Hypocritical ascetic cat surrounded by trusting mice
About the work
Imported from the workbook's Full reassessment sheet, revised 7 October 2026 (record ID 77). The assessment below is the workbook's comparative judgment under its stated criteria; source links and limits are retained.
Workbook assessment: Insufficient evidence
Date or witness: 7th–8th centuries CE; Great Relief at Mamallapuram
Region: Tamil Nadu, India
Workbook date-sort bounds: 600 CE to 799 CE; these bounds are not automatically invention or disappearance dates.
Description
A cat copies an ascetic's one-legged pose while mice congregate around it, trusting the predator's show of holiness. The joke makes animal behavior a comment on false piety.
Evidence of adoption or transmission
A conspicuous cat-and-mice scene exists within a royal-era monumental relief; related fables make its imagery intelligible.
What remains uncertain
A monument accessible to ordinary viewers does not demonstrate their reproducing or varying its cat image. Its resonance and independent spread are unmeasured.
Workbook revision note: Reassessed using grassroots criteria