Cat and Mouse in Partnership

 2. Cat and Mouse in Partnership (Katze und Maus in Gesellschaft)

A cat, having made acquaintance with a mouse, professed such great love and friendship for her, that the mouse at last agreed that they should live and keep house together.

"We must make provision for the winter," said the cat, "or we shall suffer hunger, and you, little mouse, must not stir out, or you will be caught in a trap."

So they took counsel together and bought a little pot of fat. And then they could not tell where to put it for safety, but after long consideration the cat said there could not be a better place than the church, for nobody would steal there; and they would put it under the altar and not touch it until they were really in want. So this was done, and the little pot placed in safety.

But before long the cat was seized with a great wish to taste it.

"Listen to me, little mouse," said he; "I have been asked by my cousin to stand god-father to a little son she has brought into the world; he is white with brown spots; and they want to have the christening to-day, so let me go to it, and you stay at home and keep house."

"Oh yes, certainly," answered the mouse, "pray go by all means; and when you are feasting on all the good things, think of me; I should so like a drop of the sweet red wine."

But there was not a word of truth in all this; the cat had no cousin, and had not been asked to stand god-father: he went to the church, straight up to the little pot, and licked the fat off the top; then he took a walk over the roofs of the town, saw his acquaintances, stretched himself in the sun, and licked his whiskers as often as he thought of the little pot of fat; and then when it was evening he went home.

"Here you are at last," said the mouse; "I expect you have had a merry time."

"Oh, pretty well," answered the cat.

"And what name did you give the child?" asked the mouse.

"Top-off," answered the cat, drily.

"Top-off!" cried the mouse, "that is a singular and wonderful name! is it common in your family?"

"What does it matter?" said the cat; "it's not any worse than Crumb-picker, like your god-child."

A little time after this the cat was again seized with a longing.

"Again I must ask you," said he to the mouse, "to do me a favour, and keep house alone for a day. I have been asked a second time to stand god-father; and as the little one has a white ring round its neck, I cannot well refuse."

So the kind little mouse consented, and the cat crept along by the town wall until he reached the church, and going straight to the little pot of fat, devoured half of it.

"Nothing tastes so well as what one keeps to oneself," said he, feeling quite content with his day's work. When he reached home, the mouse asked what name had been given to the child.

"Half-gone," answered the cat.

"Half-gone!" cried the mouse, "I never heard such a name in my life! I'll bet it's not to be found in the calendar."

Soon after that the cat's mouth began to water again for the fat.

"Good things always come in threes," said he to the mouse; "again I have been asked to stand god-father, the little one is quite black with white feet, and not any white hair on its body; such a thing does not happen every day, so you will let me go, won't you?"

"Top-off, Half-gone," murmured the mouse, "they are such curious names, I cannot but wonder at them!"

"That's because you are always sitting at home," said the cat, "in your little grey frock and hairy tail, never seeing the world, and fancying all sorts of things."

So the little mouse cleaned up the house and set it all in order. Meanwhile the greedy cat went and made an end of the little pot of fat.

"Now all is finished one's mind will be easy," said he, and came home in the evening, quite sleek and comfortable. The mouse asked at once what name had been given to the third child.

"It won't please you any better than the others," answered the cat. "It is called All-gone."

"All-gone!" cried the mouse. "What an unheard-of-name! I never met with anything like it! All-gone! whatever can it mean?" And shaking her head, she curled herself round and went to sleep. After that the cat was not again asked to stand god-father.

When the winter had come and there was nothing more to be had out of doors, the mouse began to think of their store.

"Come, cat," said she, "we will fetch our pot of fat, how good it will taste, to be sure!"

"Of course it will," said the cat, "just as good as if you stuck your tongue out of window!"

So they set out, and when they reached the place, they found the pot, but it was standing empty.

"Oh, now I know what it all meant," cried the mouse, "now I see what sort of a partner you have been! Instead of standing god-father you have devoured it all up; first Top-off, then Half-gone, then"——

"Will you hold your tongue!" screamed the cat, "another word, and I devour you too!"

And the poor little mouse, having "All-gone" on her tongue, out it came, and the cat leaped upon her and made an end of her. And that is the way of the world.

My Notes

• This is the translation of Lucy Crane.
• This is tale type 15, "The Stealing of a Partner's Butter."
• This tale was present in every edition of Grimms' collection, always as Tale 2, and was expanded over time.

1812 version:

A cat and a mouse wanted to live together and keep house together. They also made preparations for winter and bought a pot of fat, and because they didn't know a better and safer place, they put it under the altar in the church, where it was to stand until they needed it. But one day the cat had a craving for it and went to the mouse, saying, "Listen little mouse, my cousin asked me to be godfather. She gave birth to a little son, spotted white and brown, and I'm supposed to hold him at baptism. Let me go out and you stay home alone today.”

