Boy of the Painted Cave

Kala treats Tao’s cuts and bruises and gives him some chestnuts. Summer arrives, and one day Tao spots a bright light flashing at the top of a limestone cliff. He and Ram get closer to investigate and realize it is Graybeard and one of his shining stones. The boy and the wolf dog climb the steep cliff together, but it is difficult. When they arrive at the top, Graybeard says he chose the location for its difficulty but says there is a secret, easier route.

He has come to teach Tao to make images but insists they eat first. He “stifles a cough” (102). Tao gives Graybeard the chestnuts, which he has been saving for the old man. After they eat, Graybeard gives Tao lessons on drawing, teaching him how to use long strokes, use the natural features of the stone wall to make his drawings more realistic, and how to add animal heads and legs to the wall to make it look like an entire heard of animals behind the first drawing. He tells Tao that tomorrow he must go to the clan of the Lake People and directs Tao to find fish oil, animal blood, fat, eggs, and honey so Graybeard may teach him how to mix paint colors at their next lesson.

Over the next several days, Tao collects the list of objects and stores them in the hidden cave to await their next lesson. Ram picks up the scent of a boar and together they track and kill it. Tao reserves the blood and fat for himself but takes the head and the best meat back to the clan. Everyone is pleased to have boar to eat. Volt is more friendly and gives Tao the tusks to wear as proof of his hunting skill. Tao is pleased but wishes the clan could accept Ram and understand the wolf dog is not an evil spirit.

Tao waits for Graybeard for many days, feeling empty and alone. He draws herds of animals in Graybeard’s hidden cave and begins to worry. One day Graybeard appears, coughing and shaky, and says he has been gone so long because he is an old man who does not move as quickly as he used to. They go back to the cave together, gathering red clay and limestone dust to use for mixing paints. Graybeard mixes the red and yellow clays, charcoal, and limestone dust in differing ratios to achieve many colors: pink, orange, red, brown, grays, blacks, and yellows. He shows Tao how to create brushes by mashing the ends of twigs against the stone to soften them.

Tao uses the brushes to paint one of the mammoth drawings on the wall, getting more confident as he goes. When he finishes, Graybeard gives him egg whites and tells him to spread them over the painting, which brightens the colors and adds some life to the image. Tao is very pleased. The next morning, Graybeard leaves again—as time passes, Graybeard is be gone for long periods, but he always returns to the cave to give Tao more lessons: how to mix more colors, how to read the stars, how to make fire, and how to treat sickness with herbs. When Graybeard leaves for “the last time,” Ram and Tao walk with him across the valley (113). Graybeard tells Tao that his drawings are now good enough for him to call himself a cave painter. Tao thanks him. When Graybeard walks away, he is slow and tired and has a terrible cough. Tao is afraid for him.