THE TOWN MUSICIANS
by Katharine Pyle · from Mother's Nursery Tales
Adapted Version
Once, there was an old Donkey. He was very old and tired. His master did not want him. The Donkey heard this. He left his home. He went to the city. He wanted to be a musician. He wanted to sing.
Donkey walked on the road. He saw an old Dog. The Dog was sad. His master sent him away. Donkey said, "Come with me. We will sing in the city. You have a good voice." Dog was happy. He walked with Donkey.
Donkey and Dog walked. They saw an old Cat. Cat was sad. She was old. She could not catch mice. Her mistress sent her away. Donkey said, "Come with us. We will make music." Cat was glad. She joined them.
Donkey, Dog, and Cat walked. They saw a Rooster. Rooster crowed loudly. His mistress wanted to cook him. Donkey said, "Come with us. Your voice is strong." Rooster was happy. He joined them. They all walked.
It was dark now. The friends were tired. They were far from the city. Rooster saw a light. He said, "A light is there!" The friends walked closer. They saw a house. Robbers were inside. They ate food. They had gold and jewels.
Donkey stood by the window. Dog climbed on Donkey. Cat jumped on Dog. Rooster flew on Cat. They made a tall tower. Donkey brayed loudly. Dog barked loudly. Cat meowed loudly. Rooster crowed loudly. The robbers heard the noise. They were very scared. They ran out of the house. They ran into the dark woods.
The friends went inside. They ate the robbers' food. It was very good. They were full. They found good places. Donkey slept in the yard. Dog slept by the door. Cat slept by the fire. Rooster slept on the roof. They slept soundly all night.
The robbers waited in the woods. Robber Leader said, "Go back! Check the house!" One robber went back. He walked to the house. It was very dark. He went inside quietly.
The robber saw Cat's eyes. They looked like coals. He reached out his hand. Cat surprised him. She used her paws. He ran to the door. Dog barked loudly. Dog nipped his leg. He ran past Donkey. Donkey pushed him. Donkey made a loud noise. Rooster crowed very loud. The robber screamed. He ran out of the house.
The robber ran to his friends. He was very scared. He told a wild story. "A witch scratched me!" he cried. "A man with a knife bit me!" "A black thing pushed me!" "A judge yelled from the roof!" Robber Leader heard this. He was very scared too.
The robbers believed him. They thought the house was haunted. They ran away forever. They never came back.
The animals were happy. They liked their new home. They had good food. They had warm beds. They did not go to the city. They stayed in the house. They lived there happily.
Original Story
THE TOWN MUSICIANS
A donkey had grown so old and feeble that he was of no more use to his master.
One night he heard his master and mistress talking together. “I wonder you still keep that donkey,” said the woman; “he is of no use to you, and you only waste your money buying food for him.”
“That is true,” answered the man. “I would do well to get rid of him. I might sell his hide to the tanner.”
When the donkey heard this he knew it was time for him to be going, if he wished to keep his skin for his own use. He pushed the stable-door open with his nose, and made off down the road without saying good-by to anyone. “I may be too weak to work,” said he, “but my voice is still strong. I will go to the big city and become a musician.”
He had not gone far when he saw an old hound lying beside the road and whining. “Well, old Bellmouth,” said the donkey, “what ails you? You seem to be in trouble.”
“Trouble indeed,” answered the hound. “I have grown so old and stiff that I am no longer able to run with the pack, so my master had no more use for me. He drove me away and threw stones after me. What is to become of me now I do not know. If my master would not keep me I am sure no one else will.”
“Do not trouble yourself over that,” said the donkey. “I am going to the city to be a musician, and if you like you shall come along and sing with me. I know you have a fine voice, and we two together may make our fortunes.”
The hound was pleased with this idea. He got to his feet, and he and the donkey went on together in company.
A little while after they came to where a cat sat in the grass by the roadside, looking as sad and doleful as a rainy day in fall.
“What is the matter with you, Whiskers?” asked the donkey. “You look as though all the cream were sour and all the rats were dead.”
“There is no cream for me nowadays,” said the cat, “and though there are plenty of rats I am too old to catch them. I am no longer quick and active, and I would rather sit by the fire and purr. For this reason my mistress has driven me out of the house with a broom, and I have no place to go. What would you advise me to do in such a case?”
“Come with us,” said the donkey. “Brother Bellmouth and I are going to the city to be musicians, and if you choose to come along and join your voice with ours we shall be glad to have you.”
The cat was delighted, and leaping out into the road it trotted along beside the others.
Presently they came to a farmyard, and a cock had flown up on the gate post. It stretched its neck and crowed, and crowed again.
“Enough! Enough!” cried the donkey. “Do you want to split our ears with your crowing?”
