The Bremen Town Musicians

Once upon a time, there was a donkey who, for many years, had worked for a farmer.

The donkey had worked on the same farm day in and day out and longed to leave

the farm and to see the world.

The farmer was not happy that the donkey wanted to leave, but when he saw how sad

the donkey was, he told him that he must go. The donkey left and took the road

to a town called Bremen, where he had heard a street band play sweet music.

He thought he could be a fine musician, too.

Soon he came upon an old dog panting for breath as if the dog had been running a long way.

“What are you panting for, my friend?” asked the donkey.

“Ah,” answered the dog, “now that I am old, I have decided to leave my home

and see the world. There is so much of the world to see that I have been running to get it all in!”

“Well,” said the donkey, “come with me. I am going to be a street musician in Bremen.

I can play the flute, and you can play the drum.” The dog was quite willing, and so they

both walked on.

Soon the dog and the donkey saw a cat sitting on the road with a face as long as three

days of rainy weather.

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

“You would be sad,” said the Cat, “if you were in my place; for now I am getting old,

and I haven’t seen any of the worlds beyond the barn I live in.

Alas, I want to go and see the world, but I do not know where to begin!”

“Then come with us to Bremen,” said the donkey.

“I know that you sing well at night, so you can easily be a street musician in the town,

Bremen will be a great place to start your adventures.”

“That is just what I should like to do,” said the cat, so she joined the donkey and

the dog and they all walked on together. By and by, the three musicians came to

a farmyard.

On the gate stood a rooster, crying “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” with all his might.

“What are you making so much noise for?” asked the donkey.

“Ah,” said the rooster, “I am trying to get the other animals’ attention, I am leaving

to see the world, and this is how roosters say goodbye.”

“Come with us, old Red Comb,” said the donkey.

“We are going to Bremen to be street musicians; You have a fine voice, and the rest

of us are all musical, too.”

“I will join you!” said the rooster. And they all four went on together.

They could not reach the town in one day, and as evening came on, they began to look

for a place to spend the night. The donkey and the dog lay down under a large tree.

The cat climbed up on one of the branches. The rooster flew to the top of the tree,

where he could look all around.

“I see a light from a window,” the rooster called to his friends.

“That means there is a house nearby,” said the donkey.

“Let us ask the people for supper.”

“How good a bone would taste!” said the dog.

“Or a nice piece of fish!” said the cat.

“Or some corn!” said the rooster.

So they set out at once and soon reached the house.

The donkey, who was the tallest, looked in the window.

“What do you see, old Long Ears?” asked the rooster.

The donkey answered, “I see a table spread with plenty to eat and drink. and a family 

is sitting before it having their supper.”

“Come down,” said the dog, “and we shall think of a way to impress this family

so that they will share their supper with us.”

The four friends talked about what they could do to show the family that they were not

just ordinary barnyard animals. At last, they had an idea! The donkey stood on his hind

legs and placed his front feet on the windowsill. The dog stood on the donkey’s back.

The cat climbed up and stood on the dog’s back. And the rooster perched on

 the cat’s head.

Then the donkey gave a signal, and they all began to make their loudest music.

The donkey brayed, the dog barked, the cat meowed, and the rooster crowed.

The animals thought for sure that this sweet music would charm the family.

The family had never before heard such a noise, and they were frightened and had

no idea what could be making such a terrible sound. They ran as fast as they could

through the woods to their neighbor’s house.

Our four friends were dismayed that their beautiful song had frightened the family so.

Still, they were very hungry from their journey and decided to eat what remained of

the family’s supper.

When the four musicians had eaten as much as they could, they were full and ready

to sleep.

The donkey lay down in the yard; the dog lay behind the door, and the cat curled up in front

of the fireplace, and the rooster flew up to a high shelf.

They were all so tired that they soon fell fast asleep.

Later that night, the uncle decided to go back to check on the house. He found everything quiet and still, so he went inside.

He did not see the cat, and he stepped on her tail. The poor kitty was caught

by surprise and jumped up, landing on the uncle’s face by accident. It gave the uncle

such a fright that he ran for the door, which in turn scared the dog, who grabbed

the uncle’s leg as he went by.

In the dark yard, the uncle could not see the donkey and ran into him by accident.

This scared the donkey, who gave him a great kick with his hindfoot.

All this woke the rooster, who cried with all his might,

“Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!” The uncle ran as fast as his legs could

carry him back to his neighbor’s house, where his family was waiting for him.

Gasping for breath, he said, “I have no idea what is going on in that house, but I am

never going back!

First, something tried to cover my eyes. Then something tried to stop me from leaving

by grabbing my leg. Then out in the yard, something pushed me from behind.

And all the while, I heard an awful noise asking, ‘Who are you? Who are you?’”

The family was filled with fear and ran away as fast as they could.

Meanwhile, the animals had finally settled down after being woken up from their

slumber. They decided that it was all just a bad dream and went back to sleep

in the cozy little house. They liked the little house so much that they stayed there,

waiting for the family to come back, and as far as I know, they are there to this day.

The End