Arthur was a responsible farmer, and Maria was a nice lady. But they were poor. They owed the town lord money for their land. One summer, their farm burned. One structure caught fire, and most of the animals ran away. Only the cats stayed. So Arthur and Maria had to bring in their crops without an animal’s help.

On a fall day, the lord demanded his money. Arthur asked if the lord could wait until he brought in his crops.

The lord was angry. He raised his hands high and yelled, “Pay me by the end of the week. If you don’t, I will increase the money you have to pay. I might put you in a jail cell.”

So Arthur and Maria worked until there was blood on their hands. They finished four lines of corn and went to bed.

But the next morning, eight lines were finished! “Maria, didn’t we stop in this spot here?” Arthur asked.

“Yes, that is correct. And the tools were in a different position, too,” Maria said. They were surprised and happy. That day, they worked hard and finished five lines.

But in the morning, ten lines were done! Each day they did a lot of work. Each night, someone else did an equal amount of work. In a week, the whole field was finished. “Tomorrow I will sell the crops and pay the lord,” Arthur said. But that morning, the crops were gone. A bag was in the middle of the field. It contained money.

“Maria, let’s see who has helped us work.” Through a hole in the wall, they saw a funny sight. The cats were dancing in the field and eating corn! Now Arthur knew what had happened. The cats had worked at night! After that, Arthur was very nice to his cats and fed them lots of corn.