When the person in authority is absent, those under them take liberties and behave without restraint. People misbehave when supervision is removed.
The image of mice dancing in the cat's absence is one of the most universal metaphors in European proverbial tradition, found in Latin, French, English, Spanish, German, and Italian from at least the fifteenth century. The Italian version crystallized in its current form by the sixteenth century and is documented in multiple regional collections. The image is particularly effective because it is simultaneously comic — mice dancing is inherently absurd and slightly festive — and pointed: the dance represents not just disobedience but joyful liberation from a feared authority. In Italian household culture the proverb was most often invoked by parents returning to find the house in disarray, or by employers who discovered what had happened in their absence. It also has a broader political application: historians have used it to describe the breakdown of order in Italian city-states whenever a dominant power — the pope, a duke, a Spanish viceroy — was temporarily weakened or absent. The English 'When the cat's away, the mice will play' is a direct parallel.
One of the most widely paralleled European proverbs; documented in Italian from the 1400s and in Latin, French, and English from a similar period.
A teacher leaving the classroom
Appena l'insegnante è uscita, la classe ha cominciato a fare casino. Quando il gatto non c'è i topi ballano.
As soon as the teacher left, the class started making noise. When the cat's away, the mice will play.
A boss on holiday
Il capo era in ferie e molti arrivavano tardi. Quando il gatto non c'è i topi ballano.
The boss was on holiday and many came in late. When the cat's away, the mice will play.
Parents going out
I figli hanno fatto una festa appena siamo partiti. Quando il gatto non c'è i topi ballano!
The kids threw a party as soon as we left. When the cat's away, the mice will play!
Remote working
Senza supervisione alcuni lavoravano pochissimo. Quando il gatto non c'è i topi ballano.
Without supervision some worked very little. When the cat's away, the mice will play.