The Town Musicians of Bremen

Once there was a donkey who had carried heavy sacks to the mill for many, many years. Now he was old, and his legs were tired. "I am still good for something," he thought. "I have a fine loud voice. I will go to the town of Bremen and become a musician!" So off he went, clip-clop, clip-clop, down the long country road, with the morning sun on his ears.

Soon he met a dog lying by the road, puffing and panting. "Why so tired, friend?" asked the donkey. "I am old," said the dog, "and I can't run fast enough to hunt anymore. I don't know where to go." "Come with me to Bremen," said the donkey. "I will play music, and you can bang the drum!" The dog wagged his tail. "Woof! What a good idea!" And they walked on together.

Next they met a cat with a face as long as a rainy day. "I am old," she said, "and I'd rather sit by the fire than chase mice." "Come with us to Bremen!" said the donkey. "You sing so well at night." "Meow, I will!" Then they met a rooster, crowing from a gate. "Cock-a-doodle-doo! Nobody needs me to wake them anymore." "Come with us to Bremen!" said the donkey. "You have the finest voice of all." And now there were four.

Bremen was far away, and night came. The four friends stopped in a dark forest. The donkey and the dog lay under a big tree. The cat curled up on a branch. The rooster flew to the very top. "I see a light!" he called. "There must be a house over there." "A house means a warm bed," said the donkey. "And maybe supper," said the dog. So they tiptoed through the trees toward the little golden light.

The donkey, being the tallest, looked in through the window. "What do you see?" whispered the rooster. "A table full of good food," said the donkey, "and some grumpy robbers counting stolen gold." The friends had an idea. The dog climbed onto the donkey's back. The cat climbed onto the dog's back. And the rooster flew up onto the cat's head. One, two, three, they began their very first concert!

"Hee-haw!" brayed the donkey. "Woof, woof!" barked the dog. "Meow!" sang the cat. "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" crowed the rooster. And they all tumbled through the window with a crash! The robbers jumped up. "A monster!" they cried, for in the candlelight the friends made one enormous shadow. The robbers ran out of the door and far, far into the forest, and they did not stop running until morning.

The four friends sat down at the table and ate a wonderful supper. Then they found their favourite places to sleep. The donkey lay on the soft straw in the yard. The dog lay behind the door. The cat curled up by the warm ashes in the fireplace. And the rooster sat high on the roof. They blew out the candle and soon they were all fast asleep.

Later that night, one robber crept back to look. But in the dark, the cat's green eyes glowed, the dog growled "Grrr!", the donkey brayed "Hee-haw!", and the rooster shouted "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" The robber ran away, and the robbers never came back. And the four friends? They liked the little house so much that they never went to Bremen at all. They stayed there together, singing their songs every day. And if you listen closely tonight, perhaps you'll hear them still. Good night.