The Bremen Town Musicians

Once there was a donkey who had carried sacks to the mill faithfully for many years. But as he grew old, his strength began to fail him, and he became less and less useful for work. His master began to consider getting rid of him.

The donkey, sensing what was in store for him, decided to run away and become a town musician in Bremen. “After all,” he thought to himself, “I have a fine voice. I can make music by braying loudly!”

So he set off down the road toward Bremen. After he had traveled a short distance, he came upon an old hunting dog lying by the roadside, panting as if he had run a long way.

“Why are you panting so, my friend?” asked the donkey.

“Ah,” said the dog sadly, “because I am old and grow weaker every day, and can no longer hunt, my master wanted to kill me. So I ran away. But now I don’t know how I’m going to earn my bread.”

“I have an idea,” said the donkey. “I’m going to Bremen to become a town musician. Why don’t you come along and join me? I’ll play the lute, and you can beat the drums.”

The dog agreed happily, and they continued together down the road.

Before long, they came across a cat sitting by the side of the road, looking as gloomy as three days of rainy weather.

“Now what’s the matter with you, old whiskers?” asked the donkey.

“Who can be cheerful when their life is in danger?” answered the cat. “Just because I’m getting old, and my teeth are getting dull, and I prefer to sit by the fire rather than chase mice, my mistress wanted to drown me. I managed to escape, but what am I to do now?”

“Come with us to Bremen,” said the donkey. “You’re good at making music at night; you can become a town musician with us.”

The cat thought this was a splendid idea and joined them.

Shortly afterward, the three fugitives passed a farmyard, where a rooster was perched on the gate, crowing with all his might.

“Your crowing pierces right through my bones,” said the donkey. “What’s the matter?”

“I’ve been announcing fair weather for our lady’s guests who are coming this Sunday,” said the rooster, “but the cook doesn’t care that it’s Sunday tomorrow, and I heard her telling the mistress that they plan to eat me in soup! Tonight is my last night to crow, so I’m making the most of it.”

“Listen, red-comb,” said the donkey, “why don’t you come with us? We’re going to Bremen to make our fortune as musicians. You have a fine voice, and if we all make music together, it will be really something special!”

The rooster liked the idea and all four of them continued on the road together. But they couldn’t reach the city of Bremen in one day. As evening fell, they came to a forest where they decided to spend the night.

The donkey and the dog lay down under a large tree, while the cat and the rooster settled in the branches. The rooster flew right up to the top, where he felt safest.

Before he went to sleep, the rooster looked around in all directions. In the distance, he spotted a small light. He called down to his companions that there must be a house not far away, for he could see a light.

“Then we should go there,” said the donkey, “because the shelter here is poor.” The dog thought that a few bones with some meat on them would be good too, so they all set off toward the light.

As they drew nearer, the light grew brighter, and they could make out that it came from a robbers’ den. The donkey, being the tallest, went up to the window and looked in.

“What do you see, gray horse?” asked the rooster.

“What do I see?” replied the donkey. “A table laid with delicious food and drink, and robbers seated around it enjoying themselves.”

“That would be the right sort of thing for us,” said the rooster.

“Yes indeed, if only we were in there,” sighed the donkey.

Then the animals took counsel together about how to drive the robbers away. At last, they came up with a plan. The donkey would stand with his front feet on the windowsill, the dog would jump on the donkey’s back, the cat would climb on the dog, and the rooster would fly up and perch on the cat’s head.

When they had arranged themselves this way, they began to make their music all together: the donkey brayed, the dog barked, the cat meowed, and the rooster crowed. Then they crashed through the window into the room, breaking the glass with the noise.

The robbers jumped up at the terrible sound, thinking that a ghost had entered, and fled in great fear into the forest.

The four companions then settled themselves at the table and ate as if they would not have another meal for a month.

When they had finished, they put out the light and each found a sleeping place that suited him. The donkey lay down on some straw in the yard, the dog behind the door, the cat on the hearth near the warm ashes, and the rooster perched on a beam in the roof. Being tired from their long journey, they soon fell asleep.

Sometime after midnight, when the robbers saw from a distance that the light was no longer burning in their house and everything appeared quiet, the captain said, “We shouldn’t have let ourselves be scared off so easily,” and ordered one of his men to go back and investigate the house.

Finding everything quiet, the robber went into the kitchen to light a candle. Seeing the cat’s glowing, fiery eyes, he thought they were live coals and held a match to them to light it. But the cat didn’t appreciate this treatment and flew at his face, spitting and scratching. The robber was terrified and ran for the back door, but the dog, who was lying there, jumped up and bit his leg. As he ran across the yard, the donkey gave him a powerful kick with his hind legs. The rooster, awakened by the noise, became alert and called down from his perch, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

The robber ran back to his captain as fast as he could and said, “There’s a horrible witch in the house, who spat at me and scratched my face with her long fingers. By the door stands a man with a knife, who stabbed me in the leg. In the yard lies a black monster, who beat me with a wooden club. And on the roof sits the judge, who called out, ‘Bring the rogue here!’ So I ran away as fast as I could.”

From that time on, the robbers never dared to return to the house. But the four Bremen Town Musicians liked it so much there that they never went on to Bremen and decided to stay. And the last one who told this tale is still alive today.