Short Fiction · Chapter
The Bull explained
Tom Yorkfield, a farmer, nurses a long-standing but vague dislike for his half-brother Laurence, an animal painter.
What happens
Tom Yorkfield, a farmer, nurses a long-standing but vague dislike for his half-brother Laurence, an animal painter. Tom takes Laurence to see his prized bull, Clover Fairy, expecting admiration. Instead, Laurence reveals he sold a painting of a bull for three hundred pounds, far more than the living animal is worth. Enraged by this perceived insult and Laurence's patronizing tone, Tom attacks him, and the bull tosses and injures Laurence. Tom then nurses his brother back to health, satisfied that his bull has achieved a feat no painted bull could match.
Themes in this chapter
The Futility of Ambition
Tom's pride in his bull is undercut by the financial success of Laurence's painting, highlighting the arbitrary nature of value and the limits of tangible achievement.
Cruelty and Violence
Tom's violent outburst and the bull's attack on Laurence demonstrate how simmering resentment can erupt into physical harm.
Characters to notice
- Tom Yorkfield
The farmer who owns Clover Fairy; his resentment toward his half-brother Laurence boils over when Laurence's painting sells for far more than his prized bull is worth.
- Laploshka
Laurence is Tom's half-brother, an animal painter who specializes in bulls but after the incident paints only kittens, fawns, and lambkins.
Key passages
“Tom devotedly and ungrudgingly nursed his half brother to a complete recovery from his injuries, which consisted of nothing more serious than a dislocated shoulder, a broken rib or two, and a little nervous prostration.”
Tom cared for Laurence without resentment until he healed from a dislocated shoulder, a couple of broken ribs, and some shock.
Tom's nursing is described as devoted and ungrudging, but the injuries are downplayed as 'nothing more serious.'
“Laurence continues to be popular as an animal artist, but his subjects are always kittens or fawns or lambkins—never bulls.”
Laurence still sells many animal paintings, but now he only paints gentle creatures like kittens, fawns, and lambkins, never bulls.
The story ends with a wry observation that Laurence avoids painting bulls after his traumatic experience.