The Tales of Till Eulenspiegel 9. How Eulenspiegel crawled into a beehive and how two thieves came and stole the hive. Translation by Carolyn Place. The number preceding the title indicates the position of this tale within the 95 original episodes published in 1515. Artwork by Bjorn Wiinblad which decorates one of the Rosenthal steins depicting the antics of Till Eulenspiegel. Once Till's mother went with Till to a village church dedication. Till drank until his head was reeling, then he went to find a little place where he could sleep peace-fully, undisturbed. Behind the courtyard he found a large beehive which was empty. He crawled into the empty hive and was soon asleep. He slept from noon until the deep of the night. As his mother couldn't see him anywhere, she thought he'd run on home alone and so she made her own way homeward. Then two thieves came in the night wanting to steal a beehive. One said, "Which should we take?" The other replied, "I have always heard it said that the heaviest beehive is the best," so they hoisted up one beehive and then another, until they came to the hive where Till lay, and this was the heaviest. "Ah, this is the best one," they said, and carried it off. Sleeping peacefully in a beehive, Till is carried off in the night by two thieves. Tormenting each in turn, he sets them against each other so he can spend the rest of the night undisturbed. Meanwhile Till woke up and heard the pair talking about their theft. It was so dark that one could scarcely see the other. Till reached out of the hive and grabbed the fellow carrying the front end by the hair and startled him. He was furious and swore at his companion, believing it was he who had pulled his hair. The fellow in back said, "Are you dreaming or are you out of your mind? How could I pull your hair? I am holding the beehive with both hands." Till laughed to himself and thought, "That was fun!" He waited until the pair were going through a plowed field, then he also grabbed the fellow in back by the hair, making him cringe. The fellow was enraged and he swore, "I must walk and carry such a load that my shoulder is dislocated and you claim I pulled your hair - then you pull my hair until I see dancing stars!" The fellow in front argued, "You bare-faced liar, how could I pull your hair? I can barely see the path for my feet. But I know you pulled my hair as a certainty!" After a while they were in a great quarrel. Till tugged the hair of the fellow in front so hard that his head hit the beehive. He was seized with such a rage that he let the beehive fall, and in the darkness began to strike the fellow in back with his fists. The companion also let go of the beehive and fell upon the other. They both tumbled over one another, lost in the obscure darkness. The beehive was allowed to be forgotten. For the rest of the night Till remained in the hive sleeping until it was bright daylight. Then he crawled out of the beehive and went into the village.