A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Unable to catch mice as he did in youth, Agnija pretends to perform penance near a troop of five hundred mice. They trust his apparent change of life, and he secretly devours the last mouse returning home each day. Their leader notices both the shrinking troop and the cat’s improved condition, hides to observe the predation and publicly exposes it in verse. The narrative ends with that denunciation; it does not describe the cat’s execution or grant supernatural power to his false austerity.

Aged speaking cat who feigns penance to prey on trusting miceBuddhist narrative witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Indian Buddhist narrative preserved in Tibetan translation

02

Records & interpretation

Whole chapter and its footnotes directly read in the digitized1906 edition.

In the literature

“performing fictitious acts of penance”
Anonymous Buddhist narrative tradition; F. Anton von Schiefner and W.R.S.Ralston, mediated translators · Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XL The Hypocritical Cat
XL The Hypocritical Cat, hosted printed-page marker344 · W.R.S.Ralston, English from Schiefner’s German Tibetan translation

Narrator’s explicit description of Agnija’s deception, not an actual devotional practice.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources

    F. Anton von Schiefner, Tibetan-to-German translator; W. R. S. Ralston, English translator · 1906

    XL, The Hypocritical Cat, pp. 344–345; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 247–248

  2. 02

    Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources — XL The Hypocritical Cat

    Anonymous Buddhist narrative tradition; F. Anton von Schiefner and W.R.S.Ralston, mediated translators · 1906

    Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906, title-page transcription independently checked. Tibetan Kah-gyur to German by F. Anton von Schiefner, then German to English by W.R.S.Ralston. Complete selected XL–XLIX344–359 and all notes independently read. Tibetan/German source-language originals not collated; footnoted comparisons not promoted to separately inspected works.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Schiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources (London, 1906)

XL, The Hypocritical Cat. XL, The Hypocritical Cat, pp. 344–345; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 247–248

Whole chapter and notes read. Explicit identities and relations preserved; Bodisat status only where stated. Earlier cited Tibetan canonical witnesses not independently inspected. Original paraphrase of historical translation.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources

Tibetan Tales Derived from Indian Sources, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1906, title-page transcription independently checked. Tibetan Kah-gyur to German by F. Anton von Schiefner, then German to English by W.R.S.Ralston. Complete selected XL–XLIX344–359 and all notes independently read. Tibetan/German source-language originals not collated; footnoted comparisons not promoted to separately inspected works.

  1. The ageing cat Agnija can no longer catch mice by force and feigns penitence beside their hole. The troop trusts him, but he eats the last returning mouse each day. Its chief notices the shrinking troop and fattening cat, secretly watches a seizure and exposes the pretence. The story stops at detection without narrating revenge or universal immunity.

    XL The Hypocritical Cat, complete344–345; note Kah-gyuriv.ff247–248

Historical German-mediated English rendering; Tibetan originals and footnoted comparative works not independently collated. Page labels from hosted transcription. Religious/moral assertions remain narrative framing. No verse, ritual, prayer, medical preparation or modern adaptation copied.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical translation of Buddhist narrativeSchiefner/Ralston, Tibetan Tales (1906), XL, The Hypocritical Cat, pp. 344–345; note cites Kah-gyur iv. ff. 247–248Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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