“Yes, yes," said the mouse. "Go there, and when you eat something good, think of me, I’d be happy to drink a drop of the sweet red childbed wine.” But the cat went straight to the church and licked the greasy top off the fat. After that he strolled around the town and only came home in the evening. "You must have really enjoyed yourself," said the mouse. "What was the child's name?"

"Top Off," answered the cat.

“Top Off? That's a strange name, I haven't heard it before."

Soon afterwards the cat had a craving again, so he went to the mouse and said, "I've been asked to go be godfather again. The child has a white ring around its body, I can't refuse it. You must do me a favor and do the house-keeping alone.” The mouse said yes, but the cat went and ate up half of the fat pot. When he came home, the mouse asked, "What was this child named?"

"Half Gone."

"Half Gone? What you say! I haven't heard the name yet, it's definitely not in the calendar."

But the cat couldn't forget the pot of fat: "I've been asked to be godfather for the third time. The child is black and only has white paws, otherwise no white hair all over his body; that only happens once every few years. Will you let me go out?” 

“Top Off, Half Gone,” said the mouse. "They are such strange names, they make me think, but just go there.” The mouse kept everything in order and tidied up, while the cat ate up the pot of fat and returned full and fat again at night.

"What's the name of the third child?" 

"All Gone"

"All Gone! That's the most questionable name," said the mouse. "All Gone? What is that supposed to mean? I have never seen it printed before!” With that she shook her head and went to sleep.

Nobody wanted to ask the cat to be godfather for the fourth time, but winter soon came. When there was nothing more to be found outside, the mouse said to the cat, "Come on, let's go to the stash that we hid under the altar in the church." But when they got there, everything was empty. "Oh!" said the mouse. "Now it comes to light; you ate everything you went out. Top off, then half gone, then..." 

"Silence!" said the cat. "I'll eat you if you speak one more word!"

“All gone” was what the poor mouse already had on her lips, and as soon as she had spoken it, the cat jumped on her and swallowed her down.

The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich

 1. The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich (Der Froschkoenig oder der eiserne Heinrich)

In old times when wishing still helped one, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself, which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face. Close by the King’s castle lay a great dark forest, and under an old lime-tree in the forest was a well, and when the day was very warm, the King’s child went out into the forest and sat down by the side of the cool fountain, and when she was dull she took a golden ball, and threw it up on high and caught it, and this ball was her favorite plaything.

Now it so happened that on one occasion the princess’s golden ball did not fall into the little hand which she was holding up for it, but on to the ground beyond, and rolled straight into the water. The King’s daughter followed it with her eyes, but it vanished, and the well was deep, so deep that the bottom could not be seen. On this she began to cry, and cried louder and louder, and could not be comforted. And as she thus lamented some one said to her, “What ails thee, King’s daughter? Thou weepest so that even a stone would show pity.” She looked round to the side from whence the voice came, and saw a frog stretching forth its thick, ugly head from the water. “Ah! old water-splasher, is it thou?” said she; “I am weeping for my golden ball, which has fallen into the well.”

“Be quiet, and do not weep,” answered the frog, “I can help thee, but what wilt thou give me if I bring thy plaything up again?” “Whatever thou wilt have, dear frog,” said she—“My clothes, my pearls and jewels, and even the golden crown which I am wearing.”

The frog answered, “I do not care for thy clothes, thy pearls and jewels, or thy golden crown, but if thou wilt love me and let me be thy companion and play-fellow, and sit by thee at thy little table, and eat off thy little golden plate, and drink out of thy little cup, and sleep in thy little bed—if thou wilt promise me this I will go down below, and bring thee thy golden ball up again.”

“Oh yes,” said she, “I promise thee all thou wishest, if thou wilt but bring me my ball back again.” She, however, thought, “How the silly frog does talk! He lives in the water with the other frogs, and croaks, and can be no companion to any human being!”

But the frog when he had received this promise, put his head into the water and sank down, and in a short while came swimming up again with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the grass. The King’s daughter was delighted to see her pretty plaything once more, and picked it up, and ran away with it. “Wait, wait,” said the frog. “Take me with thee. I can’t run as thou canst.” But what did it avail him to scream his croak, croak, after her, as loudly as he could? She did not listen to it, but ran home and soon forgot the poor frog, who was forced to go back into his well again.

The next day when she had seated herself at table with the King and all the courtiers, and was eating from her little golden plate, something came creeping splish splash, splish splash, up the marble staircase, and when it had got to the top, it knocked at the door and cried, “Princess, youngest princess, open the door for me.” She ran to see who was outside, but when she opened the door, there sat the frog in front of it. Then she slammed the door to, in great haste, sat down to dinner again, and was quite frightened. The King saw plainly that her heart was beating violently, and said, “My child, what art thou so afraid of? Is there perchance a giant outside who wants to carry thee away?” “Ah, no,” replied she. “It is no giant but a disgusting frog.”

