How the Schildburgers Bought the Fearsome Beast, the Mouse-Catcher, and Along with It, Sealed Their Doom

I must tell you that in the town of Schilda, there had never been any cats. And as a result, there were countless mice. They would climb right into the bread chest and steal whatever they could find, right before everyone's eyes.

No matter how much the Schildburgers chased them or tried to poison them, the mice only grew in number.

At that time, a vagabond was passing through the town, and in his bag, he carried the most ordinary cat. He had picked it up along the road, just for fun.

The vagabond entered a tavern and saw mice running around in broad daylight, unafraid of anyone, scurrying over tables and chairs. He opened his bag and released the cat. In an instant, the cat killed a dozen mice, then sat on the floor licking its paws.

The tavern keeper saw this and rushed to the town hall to inform the town fathers about the miraculous beast that had appeared in Schilda. The council came to the tavern and asked the vagabond if he would part with his fearsome mouser, promising to pay him well.

The vagabond, realizing who he was dealing with, replied that such a marvel could not be bought for any amount of money. But since Schilda was in such trouble with mice, he would let them have his treasure for a hundred guilders.

The Schildburgers were delighted that he asked for so little. They shook hands on the deal and gave the vagabond fifty guilders in cash, promising to pay the rest in six months, after the harvest.

Fearing they might change their minds, the vagabond quickly took the mouser to an old barn where the Schildburgers stored their communal grain for the winter—the place most infested with mice—and then went on his way.

As soon as he passed through the town gates, he broke into a trot. He kept looking back, afraid of being pursued.

Meanwhile, the Schildburgers, overjoyed at having bought a ferocious mouser so cheaply, forgot to ask what it ate. To find out, they sent a messenger after the vagabond.

No matter how hard the messenger tried, he couldn’t catch up—the vagabond was running too fast. So, from a distance, the Schildburger shouted:

"What does it eat?"

And the vagabond, also from a distance, replied:

"Whatever it catches!"

But the Schildburger messenger thought he heard: "Cattle and people."

Terrified, he ran back to Schilda and reported to the council what he thought he had heard, adding: "Once the mouser kills all the mice, it will go after the cattle, and then after us, even though we bought it with our own money."

The Schildburgers then held a council to decide how to get rid of the mouser. They concluded that the best course of action was to kill it immediately. But, unfortunately, none of them dared to approach the fearsome beast.

After further deliberation, they decided to burn down the barn where the beast was kept, along with the mouser. Though it meant losing their grain, they reasoned it was the lesser evil—otherwise, they would all perish at the hands of the mouser.

As decided, so done.

The Schildburgers piled straw around the barn and set it on fire. But the cat, sensing the smoke, leapt onto a nearby roof and from there into a house.

So the barn burned for nothing.

The town fathers gathered again to deliberate. Given the complexity of the issue, they first sweated in the Sweating Chamber, then moved to the Pondering Chamber, and finally to the Jester’s Chamber, where they reached a decision:

"Buy the house where the fearsome mouser is hiding with communal funds and burn it down along with the monster."

No sooner said than done.

They sneaked up to the house where the cat had hidden, piled straw around it, and set it on fire.

Meanwhile, the cat climbed onto the roof, sat there, and began washing its paw—a habit of its kind.

When the Schildburgers saw the cat raising its paw to its head, they decided it was swearing an oath to take terrible revenge on them all!

In desperation, one of them grabbed a spear and tried to stab the cat, but it clung to the shaft, slid down to the ground in an instant, and... was gone.

Meanwhile, the fire spread to a neighboring house, then to another, and with the wind blowing, soon the entire town of Schilda was engulfed in flames. The Schildburgers, with their wives and children, had to flee far into the forest to escape the fire.

And so, the town of Schilda burned to the ground, along with its famous town hall and all its chambers.

The Schildburgers themselves never returned to Schilda—they had seen with their own eyes how the mouser had sworn to take terrible revenge on them. So they scattered across the world.

Have you ever come across them?

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How the Schildburgers Bought the Fearsome Beast, the Mouse-Catcher, and Along with It, Sealed Their Doom

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