The Bremen Town-Musicians

Once there was a donkey who had worked for many years carrying corn to the mill. He was getting old and weak, so his master wanted to get rid of him. The donkey realized this and decided to run away to Bremen, where he thought he could become a town musician.

As he walked, the donkey met a hound lying on the road, panting heavily. The donkey asked, "Why are you panting so hard, big fellow?" The hound replied, "I'm old and weak. I can't hunt anymore, so my master wanted to kill me. I ran away, but now I don't know how to survive." The donkey said, "Come with me to Bremen. We can be musicians together. I will play the lute, and you can beat the drum." The hound agreed, and they continued on their way.

Next, they found a cat sitting by the path, looking very sad. "What's wrong, old shaver?" asked the donkey. The cat replied, "I'm getting old, and my teeth are worn out. I prefer to sit by the fire rather than hunt mice. My mistress wanted to drown me, so I ran away. But now, I don't know where to go." The donkey invited the cat to join them in Bremen as a town musician. The cat agreed, and they went on together.

After a while, they came to a farmyard where a rooster was crowing loudly. "Why are you crowing so loudly?" asked the donkey. The rooster replied, "I'm crowing because tomorrow is Sunday, and the housewife wants to cook me in the soup. Tonight, she plans to cut off my head." The donkey said, "Come with us to Bremen. You have a good voice, and we can all make music together." The rooster agreed, and they all set off together.

They couldn't reach Bremen in one day, so they stopped to rest in a forest. The donkey and the hound lay down under a tree, the cat climbed up the tree, and the rooster flew to the top. Before falling asleep, the rooster saw a light in the distance and told his friends. The donkey suggested they go to the house where the light was for better shelter.

When they reached the house, they saw it was a well-lit robbers' house. The donkey looked in through the window and saw a table full of food and drink with robbers sitting around it. The animals decided to scare the robbers away. The donkey stood on the window ledge, the hound climbed on the donkey's back, the cat stood on the hound, and the rooster perched on the cat's head. At a signal, they all made loud noises: the donkey brayed, the hound barked, the cat meowed, and the rooster crowed. They burst through the window, shattering the glass. The robbers, terrified by the noise, ran away into the forest.

The animals sat at the table, ate the food, and then found places to sleep. The donkey lay on some straw in the yard, the hound behind the door, the cat on the hearth near the warm ashes, and the rooster perched on a beam of the roof. They soon fell asleep.

After midnight, the robbers saw the house was dark and quiet, so their captain sent one to check. The robber entered the kitchen to light a candle, but mistook the cat's glowing eyes for live coals. He tried to light a match, and the cat scratched his face. The robber ran to the back door, where the hound bit his leg. As he ran across the yard, the donkey kicked him, and the rooster crowed from the roof.

The robber ran back to his captain, terrified, and told him about the horrible witch, the man with a knife, the black monster, and the judge on the roof. The robbers never dared to return to the house, and the four animals lived happily there for the rest of their days.