“I must crow while I can,” said the cock, “for that is my business. Every morning I crow to wake the men, and I also crow to tell what weather we will have. But I heard the mistress say that company was coming to-morrow and that she must make me into soup, so my crowing days are almost over.”
“That is a bad business,” said the donkey. “You had better come with us. We are going to the city to become musicians, and such a voice as yours would be a great help.”
The cock did not wait to be asked twice. He flew down from the gatepost and flapped along beside them, but this was tiresome, so the donkey bade the cock fly up on to his back, and after that Master Red-head rode along in comfort.
Presently it began to grow dark, and still the musicians had not come within sight of the big city. Instead they came to a deep wood, and after wandering about in it for some time they grew so weary that they decided to go no farther that night. The donkey and the hound lay down under a large tree, the cat climbed up to a crotch of the branches, while the cock was not content to roost anywhere but at the top of the tree.
He had not been sitting there long when he said, “Brothers, I see a light not far off. There must be a house there.”
“That is good news,” said the donkey. “I for one have no liking for sleeping on the bare ground. Perhaps if we go there and sing they may give us a night’s lodging.”
This plan suited the others. The cat and the cock came down from the tree, and the four musicians set out together in the direction of the light.
It was not long before they came to a house and the light the cock had seen shone through a lower window. The donkey, being the largest, was chosen to look in through the window and tell the others what he saw.
The donkey looked so long and so silently that the others grew impatient. “Well, Brother Greycoat, what do you see?” asked the hound.
“Brothers,” said the donkey in a low voice, “I can easily see that this house belongs to a band of robbers. They have a quantity of treasure piled up in one corner of the room, and they are sitting around the table eating and drinking.”
“Oh, if we could only scare them away and take the treasure for ourselves! Robbers are always cowards,” said the dog.
The four companions consulted together and laid out a plan for frightening the robbers away. The donkey put his front feet up on the windowsill, the dog mounted on his back, the cat mounted on the dog’s back, and the cock flew up on to the cat. Then at a certain signal they all began to sing together. The donkey brayed, the dog howled, the cat miaued, and the cock crowed. The noise they made was terrible. The robbers jumped up in a fright, and as soon as the animals saw they were frightened they smashed the glass and sprang into the room.
The robbers fled out of the door pell-mell and into the woods without stopping to look behind them.
“That was easily done,” said the donkey. The animals then sat down at the table and ate and drank to their hearts’ content. After that they put out the lights, and then they settled down for the night, each one in the most comfortable place it could find. The donkey lay down on a heap of straw outside, the dog curled up behind the door, the cat settled down on the warm ashes, and the cock flew up and perched on the rafters. Then they all went to sleep.
Out in the forest the robbers wandered about for awhile, and then they all got together and talked things over.
“We were very foolish to be so easily frightened,” said the captain. “I have been listening and watching, and everything is quiet around the house and the lights are out. Let us go back there and see if anyone is there.”
To this the others agreed. They crept back to the house, and the captain sent one of the men inside to see what was doing.
The man went in and looked about, and saw the cat’s eyes shining in the dark. He thought they were live coals, and as he needed a light he went up and stuck a stick toward them, meaning to light it.
At once the cat sprang up with a yowl and scratched his face. The man was terrified. He ran to the door and the dog sprang out and bit him. He tumbled out into the courtyard and the donkey kicked him. The noise wakened the cock and it stretched its neck and crowed “Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
The robber ran back to his captain trembling. “Let us get away!” he cried. “A horrible witch sits by the hearth, and she flew at me screaming, and bit and scratched me. A man back of the door stuck a knife in my leg. Outside a hideous black thing hit me with a club, and on the roof sits a judge who cried, ‘Bring the rascal here!’”
The robbers waited to hear no more; they took to their heels and ran away, and if they have not stopped they must be running still.
But the four comrades found it so comfortable in the robbers’ house that they stayed there and enjoyed the robbers’ treasure, and never went to the big city to become musicians after all.
Transcriber’s Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page vi, “Alladin” changed to “Aladdin” to reflect usage in text (Aladdin, or the Magic)
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Story DNA
Moral
Even the old and seemingly useless can find new purpose and strength when they work together.
Plot Summary
An old donkey, facing death, runs away to become a musician and gathers three other old, discarded animals—a hound, a cat, and a cock—who join his quest. Unable to reach the city, they find a house occupied by robbers. The animals combine their voices to create a terrifying sound, scaring the robbers away and taking over their house. When one robber returns to investigate, he is attacked by each animal in turn and flees, giving an exaggerated account that convinces all the robbers to abandon the house permanently. The animal companions, finding comfort and treasure, decide to stay in the house and never become musicians after all.
Themes
Emotional Arc
despair to triumph
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
This is a well-known variant of 'The Bremen Town Musicians' by the Brothers Grimm, reflecting common anxieties about old age and usefulness in pre-industrial society.
