Reading Notes: Jakata Tales (The Hypocritical Cat)
The Hypocritical Cat
In this story, a cat is very weak from not being able to catch prey, and so decides to trick the nearby mouse troupe in order to catch some food. The cat stands on 3 legs, faces the sun, and breathes through his mouth. When the mice come up to ask what it is the cat is doing, he says that he worships the sun and eats only the air to survive. He stands on 3 feet because mother earth cannot hold all 4 of his feet. The mice respect the cat after hearing this, and every day, one by one, the mice bow to the cat before heading off to their hole. After the last of the mice bow, the cat catches the last mouse and gobbles them up before the rest of the mice see. Before long, the leader of the mice realizes this, and ultimately the mice troupe gang up on the cat and kill him.
I didn't like the ending of this story because I love cats and hate that they killed him. I want to recreate this story to where the mice gang up on him, but force him to stop killing their friends and in exchange will help the cat find another food source. Maybe the other food source can be a nearby house that also has a cat and places cat food outside of their home. This could be a good lesson in that it is better to help others rather than get even with them.
In this story, a cat is very weak from not being able to catch prey, and so decides to trick the nearby mouse troupe in order to catch some food. The cat stands on 3 legs, faces the sun, and breathes through his mouth. When the mice come up to ask what it is the cat is doing, he says that he worships the sun and eats only the air to survive. He stands on 3 feet because mother earth cannot hold all 4 of his feet. The mice respect the cat after hearing this, and every day, one by one, the mice bow to the cat before heading off to their hole. After the last of the mice bow, the cat catches the last mouse and gobbles them up before the rest of the mice see. Before long, the leader of the mice realizes this, and ultimately the mice troupe gang up on the cat and kill him.
I didn't like the ending of this story because I love cats and hate that they killed him. I want to recreate this story to where the mice gang up on him, but force him to stop killing their friends and in exchange will help the cat find another food source. Maybe the other food source can be a nearby house that also has a cat and places cat food outside of their home. This could be a good lesson in that it is better to help others rather than get even with them.
(Cat and Mouse, Flickr)
Bibliography: The Hypocritical Cat by W.H.D Rouse from "The Giant Crab, and Other Tales From Old India"
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