A donkey, whose back was a little bit achy from many years of carrying sacks, heard his master say, "Hmm, that donkey is getting old. Maybe it's time for him to go."
"Go where?" thought the donkey. "I don't like the sound of that!" So, he decided to run away. "I know!" he thought. "I'll go to the town of Bremen and become a musician! I can bray very loudly."

On his way, he saw a dog lying by the road, panting. "What's wrong, friend dog?" asked the donkey.
"Oh," sighed the dog. "I'm too old to hunt, so my master was going to... well, never mind. I ran away."
"Come with me to Bremen!" said the donkey. "We can be musicians. You can bark, and I can bray!"
The dog wagged his tail. "That sounds like a fine idea!"

A little further on, they saw a cat sitting by the path, looking very gloomy. "Why the long face, Mrs. Cat?" asked the donkey.
"My teeth aren't sharp for catching mice anymore," she meowed sadly. "My person said I was only good for... well, it wasn't nice. So I left."
"Join us!" said the dog. "We're going to Bremen to be musicians. You can meow, I can bark, and he can bray!"
The cat purred. "I like music! Count me in!"

As they walked, they passed a farm. On the gatepost stood a rooster, crowing with all his might, "Cock-a-doodle-DOOOOO!"
"My, you have a loud voice!" said the donkey. "But why do you sound so upset?"
"Guests are coming tomorrow," crowed the rooster, "and the cook said I'd make a good soup! So I'm crowing while I still can!"
"Oh dear!" said the cat. "Come with us to Bremen! We're going to be musicians. You can crow, I can meow, the dog can bark, and the donkey can bray!"
"A much better plan than being soup!" said the rooster, and he flew down to join them.

The four friends walked and walked. As it got dark, they were tired and hungry. The rooster spotted a light in the woods. "Look!" he crowed. "A house!"
They crept closer and peeked through the window. Inside, a group of robbers were having a feast!
"If only we could scare them away," whispered the donkey. "Then we could eat that food!"
They came up with a plan. The donkey stood by the window. The dog jumped on the donkey's back. The cat climbed onto the dog's back. And the rooster flew up and perched on the cat's head.

Then, all at once, they made their music! The donkey brayed "HEE-HAW!" The dog barked "WOOF WOOF!" The cat meowed "MEEEOW!" And the rooster crowed "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!"
It was such a terrible, loud, and strange noise!
The robbers jumped up, terrified. "It's a monster!" they yelled, and they ran out of the house and into the woods as fast as they could.

The four friends went inside. They ate all the delicious food and then looked for places to sleep. The donkey lay down on a pile of straw in the yard. The dog curled up by the back door. The cat snuggled by the warm fireplace. And the rooster flew up to the roof. Soon, they were all fast asleep.

Later that night, the robber chief said, "It was probably nothing. One of you, go back and check."
A brave (or foolish) robber crept back to the house. It was very dark. He went into the kitchen and saw two glowing coals in the fireplace. "Ah, I can light my candle here," he thought.
But those weren't coals! They were the cat's eyes! The cat hissed and scratched his face!
"Aaaah!" yelled the robber. He tried to run out the back door but tripped over the dog, who bit his leg!
"Oooow!" he shrieked. As he stumbled into the yard, the donkey gave him a mighty kick!
"YIKES!" he screamed. And as he ran away, the rooster on the roof, woken by all the noise, crowed loudly, "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!"

The robber ran back to his chief, shaking. "It's horrible!" he gasped. "There's a terrible witch in the house who scratched me with her long fingernails! And a man by the door stabbed me with a knife! And a huge monster in the yard hit me with a giant club! And worst of all, a judge on the roof shouted, 'Catch the bad guy!'"

The robbers were so scared they never went back to the cottage again.
And the four musicians? They liked the little house so much, with its good food and comfy beds, that they decided to stay. They made music together every day, and lived happily ever after, right there in the woods. They quite forgot all about going to Bremen!

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