Plot Beats (13)
- An old donkey, no longer useful, overhears his master planning to kill him for his hide and decides to run away to the city to become a musician.
- The donkey encounters an old hound, abandoned by its master, and invites it to join his musical journey.
- They then meet an old cat, driven out for being too old to hunt, and the cat also joins their group.
- Finally, they encounter an old cock, destined for soup, who also joins their journey to become musicians.
- As night falls, the animals, still far from the city, spot a light and decide to investigate for shelter.
- They discover the light comes from a house occupied by robbers, who are feasting and have treasure.
- The animals stack themselves up and, on a signal, make a terrifying combined noise, smashing through the window and scaring the robbers away.
- The animals eat the robbers' food and settle down for the night in the house.
- The robbers, regrouping in the woods, decide to send one man back to investigate the quiet house.
- The robber enters, mistakes the cat's eyes for coals, and is scratched by the cat, bitten by the dog, kicked by the donkey, and crowed at by the cock.
- The terrified robber reports back to his captain, describing the animals as a witch, a man with a knife, a hideous black thing, and a judge on the roof.
- Convinced the house is haunted by terrible beings, the robbers flee permanently.
- The four animal companions find the house and its treasure so comfortable that they decide to stay there indefinitely, abandoning their plan to go to the city.
Characters
The Donkey ★ protagonist
An old and feeble donkey, with a grey coat that has likely faded and thinned with age. His frame is gaunt, and his movements are slow and stiff, indicating years of hard labor. He is of average donkey height, but his posture suggests weariness.
Attire: None, as he is an animal. His 'coat' refers to his fur.
Wants: To escape being killed by his master and to find a new purpose and livelihood as a musician in the city.
Flaw: His physical feebleness and old age, which make him slow and less capable of physical labor.
Starts as a desperate, discarded animal seeking a new life, and ends up as a respected leader of a new 'family' who finds comfort and security, abandoning his original goal for a better immediate reality.
Determined, resourceful, compassionate, a natural leader, and surprisingly optimistic despite his circumstances.
Image Prompt & Upload
An old, grey donkey standing upright, facing forward, full body visible from head to toe. He has a long, grey face with large, slightly drooping ears, and soft, weary brown eyes. His coat is a faded grey, and his frame appears gaunt and stiff. He stands with a slightly hunched posture, conveying age and weariness, but with a determined expression. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Hound ◆ supporting
An old, stiff hound, likely a hunting dog breed like a Bloodhound or Basset Hound, given the name 'Bellmouth'. His fur is probably a mix of browns, blacks, and greys, possibly with a saggy jowl. His joints are visibly stiff, making movement difficult.
Attire: None, as he is an animal.
Wants: To find a new purpose and avoid a lonely, uncertain end after being cast out by his master.
Flaw: His physical stiffness and inability to perform his former duties, leading to a loss of self-worth.
Transforms from a discarded, despairing animal into an active and valued member of a new group, finding a new 'pack' and a sense of belonging.
Melancholy, loyal (implied by his past), initially despondent, but quickly becomes hopeful and cooperative.
Image Prompt & Upload
An old, stiff hound dog standing upright, facing forward, full body visible from head to toe. He has a long, droopy face with sad brown eyes and loose jowls. His fur is a mix of brown and grey, and his long ears hang low. His posture is visibly stiff, indicating age, but he has a hopeful expression. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Cat ◆ supporting
An old cat, likely a domestic shorthair, with a coat that might be mottled or tabby, showing signs of age. She is no longer quick and active, suggesting a slightly heavier build or slower movements.
Attire: None, as she is an animal.
Wants: To find a warm, safe place to live and avoid being homeless after being driven out by her mistress.
Flaw: Her old age makes her less agile and unable to catch rats, leading to her dismissal.
Goes from a sad, discarded pet to a vital member of a team, finding a new home and purpose where her unique abilities (even her 'coal-like' eyes) are useful.
Initially mournful and passive, but quickly becomes delighted and active when offered a new opportunity. She is resourceful and capable of fierce defense when provoked.
Image Prompt & Upload
An old domestic shorthair cat standing upright, facing forward, full body visible from head to toe. She has a mottled grey and brown tabby coat, with some grey around her muzzle. Her eyes are a dull yellow, and her whiskers are long and prominent. She stands with a slightly hunched, thoughtful posture, but with a hint of alertness. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Cock ◆ supporting
A vibrant, adult cock (rooster) with colorful plumage, likely featuring iridescent greens, reds, and golds. He is active and capable of flying short distances, but finds flapping along tiresome.
Attire: None, as he is an animal. His 'plumage' refers to his feathers.
Wants: To escape being made into soup and to continue his 'business' of crowing, finding a new place where his voice is valued.
