The Mythology & Folklore Database
However, after the meal the servant warned the cat, "Flee, otherwise early tomorrow you'll be slaughtered."
The cat took the warning to heart, and the next morning when they wanted to kill her, she had fled, and they heard nothing more from her.
The next evening the man said, "Tomorrow morning we have to slaughter our rooster."
The servant warned the rooster as well, and he too hurriedly left the farmyard. In like manner the ox ran away as well, and the three of them came together in the woods. They wandered on through the trees.
A wolf approached them, and they asked him, "Where are you going?"
"I'm headed for the herd over there," answered the wolf. "I'll try to catch a little lamb for a snack."
"Don't go there!" replied the others. "They will kill you. Instead, come with us."
The wolf agreed to this, and the four went on their way.
A bear approached them, and they asked him, "Where are you going?"
"To the village over there, where I'll get some oats to eat," answered the bear.
"Don't go there; it's too dangerous," said the others. You'd better come with us instead."
So the bear joined them, and after the five of them had gone a little further they came upon a hare. They convinced him to come with them as well.
Coming to a village, and they approached a bath-house.
A dog lay at its entrance, and he warned them, "Don't go inside. Evil spirits live there."
But they went inside anyway. The bear laid himself down on the doorstep; the wolf between the doorposts; the ox found a corner for himself; the rooster flew onto a rafter; the cat lay on the hearth; the hare under the bench; and the dog in the middle of the room.
The devil came to the bath-house and opened the door. The wolf immediately bit him in the leg; the bear hit him with his paw; the ox butted him with his horns; the rooster began to crow and the cat to meow; the hare jumped back and forth under the bench, and the dog ran around and around the room.
Frightened by all the confusion, the devil fell over backwards.
Picking himself up, he freed himself from his enemies' claws and fled out the door into the woods, where he claimed to his companions: "Don't go into the bath-house. Powerful strangers are there. On the doorstep a tailor stuck me with his needles. A rough-haired man hit me in the chest with his fists. A cobbler hit me with his gear-bag until I fell over backward. The apprentices ran around the room, jumping from one corner to the other with glowing eyes, trying to beat me, but they couldn't find me. One of them [the rooster] cried out to them as I was getting away: 'Grab the guy! Grab the guy!'"