1812
GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES
THE BREMEN TOWN MUSICIANS
by Jacob Ludwig Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm
Electronically Enhanced Text (c) Copyright 1996, World Library(R)
THE BREMEN TOWN MUSICIANS
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THERE WAS once an ass whose master had made him carry sacks to the
mill for many a long year, but whose strength began at last to fail,
so that each day as it came, found him less capable of work. Then
his master began to think of turning him out, but the ass, guessing
that something was in the wind that boded him no good, ran away,
taking the road to Bremen; for there he thought he might get an
engagement as town musician.
When he had gone a little way he found a hound lying by the side
of the road panting, as if he had run a long way. "Now, Holdfast, what
are you so out of breath about?" said the ass.
"Oh dear!" said the dog, "now I am old, I get weaker every day,
and can do no good in the hunt, so, as my master was going to have
me killed, I have made my escape; but now how am I to gain a living?"
"I will tell you what," said the ass, "I am going to Bremen to
become town musician. You may as well go with me, and take up music
too. I can play the lute, and you can beat the drum." And the dog
consented, and they walked on together.
It was not long before they came to a cat sitting in the road,
looking as dismal as three wet days. "Now then, what is the matter
with you, old shaver?" said the ass.
"I should like to know who would be cheerful when his neck is in
danger?" answered the cat. "Now that I am old my teeth are getting
blunt, and I would rather sit by the oven and purr than run about
after mice, and my mistress wanted to drown me, so I took myself
off; but good advice is scarce, and I do not know what is to become of
me."
"Go with us to Bremen," said the ass, "and become town musician. You
understand serenading." The cat thought well of the idea, and went
with them accordingly.
After that the three travelers passed by a yard, and a cock was
perched on the gate crowing with all his might. "Your cries are enough
to pierce bone and marrow," said the ass; "what is the matter?"
"I have foretold good weather for Lady-day, so that all the shirts
may be washed and dried; and now on Sunday morning company is
coming, and the mistress has told the cook that I must be made into
soup, and this evening my neck is to be wrung, so that I am crowing
with all my might while I can."
"You had much better go with us, Chanticleer," said the ass. "We are
going to Bremen. At any rate that will be better than dying. You
have a powerful voice, and when we are all performing together it will
have a very good effect." So the cock consented, and they went on
all four together.
But Bremen was too far off to be reached in one day, and towards
evening they came to a wood, where they determined to pass the
night. The ass and the dog lay down under a large tree; the cat got up
among the branches; and the cock flew up to the top, as that was the
safest place for him. Before he went to sleep he looked all round
him to the four points of the compass, and perceived in the distance a
little light shining, and he called out to his companions that there
must be a house not far off, as he could see a light, so the ass said,
"We had better get up and go there, for these are uncomfortable
quarters." The dog began to fancy a few bones, not quite bare, would
do him good. And they all set off in the direction of the light, and
it grew larger and brighter, until at last it led them to a robber's
house, all lighted up. The ass, being the biggest, went up to the
window, and looked in.
"Well, what do you see?" asked the dog. "What do I see?" answered
the ass; "here is a table set out with splendid eatables and
drinkables, and robbers sitting at it and making themselves very
comfortable." "That would just suit us," said the cock. "Yes,
indeed, I wish we were there," said the ass.
Then they consulted together how it should be managed so as to get
the robbers out of the house, and at last they hit on a plan. The
ass was to place his fore-feet on the window-sill, the dog was to
get on the ass's back, the cat on the top of the dog, and lastly,
the cock was to fly up and perch on the cat's head. When that was
done, at a given signal they all began to perform their music. The ass
brayed, the dog barked, the cat mewed, and the cock crowed; then
they burst through into the room, breaking all the panes of glass. The
robbers fled at the dreadful sound; they thought it was some goblin,
and fled to the wood in the utmost terror. Then the four companions
sat down to table, made free with the remains of the meal, and feasted
as if they had been hungry for a month. And when they had finished
they put out the lights, and each sought out a sleeping-place to
suit his nature and habits. The ass laid himself down outside on the
dunghill, the dog behind the door, the cat on the hearth by the warm
ashes, and the cock settled himself in the cockloft; and as they
were all tired with their long journey they soon fell fast asleep.
When midnight drew near, and the robbers from afar saw that no light
was burning, and that everything appeared quiet, their captain said to
them that he thought that they had run away without reason, telling
one of them to go and reconnoitre. So one of them went, and found
everything quite quiet. He went into the kitchen to strike a light,
and taking the glowing fiery eyes of the cat for burning coals, he
held a match to them in order to kindle it. But the cat, not seeing
the joke, flew into his face, spitting and scratching. Then he cried
out in terror, and ran to get out at the back door, but the dog, who
was lying there, ran at him and bit his leg; and as he was rushing
through the yard by the dunghill the ass struck out and gave him a
great kick with his hindfoot; and the cock, who had been wakened
with the noise, and felt quite brisk, cried out, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
Then the robber got back as well as he could to his captain, and
said, "Oh dear! in that house there is a gruesome witch, and I felt
her breath and her long nails in my face; and by the door there stands
a man who stabbed me in the leg with a knife; and in the yard there
lies a black specter, who beat me with his wooden club; and above,
upon the roof, there sits the justice, who cried, "Bring that rogue
here!" And so I ran away from the place as fast as I could."
From that time forward the robbers never ventured to that house, and
the four Bremen town musicians found themselves so well off where they
were, that there they stayed. And the person who last related this
tale is still living, as you see.
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THE END
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