The Bremen Town Musicians
Grimm, Margaret Hunt translation
Abridged retelling
An ageing donkey realises that his owner wants to stop feeding him. He escapes and sets off for Bremen, planning to become a town musician.
Along the road he meets an old hound whose master wanted to kill him, a cat whose mistress planned to drown her, and a cock destined for the cooking pot. The donkey invites each to join him. Together they continue towards Bremen.
Night falls before they arrive. From a tree, the cock spots a light, and the animals discover a house occupied by robbers. Through the window they see a table covered with food.
They arrange themselves in a tower: the donkey supports the hound, the hound the cat, and the cat the cock. At a signal, all four make their loudest noises and burst through the window. The terrified robbers flee, leaving the animals to eat and settle down for the night.
A robber later returns to investigate. Mistaking the cat’s eyes for glowing coals, he tries to light a match. The cat scratches him, the dog bites him, the donkey kicks him, and the cock cries out above them.
He escapes, reporting a house full of terrifying attackers. The robbers never return. The four animals find the house so comfortable that they stay there instead of continuing to Bremen.
Retold from Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm; translated by Margaret Hunt, Grimm's Household Tales (Margaret Hunt translation, George Bell and Sons, 1884). Read the original story
The animals never reach Bremen. They settle in the robbers’ house because it suits them, so their promised musical career remains a plan.
Hunt, The Bremen Town-Musicians, no. 27: final paragraph.
Four unwanted animals flee their owners and drive robbers out of a forest house.