Story Book
The unknown painter
A great Spanish painter, Murillo, used to teach boys the art of painting.
Often he found sketches on the canvases of his pupils which the pupils themselves had not done.
They were surprised to see the sketches which showed clear marks of genius every time.
Who was the unknown painter that left, overnight, such marks of genius on their canvases?, Murillo, too, was surprised.
One morning Murillo saw his pupils lost in admiration of an unfinished portrait of the Blessed ******.
The hand of the unknown painter had done it the previous night.
After looking at the half- finished work for a long time, the master declared "" whoever painted this, will be master of us all one day.""
Murillo questioned everyone.
but each boy denied knowledge of it.
At last he asked Sebastian, the slave boy.
Sebastian politely replied that none but himself had entered the studio at night.
"" Well, watch tonight. And if you do not catch the intruder, you will be punished. ""
That night Sebastian slept soundly till 3 am.
At that hour he got up and sat down to complete the portrait of the Blessed ******.
He was so deeply engrossed in his art that he did not know it when morning had come.
Hearing some sound, Sebastian suddenly looked round.
He saw Murillo and his pupils standing like statues around him.
Murillo
Who is your master, Sebastian?
Murillo
Your drawing master, I mean,
Murillo
I never gave you lessons,
Sebastian
But you gave lessons to them and I listed.
Murillo
what shall I give this boy ---- reward or punishment.?
In one voice the pupils answered, "" Reward "".
Murillo patted him and said,
Murillo
Sebastian, gifted boy, ask anything and I will grant it, if it is in my power to do so.
With tears of gratitude, Sebastian requested Murillo to set his father, Gomez , free.
He also accepted Sebastian as one of his pupils.
Even to this day, beautiful paintings by Murillo and Sebastian Gomez are to be seen in the art galleries of Spain and Italy.
The unknown painter became widely known in his later days.
Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi
Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi was the greatest heroine of Indian history.
Her maiden name was Manikarnika (Manu, for short).
Manu was a very small girl when she lost her mother.
So her father, Moropant Tambe, took her from Kashi to Bithur where he became a courtier of the exiled Peshwa, Bajirao ll.
There Manu grew up in the company of Nana,the adopted son of Bajirao ll.
Manu not only played games with Nana and other boys, but also joined them in practicing the use of weapons of war.
Soon little Manu surpassed all of them in the use of the sword, the spear, the gun and several other weapons.
she became an expert horse rider, too.
At the early age of eleven she was married to Gangadharrao, the ruler of Jhansi.
Now Manu came to be called Lakshmibai.
She was devoted to her husband and to her many duties as queen of Jhansi.
Yet she found time for horse riding and weapon practice.
She trained other women also in these arts.
When she was sixteen, she gave birth to a son, but unfortunately the boy died when he was three months old.
This was such a shock for Maharaja Gangadharrao that he fell ill.
About this time, the British rulers had introduced a new policy of taking over those Indian states whose rulers died without leaving male heirs to succeed them.
So when Lakshmibai's son died, the Maharaja adopted a small boy named Damodarrao.
Gangadharrao died after a few days.
And the British refused to recognise the adoption of Damodarrao.
They decided to take over Jhansi.
But Lakshmibai was determined to defend Jhansi at any cost.
For a while she left the fort and lived in a house in the town, to worship God and prepare for battle.
In 1857,Indian soldiers rose in revolt against the British.
The sepoys at Meerut killed their British officers and marched towards Delhi.
They recognised old Bahadur shah as the Emperor at Delhi.
The revolt of soldiers at Kanpur was led by Nana Sahib.
Revolt broke out in Jhansi also.
British officers were killed and the fort was taken.
Thus Maharani Lakshmibai became ruler of Jhansi once more.
The Maharani worked hard for the welfare of her people and gave them a very efficient administration.
She extended all sorts of help to the poor.
During these months, the British had suppressed the revolt at Meerut and Delhi.
Now they prepared to attack Jhansi.
Commander Hugh Rose led a large British army which surrounded Jhansi fort.
