In a story from Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon), a young follower of the Buddha had fallen in love and wanted to give up the monastic life and find happiness with the woman who had captured his heart. The Buddha spun a fable for the man: a
female cat saw a rooster in a tree and promised to marry him if he would come down. The rooster refused and continued to live. The Buddha’s point: the woman was a devouring temptress as fatal to the man as the cat would be to the rooster. A curious story and not very flattering to either cats or women.
