The Bremen Town-Musicians

A man once had a donkey who had always bravely carried the heavy sacks. But he had become old and his strength was failing, so that his master wanted to get rid of him. For that reason, the donkey ran away. He decided to go to Bremen to become a town-musician. On the way he met a hunting dog who was also very old. His master wanted to kill him because he was no longer able to go hunting. “Do you know what?”, the donkey said, “I’m on my way to Bremen to become a town-musician. Come with me!” The dog liked the idea, so off they went. Then they met a cat who was looking really miserable. “I’m in trouble because my teeth are now blunt and I’m no longer able to catch mice. My mistress wants to drown me. Wherever can I go?” “Come with us to Bremen, and then you can become a town-musician too.” So there were already three of them when they passed a farm and heard a cock crowing at the top of his voice: “Tomorrow guests are coming, and I’m supposed to be part of the soup! So I’m crowing as long as I can!” “Come away with us”, the donkey said. “You’ve got a good voice, why shouldn’t we all be town-musicians in Bremen?”

However, on the way the animals had to spend the night in a dark forest. From a distance they saw a light coming from a lonely robbers’ house. Through the window they could see the robbers enjoying their food and drink. The animals discussed how they might be able to get hold of this feast, and they came upon a bright idea: the donkey stood on his hind legs and put his front legs on the window sill, the dog jumped onto the back of the donkey, the cat climbed onto the dog and the cock fluttered onto the cat’s head. At a sign, they started making music: the donkey cried hee-haw, the dog barked, the cat miaowed, and the cock crowed, and all together they rushed through the window into the room. The astonished robbers thought a ghost was coming in and fled into the forest. The four animals sat down at the table and ate as if they hadn’t eaten anything for four weeks. And they like it there so much, that they decided to stay.