The British kept firing cannon balls at Jhansi fort and the Maharani's cannons returned fire promptly.
The Rani herself went round and encouraged the defenders.
She taught even women to operate the guns.
However, the long siege weakened the defence.
So Lakshmibai tied little Damodar to her back, and mounting a horse, rode out through the open gate, sword in hand.
She attacked the enemy fiercely and rode right though enemy ranks to Kalpi.
There Tatia Tope, a brave leader of the Indian revolt, joined the Rani's men.
Hugh Rose attacked Kalpi.
The Rani left Kalpi and organised a great defence from Gwalior fort.
When Huge Rose surrounded Gwalior fort, he received help from other British commanders who brought their troops from Meerut and Delhi.
The desperate Rani opened the gates and rode out furiously attacking and killing British soldiers with lightning speed.
Large numbers fell under the stroke of her sword.
She then rode forth to join forces with Tatia Tope who had left Kalpi.
On the way she was attacked while trying to cross a stream.
Her horse failed and she was seriously wounded in the head.
She was the target of an unexpected attack.
She was carried to the other side of the stream but she could not be saved.
The great one had given her life in the cause of India's freedom.
The Rani's body was carried to a hermitage and her funeral rites were performed by the hermit.
"She was the ablest and noblest of the leaders of mutiny."
None other than General sir Hugh Rose himself.
The mounted thunderbolt of India's first war of independence was no more!.
When shall come such anoy?
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Androcles And The Lion
Androcles was a slave in city of Rome, long ago.
His master treated him very cruelly.
At last, Androcles and a few of his friends decided to run away.
They crossed the Mediterranean and reached the African desert.
On the border of the desert there were high hills.
One day Androcles reached a cave in one of these hills.
He was so tired and the sun had set. So he lay down in the cave and slept soundly.
Next morning he woke up on hearing the roar of a lion.
Androcles knew now that he had slept in the lion's cave.
Now the lion had come back from hunting.
The poor runaway slave was expecting the lion to spring upon him and kill him.
But when it did no such thing, he was astonished.
He looked at the beast. There it stood groaning with pain.
One of its paws was bleeding and swollen.
It held up the swollen paw and looked sadly at Androcles.
Androcles was a brave man. He was also an intelligent man.
He was quick to see that the lion was in pain and needed help.
He slowly moved towards the lion and gently took the swollen paw in his hand.
There was a big thorn in it. Very carefully Androcles pulled out the thorn.
He wiped the blood away from the lion's paw.
Now the lion lay down and slept.
Androcles waited for the lion to wake up. The man and the lion looked at each other.
They knew they were friends. From that day the lion followed wherever Androcles went.
It went with him like a dog following it's master.
At night they slept together in the same cave.
Androcles was tired of cave life.He wanted the company of man.So he returned to Rome.
And he was caught and chained again.
In those days the king and courtiers used to enjoy the sight of slaves being attacked by wild animals.
The fight used to take place in an arena around which seats were arranged for the king, queen and courtiers.
These seats were well protected.
One day Androcles was put into the arena to be duly punished for running away.
He was given a small sword to face the huge, Hungary lion.
The cage was opened and the lion came out ready to spring upon his victim.
Androcles expected to be torn to pieces. But noting happened.
The lion came slowly towards him and crouching down at the feet of the slave, showed signs of love and friendship.
He licked the slave's face with great affection and bowed before him.
The lion had been captured from Africa and brought to Rome the same week, it was the same lion whom once Androcles had served.
The king and courtiers were amazed.
Why did the terrible lion behave like a slave before the slave! The king sent for Androcles and asked him why the lion was so friendly to him.
Androcles told him the story of the thorn which he had pulled out from the lion's paw in the African cave.
The king listened in wonder, He admired the courage and kindness of the slave who had enslaved a lion.
The king not only gave Androcles his freedom but also made him a citizen of Rome.
He also gave the lion to Androcles.
The lion went about with him in the city of Rome to the amazement of the Romans.
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