"My dear son! how will you find your way to the Jews' quarter at this late hour? It would be very unwise—nay, dangerous, for you to attempt it. Don't you know that the moo-calf makes its appearance about this time?"
I shrugged my shoulders to indicate that I was not afraid of a moo-calf.
"But, my dear son, you don't know what a terrible creature the moo-calf is. It has become even more terrible and ferocious since the Jews have multiplied to such numbers in Hamburg. These Spanish Jews understand all sorts of witch-craft. It was they who discovered that if a young calf is fed on human blood instead of milk, it will become savage as a lion. This is the sort of moo-calf they have turned loose in the Hamberger Berg. It roams through the streets at night, terrifying to death every person it meets, and scatters the watchmen in all directions. It tears the bells from the house doors; it has teeth so sharp that it can snap off the pole of a halberd as easily as if it were a pipe-stem; and its tongue is rough as a cloth-shearer's brush. It roars like a lion, bellows like a wild bull, snorts like a whole herd of wild horses; clatters through the streets like a luggage van, clappers like a fulling-mill, and crows like a cock that is possessed. It takes special delight in pursuing honest men and fathers of families, who suspect their wives and daughters of adventure, and if it chances to catch one of them, he will not very soon forget the moo-calf—that is if he escapes with his head to remember it! Another favorite trick with the calf is: to steal upon a pair of lovers, and roar at them with such a terrible voice that they die of fright—"
"And what sort of looking beast is this moo-calf?" I interrupted.
"Why, no one can tell what it looks like, my son. Those who have been unfortunate enough to encounter it on the street have had a stream of fire blown into their eyes from the beast's nostrils, and they were not able to see for weeks afterward. The man who is brave enough to thrust his head out the window when he hears the moo-calf bellow, will be sure to regret his curiosity, for his head will swell to such a size that he will not be able for several days to get it back through the window. That is why no one is able to tell what the monster is like. I only know that it has the power to stretch its neck to such a length that it can look into the upper windows of a house. Oh, I can assure you, it is a most horrible creature!"
I had had ample time, while he was descanting on the moo-calf's terrible doings, to replace my treasures in the bag.
"Then there really is such a monster?" I observed, shouldering my load.
He swore by all he held dear, that the moo-calf not only existed, but that it roamed the streets of Hamburg almost every night.
"Have you any desire to make a bet with me?" I asked.
"A bet?—on what?"