18 The Four Musicians^[1] (Germany)

There was once a donkey, a dog, a cat and a cock who had worked for their masters faithfully many years, but their strength at last began to fail, and became more and more unfit for work. Finally their masters concluded it was no longer worthwhile to keep them and were thinking of putting an end to them. They saw that mischief was brewing and ran away. The four went on together. They were going to the city and wanted to be musicians because they thought each of them had a good voice.

The city was, however, too far away for them to reach it on the first day of their travelling, and when, toward night,they came to a thick wood, they decided to pass the night among the trees. Before they went to sleep the rooster flew up to the top of a great oak to look around making sure that everything was all right. In so doing he saw in the distance a little light shining, and he called out to his companions,“There must be a house no great way off, for I can see a light.”

At length they drew near the place, and found it was a robber’s house. Then they consulted together and at last hit on a plan. The donkey stood on his hind legs with his forefeet on the window-sill, the dog got on the donkey’s shoulders,the cat mounted the back of the dog, and the rooster flew up and perched on the back of the cat. When all was ready they began their music.

“Hehaw! hehaw! hehaw!”brayed the donkey.

“Bow-wow! bow-wow!”barked the dog.

“Meow! meow!”said the cat.

“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”crowed the rooster.

Then they all burst through the window into the room,breaking the glass with a frightful clatter. The robbers, not doubting that some hideous hobgoblin was about to devour them, fled to the woods in great terror.

The donkey and his comrades now sat down at the table and made free with the food the robbers had left, and feasted as if they had been hungry for a month. When they had finished they put out the lights and each sought a sleepingplace to his own liking. They were all tired and soon fell fast asleep.

About midnight the robbers came creeping back to the house. They saw that no lights were burning and everything seemed quiet. So the robber captain stepped softly along to the house and entered the kitchen. There he groped about until he found a candle and some matches on the mantel over the fireplace. The cat had now waked up and stood on the hearth watching the robber with shining eyes. He mistook those eyes for two live coals and reached down to get a light by touching a match to them. The cat did not fancy that sort of thing and flew into his face, spitting^[2] and scratching. Then he cried out in fright and ran toward the door, and the dog,who was lying there, bit the robber’s leg. He managed,however, to get out in the yard, and there the donkey struck out with a hind foot and gave him a kick that knocked him down, and Chanticleer who had been roused by the noise,cried out “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!”

The robber captain had barely strength to crawl away to the other robbers. He told them that witches lived in the house.

So the robbers went away and never came back, and the four musicians found themselves so well pleased with their new quarters that they did not go to the city, but stayed where they were; and I dare say you would find them there at this very day.

—Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm

[1]　The Four Musicians：原名"The Musicians of Bremen"（“不來梅的音樂家”）。

[2]　spitting：貓狗等動物動怒時發出的呼嚕呼嚕聲。