All were charmed by the entry. The king was surprised to see that the prize-winning entry was a lively image of Princess Mallika! He made an enquiry about the sculptor and learned that he was none other than Vimal who had taken refuge in the court of another king. He had seen the princess only once. But he had almost infused life into the stone image. Princess Mallika herself was charmed to see it. The king sent for the sculptor. Vimal came and received a great ovation. The king regretted his own conduct towards him. Vimal agreed to remain in his court, but on condition that Shekhar must be set free immediately and be given a regular life-long allowance.
For More Bedtime Stories Click Here
Comments
Post a Comment