medieval mouse vs. snail

courtesy the british library. public domain

This is a little outside the usual pet population, but it charmed my socks off this morning. It's from the manuscript known as Egerton 1121, f. 10, at the British Library: Ulrich von Pottenstein's "Spiegel der Weisheit" (Mirror of Wisdom), created in Salzburg circa 1430.  (Want to see the whole page? It's here.)

The description reads: "Detail of a miniature of a mouse taunting a snail for his slowness, while the snail criticizes the mouse for her lack of defensive armour, at the beginning of Chapter 7 of Book 1."