Cat and Mouse in Partnership

A certain cat had made the acquaintance of a mouse, and had said so much to her about the great love and friendship she felt for her, that at length the mouse agreed that they should live and keep house together. ‘But we must make a provision for winter, or else we shall suffer from hunger,’ said the cat; ‘and you, little mouse, cannot venture everywhere, or you will be caught in a trap some day.’

从前有一只猫结识了一只老鼠，向她诉说了许多自己对她的深情厚谊，说得多了，老鼠终于答应两人一起同住持家。“不过我们得为过冬做些准备，不然就要挨饿了，”猫说道，“你呀，小老鼠，可不能到处乱跑，不然哪天就会被夹子夹住的。”

The good advice was followed, and a pot of fat was bought, but they did not know where to put it. At length, after much consideration, the cat said: ‘I know no place where it will be better stored up than in the church, for no one dares take anything away from there. We will set it beneath the altar, and not touch it until we are really in need of it.’

这个好主意被采纳了，两人便买了一罐油脂，可是不知该放在哪儿好。想来想去，猫终于说道：“我知道有个地方最适合存放它，那就是教堂，因为谁也不敢从那儿拿走什么东西。我们把它放在祭坛底下，非到真正需要的时候，绝不动它。”

So the pot was placed in safety, but it was not long before the cat had a great yearning for it, and said to the mouse: ‘I want to tell you something, little mouse; my cousin has brought a little son into the world, and has asked me to be godmother; he is white with brown spots, and I am to hold him over the font at the christening. Let me go out today, and you look after the house by yourself.’ ‘Yes, yes,’ answered the mouse, ‘by all means go, and if you get anything very good to eat, think of me. I should like a drop of sweet red christening wine myself.’

于是那罐油脂便安安稳稳地放好了，可是没过多久，猫就馋得不行，对老鼠说道：“我有件事要告诉你，小老鼠；我表姐生了个小儿子，请我去当教母；这孩子浑身雪白，还带着棕色斑点，受洗的时候要由我抱着他站在洗礼盆前呢。让我今天出去一趟吧，你自己看家就行。”“好啊，好啊，”老鼠答道，“尽管去吧，要是吃到什么好东西，可别忘了我。我自己也挺想尝一口甜甜的红葡萄酒，就是受洗时喝的那种。”

All this, however, was untrue; the cat had no cousin, and had not been asked to be godmother. She went straight to the church, stole to the pot of fat, began to lick at it, and licked the top of the fat off. Then she took a walk upon the roofs of the town, looked out for opportunities, and then stretched herself in the sun, and licked her lips whenever she thought of the pot of fat, and not until it was evening did she return home.

不过这些话全是编的；猫根本没有什么表姐，也没人请她去当教母。她径直走进教堂，偷偷溜到那罐油脂跟前，舔了起来，把上面一层油脂舔了个精光。随后她又到城里的屋顶上溜达了一圈，四处张望着找机会，接着又躺在阳光下伸了个懒腰，每当想起那罐油脂，就忍不住舔舔嘴唇，直到天黑才回家去。

‘Well, here you are again,’ said the mouse, ‘no doubt you have had a merry day.’ ‘All went off well,’ answered the cat. ‘What name did they give the child?’ ‘Top off!’ said the cat quite coolly.

“哟，你可算回来了，”老鼠说道，“想必今天过得挺痛快吧。”“一切都很顺利，”猫答道。“他们给孩子取了什么名字？”“去了个头。”猫神色淡然地说道。

‘Top off!’ cried the mouse, ‘that is a very odd and uncommon name, is it a usual one in your family?’ ‘What does that matter,’ said the cat, ‘it is no worse than Crumb-stealer, as your godchildren are called.’

“去了个头！”老鼠叫道，“这名字可真古怪，你们家一向都取这样的名字吗？”“这有什么关系，”猫说道，“总比你那些教子叫‘偷面包屑的’强吧。”

Before long the cat was seized by another fit of yearning. She said to the mouse: ‘You must do me a favour, and once more manage the house for a day alone. I am again asked to be godmother, and, as the child has a white ring round its neck, I cannot refuse.’ The good mouse consented, but the cat crept behind the town walls to the church, and devoured half the pot of fat. ‘Nothing ever seems so good as what one keeps to oneself,’ said she, and was quite satisfied with her day’s work. When she went home the mouse inquired: ‘And what was the child christened?’

