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The Tobacco Box     (Die Tabaksdose)     1812

In a tavern in a Dutch town, there were many people gathered together, some of whom knew one another, others did not. For it was market day. Nobody knew Freddy Tinder. ‘Give me another small glass,’ said a stout man dressed in bourgeois attire to the landlord, taking a pinch of tobacco from a heavy silver tin. Then Freddy Tinder watched as a shifty-looking fellow approached the stout man, struck up a conversation with him and, a couple of times, as if by chance, glanced at the coat pocket into which the man had put the tin. “What’s going on?” thought Freddy. “Is he up to something too?” At first, the fellow stood there. Then he ordered a small glass, sat down on the bench, and spoke all sorts of curious things to the fat man, which the latter found very amusing. Finally, a third man arrived. “Excuse me,” said the third man, “is there still a bit of room here?” So the shifty fellow moved right up close to the fat man and chattered on and on. “Yes,” he said, “I was quite astonished when I came to this country and saw how the windmills are so easily driven round by the wind. Back home, there isn’t a breath of wind all year round. So you have to build the windmills where the quails fly past. ‘Now, when a million thousand quails arrive in spring, coming from the sea in Africa, and fly over the millstones, the mills start to turn; and whoever fails to have their grain ground at this time will have no flour in the house all year round.’ At this, the fat man laughed so hard he nearly lost his breath, and in the meantime the cunning fellow had got hold of the tin. “But stop now,” said the fat man. “My back is aching,” and he poured him a glass of his wine as well. When the rascal had finished drinking, he said: “The wine is good. It’s going to my head. Excuse me,” he said to the third man sitting in front of him, “let me step outside for a moment!” He already had his hat on. But as he went out the door, intending to leave, Freddy Tinder followed him, took him aside outside, and said to him: “Will you hand over my brother-in-law’s silver tin to me right now? Do you think I haven’t noticed? Or shall I make a scene? I’ve been trying to spare you in front of all the people sitting in the parlour.” When the thief saw that he had been betrayed, he tremblingly handed the tin to Freddy and begged him, by God and for God’s sake, to keep quiet. “Look,” said Freddy, “this is the sort of trouble one gets into when one walks the path of evil. Let this serve as a warning to you for the rest of your life. Ill-gotten gains do not speak well of themselves. Honesty is the best policy." Freddy Tinder had already put his hat on. So he gave the journeyman another pinch of tobacco from the tin, and then  took it to a goldsmith.