Another great story from master storyteller Lloyd Alexander. This time a cat is turned into a man by his magician master in order to teach the cat, Lionel, a lesson. Instead, Lionel discovers what it is to be human. He sees all the pain and difficulty of the life of a man, all the baseness and depravity that men are capable of, but at the same time he finds what is best in a human life - what makes up for all the rest. The kindness and profound goodness that humanity is capable of and the love that he finds in himself for Gillian, a young woman in trouble with the unscrupulous leaders in town. And now Lionel has a decision to make. Will he return to being a cat or will he choose to forever remain a human? There will be no going back...