The Faithful Cat Linocut Triptych Print set

“The Story of the Faithful Cat”

A triptych involving two nekomata. It is said that once your cat reaches a certain age, its tail splits in two and becomes capable of committing evil acts. This story in particular highlights the heroic acts of two nekomata.

A villager’s cat seemed to be spending an unnatural amount of time around his daughter, and so he suspected that his cat was in love with her and was going to cast a spell on her. While plotting to kill the cat, it visited the man in his sleep and told him he was protecting his daughter from a rat who lived in the granary. As it turns out, this rat was the one plotting to steal the daughter. So the pair sought to kill the rat, and enlisted the help of another local cat named Buchi.

The two cats were put in the granary overnight, and after some time, a loud clamor was heard, and so the man checked on the granary and found the two cats tangled up with the rat, whose throat was cut. The cats were injured, and despite all efforts, succumbed to these injuries. But thanks to their heroic acts, they were buried with all honors at a neighboring temple, while the rat was tossed into the river.