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 hobgoblin
had broken in upon them, and scampered away as fast as they could.

The coast once clear, our travellers 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 a
resting-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.



OLD SULTAN

A shepherd had a faithful dog, called Sultan, who was grown very old,
and had lost all his teeth. And one day when the shepherd and his wife
were standing together before the house the shepherd said, 'I will
shoot old Sultan tomorrow morning, for he is of no use now.' But his
wife said, 'Pray let the poor faithful creature live; he has served us
well a great many years, and we ought to give him a livelihood for the
rest of his days.' 'But what can we do with him?' said the shepherd,
'he has not a tooth in his head, and the thieves don't care for him at
all; to be sure he has served us, but then he did it to earn his
livelihood; tomorrow shall be his last day, depend upon it.'

Poor Sultan, who was lying close by them, heard all that the shepherd
and his wife said to one another, and was very much frightened to
think tomorrow would be his last day; so in the evening he went to his
good friend the wolf, who lived in the wood, and told him all his
sorrows, and how his master meant to kill him in the morning. 'Make
yourself easy,' said the wolf, 'I will give you some good advice. Your
master, you know, goes out every morning very early with his wife into
the field; and they take their little child with them, and lay it down
behind the hedge in the shade while they are at work. Now do you lie
down close by the child, and pretend to be watching it, and I will
come out of the wood and run away with it; you must run after me as
fast as you can, and I will let it drop; then you may carry it back,
and they will think you have saved their child, and will be so
thankful to you that they will take care of you as long as you live.'
The dog liked this plan very well; and accordingly so it was managed.
The wolf ran with the child a little way; the shepherd and his wife
screamed out; but Sultan soon overtook him, and carried the poor
little thing back to his master and mistress. Then the shepherd patted
him on the head, and said, 'Old Sultan has saved our child from the
wolf, and therefore he shall live and be well taken care of, and have
plenty to eat. Wife, go home, and give him a good dinner, and let him
have my old cushion to sleep on as long as he lives.' So from this
time forward Sultan had all that he could wish for.

Soon afterwards the wolf came and wished him joy, and said, 'Now, my
good fellow, you must tell no tales, but turn your head the other way
when I want to taste one of the old shepherd's fine fat sheep.' 'No,'
said the Sultan; 'I will be true to my master.' However, the wolf
thought he was in joke, and came one night to get a dainty morsel. But
Sultan had told his master what the wolf meant to do; so he laid wait
for him behind the barn door, and when the wolf was busy looking out
for a good fat sheep, he had a stout cudgel laid about his back, that
combed his locks for him finely.

Then the wolf was very angry, and called Sultan 'an old rogue,' and


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