First published in 1930, public domain. In ancient Japan, a struggling artist is angered when his housekeeper brings home a tiny white cat he can barely afford to feed. But when the village’s head priest commissions a painting of the Buddha for a healthy sum, the artist softens toward the animal he believes has brought him luck.
The storyline is supposedly based on an old Buddhist folk tale, and includes, as asides, a telling of the Buddha's life, and accounts of some of the Buddha's previous lifetimes as animals.