“What does a frog want with thee?” “Ah, dear father, yesterday as I was in the forest sitting by the well, playing, my golden ball fell into the water. And because I cried so, the frog brought it out again for me, and because he so insisted, I promised him he should be my companion, but I never thought he would be able to come out of his water! And now he is outside there, and wants to come in to me.”

In the meantime it knocked a second time, and cried,

“Princess! youngest princess!
Open the door for me!
Dost thou not know what thou saidst to me
Yesterday by the cool waters of the fountain?
Princess, youngest princess!
Open the door for me!”

Then said the King, “That which thou hast promised must thou perform. Go and let him in.” She went and opened the door, and the frog hopped in and followed her, step by step, to her chair. There he sat and cried, “Lift me up beside thee.” She delayed, until at last the King commanded her to do it. When the frog was once on the chair he wanted to be on the table, and when he was on the table he said, “Now, push thy little golden plate nearer to me that we may eat together.” She did this, but it was easy to see that she did not do it willingly. The frog enjoyed what he ate, but almost every mouthful she took choked her. At length he said, “I have eaten and am satisfied; now I am tired, carry me into thy little room and make thy little silken bed ready, and we will both lie down and go to sleep.”

The King’s daughter began to cry, for she was afraid of the cold frog which she did not like to touch, and which was now to sleep in her pretty, clean little bed. But the King grew angry and said, “He who helped thee when thou wert in trouble ought not afterwards to be despised by thee.” So she took hold of the frog with two fingers, carried him upstairs, and put him in a corner. But when she was in bed he crept to her and said, “I am tired, I want to sleep as well as thou, lift me up or I will tell thy father.” Then she was terribly angry, and took him up and threw him with all her might against the wall. “Now, thou wilt be quiet, odious frog,” said she. But when he fell down he was no frog but a King’s son with beautiful kind eyes. He by her father’s will was now her dear companion and husband. Then he told her how he had been bewitched by a wicked witch, and how no one could have delivered him from the well but herself, and that to-morrow they would go together into his kingdom. Then they went to sleep, and next morning when the sun awoke them, a carriage came driving up with eight white horses, which had white ostrich feathers on their heads, and were harnessed with golden chains, and behind stood the young King’s servant Faithful Heinrich. Faithful Heinrich had been so unhappy when his master was changed into a frog, that he had caused three iron bands to be laid round his heart, lest it should burst with grief and sadness. The carriage was to conduct the young King into his Kingdom. Faithful Heinrich helped them both in, and placed himself behind again, and was full of joy because of this deliverance. And when they had driven a part of the way the King’s son heard a cracking behind him as if something had broken. So he turned round and cried, “Heinrich, the carriage is breaking.”

“No, master, it is not the carriage. It is a band from my heart, which was put there in my great pain when you were a frog and imprisoned in the well.” Again and once again while they were on their way something cracked, and each time the King’s son thought the carriage was breaking; but it was only the bands which were springing from the heart of faithful Heinrich because his master was set free and was happy.

My Notes

• This is the translation of Margaret Hunt, with minor corrections.
• This is tale type 440. The Brothers Grimm actually included other stories of this type in their collection. The second version, entitled "Der Froschprinz" (The Frog Prince) was originally published as Story 13 in Volume 2, but was omitted in all later editions. Some English translations of Story 1 give it the title of Story 13 from Volume 2, while the first English translator of the Grimms' collection, Edgar Taylor, actually combined the two stories together.
• This story was present in all seven editions of Grimms' collection, and was always placed as the first tale. However, the story was expanded upon as various edits were made. As with most of the stories present in the first edition, a translation of that version is given below.

1812 version

Once upon a time there was a king's daughter who went out into the forest and sat down by a cool fountain. She had a golden ball, which was her favorite toy, and she threw it up in the air and caught it again and took pleasure in it. Once, when the ball had flown quite high, she had already stretched out her hand and curled her fingers to catch it again, but it hit the ground next to her, and rolled and rolled until it went straight into the water.

