Panchatantra Cat Judgment

tale:panchatantra_cat_judgment

A partridge returns to find a hare has taken over its home; unable to agree whose it is, the two seek out a cat sitting by the river in the pose of a holy ascetic, eyes half closed, reciting scripture. Bidding the disputants come near his failing ears to plead, the pious-seeming cat seizes them both and eats them. Moral: do not lay your quarrel before a powerful hypocrite. — Panchatantra (attrib. Vishnu Sharma)