The Bremen Town Musicians

A donkey, grown too old for work and about to be gotten rid of by his owner, ran away and set off for the town of Bremen, hoping to become a musician. Along the way he met a dog, too old to hunt and similarly abandoned, and the two decided to travel together. Soon a cat, too old to catch mice, and a rooster, about to be cooked for dinner, joined them as well, all four united by the same fate of being discarded once they were no longer "useful."

As night fell in a forest, the four animals spotted a lit cottage and, peering through the window, saw a gang of robbers feasting inside. Hungry and clever, they devised a plan: the donkey stood on his hind legs, the dog climbed onto his back, the cat onto the dog, and the rooster onto the cat, and all four brayed, barked, meowed, and crowed at once through the window, an unearthly, terrifying racket.

The robbers, convinced some monstrous creature had attacked, fled screaming into the night, and the four animals settled comfortably into the cottage, enjoying the abandoned feast and a warm home — never making it to Bremen at all, but finding something better than they'd been searching for.