As soon as they were gone, the Traveling Musicians sat down at the
table. They ate all that the robbers had left, and as they were very
hungry, they ate very fast.
Then, when they had cleared the table, they put out the lights, and each
found a place in which to sleep. The Ass lay upon a heap of straw in
the yard; the Dog stretched himself upon a mat behind the door; the
Cat rolled herself up on the hearth before the warm ashes; and the Cock
perched upon a beam at the top of the house. They were all tired and
soon fell asleep.
After some time the robbers, who had not fled far, got over their
fright. They saw that the lights were out, and that all was quiet. They
began to think they had been frightened at nothing. One, bolder than the
rest, crept back to the house. All was still; all was dark.
He made his way into the kitchen, and groped about to find a candle. He
found the candle, and then went to the fire, as he thought, to light his
candle. But the live coals which he thought he saw were the two fiery
eyes of the Cat.
He held the candle close, to light it, but the Cat, not liking the joke,
sprang at his face, and spit, and scratched him. Away he ran to the
door. But there the Dog jumped up and bit him in the leg. As he was
crossing the yard, the Ass kicked him, and the Cock, now awake, crowed
with all his might.
At this the robber ran back to his comrades, as fast as his legs could
carry him. He told them that a horrid witch had got into the house, and
had spit at him, and scratched his face with long bony fingers. A man
with a knife in his hand hid behind the door, and stabbed him in the
leg. A black monster stood in the yard, and struck him with a club. And
the judge sat upon the top of the house, and cried out:--
“Throw the rascal up here!”
After this, the robbers never dared to go back to the house. The
Traveling Musicians were so pleased with their quarters, that they took
up their abode there, and there they are, I dare say, at this very day.