Once there was a mouse, a bird and a sausage. They were friends. They lived together in a house. Each one had a job. The mouse’s job was to collect water from the river, make the fire and lay the table. The bird’s job was to go to the forest and collect wood for the fire. The sausage’s job was to cook. Every day, each did their job, and they ate dinner together. They were all good at their jobs, and they were very happy.;
One day, the bird flew to the forest to collect wood. She was picking up wood when she heard another bird.
‘Hello! What are you doing there?’ said the other bird. ‘I’m collecting wood.’
‘You are collecting wood to make a nest? But that wood is so big! How big is your nest?’
‘No, I’m not making a nest. I don’t need a nest. I live in a house.’
The other bird was very surprised. ‘You live in a house? Birds don’t live in houses.’
‘Well I do. I live with a mouse and a sausage.’
‘A mouse and a sausage! How strange!’
The bird was a bit angry now. She wanted to finish collecting wood and go home. ‘It’s not strange at all,’ she said. ‘I collect wood from the forest. The mouse collects water from the river, makes the fire and lays the table.’
‘And what does she do after that? That doesn’t take very long.’
‘Well, she goes to bed and sleeps.’
‘I see. And what does the sausage do?’
‘The sausage cooks the food. He waits by the pot and stirs it. When it is ready, he jumps inside and swims around.’
‘How strange! Why does he do that?’
‘To make it salty! It tastes much better that way.’
‘And you collect wood for the fire? How long does it take?’
‘Well, I can’t take all the wood at once. It’s quite heavy, you know. So I go to the forest, collect some wood, and then fly home. I make about three trips a day.’
‘Three trips! You work very hard, you know. The mouse goes to bed and the sausage just stands by the pot and waits. You work harder than both of them.’
The bird felt strange. She had never thought about that. But it was true. She started collecting wood in the morning and finished in the evening. The mouse and the sausage didn’t work that long. That night, the mouse, the bird and the sausage ate dinner. Then the bird said, ‘I’ve had enough! I can’t do my job anymore.’
‘What is wrong?’ said the mouse. ‘Are you sick?’
‘No!’ said the bird. ‘I’m tired. I work from morning until night. I work much harder than you two.’
The mouse and the sausage looked at each other. They were worried. The bird had never talked like this before. ‘You do your job so well,’ said the sausage. ‘You always bring lots of wood, and it always burns well.’
‘Yes, yes!’ said the mouse. ‘We need the wood to cook.’
‘Well I don’t want to collect it anymore. Tomorrow, we’re going to change jobs. I will collect the water, make the fire and lay the table. You, Mouse, will cook. And you, Sausage, will collect the wood.’
Now the mouse and the sausage were very worried. They had never done those jobs before. But the bird was very angry, so they said yes. The next morning, the sausage went into the forest to collect wood, the bird went to the river to collect water, and the mouse stood by the pot and waited. And waited. And waited… ‘Where is that sausage?’ she said.
The bird came home. ‘Oh, this water is so heavy! Is Sausage back?’
‘No,’ said the mouse. ‘It has been a long time.’
The bird was tired. The water really was very heavy. But she was worried about the sausage.
‘I will go and find him.’
The bird flew to the forest. She looked for a long time, but she could not find the sausage. Finally, she saw a dog.
‘Oh, dog!’ she said. ‘I’m looking for a sausage. Have you seen one?’
‘No,’ said the dog, ‘but I just ate a sausage. It tasted very good.’
‘Oh no!’ cried the bird. ‘You ate my friend!’
‘Oh, well,’ said the dog. ‘You had a very tasty friend.’
The bird started crying, so the dog went away. After the bird finished crying, she picked up some wood and went home. While the bird was in the forest, the mouse started cooking. There was a bit of wood from yesterday, so she could start. She made the fire,waited and stirred the pot. Thirty minutes later, it was very hot. ‘Now I have to make it nice and salty,’ she said. The mouse jumped inside the pot. Oh, it was hot! She started swimming, but it hurt so much. ‘I can’t do this!’ she said. She put her hand out, because she wanted to climb out. But the pot was wet and slippery, and she could not climb out.
‘Help, help!’ the mouse cried. But nobody came. An hour later, the bird came back with the wood.
‘Mouse, it’s terrible! Sausage is dead!’ The bird went through the house, but she could not find the mouse. ‘Mouse, where are you?’ She put the wood on the floor, next to the pot, and looked for the mouse. The fire under the pot was still burning. ‘Mouse, mouse! Oh, this is the worst day ever.’ Suddenly, the wood next to the pot caught fire. The fire grew, and the table caught fire as well. ‘Oh no!’ said the bird. She tried to run outside, but the house was on fire now, and she could not get out. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry!’ cried the bird. ‘I will collect wood from the forest! I will never complain again!’ But it was too late. The house burned down, and the bird burned with it. That was the end of the mouse, the bird and the sausage. THE END