fable – Michael Broad

Tybert the Cat castrates the village priest in a 15th-century woodcut

November 29, 2021 by Michael Broad

Tybert the Cat castrates a village priest in a 15th-century woodcut illustrating The History of Reynard the Fox

The illustration comes from The History of Reynard the Fox. In this 15th century woodcut, we see Tybert the Cat castrating a village priest. Incidentally, “Tybert” is spelled in two other ways, namely ‘Tibert’ and ‘Tybalt’. Unusually, there is absolutely nothing on the Internet which would explain why Tybert the Cat castrated a village …

Sly and underhand cat immortalized in a bas relief at Mahabalipuram, India

November 28, 2021 by Michael Broad

Arjuna’s Penance: 7th-8th century Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, India

In a famous Indian fable in the Panchatantra, an ancient collection of animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose from 200 BCE-300CE, the domestic cat is portrayed as sly, underhand and hypocritical. The fable which I describe below is immortalised in a famous bas relief at Mahabalipuram in southeastern India, on the coast. The …

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