There was an ancient Chinese painter who was good at painting flowers and birds. He never stopped practising until he could paint perfectly well.

The emperor of China loved paintings, too. He liked to see beautiful pictures of beautiful roosters. So he asked the painter to paint a rooster for him. He wanted the rooster to be the best among all his collections.

The painter promised to do so. The emperor waited and waited for one year, but did not get the picture. He became angry and demanded to see the painter.

The artist was sent for. He came into the palace with paper, paint and a brush. In five minutes, a perfect picture of a rooster appeared on the paper. Seeing this, the emperor was all the more angry. " If you can paint a picture of a rooster in five minutes, why did you keep me waiting for over a year?" he said.

I'll let you know why, Your majesty, said the artist. "I beg you to come with me."

He led the emperor to his own study. There, paper was piled from the floor to the ceiling. On every sheet was a painting of a rooster.

"Your Majesty," explained the artist, "It took me more than one year to improve my skill in order to paint a perfect rooster for you