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Once upon
a time...
A cat had made acquaintance with a mouse, and had spoken so
much of the great love and friendship she felt for her, that at last
the Mouse consented to live in the same house with her, and to go
shares in the housekeeping. 'But we must provide for the winter or
else we shall suffer hunger,' said the Cat. 'You, little Mouse,
cannot venture everywhere in case you run at last into a trap.' This
good counsel was followed, and a little pot of fat was bought. But
they did not know where to put it. At length, after long
consultation, the Cat said, 'I know of no place where it could be
better put than in the church. No one will trouble to take it away
from there. We will hide it in a corner, and we won't touch it till
we are in want.' So the little pot was placed in safety; but it was
not long before the Cat had a great longing for it, and said to the
Mouse, 'I wanted to tell you, little Mouse, that my cousin has a
little son, white with brown spots, and she wants me to be godmother
to it. Let me go out to-day, and do you take care of the house
alone.'
'Yes, go certainly,' replied the Mouse, 'and when you eat anything
good, think of me; I should very much like a drop of the red
christening wine.'
But it was all untrue. The Cat had no cousin, and had not been asked
to be godmother. She went straight to the church, slunk to the
little pot of fat, began to lick it, and licked the top off. Then
she took a walk on the roofs of the town, looked at the view,
stretched herself out in the sun, and licked her lips whenever she
thought of the little pot of fat. As soon as it was evening she went
home again.
'Ah, here you are again!' said the Mouse; 'you must certainly have
had an enjoyable day.'
'It went off very well,' answered the Cat.
'What was the child's name?' asked the Mouse.
'Top Off,' said the Cat drily.
'Topoff!' echoed the Mouse, 'it is indeed a wonderful and curious
name. Is it in your family?'
'What is there odd about it?' said the Cat. 'It is not worse than
Breadthief, as your godchild is called.'
Not long after this another great longing came over the Cat. She
said to the Mouse, 'You must again be kind enough to look after the
house alone, for I have been asked a second time to stand godmother,
and as this child has a white ring round its neck, I cannot refuse.'
The kind Mouse agreed, but the Cat slunk under the town wall to the
church, and ate up half of the pot of fat. 'Nothing tastes better,'
said she, 'than what one eats by oneself,' and she was very much
pleased with her day's work. When she came home the Mouse asked,
'What was this child called?'
'Half Gone,' answered the Cat.
'Halfgone! what a name! I have never heard it in my life. I don't
believe it is in the calendar.'
Soon the Cat's mouth began to water once more after her licking
business. 'All good things in threes,' she said to the Mouse; 'I
have again to stand godmother. The child is quite black, and has
very white paws, but not a single white hair on its body. This only
happens once in two years, so you will let me go out?'
'Topoff! Halfgone!' repeated the Mouse, 'they are such curious
names; they make me very thoughtful.'
'Oh, you sit at home in your dark grey coat and your long tail,'
said the Cat, 'and you get fanciful. That comes of not going out in
the day.'
The Mouse had a good cleaning out while the Cat was gone, and made
the house tidy; but the greedy Cat ate the fat every bit up.
'When it is all gone one can be at rest,' she said to herself, and
at night she came home sleek and satisfied. The Mouse asked at once
after the third child's name.
'It won't please you any better,' said the Cat, 'he was called Clean
Gone.'
'Cleangone!' repeated the Mouse. 'I do not believe that name has
been printed any more than the others. Cleangone! What can it mean?'
She shook her head, curled herself up, and went to sleep.
From this time on no one asked the Cat to stand godmother; but when
the winter came and there was nothing to be got outside, the Mouse
remembered their provision and said, 'Come, Cat, we will go to our
pot of fat which we have stored away; it will taste very good.'
'Yes, indeed,' answered the Cat; ' it will taste as good to you as
if you stretched your thin tongue out of the window.'
They started off, and when they reached it they found the pot in its
place, but quite empty!
'Ah,' said the Mouse,' 'now I know what has happened! It has all
come out! You are a true friend to me! You have eaten it all when
you stood godmother; first the top off, then half of it gone,
then----'
'Will you be quiet!' screamed the Cat. 'Another word and I will eat
you up.'
'Cleangone' was already on the poor Mouse's tongue, and scarcely was
it out than the Cat made a spring at her, seized and swallowed her.
You see that is the way of the world.
The Cat and Mouse in
Partnership
from the Yellow Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
