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The cat attacks the mice which disturb the lion, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifteenth Night
c. 1560
- Medium
- gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Overall: 20 x 14 cm (7 7/8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 8.9 x 10.1 cm (3 1/2 x 4 in.)
- Culture
- India, Mughal court, 16th century
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Kids profiles and older: it shows nature, places, still life or a children's book. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
One day came when the cat brought one of his sons to substitute for him as guardian against the mice, so that he could have some time away to visit his other children. That night the young cat killed all of the mice, as shown in this painting, after which the lion had no need for a cat anymore and relieved him of his position as Magistrate of the Court. The text reads: "The cat said to his son, ‘The spark of this calamity was set by you, and the robe of this disaster was tailored by you. If you had not annihilated the mice and had not entirely relieved the lion’s heart of his grief, he would not have dismissed me.’ The young cat was filled with remorse for having killed the mice." By the time the parrot finished telling the story, daybreak came and it was too late for Khujasta to rendezvous with her lover under the cover of darkness.
