Dreaming Cat mid-17th century Hzb Shinkai A chubby cat, sensitively rendered in soft brushstrokes of ink in varying tones, is blissfully resting. We see the feline from the front, with its front legs tucked beneath, so that its body forms nearly a perfect circle, with the rear haunches symmetrically protruding from each side. The background is completely blank, with the exception of the three columns of gracefully brushed calligraphy of the artist’s own poem, accompanied by the artist’s signature and anchored by a square red seal. The overall effect is one of serenity, yet at the same time humor and playfulness.The artist’s own witty poem—a kyka (literally, “madcap verse”)—makes us reinterpret the image:Tokkuri to neko no nemuri nofukami-gusakoch no yume omiru ni aruramuDeep asleep the cat lies as if amid “deep grasses” of peony blossoms, perhaps having a dream in which he is a butterfly! —Trans. John T. Carpenter The poem alludes to the famous episod