Students checking the health of a rat

“As it happened, the abundant summer finally brought with it the nuisance of rats. Indeed, the creatures had suddenly begun to breed like crazy. Litter after litter, they appeared from the fields and meadows and came flocking around the gardens and village streets. Big rats with shiny fur and greedy eyes. They gnawed through everything that happened to be in their way: grain and apples, potatoes and turnips. They also gnawed ugly holes in pumpkins the size of dog houses. What a horrible plague it was that had suddenly hit Soontaga Village!”

Excerpt from Toomas and the Rat Catchers, a short story by Mehis Heinsaar