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The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership

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By the Brothers Grimm
Download the The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership

Cat and Mouse Story

If you have ever been tempted to be greedy, you will have just a little sympathy with the cunning cat of this story, even though she is certainly bad. Every time she thinks about being naughty, she persuades herself with a little excuse that rings true to life. A warning: this tale of old enemies doing their best to be friends is full of charm right up until the end, which is rather sudden and realistic.

Read by Natasha Lee Lewis. Duration 10 minutes. Full text.

A cat got to know a mouse, and spoke so much of the great love and friendship she felt for her, that at last the Mouse agreed to live in the same house with her, and to go shares in the housekeeping. ‘But we must store up food for the winter or else we shall be hungry,’ said the Cat. ‘And You, little Mouse, cannot venture everywhere in case you run into a trap.’ This good advice was followed, and a little pot of fat was bought. But they did not know where to put it. At length, after long discussion, 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 really need it.’ 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 that little kitten. 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. Are there others called Topoff 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 kitten 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 any book!’

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.

47 Comments

  • NICOLAS
    Posted April 21, 2006 at 2:11 am | Permalink

    MY BABY WAS BORN THE 18/4/06,I AM COLLECTING STORY BOOKS FOR HIM,I GUESS IT’S NEVER TO EARLY TO START.I WANT TO THANK YOU SO MUCH,FOR HELPING MY SMALL FAMILY.

  • Maria
    Posted March 14, 2007 at 11:20 am | Permalink

    My name is Maria. I like this story! even if the mause did get eaten it shoued me the ways of the world.

    from,
    maria Carles Sandler

  • Sheryl
    Posted April 20, 2007 at 7:14 am | Permalink

    I am from Singapore!!
    THis is a great story !1
    In fact all the stories on storynory are nice.

    lur,
    sheryl

  • mainiuy.................
    Posted April 20, 2007 at 7:14 am | Permalink

    abcdefghijklmnop……………………

  • PABLO
    Posted July 20, 2007 at 1:07 am | Permalink

    I LIKE IT BUT THE CAT IS A BAD GUY. I STIL LIKE ITSSSSSS
    SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
    SSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
    OOOOOOO
    OO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Ксения
    Posted August 8, 2007 at 7:17 pm | Permalink

    Спасибо большое !!!

  • Lee
    Posted January 1, 2008 at 11:21 am | Permalink

    HHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
    LLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOO

    i’m from korea
    nice to meet you
    I like this story
    반갑습니다
    안녕히계세요….
    HaHa
    Hapdpy new year~

  • louise
    Posted January 2, 2008 at 9:44 am | Permalink

    i really like the story of the cat and mouse in parntership . its very funny

  • haley
    Posted January 9, 2008 at 6:53 pm | Permalink

    i lick it

  • Shelby
    Posted January 19, 2008 at 12:35 am | Permalink

    Ithought it was a great story!

  • randomguy
    Posted January 24, 2008 at 2:02 pm | Permalink

    this is a good story but it should have words so people can read along!!!!!!

  • emma
    Posted January 24, 2008 at 6:56 pm | Permalink

    emma seamanas

  • cole
    Posted January 30, 2008 at 4:30 pm | Permalink

    I cindov wonder wuy the cat speecs french oh and was the cat so mean at the end

  • Alana
    Posted January 30, 2008 at 4:35 pm | Permalink

    I love The Cat and Mouse Partnership.

  • Lisa
    Posted February 2, 2008 at 5:30 am | Permalink

    Hi, thank you so much for your all story.

  • priya
    Posted February 8, 2008 at 1:09 am | Permalink

    wow LOL

  • indigo
    Posted February 8, 2008 at 9:18 pm | Permalink

    i like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • gaara
    Posted February 19, 2008 at 10:58 pm | Permalink

    weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
    eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
    eeeeeeeeeeee love it

  • DAKOTA
    Posted February 26, 2008 at 4:22 pm | Permalink

    The Ginger Bread Man ROCK’S
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Madeleine
    Posted March 6, 2008 at 12:06 pm | Permalink

    I really like the fat made me hungry ”mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm” & i liked the story

  • Timmy
    Posted March 7, 2008 at 7:10 am | Permalink

    I feel really sad for the mouse because the cat was supposed be its friend and the cat betrayed the mouse by eating all the fat and then him up as well. The story kind of reminded me of the ginger bread man story.

