The Bremen Town Musicians

An old donkey left the farm where he was no longer wanted. He would become a musician in Bremen, he decided. Along the road he met a tired dog, an elderly cat, and a rooster whose next morning looked uncertain. Each agreed that music offered a better future.

By nightfall they were hungry and far from the town. Through a forest window the donkey saw a table piled with food. Robbers sat around it, laughing.

The animals arranged themselves in a remarkable tower: donkey at the bottom, dog on his back, cat above the dog, and rooster at the top. At a signal they brayed, barked, mewed, and crowed together. Then they crashed through the window.

The robbers fled, certain that some terrible creature had found them. The travelers ate their supper and settled down. The cat curled near the hearth; the dog lay by the door; the donkey rested outside; the rooster perched above them.

Later a robber returned. In the dark he mistook the cat's bright eyes for coals. She scratched him; the dog bit his leg; the donkey kicked as he ran past; the rooster cried from overhead.

He told his companions that the house contained a witch, an attacker with a knife, a giant with a club, and a judge shouting from the roof. Nobody wished to investigate.

The four animals found their new home so comfortable that they stayed. Bremen never heard their concert. For musicians, they had discovered an unusually practical way to make a living.