GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES - online book

130 Fairy Stories Adapted & Arranged for young people

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THE TOWN MUSICIANS.                133
The messenger finding every thing still, went into the kitchen to strike a light, and seeing the glaring fiery eyes of the cat looking like a live coal, held a match towards them that he might set fire to it. But puss not understanding such sport flew up, spit at him, and scratched his face. This frightened him so terribly that he rushed to the door, but the dog, who lay there, sprang out upon him and bit him in the leg as he went by.
In the court he ran against the donkey,* who gave him a kick with his hind foot, while the cock on the beam, aroused by the noise, became alive and brisk in a moment, and cried out as loudly as he could, " Cock-a-doodle-doo."
Then ran the robber as fast as he could back to his chief.
"Ah, me." he said, "in that house is a horrible witch who flew at me, and scratched me down the face with her long fingers. Then by the door stood a man with a knife, who stabbed me in the leg, and out in the court lay a black monster who struck me a violent blow with his wooden leg, and up in the roof sat the judge who cried, i Bring me the scoundrels here.; , On that I made off as fast as possible."
From the moment that they heard this, the robbers never again entered the house, but escaped as quickly from the place as they could; and the four musicians found themselves in such good quarters that they would not leave, and the last heard of them was, that they intended to remain there.
There was once in a country great trouble about a wild boar, who attacked the peasants in the fields, and had killed and torn to pieces several men with his tusks. The king of the country promised a large reward to anyone who would free the land from this plague. But the animal was so large and strong that no man would even venture near the forest where he lived.
At last, the king made a proclamation that he would give his only daughter in marriage to any man who would bring the wild boar to him dead or alive,