“‘Hark!’ he said, ‘hear the rats squeak.’
“When the building fell millions of rats ran from the ruins to the bishop’s palace. They filled all the rooms and attacked the people. The bishop was struck with terror.
‘“I’ll go to my tower on the Rhine,” replied he;
“’Tis the safest place in Germany:
The walls are high, and the shores are steep,
And the stream is strong, and the water deep.”
‘Bishop Hatto fearfully hastened away,
And he crossed the Rhine without delay,
And reached his tower, and barred with care
All windows, doors, and loopholes there.
‘He laid him down and closed his eyes;
But soon a scream made him arise:
He started, and saw two eyes of flame
On his pillow, from whence the screaming came.
‘He listened and looked; it was only the cat:
But the bishop he grew more fearful for that;
For she sat screaming, mad with fear
At the army of rats that were drawing near.
‘For they have swam over the river so deep,
And they have climbed the shores so steep;
And up the tower their way is bent,
To do the work for which they were sent.
‘They are not to be told by the dozen or score;
By thousands they come, and by myriads and more:
Such numbers had never been heard of before,
Such a judgment had never been witnessed of yore.
‘Down on his knees the bishop fell,
And faster and faster his beads did tell,
As, louder and louder drawing near,
The gnawing of their teeth he could hear.
‘And in at the windows, and in at the door,
And through the walls, helter-skelter they pour,
And down from the ceiling, and up through the floor,
From the right and the left, from behind and before,
From within and without, from above and below,
And all at once to the bishop they go.