The king's daughter was startled and looked for it, but the fountain was so deep that no bottom could be seen. Then she began to weep miserably and to lament: "Oh! If I had my ball back, I would give everything for it, my clothes, my precious stones, my pearls and whatever it was in the world." As she lamented, a frog stuck his head out of the water and said, "King's daughter, why are you complaining so pitifully?" "Oh," she said, you nasty frog, what can you do to help me! My golden ball fell into the well.” The frog replied, “Your pearls, your precious stones and your clothes, I do not ask for them, but if you want to take me as a companion, and allow me to sit next to you, eat from your little plate, and sleep in your little bed, and if you'll treat me dearly, I will bring you back your ball.” The king’s daughter thought, "What is the simple frog talking about? It must stay in its water. But maybe it can mean me fetch the ball, so I might as well say yes," and she said, "Yes, for my part, just get the golden ball back for me first, and everything is promised to you." The frog stuck his head under the water and dived down, and it wasn't long before he got up again, with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the land. When the king's daughter saw her ball again, she ran quickly to it, picked it up, and was so glad to have it in her hand again that she thought of nothing more, but hurried home with it. The frog called after her: "Wait, king's daughter, and take me with you as you promised!" But she did not listen. but hurried home with it. The frog called after her: "Wait, king's daughter, and take me with you as you promised;" but she did not listen.

The next day the king's daughter was sitting at the table when she heard something coming up the marble steps: Splish, splash! Splish splash! Soon after, there was a knock at the door, and a voice cried, "Youngest King's daughter, open it for me!" She ran and opened the door, and there was the frog whom she had forgotten about. Quite frightened, she hastily slammed the door and sat down again at the table. But the king saw that her heart was pounding and said, "Why are you afraid?" She answered, "Out there is a nasty frog. He got my golden ball out of the water, and I promised him that, in return, he should become my companion, but I never believed that he could get out of the water, and now he is outside the door and wants to come in." Then there was a second knock and the frog cried:

“Princess! youngest princess!

Open the door for me!

Do you not know what you said to me

Yesterday by the cool waters of the fountain?

Princess, youngest princess!

Open the door for me!”

The king said, "You must keep your promise. Go and open the door for the frog." She obeyed, and the frog hopped in, following her on foot to her chair, and when she had sat down again, he called out, "Pick me up onto a chair so I can sit next to you." The king's daughter did not want to, but the king ordered her to do so. When the frog was up, he said, "Now push your little golden plate closer. I want to eat from it with you." She had to do that too. When he had eaten his fill, he said, "Now I'm tired and want to sleep. Take me up to your little room, make your bed ready, and we'll lie down in it." The king's daughter was startled when she heard that. She was afraid of the cold frog, and didn't dare to touch him, but now he was to be in her bed with her. She started to cry and absolutely didn't want to. Then the king became angry, and in his displeasure commanded her to do what she had promised. It was no good arguing, she had to do as her father wanted, but she was bitterly angry at heart. She grabbed the frog with two fingers and carried it upstairs to her room, and lay down on the bed. But instead of putting the frog down next to her, she threw him, Bang! against the wall, saying, "Now you will leave me alone, you nasty frog!"

But the frog didn't fall down dead. Instead, when he fell down onto the bed, he was a handsome young prince. He was now her dear companion, and she held him dear as she had promised and they happily fell asleep together. In the morning, however, came a magnificent carriage drawn by eight horses, trimmed with feathers and shimmering gold, with the prince's faithful Heinrich, who had been so saddened by his transformation that he had to put three iron bands around his heart to prevent it from breaking from his sadness. The prince sat in the carriage with the king's daughter, but the faithful servant stood up in the back to drive them to his kingdom. And when they had gone a little way, the prince heard a loud cracking noise behind him, so he turned and cried "Heinrich, the carriage is breaking!"

"No, master, it is not the carriage. It is a band from my heart, which was put there in my great pain when you were a frog and imprisoned in the well."

Again and again the prince heard it crack and said that the carriage was breaking, but it was only the bands that jumped off the heart of faithful Heinrich, because his master was redeemed and happy.

Introduction

Many years ago, when I was a child, I became interested in the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Since then, I have read their collection many times and enjoyed it. When I was a little bit older, I discovered that there had been more than one edition of the Grimms' collection, as it was revised over time, and many of the stories were drastically edited and some of them removed entirely. For the longest time, the earlier editions of their collection had never gotten a translation into English, with all of the supposedly "Complete Collections" only comprising of the stories from the final 1857 edition. In 2014, translator Jack Zipes translated the original 1812/1815 edition into English for the first time. Unfortunately, it carries its own copyright, as translations are considered transformative enough to be copyrighted. So, English readers have been unable to read the first edition of the Grimms' collection without either buying Jack Zipes' book or making do with the iffy quality of Google Translate... until now!!!!!

Yes, you read that correctly. I am making available for the first time ever a public domain English translation of every single one of the tales from the first edition of the Grimms' collection. Not only that, but I'm also providing English translations of the tales from the other editions that were omitted in the final edition. As well, I'm providing the full text of the final edition, mostly taken from the translations of Margaret Hunt, Lucy Crane, and the colorful Fairy Books of Andrew Lang (with corrections made to them), for the sake of comparison. For the first time, the world will have a public domain English translation of Grimms' Fairy Tales that truly can be called "The Complete Grimms' Fairy Tales."

I hope you all enjoy.