Colour That Matched Perfectly

The landlord of Shripur was hard to satisfy. No matter how sincerely and keenly one might work for him, he would always find some fault in the work. One day, a young man from a distant village approached him and said, “Sir, I have to stay in this village for a month because my father is receiving treatment from your village’s physician. Will you allow me to reside in your new guest house?”

“Young man,” the landlord replied, “you may stay in the guest house, but you must provide some service in return. I do not like the color of the pillars in the hall of the guest house. Can you paint them a different color? You can do this by working for half an hour each day!”

“I can do that. What color would you like me to use on the pillars?” asked the young man. The landlord produced a box and said, “The color of this box.” He handed the young man some money and added, “I am going on a pilgrimage for a month. Buy the paint with this money. If I find your work satisfactory, I’ll reward you.”

A month later, the landlord returned and discovered that the color of the pillars perfectly matched the color of the box. Delighted, he rewarded the young man, who then left the village. The next day, the landlord proudly showed the guest house to his wife and exclaimed, “What excellent taste in color this young man has!” He then narrated what the young man had accomplished.

His wife examined the box and the pillars closely. Bursting into laughter, she said, “What a clever young man! He hasn’t painted the pillars at all; he simply painted this little box to match their color!” Only then did the landlord realize that he had been cleverly fooled.