The Bremen Town Musicians

Once upon a time a man had a donkey who for many years had patiently carried sacks to the mill. But the donkey grew old, his strength failed, and he could no longer work. His master began to think of no longer feeding him. When the donkey sensed that things were going badly, he ran away and set off on the road to Bremen. "There I can become a town musician," he thought.

After he had gone a little way, he found a hunting dog lying by the road, panting as if he had run himself tired. "Why are you panting so, my friend?" asked the donkey. "Ah," said the dog, "I'm old and getting weaker every day, and I can't go hunting any more. My master wanted to kill me, so I ran away. But how am I to earn my bread now?" "I'll tell you what," said the donkey, "I'm going to Bremen to become a town musician. Come with me and be a musician too. I'll play the lute and you can beat the drum." The dog liked the idea very much, and they went on together.

Before long they saw a cat sitting by the road with a face as long as three rainy days. "What's the matter with you, old whiskers?" asked the donkey. "Who can be cheerful when his neck is in danger?" said the cat. "I'm getting old, my teeth are blunt, and I'd rather sit behind the stove and purr than chase mice. My mistress wanted to drown me, so I ran away. But what shall I do now? Where shall I go?" "Come with us to Bremen. You understand night music, so you can become a town musician there." The cat liked the idea and joined them.

As the three runaways passed a farmyard, they saw a rooster perched on the gate, crowing with all his might. "Your crowing goes right through me. What's wrong?" asked the donkey. "I'm forecasting fine weather," said the rooster. "But tomorrow is Sunday and guests are coming. The farmer's wife has told the cook, without any pity, to make soup of me tomorrow. Tonight they'll cut off my head. So I'm crowing while I still can." "Nonsense, red-comb," said the donkey. "Come with us to Bremen. You can find something better than death anywhere. You have a good voice, and if we make music together, it will sound wonderful." The rooster agreed, and the four of them went on together.

But they could not reach the city of Bremen in one day. In the evening they came to a forest and decided to spend the night there. The donkey and the dog lay down under a big tree, and the cat and the rooster climbed into the branches. The rooster flew right to the top, where he felt safest. Before he went to sleep, he looked around in all directions and saw a little light shining in the distance. He called to his friends: "There must be a house not far away. I can see a light." "Then let's get up and go there, for this is not very comfortable," said the donkey. And the dog added, "A couple of bones with a little meat on them wouldn't hurt."

They walked towards the light. It grew bigger and brighter, until they came to a brightly lit house where robbers lived. The donkey, being the tallest, went up to the window and looked in. "What do you see, grey horse?" asked the rooster. "What do I see? A table laid with good food and drink, and robbers sitting round it enjoying themselves." "That's just what we need," said the rooster. "Yes, if only we were in there," said the donkey.

The animals talked about how they might drive the robbers out, and at last they found a way. The donkey put his front feet on the windowsill, the dog jumped onto the donkey's back, the cat climbed onto the dog, and finally the rooster flew up and perched on the cat's head. Then, all together, they began their music: the donkey brayed, the dog barked, the cat miaowed and the rooster crowed. Then they burst through the window into the room, and the glass came crashing down.

At this terrible noise the robbers leapt up. Thinking a ghost had come in, they fled in terror into the forest. The four friends sat down at the table and ate what was left, as if they were going to go hungry for four weeks.

When they had finished, they put out the light, and each looked for a place to sleep that suited his nature. The donkey lay down on the straw in the yard, the dog behind the door, the cat on the hearth by the warm ashes, and the rooster perched on a roof beam. Tired from their long journey, they soon fell asleep.

At midnight the robbers saw from afar that the light was no longer burning in the house and that all seemed quiet. Their captain said, "We shouldn't have let ourselves be frightened so easily," and he sent one of them to look around the house. The robber found everything quiet; he went into the kitchen to light a candle. Mistaking the cat's glowing, fiery eyes for live coals, he held a match to them to light it. The cat did not think this was funny at all; it flew at his face, spitting and scratching.

The robber was terrified and tried to run out of the back door, but the dog, who was lying there, jumped up and bit him in the leg. As he ran across the yard past the straw heap, the donkey gave him a hard kick with his hind legs. And the rooster, woken by the noise, cried from the beam with all his might: "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

The robber ran back to his captain as fast as he could: "There's a horrible witch in the house! She breathed on me and scratched my face with her long nails. By the door there's a man with a knife, and he stabbed me in the leg. In the yard there's a black monster that beat me with a club. And up on the roof sits a judge who shouted, 'Bring the rascal to me!' I barely escaped with my life."

From then on the robbers never dared to go back to that house. And the four Bremen town musicians liked it so much that they never wanted to leave. They never reached Bremen, but they did not need to; for instead of the town they were looking for, they had found each other. And the mouth of the last one who told this tale is still warm.