In “Cat and Mouse in Partnership,” the cat and mouse hide a pot of fat in a church.
The mismatched companions buy the pot as shared provisions for lean times and conceal it in a nook of a church. The cat, however, repeatedly invents excuses to leave home, claiming to attend christenings. Instead, she secretly eats the fat a little at a time.
To deceive the mouse, the cat gives each imaginary kitten a name describing how much of the pot has disappeared: “Top-off,” “Half-gone,” and finally “All-gone.” When winter arrives, the mouse suggests retrieving their stored food and discovers the empty pot. The cat then attacks and eats the mouse.
The tale is KHM 2 and was first published in the 1812 edition of the Grimms’ collection. It belongs to ATU 15, a folktale type sometimes described as “Stealing the Partner’s Butter.” The church setting and the cat’s christening story are important details; the food is not bread, flour, or honey.