The Hare, the Partridge and the Holy Cat

A crow once told this story about something he had seen with his own eyes.

“Long ago,” said the crow, “I lived in a certain tree. Lower down in the same tree lived a partridge called Kapinjala, who had built his nest there. One day Kapinjala went off somewhere, and many days went by without any sign of him.

“While he was gone, a hare came along and moved into his nest.

“Some days later Kapinjala came home and found the hare sitting in it. At once the two of them began to quarrel.

“‘This is my nest!’ said the partridge.

“‘No, it’s mine!’ said the hare.

“Neither would give way, so they set off together to find a fair judge who could settle the matter. I was curious to see what would happen, so I followed them quietly, keeping out of sight.

“They had not gone far when they came to the bank of a lake. There sat a cat. His eyes were half closed, as if he were deep in prayer. The cat let it be known that he had made a holy promise never to harm a living creature.

“‘Why don’t we ask this holy cat to tell us what is right?’ the hare and the partridge said to each other.

“So they went up to him and bowed. ‘Honoured sir,’ they said, ‘please listen to our quarrel. You are a holy man, and you will judge it fairly.’

“The cat answered in a soft, feeble voice. ‘I am weak from all my fasting and prayers,’ he said, ‘so I cannot hear you from so far away. Please, come closer. Deciding a case wrongly is a terrible thing, and I must hear every word.’

“So the hare and the partridge crept closer, and closer still, until they were sitting right in front of him.

“And in one leap the wicked cat pounced and killed them both.”

When the crow had finished, he shook his feathers. “So you see,” he said, “you can never trust a wicked creature, however holy he pretends to be.”

About this story

Somadeva’s Kathá Sarit Ságara is a vast collection of tales gathered in Sanskrit in the eleventh century. This fable is retold from the English translation by C. H. Tawney (Project Gutenberg #40588). There a crow tells it to the assembled birds, to stop them from crowning the owl as their king. In the next part of the story the angry owl swears that crows and owls will be enemies, and that quarrel has its own page on this site.

Tawney’s notes show how far the fable travelled. He lists versions in Arabic, Greek, Hebrew-derived Latin, German, Spanish and Italian books of the Bidpai fables, and says Benfey saw a “hypocritical cat” at its heart.

Read the original: C. H. Tawney, tr., The Kathá Sarit Ságara by Somadeva (Project Gutenberg #40588)

Reading guidance: Ages 9–12; both disputants are killed by the judge they trust. Discuss deceptive authority and the crow’s use of the tale.

A closer reading

The hare and partridge need a judgment about a home, but they choose a judge without checking his interest in the outcome. The cat gains from both parties coming within reach, regardless of who owns the nest. Their dispute makes them overlook that conflict of interest.

The cat’s request sounds like procedural fairness—he must hear every word to judge correctly—while actually changing their physical safety. The crow later uses this event to argue against an owl’s coronation. That application can be questioned: one predator’s hypocrisy does not prove another candidate’s character by appearance alone.

Try this with the story

Separate the cat’s stated reason for moving closer from his actual advantage. Then propose two qualities of a fair judge that the disputants could check before asking for a decision.

Think about it

• What does the cat gain regardless of who owns the nest?
• How does a request to hear clearly become a trap?
• Does this incident prove that an owl would be an unfair king?

Related stories

• Of Crows and Owls — the quarrel between the crows and the owls that this fable belongs to
• The Story of the Vulture, the Cat, and the Birds — another fable about a cat who pretends to be good
• The Jackal And The Partridge — another story with a partridge