The Bremen Town Carolers, by Paul Race
from Family Christmas Online^TM

Then they met up on the road. They made plans to go to the city and sing for their supper. That didn't quite work out at first. Instead they chanced upon a house full of robbers. They chased the robbers away and lived in the house for a time. The Brothers Grimm told that story in "The Bremen Town Singers," which you can find just about anywhere.

Then cold weather started setting in, and the animals wondered if they had made a mistake by staying at the robbers' house so long.

Cat said, "You know, I really wanted to try singing for my supper."

Rooster said, "No one will want to listen to us now. Christmas is coming, and they all have better things to do.

Hound said, "Why can't we go door-to-door singing Christmas carols like human children do?"

Donkey said, "What are we waiting for?"

The next morning, the animals set off for the great city of Bremen. On the way, they practiced Christmas carols.

Cat meowed.

Rooster crowed.

Hound howled.

And Donkey brayed.

To the animals the sound was pure music, but truth be told, they scared more than one traveler off the road into the woods as they went along.

When they reached the great city, they saw that the gates were guarded by men in armor. The guards turned away a group of human musicians carrying lutes, trumpets, and drums. "We don't need your kind of riff-raff here," said the guards.

So the animals waited until they saw a merchant leading a long line of donkeys into the city. Each donkey was carrying a pack full of goods and following the donkey ahead of it. Donkey got right behind the last donkey in line, and the guards never noticed he wasn't carrying anything.

Cat, Hound, and Rooster slipped in easily.

Once they were in the city, they looked around trying to decide where to start. They passed a beautiful cathedral that had a big nativity scene set up in front. The statues of Joseph and Mary were as big as real people.

When he saw a statue of a donkey, Donkey said, "Look at that! I'm famous already."

Cat said, "That's not you. That's the donkey that carried Mary to Bethlehem."

Donkey said, "Oh," and looked sad.

Hound said, "Well at least there's a donkey in the stable. There aren't any hounds, chickens, or cats."

Cat said, "Well, you know there were cats around, or the stable would have more mice than people."

Hound said, "Come to think of it, the shepherds would have had dogs."

Rooster said, "Well, somebody in Bethlehem would have had chickens, too."

The animals moved on. They saw a large restaurant where many people were eating and drinking and laughing.

Cat said, "This seems like a good place to start."

They stood in a row on the sidewalk outside the biggest door and started warming up. Then, when Cat gave the signal, they all started singing "Angels We Have Heard on High."

Unfortunately, all the restaurant's customers could hear was "Meow, Meow, Arf, Arf, Hee Haw, Cockadoodle-do!"

The restaurant's cook appeared at the door with a red face. He shouted, "Get out of here."

But the animals couldn't hear him over their own singing.

So the cook started throwing vegetables at them. Donkey and Rooster said "Thank you" in their own way. Then they ate whatever hit them or landed nearby. After they were done, the carolers moved on.

At the next house they tried, the owner threw garbage that contained fish bones. That made Cat very happy. At the next house, Hound found a bone in the side yard before they even started singing.

So the day passed. Some people threw rocks, which the animals didn't understand at all. But most of them threw rotten fruit and other things the animals could eat.

After several hours of caroling, it was getting dark and starting to snow. The animals started thinking about a place to stay.

Donkey said, "Why don't we go back to that stable we saw?"

Cat said, "You know that's not a real stable, don't you?"

Rooster said, "It will still keep the snow off us."

Hound said, "I can find our way back." And he did.

Just as they rounded the last corner, the animals saw two boys carrying off the donkey statue. Hound chased them up the street, but they dropped it and ran. The statue broke into a thousand pieces.

Sadly, Hound returned to the others and told them what happened.

Donkey said, "There has to be a donkey for Mary to ride. I'll take the statue's place." And he went into the stable and settled down where the statue had been.

Hound said, "I think I should stay here in case those boys come back." He curled up in front of Joseph's feet and slept with one eye open .

In the meantime, the cat was looking at the baby in the manger. "He looks cold," she said. "I'll snuggle up next to him to keep him warm." And she did.

Rooster saw his friends settling down for the night, so he flew up to the rafters and perched there.

In the morning, they heard voices.

A little boy's voice said, "Look at that. They have a real donkey."

An older woman said, "Oh, what a dear kitty, keeping the baby warm."

A man said, "That old hound has seen better days, but he can still keep watch."

Most people didn't notice Rooster perching up in the rafters, which was probably a good thing, since a chicken loose in the city could become dinner for a poor family in a hurry. A little girl saw him, though and showed her daddy. She said, "Remember when we used to live on the farm and had chickens? I miss our rooster most of all."

The townsfolk were so delighted to see the animals in the stable that they started bringing them food. The animals were so tired from the previous day's work that they forgot to sing. And that was probably a good thing, too.

Before long, the animals in the stable were the "talk of the town." People were coming from the other parts of the city just to see them. Cat got petted. Hound got scratched behind the ears. Donkey got his head rubbed. And every day the little girl came back to see Rooster, even though he never let her get close.

The animals stayed in the stable, being fed by the town's nicest people all the way until Epiphany, when people sang songs and told stories about the Wise Men coming to see baby Jesus, and the candles in the cathedral burned long into the night.

The next day, men came to take all the statues away and to take the stable apart. Cat, Hound, Donkey, and Rooster were wondering where they should go next.

Then a young priest said, "Since we lost our donkey, maybe we should keep this one for next year. He could keep our goat company." And Donkey found a home.

The older woman who saw Cat on the first day said, "I don't have any mice for you to chase, but if you wouldn't mind keeping an old lady warm on chilly nights, you could come with me." And Cat found a home.

A man said, "You know, I'm away from home sometimes, and I'd feel better if there was a brave dog to watch over my family." And Hound found a home.

Rooster saw all of this from the rafters and wondered where he should go. Then the little girl showed up. She said, "Daddy, what will happen to the rooster when they take the stable apart?" Her father said, "I don't know. But if he'll come with you, you can keep him in the courtyard." And Rooster found a home.

The next year, as Christmas approached, all four animals came back to the cathedral and took their places in the stable once more. And they kept doing it as long as they were able.

Happily for the great city of Bremen, they never sang together again.

Thanks for reading. We hope that you can keep the spirit of Christmas and the Reason for the Season alive in your heart all year long,

Paul and Shelia Race

www.familychristmasonline.com