Once upon there was a king who ruled over a vast kingdom. This king happened to be very interested in art and had an artist who every week would paint him a grand painting for his large collection.

One day, a stranger from another country, a small island in fact, came claiming he was a better artist than the famous painter who worked for the king.

The king was shocked by this so instantly decided to hold a painting competition.

So for weeks on end they both slaved away, nobody knowing what would happen.

The final day came and they both put their paintings under a large white sheet in front of the king and all his citizens.

The king’s artists pulled off his sheet and revealed a large painting of a basket of fruit. So good in fact that the birds flew in through the windows of the palace and attempted to eat the fruit.

The king looked at the stranger and said ‘Ha! My artist has fooled Nature herself, surely you cannot beat it. Now reveal your painting!’

The stranger stood there, motionless, and did nothing.

‘I command you to remove your sheet, stranger!’ shouted the King, yet still he did nothing.

The king then went mad, strode down from his throne, put his hand on the sheet and attempted to pull it off.

But there was no sheet, only canvass, a rough outline of a cloth drawn on in a black pencil.

He had been fooled.

The artist looked up and smiled, and spoke quietly to the king,

‘Your artist may have fooled Nature, but I have made the king of this great land look like a bit of a twat.’