The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage from Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Translated by Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
Read by Bob Neufeld.
Once upon a time, a mouse, a bird, and a sausage, entered into partnership and set up house
together.
For a long time all went well; they lived in great comfort, and prospered so far as
to be able to add considerably to their stores.
The bird's duty was to fly daily into the wood and bring in fuel; the mouse fetched
the water, and the sausage saw to the cooking.
When people are too well off they always begin to long for something new.
And so it came to pass, that the bird, while out one day, met a fellow bird, to whom he
boastfully expatiated on the excellence of his household arrangements.
But the other bird sneered at him for being a poor simpleton, who did all the hard work,
while the other two stayed at home and had a good time of it.
For, when the mouse had made the fire and fetched in the water, she could retire into
her little room and rest until it was time to set the table.
The sausage had only to watch the pot to see that the food was properly cooked, and when
it was near dinner-time, he just threw himself into the broth, or rolled in and out among
the vegetables three or four times, and there they were, buttered, and salted, and ready
to be served.
Then, when the bird came home and had laid aside his burden, they sat down to table,
and when they had finished their meal, they could sleep their fill till the following
morning: and that was really a very delightful life.
Influenced by those remarks, the bird next morning refused to bring in the wood, telling
the others that he had been their servant long enough, and had been a fool into the
bargain, and that it was now time to make a change, and to try some other way of arranging
the work.
Beg and pray as the mouse and the sausage might, it was of no use; the bird remained
master of the situation, and the venture had to be made.
They therefore drew lots, and it fell to the sausage to bring in the wood, to the mouse
to cook, and to the bird to fetch the water.
And now what happened?
The sausage started in search of wood, the bird made the fire, and the mouse put on the
pot, and then these two waited till the sausage returned with the fuel for the following day.
But the sausage remained so long away, that they became uneasy, and the bird flew out
to meet him.
He had not flown far, however, when he came across a dog who, having met the sausage,
had regarded him as his legitimate booty, and so seized and swallowed him.
The bird complained to the dog of this bare-faced robbery, but nothing he said was of any avail,
for the dog answered that he found false credentials on the sausage, and that was the reason his
life had been forfeited.
He picked up the wood, and flew sadly home, and told the mouse all he had seen and heard.
They were both very unhappy, but agreed to make the best of things and to remain with
one another.
So now the bird set the table, and the mouse looked after the food and, wishing to prepare
it in the same way as the sausage, by rolling in and out among the vegetables to salt and
butter them, she jumped into the pot; but she stopped short long before she reached
the bottom, having already parted not only with her skin and hair, but also with life.
Presently the bird came in and wanted to serve up the dinner, but he could nowhere see the
cook.
In his alarm and flurry, he threw the wood here and there about the floor, called and
searched, but no cook was to be found.
Then some of the wood that had been carelessly thrown down, caught fire and began to blaze.
The bird hastened to fetch some water, but his pail fell into the well, and he after
it, and as he was unable to recover himself, he was drowned.
End of The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage.