Cat's Story - Neko no Soushi

Japanese: 猫の草子 - ねこのそうし

Otogi-zoshi. One of the Shibukawa editions. It was written by a Zen monk in Kyoto. It is a creation with a strong congratulatory quality, with the main purpose of the monk's sermons being told in the form of a petition. In mid-August in 1602, an order was issued to release cats from their leashes in Kyoto, and a notice to that effect was posted at Ichijo-no-tsuji. The cats were happy, but the mice could not go out into the world for fear of being chewed to pieces. One night, a mouse priest appears in the dream of a noble monk living in Kyoto and tells him a story of repentance, but the priest explains to him how mice are hated by people. The next night, a tiger-striped cat appears in the monk's dream, telling him its family tree as a descendant of a tiger, and telling him the story of how it was put on a leash in ancient times. The priest advises the cat to stop killing, but the cat insists that it will not stop eating mice, and the monk is at a loss for words.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

御伽草子。渋川版の一。在京の禅僧の手に成るか。訴陳状の形式を借りて，僧の法話を聞かせるのが主眼で，祝言性濃厚な創作。慶長7年(1602)8月中旬，洛中に猫の綱を解き放せとの沙汰が下り，一条の辻にその旨の高札が立てられた。猫は喜ぶが，鼠は嚙み砕かれるおそれがあるので世間へ出られない。ある夜，鼠の和尚が上京に住む尊き発心者の夢に現れ懺悔の物語をするが，僧は鼠が人に憎まれている次第を説き聞かす。次の夜，僧の夢に虎毛の猫が現れ，虎の子孫という系図を言い立て，いにしえ，綱を付けられたいきさつを語り，僧から殺生をやめよと諭されるが，猫は鼠を食うことをやめはしないと言い張り，僧は返答に窮する。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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