The Musicians of Bremen
A fairy tale from the Grimm brothers
Once upon a time, there was a donkey.
He was an old donkey. He was 98 years old. Donkey loved his master. But the master did not love his donkey.
“Go faster!” the master said. The donkey walked and walked. But he walked slowly.
He walked slowly because he was old.
“Donkey! Go faster!” the master said. “Donkey! You are slow, you are old.”
The master was frustrated. He had an idea. “This donkey is old and slow. I will abandon him.” The master and the Donkey went to the road. He abandoned the donkey and went away.
The donkey walked on the road sadly. Donkey was old and walked slowly.
“My master abandoned me,” said Donkey sadly. Donkey walked and walked down the road. On the road, Donkey walked with a “CLIP CLOP CLIP CLOP.” His walking sounded like music. Donkey liked the music. He started to sing. He sang “Heehaaw, heehaaw” with the “CLIP CLOP, CLIP CLOP.”
Donkey was happy. He said, “What brilliant music! I’m a good musician.”
The donkey had an idea. He thought, “Bremen is a great city. I will go to Bremen. In Bremen I will sing. I will be a famous musician!”
Donkey was very happy as he went to Bremen. He sang and sang with a “Heehaaw, heehaaw” as he walked and walked.
Suddenly, he saw a dog on the road. The dog was sad.
The dog cried sadly. “Hello, Dog. What’s the problem? Why are you sad?” Donkey asked.
“I’m old. My master abandoned me,” said the dog. Dog was very sad.
Donkey said, “I have an idea. Let’s go to Bremen! Let’s be musicians. I will sing “Heehaaw” and you can sing “Woof Woof.” We will be famous musicians!”
“All right,” says Dog. Donkey and Dog walked along the road to Bremen. On the road, they sang. They sang “Heehaaw” and “Woof Woof.”
On the road, they saw a cat. The cat was not happy.
“Meeoow” cried the cat sadly. “What’s the problem? Why are you sad?” asked Donkey and Dog.
“I’m old. My master abandoned me,” said the cat.
The cat cried and cried, “Meeoow.”
Donkey said, “I have an idea. Let’s go to Bremen! Let’s be musicians. I will sing ‘Heeehaaaw.’ Dog will sing ‘Woof Woof.’ You can sing ‘Meeoow!’ We will be famous musicians!”
“Yes! That a perfect idea!” said cat.
So Donkey, Dog, and Cat walked and walked along the road to Bremen.
On the road, they sang and they were very happy.
Suddenly, they saw another sad animal. There was a chicken by the road. The chicken was not happy.
The chicken cried “Cluck Cluck” sadly.
“What’s the problem?” asked Donkey, Dog, and Cat.
“Did your master abandon you?” said Dog.
“No, my master did not abandon me. I am old, but he did not abandon me. He tried to eat me!” cried the chicken.
Donkey said, “I have an idea. Let’s go to Bremen! Let’s be musicians. I will sing ‘Heeehaaaw.’ Dog will sing ‘Woof Woof.’ Cat will sing ‘Meeoow.’ You can sing ‘Cluck Cluck.’ We will be famous musicians!”
“All right,” says Chicken. Donkey, Dog, Cat, and Chicken went happily to Bremen.
As they walked, they sang and sang. “Heehaaw!” “Woof Woof!” “Meeoow!” “Cluck Cluck!”
On the road, they come to a house. The house was abandoned. The animals heard two men in the house.
The men said “100, 101, 102, 103 …” They were counting gold! The gold was stolen from a bank in Bremen. One man says, “Ha ha ha! The people of Bremen will not find us! This house is abandoned.”
“The gold is all for us! We are rich!” said a second man.
“Look!” Donkey said. “Two men are counting gold. The gold is stolen!”
Dog went up on Donkey’s back. He looked inside.
Cat went up on Dog’s back. He looked inside.
Chicken went up on Cat’s back. He looked inside.
They all looked inside and had an idea. “Let’s all sing in a group. We will sing so loud, we scare them!”
“1-2-3…Sing!” Cried Donkey.
They all sang loudly. “Heehaaw!” “Woof Woof!” “Meeoow!” “Cluck Cluck!”
The two men were frightened. The men ran away
The animals took the money to the bank in Bremen.
The people of Bremen said, “Thank you. You are heroes!”
They were finally in Bremen, and they were very famous.