没过多久，猫又犯了馋瘾。她对老鼠说：“你得帮我个忙，再一个人管一天家。我又被请去当教母了，这孩子脖子上有一圈白毛，我可不能推辞啊。”好心的老鼠答应了，猫却悄悄溜到城墙后面的教堂，把罐里的油脂吃掉了一半。“自己独享的东西，才是最美味的，”她心想，对这一天的收获相当满意。她回到家时，老鼠问道：“这孩子受洗时取了什么名字？”

‘Half-done,’ answered the cat. ‘Half-done! What are you saying? I never heard the name in my life, I’ll wager anything it is not in the calendar!’

“去了一半，”猫答道。“去了一半！你说什么呢？我这辈子都没听过这名字，我敢打赌，日历上根本没有这个名字！”

The cat’s mouth soon began to water for some more licking. ‘All good things go in threes,’ said she, ‘I am asked to stand godmother again. The child is quite black, only it has white paws, but with that exception, it has not a single white hair on its whole body; this only happens once every few years, you will let me go, won’t you?’ ‘Top-off! Half-done!’ answered the mouse, ‘they are such odd names, they make me very thoughtful.’ ‘You sit at home,’ said the cat, ‘in your dark-grey fur coat and long tail, and are filled with fancies, that’s because you do not go out in the daytime.’

猫很快又馋得直流口水。“好事成三嘛，”她说道，“我又被请去当教母了。这孩子浑身漆黑，只有爪子是白的，除此之外，全身上下连一根白毛都找不出来；这种情况几年才碰上一回呢，你会让我去的吧？”“去了个头！去了一半！”老鼠答道，“这些名字实在太古怪了，弄得我心里直犯嘀咕。”“你呀，就知道待在家里，”猫说道，“披着你那身深灰色的皮毛，拖着长尾巴，胡思乱想的，那都是因为你白天从不出门的缘故。”

During the cat’s absence the mouse cleaned the house, and put it in order, but the greedy cat entirely emptied the pot of fat. ‘When everything is eaten up one has some peace,’ said she to herself, and well filled and fat she did not return home till night. The mouse at once asked what name had been given to the third child. ‘It will not please you more than the others,’ said the cat. ‘He is called All-gone.’ ‘All-gone,’ cried the mouse ‘that is the most suspicious name of all! I have never seen it in print. All-gone; what can that mean?’ and she shook her head, curled herself up, and lay down to sleep.

猫外出的这段时间里，老鼠把家里打扫得干干净净，收拾得整整齐齐，可那只贪嘴的猫却把罐里的油脂吃了个精光。“东西都吃完了，心里才踏实呢，”她自言自语道，吃得饱饱的、浑身肥肥的，直到夜里才回家。老鼠立刻问她第三个孩子取了什么名字。“这个名字恐怕比前两个更不讨你喜欢，”猫说道。“他叫‘全没了’。”“全没了，”老鼠叫道，“这可是所有名字里最可疑的一个了！我从没在书上见过这名字。全没了，这到底是什么意思？”她说着摇了摇头，蜷起身子，躺下睡觉去了。

From this time forth no one invited the cat to be godmother, but when the winter had come and there was no longer anything to be found outside, the mouse thought of their provision, and said: ‘Come, cat, we will go to our pot of fat which we have stored up for ourselves—we shall enjoy that.’ ‘Yes,’ answered the cat, ‘you will enjoy it as much as you would enjoy sticking that dainty tongue of yours out of the window.’ They set out on their way, but when they arrived, the pot of fat certainly was still in its place, but it was empty.

从那以后，再也没人请猫去当教母了，可是冬天一到，外面再也找不到什么吃的，老鼠便想起了他们储存的那罐油脂，说道：“来吧，猫，我们去看看咱们给自己存的那罐油脂吧——那滋味一定美极了。”“是啊，”猫答道，“美得就跟你把那馋嘴的舌头伸出窗外一样美。”他们便动身前去，可是到了地方一看，那罐子确实还在原处，却已经空空如也。

‘Alas!’ said the mouse, ‘now I see what has happened, now it comes to light! You are a true friend! You have devoured all when you were standing godmother. First top off, then half-done, then—’ ‘Will you hold your tongue,’ cried the cat, ‘one word more, and I will eat you too.’ ‘All-gone’ was already on the poor mouse’s lips; scarcely had she spoken it before the cat sprang on her, seized her, and swallowed her down. Verily, that is the way of the world.

“唉！”老鼠说道，“现在我全明白了，真相大白了！你可真是个好朋友啊！你每次去当教母，其实都是把油脂吃光了。先是‘去了个头’，接着是‘去了一半’，然后——”“闭嘴！”猫叫道，“再多说一个字，我连你也一起吃掉。”“全没了”这几个字刚到可怜的老鼠嘴边，还没等她说完，猫就猛地扑了上来，一把抓住她，一口吞了下去。是啊，这世道，本就是如此。