What is in this image? Describe it as if you were explaining it to someone from the 15th century.

This image portrays a fanciful creature, akin to a young beast with a tuft of fur, large eyes, and pointed ears, suggestive of a fox but bearing a gentler, more playful demeanor. It finds itself in a broad, shallow basin of water, upon which it floats serenely in a ring, crafted to buoy upon the water like a leaf might upon a pond. The ring is adorned with circular patterns which might capture the fancy of any viewer. Beside our whimsical beast, small and simple-looking birds or perhaps fantastical creatures themselves, peep out from atop the water, completing this serene tableau under the watchful eye of the sun above, simplified to a circle with rays emanating outward, a common motif to denote the warmth and brightness of a sunny day.