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Show 78 living quarters, I lay down and started to think about what Gast had asked me. A farmer who was slovenly, who lived close to the town, who was careless about storing his grain. And there was one thing more - someone who didn't keep his outbuildings secure. It was hard for me to think of anyone. Most German farmers are thorough and hardworking, keeping their barns and grain sheds clean and tight against rain. I started to go over in my mind all the farmers who had their fields just outside the city walls. I began at the northwest comer of the wall and I pictured all the landholdings which circled the wall. I hadn't gone too far when I remembered Walther Wurten's land. All the farmers around Hamelin held their land in vassalage to the Bishop of Wedekind. Although everyone in Hamelin owed homage to the Bishop, he could not take away their holdings on any whim - the trades and fields passed from father to son. Fathers and sons worked the land together, and when a father died, his son became the hereditary vassal. But Walther Wurten had no sons. A very old man, he lived with one elderly daughter and worked his two small fields the best he could. When Walther died, his land would go to the Bishop who could choose anyone he pleased to hold the little farm. Because Walther was so old and feeble, his buildings were run-down. His fields butted up against the town wall to the northeast, so they were as close to town as it was possible to be. Walther didn't care about farming any longer - he looked forward to going to heaven, I'd heard tell, but he hung onto life as obstinately as he could because |