The Town Musicians of Bremen

The Town Musicians of Bremen

Once there was a donkey who had spent many years helping his owner carry sacks, hay, and vegetables to market. He had been a faithful worker, but as he grew older, he began to walk more slowly.

One morning the donkey overheard someone say:

“He is old now. We ought to find him another farm.”

The donkey thought about this.

“Another farm? Why not another life? I have always had a wonderful voice. I’ll go to Bremen and become a musician!”

He set off down the road, whistling to himself in the way only a very contented donkey can whistle.

Before long he saw an old dog lying by the roadside, breathing heavily.

“Why so gloomy, my friend?” asked the donkey.

“I used to run fast and help with the hunting, but my legs aren’t what they were. My owner has decided to give me away. I don’t know where to go.”

“Come with me to Bremen. I’ll play... well, I’ll sing bass, and you can keep a splendid rhythm with your barking.”

The dog pricked up his ears.

“A band? That sounds much better than sitting here feeling sorry for myself.”

So they went on together.

Farther down the road, they found a cat sitting with a very gloomy expression.

“Good day, Madam Cat,” said the donkey. “Why the long face?”

“I used to catch mice all night, but these days I prefer a warm stove and a nap. The people in my house have decided I’ve become too lazy.”

“Can you sing?”

The cat looked almost offended.

“My night voice can be heard three fences away.”

“Then you were born for our band!”

The cat joined them.

At the next farm, a rooster sat on the gate crowing so loudly that the leaves on the apple tree trembled.

“What a voice!” cried the donkey. “Why are you trying so hard?”

“They told me I’m being sent to the neighbors tomorrow because I wake the whole farm too early. But I’m only doing my duty and announcing the sunrise!”

“Come with us to Bremen. A loud voice is an advantage for a musician.”

And so there were four of them: the donkey, the dog, the cat, and the rooster.

They could not reach Bremen in a single day. By evening they were deep in the forest and began looking for somewhere to spend the night.

The rooster flew onto a high branch and suddenly spotted a light far away among the trees.

“There’s a house!”

“And perhaps there’s supper in the house,” said the dog dreamily.

They followed the light.

A lamp glowed in the window, and around a table sat a group of people arguing over sacks filled with things that clearly did not belong to them.

“They don’t look like very welcoming hosts,” whispered the cat.

“Still, it’s a large house,” said the donkey. “Perhaps if we introduce ourselves properly, they’ll give us a corner to sleep in.”

“Let’s introduce ourselves with music!” suggested the rooster.

The animals planned a performance.

The donkey put his front hooves on the windowsill. The dog climbed onto his back. The cat stood on the dog, and the rooster perched on top.

“On three,” said the donkey. “One... two... three!”

The concert began.

“HEE-HAW!”

“WOOF-WOOF!”

“MEE-OOOW!”

“COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOO!”

Each of them sang a different melody, at a different speed, and, truth be told, in a completely different key.

Everyone inside the house jumped.

“What is that?!”

In the window loomed a strange many-headed shadow that brayed, barked, meowed, and crowed all at once.

The unwelcome occupants decided that some unknown monster had come out of the forest. They rushed through the back door so quickly that they even forgot their hats.

The animals cautiously went inside.

“I think the audience was impressed,” said the cat.

“We didn’t even get to the chorus,” the rooster complained.

Bread, cheese, apples, and a bowl of warm porridge had been left on the table. The friends ate their fill, put out the lamps, and settled down for the night.

The donkey lay on soft hay in the yard.

The dog slept beside the door.

The cat curled up near the warm stove.

And the rooster perched on a beam beneath the roof.

In the middle of the night, one of the former occupants came back to see whether a monster really had moved into the house.

He quietly opened the door.

Two cat’s eyes gleamed in the darkness.

“Two green lights!” he whispered.

The cat heard an unfamiliar step and meowed loudly.

The dog barked.

The donkey brayed in the yard.

And from the beam above, the rooster completed the composition with a mighty:

“COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOO!”

The visitor flew out of the house faster than he had entered.

“There’s a terrifying guard with shining eyes! A drum thunders by the door! A giant roars in the yard, and someone on the roof is shouting orders!” he told his companions.

After that, none of them ever came back.

In the morning, the friends looked around the house. It had a kitchen, a dry roof, a little garden, and even an old shed where they could rehearse without frightening the neighbors.

The donkey looked at his companions.

“Do we really have to go all the way to Bremen?”

The dog stretched beside the door.

“It’s not bad here.”

The cat had already found a sunny place on the windowsill.

“Not bad at all.”

The rooster flew onto the roof.

“The acoustics are excellent!”

And so the four traveling musicians stayed and made a home together.

They never performed in a grand concert hall. But every evening they gave concerts for themselves, the forest birds, and any travelers who happened to pass by.

And whenever anyone said:

“You’re too old for new adventures,”

the donkey replied:

“You’re never too old for adventures, friends, or music.”

Then the band would launch into its grand opening:

“HEE-HAW!”

“WOOF!”

“MEOW!”

“COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOO!”

And the whole forest knew that rehearsal had begun.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