 Jean de la Fontaine incorporated the incidents of both into a single fable in "Le Chat et un Vieux Rat" (The cat and an old rat, III.18).The rats have become wary of showing themselves because of the cat, so it hangs itself upside down as if it were dead and waits for the rats to invade the larder.This can only work once, so its next trick is to hide in the bran tub and ambush its victims there.