Bremen Town Musicians is a fairy tale by Grimm Brothers dealing with aging (old animals become useless and they are all about to be killed) but it can be also understood as an allegory about war vets who were often returning home wounded, mutilated, and sick. The story was written in times of Napoleonic wars after all.
We'll summarize the story with a series of postcards signed by Oskar Herrfurth. They were published by Uvachrom in 1930. There are six postcards in the series altogether and numbered 4695-4700 (with 285 as the number of the series).
Summary
Once upon a time, there was an old donkey. His master noticed it's almost of no use and started thinking if it's still worth keeping it. The donkey was smart enough to run away before his master tried to get rid of him and decided to go to Bremen. There he should become a town musician.
We'll summarize the story with a series of postcards signed by Oskar Herrfurth. They were published by Uvachrom in 1930. There are six postcards in the series altogether and numbered 4695-4700 (with 285 as the number of the series).
Summary
Once upon a time, there was an old donkey. His master noticed it's almost of no use and started thinking if it's still worth keeping it. The donkey was smart enough to run away before his master tried to get rid of him and decided to go to Bremen. There he should become a town musician.
On his way, he met a dog who was old too. They believed their chances to succeed in Bremen would be better if they go together, so they joined forces and became travel companions.
After a while, an old cat and a bit later, an old rooster joined them as well. They were traveling the whole day. When the night fell they were in the forest and started looking for a place to sleep.
They noticed a light and moved to it. It was a cabin. They saw a few men in the cabin eating and drinking. They were robbers.
Animals frightened the robbers who didn't expect a visit. Animals, their noise, and the darkness in the forest were simply too much for them, so they ran out. Animals safely entered. They enjoyed the food and drink and later fell asleep - the donkey in the yard, the dog behind the door, the cat at the hearth, and the rooster under the roof.
Later robbers calmed down. Their captain ordered one of his crew to get back and check the situation. It was their cabin with their loot after all. But the youngster didn't realize he is dealing with animals in the dark. He was afraid of the cat's shiny eyes, scratched by its claws, bitten by a dog, attacked by the rooster, and finally kicked by the donkey.
Later robbers calmed down. Their captain ordered one of his crew to get back and check the situation. It was their cabin with their loot after all. But the youngster didn't realize he is dealing with animals in the dark. He was afraid of the cat's shiny eyes, scratched by its claws, bitten by a dog, attacked by the rooster, and finally kicked by the donkey.
He returned to the gang with an important message. The cabin is possessed by the witch, guarded by a man with a knife, a monster with a club, and a judge who called out on him. Robbers ran away for good.
The four animals stayed at the cabin, postponed their travel to Bremen indefinitely. Thanks to this fairy tale, we can still learn numerous valuable lessons.