How the Schildburgers Hid the Bells

One day, rumors reached Schilda that war was imminent. Fearing for their possessions, the Schildburgers first thought of the bells in the town hall—how to prevent them from being taken down and melted into cannons. They called a council and, after some deliberation, decided to sink the bells in the lake. Once the war was over, they would retrieve them from the lakebed and hang them back in the town hall.

They loaded the bells onto a large boat, rowed to the very center of the lake, and were about to push them into the water when one Schildburger shouted:

"Wait, brothers! How will we find this spot again when we need to retrieve the bells?"

"Worry about your own troubles!" replied the town mayor. He stood up and made a notch on the side of the boat. "Here, where I made the notch, that's where we'll find them."

The Schildburgers rejoiced at their mayor's ingenuity, pushed the bells into the water, and rowed back to shore.

A year later, when the danger had passed, they boarded the same boat again and rowed out to retrieve the bells from the lakebed. They found the notch on the side of the boat, but no matter how much they poked the lake with poles, they couldn't find the bells.

More fairy tales

• The Silver Bell
• How the Schildburgers Had Breakfast with the Emperor and What Riddle He Gave Them
• How the Schildbürgers Sowed Salt
• How the Schildburgers Bought the Fearsome Beast, the Mouse-Catcher, and Along with It, Sealed Their Doom
• The Thick, Fat Pancake