Flaw: His primary 'business' (crowing) makes him a target for consumption, and he is physically less suited for long-distance travel on foot.
Goes from a threatened farm animal to a comfortable and respected member of the musician's group, finding a new home where his crowing is an asset rather than a liability.
Proud, dutiful (about crowing), initially fearful for his life, but quickly becomes opportunistic and comfortable. He is observant and sharp-eyed.
Image Prompt & Upload
A vibrant adult rooster standing upright, facing forward, full body visible from head to toe. He has a bright red comb and wattles, and sharp, alert eyes. His plumage is a mix of iridescent green, red, and gold feathers, particularly on his neck and tail. He stands with a proud, upright posture, ready to crow. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Robber Captain ⚔ antagonist
A robust and imposing figure, likely with a gruff demeanor. He is the leader of a band of robbers, suggesting a strong build and a presence that commands obedience, though he is ultimately a coward.
Attire: Rough, practical clothing suitable for a robber, likely dark and made of sturdy fabrics like wool or coarse linen. Perhaps a dark tunic, breeches, and worn leather boots. He might wear a simple belt with a pouch or knife sheath.
Wants: To maintain his leadership, secure his ill-gotten gains (treasure), and ensure the safety of his band, though his fear often overrides these.
Flaw: His extreme cowardice and superstition, which make him susceptible to fear and misinterpretation.
Starts as a confident leader of a criminal band, but is utterly defeated and driven away by the animals, losing his home and treasure, and becoming a trembling coward.
Authoritative among his men, but ultimately cowardly, suspicious, and easily frightened when faced with the unknown.
Image Prompt & Upload
A burly adult man with a weathered face and dark, unkempt hair, standing upright, facing forward, full body visible from head to toe. He wears a dark, coarse wool tunic, dark breeches, and worn leather boots. His expression is initially shrewd and suspicious, but quickly shifts to one of wide-eyed terror. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Robber (sent inside) ○ minor
A common robber, likely of average build, chosen by the captain to investigate. His appearance would be unremarkable, fitting into a band of outlaws.
Attire: Similar to the captain but perhaps less well-maintained: rough, dark clothing, possibly a tunic and trousers made of coarse fabric, and sturdy boots.
Wants: To obey his captain and investigate the house, hoping to reclaim their stolen goods.
Flaw: His extreme fear and superstition, which lead him to misidentify the animals as supernatural threats.
Serves as the catalyst for the robbers' final flight, experiencing the full brunt of the animals' defense and becoming a messenger of terror.
Cautious, obedient to his captain, but easily terrified and prone to wild misinterpretations when scared.
Image Prompt & Upload
A common adult man with a wary, unshaven face and dark, messy hair, standing upright, facing forward, full body visible from head to toe. He wears a dark, coarse linen tunic and trousers, and worn leather boots. He holds a simple wooden stick in his hand. His expression is one of wide-eyed, trembling fear. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
Locations
Old Master's Farm
A typical Northern European farmyard with a stable, a road leading away, and grassy areas. Implied to be rural and somewhat neglected given the animals' fates.
Mood: Somber, desperate, a place of endings and new beginnings.
The animals each escape their masters and decide to journey to the city to become musicians, forming their unlikely band.
Image Prompt & Upload
A rustic Northern European farmyard at night, with a weathered timber stable door slightly ajar. A dirt road winds away into the darkness, flanked by overgrown grass and a simple wooden fence. The air is cool and still under a moonless sky, with only faint starlight. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
Deep Wood
A dense, dark forest, likely typical of Central European woodlands, with large trees providing shelter. It grows increasingly dark as night falls.
Mood: Mysterious, weary, a temporary refuge that unexpectedly leads to discovery.
The animals, tired from their journey, decide to rest for the night. The cock spots a light, leading them to the robbers' house.
Image Prompt & Upload
A dense, ancient Central European wood at dusk, with towering oak and beech trees forming a thick canopy that filters the last vestiges of light. The forest floor is covered in fallen leaves and exposed roots, creating a rugged texture. The air is cool and still, with deep shadows gathering between the tree trunks. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
Robbers' House
A secluded, rustic house in the woods, likely a simple, sturdy dwelling. It has a lower window, a door, a hearth, and rafters. Inside, there's a table, treasure, and straw.
Mood: Initially threatening and mysterious, then becomes comfortable and safe for the animals.
The animals scare away the robbers, claim the house and its treasure, and decide to make it their permanent home.
Image Prompt & Upload
A rustic, single-story Central European cottage nestled deep within a dark wood at night. A single lower window glows with a warm, inviting light, revealing a glimpse of a simple timber-beamed interior. The exterior walls are rough-hewn stone and dark wood, with a sturdy wooden door. Outside, the ground is uneven earth, leading into the dense forest. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
