Today’s column revisits our old friends, the Brothers Grimm. The Grimms have been gone for over 200 years, but their stories still have slices of wisdom.
Their tale of when the Cat and the Mouse set up House resonates with current events.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine remains in the news of late. It might be settled by a lasting peace guaranteed by the US, Western Europe, and the gossamer promise of Putin to keep his hands out of the Ukrainian cookie jar. If you can’t trust a promise by Putin, then who can you trust?
Ronald Reagan once said trust but verify Russian promises.
That was so 1980s. No need to verify now. Putin’s word is as good as the fake gold decorating the Oval Office.
Some soreheads with an attention span may recall when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made a deal with Adolph Hitler to divide up Czechoslovakia in return for “Peace in Our Time.” Pro tip: Appeasement of dictators does not work.
Watching President Trump’s meeting with Vlad Putin seemed like we had seen this movie before. Dividing up Ukraine to buy peace in our time may be another illusion. Mark Twain pointed out: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Fileting Ukraine does have echoes of carving Czechoslovakia.
Consider Grimm’s fairy tale about the time the Cat and the Mouse played house. Try to spot any similarities to current events. Once upon a time, a tomcat became friends with a lady mouse. (Use your willing suspension of disbelief, this is a Fairy Tale after all.)
After high-level discussions, the cat and the mouse decided they could live together in peace and love. Winter was coming. The cat was concerned about what they would eat. The cat suggested pooling their money to buy a pot of delicious fat to feed themselves in the depths of winter. The mouse agreed, and the pot of fat was purchased.
To safeguard the fat from hungry intruders, they decided to hide the pot under the altar in the church. The cat said no one was low enough to steal from a church. They would retrieve the pot when the cold winds began to blow. Soon enough, though, the cat got a powerful hankering for some of that fat.
He made up a lie that he had been asked to serve as Godfather to his cousin’s baby kitten. He said he needed to leave for the day to hold the kitten at the church.
The mouse was touched by the thought of a baby kitten being christened. She told the cat to go do his duty.
The cat sneaked into the church and ate the skin off the top of the fat. When he returned home, the mouse asked what name was given to the kitten. The cat said, “Top Off.” The mouse thought this a very odd name, but let it slide.
The next day, the cat wanted more of the fat. He told the mouse that another cousin wanted him to be Godfather to another kitten. Mouse, being a bit slow on the uptake, agreed for the cat to leave for the day.
The cat went back to the church and ate half the fat. The cat thought: “Nothing tastes as good as what you eat by yourself.”
On returning home, the mouse asked the name of this kitten. Cat told her, “Half Gone.” The mouse thought that name was weird as well. Finally, on the third day, the cat invented yet another cousin who needed him to be Godfather.
The cat went back to the church and finished off the rest of the fat. On returning home, he told the mouse that this kitten was named All Gone.
This continued to puzzle the mouse.
Finally, winter came. There was no food in the house.
The cat and mouse went to church to retrieve the pot of fat. Of course, the pot was empty when they got there. A light bulb finally went off in the mouse’s head as she realized she had been bamboozled by the cat.
The mouse accused the cat of eating the fat, reciting Top Off, Half Gone, and then All Gone. Before the mouse could finish saying All Gone, the cat leaped on her and ate her.
The Grimms concluded this story saying, “Well, what else did you expect? That’s just the sort of thing that happens in this world.” Cheery ending.
If you substitute Putin for the cat and Ukraine for the mouse, what do you expect will happen to Ukraine?
Ukraine was fooled once before when it gave up its nukes in return for a guarantee that the US would protect its borders.
In Animal House, Otter told Flounder after the boys wrecked his brother’s car: “You screwed up. You trusted us.”
Will Ukraine get fooled again? Remember when the Who sang: “Just like yesterday/ Then I’ll get on my knees and pray/ We don’t’ get fooled again.” Fool Ukraine once, shame on you. Fool Ukraine twice, shame on Ukraine. No pots of fat or Ozempic were harmed in the writing of this column.

(Illustration by Pitt Dickey)