The Bremen Town Musicians

An honest farmer had a donkey that had served him faithfully for years, but was growing old and unfit for work. The master thought of putting an end to him; the donkey saw mischief in the wind, slipped away, and set off toward the great city—for there, he thought, “I can be a town musician.”

He had not gone far when he met a dog panting as if tired of the chase.

“Why so out of breath?” asked the donkey.

“Alas,” said the dog, “my master was going to do away with me because I am old and weak; so I ran off—but how shall I earn my bread?”

“Come with me,” said the donkey; “I am going to the great city to be a musician—I will play the lute, and you shall beat the drum.” The dog agreed.

Soon they met a cat with a face as long as three rainy days.

“What is the matter?” asked the donkey.

“How can anyone be cheerful with a rope waiting for their neck?” said the cat. “Because I am getting old and my teeth are blunt, my mistress meant to drown me; I ran away—but what now?”

“Come with us to the city and be a musician; you understand serenades.” The cat was pleased and went along.

Next they met a rooster crowing with all his might.

“Your noise goes through bone and marrow,” said the donkey—“what is wrong?”

“I prophesied fine weather for a holiday,” said the rooster, “because it is Our Lady’s Day and guests are coming; but the housekeeper told the cook I would make soup tomorrow—so I crow while I can.”

“Come with us,” said the donkey; “something better than soup awaits.”

“Heaven forbid I should be soup!” said the rooster, and joined them.

They could not reach the city in one day. At night they went into a wood. The donkey and dog lay under a great tree; the cat and rooster went into the branches; the rooster flew to the top, where he saw a light. “There must be a house,” he said. They walked toward the light and came to a cottage where robbers lived. The donkey, being tallest, peeped in. “What do you see?”

“A table spread with good things, and robbers sitting at it enjoying themselves.”

“That would be a noble lodging for us,” said the rooster.

“Yes,” said the donkey, “if we could only get in.” At last they planned a concert: the donkey put his forefeet on the window-sill, the dog jumped on his back, the cat climbed onto the dog, and the rooster flew up to the cat’s head. At a signal they began—the donkey brayed, the dog barked, the cat mewed, the rooster crowed. Then they burst through the window into the room amid a crash of glass.

The robbers sprang up at the dreadful sound, thinking a ghost had come, and fled into the wood. The four companions sat down, ate what they liked, and put out the light. Each found a sleeping place—donkey on the dunghill, dog behind the door, cat on the hearth, rooster on the roof—and they soon slept.

At midnight the robbers saw the house dark and quiet. The captain sent one to look. He found all still, went to the kitchen to light a candle, and mistook the cat’s glowing eyes for coals; when he held a match to them, the cat flew at his face and scratched. He ran for the door; the dog bit his leg; as he crossed the yard the donkey kicked him; and the rooster crowed from the roof, “Throw the rascal up here!”

The man told his fellows how a horrid witch had scratched him, a man with a knife stabbed his leg, a black monster struck him with a club, and a voice on the roof had cried out. After that the robbers never dared return. The musicians liked the house so well that they stayed—and the storyteller imagines them still living there.

Where this story comes from

This is the Brothers Grimm’s German tale Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten, number 27 in Margaret Hunt’s 1884 translation; it is not Indian. The Project Gutenberg English used here, based on Taylor and Edwardes, prints it as “The Travelling Musicians”.

The Grimms built their text from two stories heard in the Paderborn district. Their note argues that the robbers replaced an older enemy, wild animals of the forest: a medieval Latin fable tells of a goat, a buck, a fox, a stag, a cock and a goose who travel together and frighten off wolves.

This version keeps threats to kill the ageing animals and the later scratching, biting and kicking. An adult can judge whether those details suit a particular listener.

Read the original: Grimms’ Fairy Tales, tr. Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes (Project Gutenberg #2591, The Travelling Musicians)

Best for ages 6–8: four unwanted old animals team up, form a band and send a gang of robbers running.

A better destination than the planned one

The donkey promises instruments and work in the city, yet the group finds safety using the voices they already have. They never need to become professional musicians to deserve a home. The title keeps the abandoned plan alive, making their unexpected stopping place part of the joke.

Compare the two concerts

Write the donkey’s proposed instruments beside the animals’ actual sounds at the window. Why does that performance work on robbers even if it would not please a concert audience? Explain why staying can count as a successful journey.

Talk about it

• What did the donkey, dog, cat and rooster have in common at the start of the story?
• Why did the robber think the house was full of monsters?
• The animals were told they were too old to be useful. How did they prove everyone wrong?

Related stories

• The Travelling Musicians — another telling of the same Grimm tale of four old animals and the robbers
• Old Sultan — a faithful old Grimm dog who is saved from being put out by his master
• The Willow-Wren and the Bear — a Grimm tale in which small creatures team up to beat bigger ones