The story of the Samurai and the Rat

The following is a nice cute story about a Samurai and a rat, and how difficult it was to find the perfect mouser to catch the rat. It comes from the thirty-six strategies of war by Stefan H. Verstappen. I will make the necessary arrangements to post the entire PDF up on MM later, but some of the stories are just so adorable.

Japanese Folk Tale

There once lived a samurai who was plagued by a large and clever rat who had the run of the house. This annoyed the samurai to no end so he went to the village to buy a cat.

A street vendor sold him a cat that he said would catch the rat, and indeed the cat looked trim and fit. But the rat was even quicker than the cat and after a week with no success the samurai returned the cat.

This time the vendor pulled out a large and grizzled cat and guaranteed that no rat could escape this master mouser. The rat knew enough to stay clear of this tough alley cat, but when the cat slept, the rat ran about. Half the day the rat would hide, but the other half he again had the run of the place.

The samurai brought the cat back to the vendor who shook his head in despair saying he had given the samurai his best cat and there was nothing more he could do.

Returning home with his money, the samurai happened upon a monk and sought his advice. After hearing the samurai’s story the monk offered him the services of the cat that lived in the temple.

The cat was old and fat and he scarcely seemed to notice when he was carried away by the doubtful samurai.

For two weeks, the cat did little more than sleep all day and night. The samurai wanted to give the cat back to the temple but the monk insisted he keep him a while longer assuring him the rat’s days were close to an end.

The rat became accustomed to the presence of the lazy old cat and was soon up to his old tricks even, on occasion, brazenly dancing around the old cat as he slept.

Then one day, as the rat went about his business without any concern, he passed close by the cat who swiftly struck out his paw and pinned the rat to the floor.

The rat died instantly.

Summary

In battle, the element of surprise is paramount. A wary opponent is unlikely to fall into the usual traps, so he must first be made to relax his vigilance. To do this one must carry on as though nothing untoward was afoot. Once acclimatized to often repeated actions, a person no longer takes notice of them. When the enemy ceases to pay attention to you, the time is right to attack.

Do you want more?

I have more articles about cats in my Happiness Index here… Life & Happiness .

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