  • Posted March 7, 2008 at 7:19 am | Permalink

    Timmy I feel sorry for the mouse too - and yes the ending is a bit like the Gingerbread man.

  • Domenic
    Posted March 8, 2008 at 2:39 pm | Permalink

    It was very good

  • Anonymous
    Posted March 19, 2008 at 3:45 pm | Permalink

    i thought it was stupid

  • lauren
    Posted March 19, 2008 at 3:45 pm | Permalink

    i thought it was stupid

  • lauren
    Posted March 19, 2008 at 3:47 pm | Permalink

    i didnt realy like it

  • oliver
    Posted March 19, 2008 at 4:24 pm | Permalink

    I liked it but it got boring at the end and stupid.

  • brenden
    Posted April 1, 2008 at 3:41 am | Permalink

    story is quite good and i like it

  • Timmy
    Posted April 6, 2008 at 11:50 am | Permalink

    This is a great website. My toddler falls aslep listening to the speaker’s beautiful voice telling a story. Thank you for offering such a variety of stories to chose from!!!Mya,Azita,Nazila,Simpa

  • Marti
    Posted April 7, 2008 at 5:57 pm | Permalink

    Good story

  • Ruhi
    Posted April 9, 2008 at 1:58 pm | Permalink

    You are cool!

  • Joy
    Posted April 12, 2008 at 2:21 pm | Permalink

    i am from Hong Kong.it is great.

  • marta
    Posted April 12, 2008 at 9:04 pm | Permalink

    i am from spain and i think the story was great although it was a bit sad in the end because the cat ate the mouse.

  • Reich
    Posted April 16, 2008 at 5:23 am | Permalink

    I am from Taiwan. That is a very great story and tells the reality of the world. Hope my little kid starts to know this.

  • alex
    Posted April 17, 2008 at 7:34 am | Permalink

    I LOVE BRE

  • johanna
    Posted April 17, 2008 at 7:38 am | Permalink

    I liked it soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
    much.But it was sad.and cat was real mean

  • alex
    Posted April 17, 2008 at 7:39 am | Permalink

    bre loves noah

  • Kiven
    Posted April 18, 2008 at 11:57 am | Permalink

    Funny story!the cat and the mouse’s accumulate was that!
    How interesting!

  • Apple
    Posted April 19, 2008 at 6:29 am | Permalink

    I like this story!!!!!!!!!!

  • Ria
    Posted April 26, 2008 at 2:31 am | Permalink

    i am 7-8months pregnant now (04.26.2008) though my daughter haven’t born yet. my doctor saids she could hear now… so im collecting childrens’ stories audios for her… and as i type this msg we’re listening… and she responsed well :) thanks so much!

  • Anonymous
    Posted April 26, 2008 at 7:20 pm | Permalink

    :)

  • k
    Posted May 9, 2008 at 11:54 am | Permalink

    i like it

  • yousaf
    Posted July 9, 2008 at 8:17 pm | Permalink

    I loved it and cats our best

  • yousaf
    Posted July 9, 2008 at 8:19 pm | Permalink

    ******************************************************************************************************************************************

  • .m yousaf
    Posted July 9, 2008 at 8:20 pm | Permalink

    *************************************************************************simply great***************************************************************************************

  • Posted July 31, 2008 at 10:31 am | Permalink

    Dear Kima
    Keela and Kanda agreed Kima can have a black dog and they are going to buy that dog and said you take it out for a walk give food to that dog and name the dog. Keela aked what name shall we keep it? Kima said call her kipsey. Thank you

    Ridhi,Ila and sunil

  • Anonymous
    Posted August 3, 2008 at 11:03 am | Permalink

    mighty oaks from little acrns twenty years from now use what talent you possess the future lies before you.

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