An honest farmer had once an ass that had been a
faithful servant to him a great many years, but was now growing old and every
day more and more unfit for work. His master therefore was tired of keeping him
and began to think of putting an end to him; but the ass, who saw that some
mischief was in the wind, took himself slyly off, and began his journey towards
the great city, ‘For there,’ thought he, ‘I may turn musician.’
After he had travelled a little way, he spied a dog
lying by the roadside and panting as if he were tired. ‘What makes you pant so,
my friend?’ said the ass. ‘Alas!’ said the dog, ‘my master was going to knock
me on the head, because I am old and weak, and can no longer make myself useful
to him in hunting; so I ran away; but what can I do to earn my livelihood?’
‘Hark ye!’ said the ass, ‘I am going to the great city to turn musician:
suppose you go with me, and try what you can do in the same way?’ The dog said
he was willing, and they jogged on together.
They had not gone far before they saw a cat sitting in
the middle of the road and making a most rueful face. ‘Pray, my good lady,’
said the ass, ‘what’s the matter with you? You look quite out of spirits!’ ‘Ah,
me!’ said the cat, ‘how can one be in good spirits when one’s life is in danger?
Because I am beginning to grow old, and had rather lie at my ease by the fire
than run about the house after the mice, my mistress laid hold of me, and was
going to drown me; and though I have been lucky enough to get away from her, I
do not know what I am to live upon.’ ‘Oh,’ said the ass, ‘by all means go with
us to the great city; you are a good night singer, and may make your fortune as
a musician.’ The cat was pleased with the thought, and joined the party.
Soon afterwards, as they were passing by a farmyard,
they saw a cock perched upon a gate, and screaming out with all his might and
main. ‘Bravo!’ said the ass; ‘upon my word, you make a famous noise; pray what
is all this about?’ ‘Why,’ said the cock, ‘I was just now saying that we should
have fine weather for our washing-day, and yet my mistress and the cook don’t
thank me for my pains, but threaten to cutoff my head tomorrow, and make broth
of me for the guests that are coming on Sunday!’ ‘Heaven forbid!’ said the ass,
‘come with us Master Chanticleer; it will be better, at any rate, than staying
here to have your head cut off! Besides, who knows? If we care to sing in tune,
we may get up some kind of a concert; so come along with us.’ ‘With all my
heart,’ said the cock: so they all four went on jollily together.
They could not, however, reach the great city the
first day; so when night came on, they went into a wood to sleep. The ass and
the dog laid themselves down under a great tree, and the cat climbed up in to the
branches; while the cock, thinking that the higher he sat the safer he should
be, flew up to the very top of the tree, and then, according to his custom,
before he went to sleep, looked out on all sides of him to see that everything
was well. In doing this, he saw afar off something bright and shining and
calling to his companions said, ‘There must be a house no great way off, for I
see a light.’ ‘If that be the case,’ said the ass, ‘we had better change our
quarters, for our lodging is not the best in the world!’ ‘Besides,’ added the dog,
‘I should not be the worse for a bone or two, or a bit of meat. ’So they walked
off together towards the spot where Chanticleer had seen the light, and as they
drew near it became larger and brighter, till they at last came close to a
house in which a gang of robbers lived.
The ass, being the tallest of the company, marched up
to the window and peeped in. ‘Well, Donkey,’ said Chanticleer, ‘what do you
see?’ ‘What do I see?’ replied the ass. ‘Why, I see a table spread with all kinds
of good things, and robbers sitting round it making merry.’ ‘That would be a
noble lodging for us,’ said the cock. ‘Yes,’ said the ass, ‘if we could only
get in’; so they consulted together how they should contrive to get the robbers
out; and at last they hit upon a plan. The ass placed himself upright on his
hind legs, with his forefeet resting against the window; the dog got upon his
back; the cat scrambled up to the dog’s shoulders, and the cock flew up and sat
upon the cat’s head. When all was ready a signal was given, and they began
their music. The ass brayed, the dog barked, the cat mewed, and the cock
screamed; and then they all broke through the window at once, and came tumbling
into the room, amongst the broken glass, with a most hideous clatter! The
robbers, who had been not a little frightened by the opening concert, had now
no doubt that some frightful hob goblin had broken in upon them, and scampered
away as fast as they could.
The coast once clear, our travelers soon sat down and
dispatched what the robbers had left, with as much eagerness as if they had not
expected to eat again for a month. As soon as they had satisfied themselves,
they put out the lights, and each once more sought out arresting-place to his
own liking. The donkey laid himself down upon a heap of straw in the yard, the
dog stretched himself upon a mat behind the door, the cat rolled herself up on
the hearth before the warm ashes, and the cock perched upon a beam on the top
of the house; and, as they were all rather tired with their journey, they soon
fell asleep.
But about midnight, when the robbers saw from afar
that the lights were out and that all seemed quiet, they began to think that
they had been in too great a hurry to run away; and one of them, who was bolder
than the rest, went to see what was going on. Finding everything still, he
marched into the kitchen, and groped about till he found a match in order to
light a candle; and then, espying the glittering fiery eyes of the cat, he
mistook them for live coals, and held the match to them to light it. But the
cat, not understanding this joke, sprang at his face, and spat, and scratched
at him. This frightened him dreadfully, and away he ran to the back door; but
there the dog jumped up and bit him in the leg; and as he was crossing over the
yard the ass kicked him; and the cock, who had been awakened by the noise, crowed
with all his might. At this the robber ran back as fast as he could to his
comrades, and told the captain how a horrid witch had got into the house, and
had spat at him and scratched his face with her long bony fingers; how a man
with a knife in his hand had hidden himself behind the door, and stabbed him in
the leg; how a black monster stood in the yard and struck him with a club, and
how the devil had sat upon the top of the house and cried out, ‘Throw the rascal
up here!’ After this the robbers never dared to go back to the house; but the
musicians were so pleased with their quarters that they took up their abode
there; and there they are, I dare say, at this very day.
