If this story seem strange, perhaps this is the point. The Zen masters used similar stories and saying to surprise their disciples out of conventional patterns of thinking.The samurai were the knights of mideval Japan. Most followed the practices and teachings of the Zen Buddhism, which emphasized stillness, meditation, and harmony with nature. Many Buddhist shrines maintained formidable armies of fighting monks who developed the techniques that became the Japanese martial arts. A daimo is a feudal lord. A docho is the senior monk, the abbot of the monastery. Neko is a cat. A roshi is a Zen master, one who has achieved enlightenment. Geta are wooden clogs. This story was adapted from a version found in Gerald and Loretta Hausman's The Mythology of Cats: Feline Legend and Lore Through the Ages. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998) The Hausman's cite Kenji Sora's The Swordsman and the Cat as their source. - from Amzon