The Cat Turned Nun
In a certain convent there was a cat which had killed all the mice in the convent but one, which was very big, which she could not catch. The cat mused in her heart in what manner she might deceive the mouse that she might kill him; and thought so long till she agreed she must take the veil, and clothe herself in nun’s garb, and sit amongst the nuns at table, and then she might get at the mouse; and she did as she had thought. The mouse, when he saw the cat eating with the nuns, rejoiced greatly, and thought, since the cat had become religious, that she would henceforth do him no harm, insomuch that Don Mouse came near to where the nuns were eating, and began to leap about here and there. Then the cat rolled her eyes as one who has no longer eyes for any vanity or folly, and she kept a peaceful and humble countenance; and the mouse, seeing that, drew near little by little; and when the cat saw him nigh her she sprang upon him with her claws and began to throttle him. And the mouse said, “How is it that thou, a nun, art so cruel as to wish to kill me?” Whereupon the cat replied, “Think not thy cries will cause me to free thee; for know, brother, that when it pleases me I am a nun, and when it pleases me a canoness.”5
“The Book of Cats” (Fourteenth Century).
Author unknown.