The Four Happy Friends

Once there was a miller, who
owned a donkey. For many
years the donkey had worked
hard, carrying sacks of flour to
the mill and pulling a large
wheel round and round, which
turned the machinery to grind-
the corn.

The donkey was getting old
and was no longer able.to work
so hard. " This donkey is use-
less to me," said the miller to -
himself one day. " He is get-
ting slower and slower as he gets
older. He is not worth the food
he eats and, goodness knows,
it costs me enough to buy food
for him. I will kill him
tomorrow."

The donkey overheard his
master's words and that night,
when all was dark and quiet, he
escaped and made off down
the road. He decided to spend
the rest of his life wandering
around the country as a stroll-
ing musician. " I have a fine
voice, even though I am getting
old," said the donkey to him-
self. " I am sure I shall be a
great success," and to prove it
he said, " Ee-aw, Ee-aw," to
himself, several times.



The noise attracted the atten-
tion of a dog, who was sitting
at the side of the road. " What
have you got to be so happy
about, donkey?" asked the dog.

" 1 am going to the big city,
to earn my living as a strolling
musician, so I am just doing a
bit of practising," replied the
donkey. " What are you
doing, friend dog, lying there
in the road, with your tongue
hanging out?"

" Ah," said the dog, " my
story is a sad one. I have
served my master faithfully for
many years and today I over-
heard him saying that he was
going to kill me because I am
getting old and can no longer
go hunting like I used to, so I
ran away and now I have
nowhere to go."

" Come along with me," said
the donkey. " We can travel
together and keep each other
company."

The dog went with the donkey
and farther down the road they
came across a cat. The cat
looked thin and miserable.
" Good day to you, cat," called
the donkey. " May 1 ask why



you look so unhappy?"

" My master wants to get rid
of me," replied the cat. ** I am
getting old and I am no longer
as good at catching mice as I
used to be. In my youth, I
was a champion mouser, but J
am not so quick as I once was."

" Come with us," said the
donkey. " We are going to the
big city to make our fortune
as wandering minstrels." The
cat joined them and they went
on down the road together.

Soon the three animals came
to a farm. There, on the fence,
¦ sat" a cockerel, crowing at the
top of his voice. " You are
piercing our eardrums with your
crowing," called the donkey.
"Tell us, what is the matter?"

" Oh," cried the cock, "" 1
am making as much noise as P
can while I am still alive.
Tomorrow I shall be dead, for
I have heard my mistress say
that she has guests coming
tomorrow and she told the cook
to kill me and put me* in a.
saucepan."

" Why not come with us?"
said the donkey. " We are
going to the big city to make
our fortune as wandering
minstrels. I am sure your
powerful voice would be a
help."

Yes, yes," crowed the cock,
very delighted. The four
friends went down the road
together. The big city was a
long way off and they decided
to spend the night in a wood.
The dog, the cat and the donkey
all curled up at the foot of a
tree, but the cock, as was his
habit, flew up and perched on
a branch. In the distance, he
saw a light and he called down
to his friends, " I amjsure I can
see a house where we could
spend the night more com-
fortably."



The animals went to look
for it and led by the cock, who
could see the light, they soon
found it. The donkey, who
was the tallest, looked in
. through the window. " What
can you see?' 1 the others asked.

" I can see a table piled high
with food and some robbers
sitting around it," replied the
donkey. " What can we do to
get rid of those rascals?"

" Perhaps we could .make a
loud noise and scare them




away," said the cat, so they
made a plan. The dog jumped
on the donkey's back, the cat
jumped on the dog's back, the
cock perched on the cat's head
and they all made the loudest
noises they could. The donkey
banged on the door with his
hooves and brayed. The dog^
barked, the cat howled and the
cock crowed. Then they all
jumped through the door, into
the room. The robbers were
so frightened by the noise and
the unexpected attack, that they
fled in great haste.

The four friends sat down at
the table and ate what they
wanted. Then they turned out
the light and lay down to sleep
in front of the fire.

When the robbers reached the
safety of the trees, they began
to recover from their fright.
" What fools we were to run
away like that," said the robber
chief and he sent one of his
men back to have a look round.
The robber tiptoed up to the
house, which was in darkness
and crept into the room. He
saw the cat's eyes gleaming in
the dark and thought they were
pieces of glowing coal from the
fire. He picked up a stick,
intending to light it from the
fire and make a flaming torch
of it, but as he did so, the cat
sprang at him, scratching his
face. The robber turned to flee,
but the dog bit his leg, the
donkey g^e him a' hearty kick
as he passed arid the cock
pecked .him.

The robber rushed, trembling
and out of breath, through the
wood, until he reached the
robber band. " There are



house," he panted. " They
attacked me and I only just
managed to escape. 1 . 1

From that evening, the
robbers did not have the cour-
age to return to their old house
and the four friends, who liked
the house very much, decided
not to become strolling minstrels
after all, but to stay there
peacefully for the rest of their