The town musicians of Bremen

There is a story I grew up listening to. It is a story of a Donkey, a Dog, a Cat and a Roster.

In the story, the animals were labelled useless by their masters after serving them their entire lives. They were too old by the time the story starts. However, the Donkey thought he had more to give to the world. So he set off to the city of Bremen to become a musician. He met his fellow animals on his journey. After sharing their stories and shaded some tears, they all decided to join him in his quest.

The night took over as the story continues, and they decided to find a house to stay in for the night. They found a small cottage in the forest, with raging voices of laughter and merriment. As they looked inside, they found out that the house belonged to three dangerous robbers. Their inner desires for justice led them to scare the robbers off by standing on top of each other and making sounds of roar. Terrified, the robbers fled into the forest.

Later that night, the leader of the robbers sent his man to check out the house. The animals attacked the sent robber in the dark. After that, the animals took over the house and lived happily ever after.

The funny thing about the story, the characters never make it to Bermen. They don't get to live their dreams in the end, they just settled. I am not sure why. It might be because they were too weak and old to continue their journey, or because they felt cosy in the cottage. Either way, they just never make it. The title and the plot are a bit disconnected.

But, what I thought is very interesting is the fact that there is a statue of a Donkey, a Dog, a Cat and a Roster in the city of Bremen, Germany. In the street of the town, they stand on top of each other just like in the story, singing as they once wished to do. Irony one may say.

When I first found out about the statue, I couldn't help but feel sorry for them. But then I realised I shouldn't pity them. Some parts of them are where they once wished to be. And I thought, maybe I won't be lucky enough to live all my crazy big dreams, but along the way, I can still find Home. The animals found each other and then lived happily. Maybe the greatest gift of life isn't achieving our goals but finding people through the process of it. And if we are lucky enough, some part of us will get to where we wished to be, like the statues.

But I dreamt another dream in learning this, I wanted to see the statue for myself in Bremen, Germany.