The White Cat and the Monk: A Retelling of the Poem “Pangur Bán”

A monk spends his evenings studying books and looking for truth in their pages, while his cat Pangur hunts in the dark. This retelling draws on a ninth-century Gaelic poem in which the monk connects his own pursuit of knowledge with the cat’s search for mice. As night gives way to morning, Pangur helps lead the monk toward the truth he has sought. Watercolor-and-ink artwork evokes the historical setting, with some wordless sequential spreads and an illuminated manuscript rendered in bright color.