Page:Stories of the Rhine country, (IA storiesofrhineco00alle).pdf/22

Every day the starving poor
Crowded around Bishop Hatto’s door,
For he had a plentiful last year’s store,
And all the neighborhood could tell
His granaries were furnished well.

At last Bishop Hatto appointed a day
To greet the poor without delay.
He bade them to his great barn repair,
And they should have food for the winter there.

Rejoiced at such tidings good to hear,
The poor folk flocked from far and near,
The great barn was full as it could hold
Of women and children, young and old.

Then when he saw it could hold no more,
Bishop Hatto he made fast the door;
And while for mercy on Christ they call,
Set fire to the barn and burned them all.

“In faith, ’tis an excellent bonfire,” quoth he,
“And the country is greatly obliged to me
For ridding it in these times forlorn
Of rats that only consume the corn.”

So then to his palace returned he,
And he sat down to supper merrily.
And he slept that night like an innocent man,
But Bishop Hatto ne’er slept again.