| Cat and Mouse in Partnership | |
|---|---|
 1894 illustration by Henry Justice Ford | |
| Folk tale | |
| Name | Cat and Mouse in Partnership |
| Aarne–Thompson grouping | ATU 15 (Stealing the Partner's Butter) |
| Country | Germany |
| Published in | Grimm's Fairy Tales |
"Cat and Mouse in Partnership" (German : Katze und Maus in Gesellschaft) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimms' Fairy Tales (KHM 2). It is a story of Aarne-Thompson type 15 ("Stealing the Partner's Butter"). [1]
A shorter version of the tale was included in the Brothers Grimm's manuscript collection of 1808, and published in the first edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen in 1812. Their version is based upon an oral tradition communicated by Gretchen Wild (1787–1819) in Kassel. [2]
A cat and a mouse, contrary to the custom of their kinds, become friends, such good friends that they decide to share a home. That they might have something to fall back on in time of need, they buy a pot of fat and hide it away in a nook of a church for safekeeping. After a short time, the cat tells her housemate that one of her relations has given birth and that she has been asked to be godmother. Instead of going to a christening, though, the cat goes to the nook of the church and eats the top layer of the fat in the pot. When the cat returns home, the mouse asks the name of the kitten. The cat replies, "Top-off." The mouse remarks that she has never heard such a name.
Soon thereafter, the cat announces that she again has been invited to a christening. On the cat's return, the mouse asks what name was given to this kitten. "Half-gone," answers the cat. Again the mouse wonders aloud at the oddness of the name.
The cat goes a third time to the church, this time finishing off the fat. When the cat returns, the mouse asks the name given at this christening. "All-gone," answers the cat. Again the mouse shakes her head.
Winter arrives, and with it the lean times the friends had anticipated. The mouse proposes a trip to the church to retrieve the provisions stored there. When she beholds the empty pot, enlightenment dawns on the mouse: "First 'Top-off,' " she murmurs, "then 'Half-gone,' and then ..." The cat warns her to say no more, but the mouse persists. The cat pounces on the mouse and eats her up. "And that is the way of the world," the story closes. [2]
The Brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of folktales, popularizing stories such as "Cinderella", "The Frog Prince", "Hansel and Gretel", "Town Musicians of Bremen", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Rapunzel", "Rumpelstiltskin", "Sleeping Beauty", and "Snow White". Their first collection of folktales, Children's and Household Tales, was first published in 1812.
"Rapunzel" is a German fairy tale most notably recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of Children's and Household Tales. The Brothers Grimm's story was developed from the French literary fairy tale of Persinette by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force (1698), which itself is an alternative version of the Italian fairy tale Petrosinella by Giambattista Basile (1634).
"The Elves and The Shoemaker" is a set of fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from three young helpful elves.
"The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in Grimm's Fairy Tales. Traditionally, it is the first story in their folktale collection. The tale is classified as Aarne-Thompson type 440.
Grimms' Fairy Tales, originally known as the Children's and Household Tales, is a German collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, first published on 20 December 1812. Vol. 1 of the first edition contained 86 stories, which were followed by 70 more tales, numbered consecutively, in the 1st edition, Vol. 2, in 1815. By the seventh edition in 1857, the corpus of tales had expanded to 200 tales and 10 "Children's Legends". It is listed by UNESCO in its Memory of the World Registry.
King Thrushbeard or the haughty princess is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is of Aarne–Thompson type 900.
"The Seven Ravens" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is of Aarne–Thompson type 451, commonly found throughout Europe.
"The Juniper Tree" is a German fairy tale published in Low German by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1812. The story contains themes of child abuse, murder, cannibalism and biblical symbolism and is one of the Brothers Grimm's darker and more mature fairy tales.
"The Three Little Men in the Wood" or "The Three Little Gnomes in the Forest" is a German fairy tale collected in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book (1890) as "The Three Dwarfs," and a version of the tale appears in A Book of Dwarfs (1964) by Ruth Manning-Sanders.
"The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats" is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in Grimm's Fairy Tales. It is of Aarne-Thompson type 123 "The Wolf and the Kids".
"Old Sultan" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm.
"The Riddle" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1819. It is of Aarne-Thompson type 851.
"The Twelve Brothers" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.
"Thumbling," published in German as "Daumesdick" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1819. The Grimms included another, similar story, "Thumbling's Travels." Both stories are related to the English Tom Thumb and often share its title when translated into English.
"Old Hildebrand" is an Austrian fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales and written in an Austrian dialect. It is Aarne-Thompson type 1360C.
"Mary's Child" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1812. It is of Aarne-Thompson type 710.
"Godfather Death" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812. It is a tale of Aarne-Thompson type 332.
"Herr Korbes" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, number 41. They found it in both the district of the Main and Hesse.
"The Three Feathers" is a story by the Brothers Grimm, in their Kinder- und Hausmärchen. It is KHM nr. 63. It is classified as Aarne–Thompson–Uther ATU 402, "The Animal Bride". It appeared in the first edition in 1812, and was slightly reworked for the second edition in 1819. A second variant of the tale also collected by the Brothers Grimm is "The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat", listed as KHM 106.
"Thumbling's Travels" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1812. The original German name for the character is "Daumerling," not to be confused with the similar tale "Daumesdick" or KHM 37, which was added in 1819. Both tales are frequently translated into English as "Tom Thumb" or "Thumbling" and are categorized as Aarne-Thompson type 700.
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