Once upon a time, a mouse, a bird, and a sausage decided to live together. For a long time, everything went well. They were very comfortable and stayed happy because they all had their own jobs. The bird flew into the woods every day to collect wood for the fire. The mouse fetched the water, and the sausage did the cooking.
One day, the bird met another bird in the forest. He bragged about how perfect his life was at home. However, the other bird laughed at him. "You are a fool," the other bird said. "You do all the hard work outside, while the mouse and the sausage stay at home and rest."
The bird began to think his friend was right. He thought about how the mouse just had to fetch water and then rest in her room. He thought about the sausage, who only had to watch the pot. To make the food taste delicious, the sausage would simply jump into the soup and roll around to add salt and fat. Then, the job was done.
The next morning, the bird refused to go to the forest. He said they must change their jobs. Although the mouse and the sausage were worried, the bird insisted. They decided to draw lots to choose new jobs. The sausage had to collect wood, the mouse had to cook, and the bird had to fetch the water.
What happened next was a disaster. The sausage went to the forest, while the bird and the mouse waited at home. When the sausage didn't come back, the bird flew out to look for him. He soon found a dog on the road. The dog had caught the sausage and swallowed him. The bird complained, but the dog just said that the sausage was carrying false papers, so it was okay to eat him.
The bird sadly carried the wood home and told the mouse what had happened. They were very upset, but they decided to try and stay together.
The bird set the table, and the mouse began to cook. The mouse wanted to flavor the soup just like the sausage did, so she jumped into the boiling pot. But before she could even reach the bottom, she died in the hot water.
When the bird came into the kitchen to serve dinner, he couldn't find the cook. He became very nervous and started throwing the wood around. Suddenly, a piece of wood caught fire, and the house began to burn. The bird ran to the well to get water, but he was so clumsy that he fell into the deep well and drowned. In the end, they were all gone.