The Bremen Town Musicians

Once upon a time, there was an old donkey. For many years, he had carried heavy bags to the mill. But now he was getting weak and could no longer work as hard as before.

His owner wanted to get rid of him. The donkey noticed this and ran away.

He thought: “I will go to Bremen and become a musician!”

On his way, he met an old dog. The dog was lying beside the road and breathing heavily.

The donkey asked: “Why are you so sad and tired?”

The dog answered: “I am old and can no longer hunt. My master wanted to kill me, so I ran away. But where can I go now?”

The donkey said:
“Come with me to Bremen! We can make music together. I will play the lute, and you can play the drum.”

The dog was happy and joined him.

Soon they met a cat who looked very sad.

“What is wrong with you?” asked the donkey.

The cat answered:
“I am old and cannot catch mice anymore. My owner wanted to drown me. I ran away, but now I have no home.”

The donkey said:
“Come with us to Bremen! You can make music too.”

The cat was happy and joined them.

The three animals walked on and came to a farm. A rooster was sitting on the gate, crowing as loudly as he could.

“Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

The donkey asked: “Why are you making so much noise?”

The rooster answered:
“Guests are coming tomorrow. The cook wants to put me in the soup! So I am crowing as loudly as I can one last time.”

The donkey said:
“Come with us to Bremen! You have a beautiful voice. Together, we can make wonderful music.”

The rooster liked the idea. Now all four animals continued their journey together.

But Bremen was still far away. When it became dark, they reached a forest and decided to sleep there.

The donkey and the dog lay down under a big tree. The cat climbed onto a branch, and the rooster flew to the very top of the tree.

From there, the rooster saw a small light far away.

He called: “I can see a light! There must be a house over there!”

The donkey said:
“Then let's go there. Maybe we can find some food and a warm place to sleep.”

The four animals followed the light and came to a brightly lit house.

The donkey was the tallest, so he looked through the window.

The rooster asked: “What can you see, Donkey?”

The donkey answered:
“A table full of delicious food! And robbers are sitting around it!”

“Oh, I wish we could be inside!” said the rooster.

The animals began to think about how they could chase the robbers out of the house.

The four animals had an idea.

The donkey put his front legs on the window. The dog jumped onto the donkey's back. The cat climbed onto the dog, and the rooster sat on the cat's head.

Then they gave each other a signal and started making music all at once.

The donkey brayed: “Hee-haw! Hee-haw!”

The dog barked: “Woof! Woof!”

The cat meowed: “Meow! Meow!”

And the rooster crowed: “Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

Together, they made a terrible noise!

Suddenly, all four animals jumped through the window. The glass broke with a loud crash.

The robbers were terribly frightened.

“Help! A ghost!” they shouted.

They ran out of the house and escaped into the forest.

The four animals were very happy. At last, they had found a warm house and a table full of food.

They sat down and ate until they were full.

After eating, they turned off the lights and looked for places to sleep.

The donkey lay down outside on a pile of straw and manure. The dog slept behind the door. The cat made herself comfortable near the warm fireplace, and the rooster sat on a wooden beam above them.

Soon, all four animals were fast asleep.

Later that night, the robbers saw from far away that there were no lights in the house.

Their leader said:
“Maybe we were scared for nothing. One of us should go back and check.”

One robber quietly walked back to the house.

Inside, everything was dark and silent.

In the kitchen, he saw two glowing eyes. They belonged to the cat. But the robber thought they were hot coals.

He held a match near them to light it.

Suddenly, the cat jumped into his face, hissed, and scratched him.

“Meow! Hiss!”

The robber was frightened and ran towards the back door.

The dog was lying there. He jumped up and bit the robber's leg.

“Woof! Woof!”

The robber ran across the yard.

But the donkey was standing there. He gave the robber a strong kick with his back leg.

“Hee-haw! Hee-haw!”

Now the robber just wanted to escape.

The noise woke up the rooster, who crowed loudly from the wooden beam:

“Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

Full of fear, the robber ran back into the forest.

The robber returned to his friends, breathing heavily.

Their leader asked: “What happened? Why are you so frightened?”

The robber answered: “Terrible creatures are living in that house!”

Then he explained: “In the kitchen, there is an evil witch. She scratched my face with her long fingers!”

He continued: “Behind the door, there is a man with a knife. He stabbed me in the leg!”

“In the yard, there is a black monster. It hit me with a big club!”

“And up on the roof, there is a judge. He shouted, ‘Bring me that bad man!’”

The robber was still shaking with fear.

“I will never go back there again!”

The other robbers were frightened too. They never wanted to return to the house.

But the four animals were very happy there.

They had enough food, warm places to sleep, and good friends.

At first, they had wanted to go to Bremen and become musicians. But now they had found a lovely new home.

So they decided to stay in the house together.

And if they haven't died, they are still living there happily today!