Spiegel, das Kätzchen

A starving cat in the Swiss town of Seldwyla makes a devil of a bargain: the town hex-master will feed him, and when he's fat enough, the cat will allow himself to be slaughtered for his fat - the essential ingredient in Pineiß's witchcraft. But Spiegel is no ordinary feline. With calculated patience, he plays the hex-master for a fool, maneuvering his way out of certain doom while extracting every possible meal. The climax is exquisite: Spiegel procures Pineiß a beautiful young bride with a generous dowry, only for the bride to reveal herself as a hag on their wedding night. The tale purports to explain the Swiss proverb «er hat der Katze den Schmer abgekauft» - he bought the cat's fat - for anyone foolish enough to think they've closed a winning deal. Beneath its folk-tale charm, Keller delivers a sharp satire on human greed and the eternal triumph of wit over bluster.