As they came nearer the light grew larger and clearer. Finally they came to a house, the home of a band of robbers. The donkey, being the largest, went to the window and looked in. “What do you see?” said the cock.
“Oh! I see a table with all kinds of good things to eat on it. Around it there seems to be a band of robbers, eating and drinking and having a merry time,” said the donkey.
“There must be something there for us,” said the cock. “Yes, indeed!” said the donkey. “Some of that food must be for us.” The four animals then agreed upon a plan to frighten the robbers away from the house so that they might go in and eat. The donkey put his fore feet on the window sill. The dog jumped up on the donkey’s back. The cat sprang up on the dog’s back, and the cock flew up on top of the cat.
When they were all ready, each one made his music as loud as he could. The donkey brayed, the dog barked, the cat mewed, and the cock crowed. The noise they made was so loud and strong that the window rattled and the whole house shook. The robbers heard the noise outside but could not tell what it was. They were all terribly frightened. One thought it was the police. Another cried, “It is the soldiers!”
And so hallowing, one this, the other that, they ran pell mell out of the house and hid in the woods. Then the four friends went in and sat at the robbers’ table and ate and drank until they were satisfied. Then they put out the light and each one found a comfortable place in which to sleep. The donkey stretched himself out on some straw in the yard. The dog lay behind the door. The cat lay down by the hearth, and the cock flew up on the rafter. They were so tired after their long journey that they were soon fast asleep, and so all was quiet in the little house in the woods.
Model Treatment.
Where did the animals plan to spend the night? Tell how each one made ready for sleep. Who saw the light? Why did they go toward it? Who peeped in? What did he see? Tell how the animals frightened the robbers away.
In what stories have you heard of a cock? Tell how the cat differs from the dog. Of what use are cats? How do they catch mice? Did you ever see a cat sharpen her claws? What animals are like cats?
Why did the robbers live in the forest?
Why were they so easily frightened?