Surely she could write better lyrics than that! "These lyrics look as if they were written by a six year old," she thought. "If I was the one writing the lyrics, I'd write about sexist losers like Hans."When Banjo saw the lyrics on the wall, he said, "No one wants to hear songs about your ex-girlfriend, Hans, so we shall use the lyrics Tram wrote." "But these lyrics are the best I can do," begged Hans, placing his palms together. "I wish I could write a great love song, but break up songs seem to be my forte. Girls always seem to break up with me." "I appreciate your attempts to write songs, but Tram is a better lyricist," rebuked Banjo.
The members of the band stood in the middle of the market square and waved to the passersby's. "Everybody, please listen up!" shouted Hans, clapping his hands together. "We are THE BREMEN FIVE. You might not have heard of us before, but I guarantee that you will love our music." He began playing his drums using his drumsticks, sang a little, and then the rest of the band joined in by playing their own instruments and singing along.
A poor little girl named Isa was there with her mother, listening to the glorious music. They were both dressed in rags. In Isa's left hand she held a small guitar. She used a crayon to draw a picture of a black swan on her guitar. Her eyes widened with excitement, upon seeing Elisa play the guitar. Isa's mother noticed her daughter trying to speak with her, so she bent over and leaned close to her daughter. Once the band finished singing the song, the crowd went wild. Some threw silver coins at them, while some threw flowers.
A pleased Hans looked at the silver coins and picked some of them up, intending to put them in his pocket. Elisa turned and grabbed Hans hand in frustration. How could Hans forget his proper place, once again? She stared at him with a look of condemnation and held out her hand. "Give me the silver coins you have in your hands," she wanted to say to him. She bent over and picked up a few silver coins. She took a step closer to Hans and dropped the coins into Hans' palms. Hans was puzzled regarding why Elisa had done this. Was she giving Hans permission to take what he wanted? He raised his head to look at Elisa.
She was still looking at him with a look of condemnation. Tram wanted to diffuse the situation, so she suggested to Hans, "Please, Hans, give the Swan Lady back her money." Hans picked up the silver coins, and slowly but surely gave them to Elisa.
Elisa counted the coins and put the coins into the moneybag. Isa's mother was standing in front of Elisa. Her daughter was standing next to her. "Could you spare a moment to teach my daughter, Isa, guitar playing techniques?" the mother nervously said to Elisa. Hans smiled at Elisa and raised a hand. He rubbed the fingertips of that hand together. This was done to remind Elisa to charge money for guitar lessons. "Ask her how much she is willing to pay," he said, leaning close to Elisa. Elisa shrugged and looked into Isa's green eyes. The Mother must have heard what Hans had said, for she took off her necklace and offered it to Elisa.
Elisa smiled and shook her head in a kindly manner. She played melodies on her guitar and began to teach the ten year old child. Hans scratched his head because he was confused when Elisa taught Isa without charging for a single coin. However, minutes later, his frown turned into a grin when he heard the victorious laughter of Isa. Isa was definitely impressed by how much she was able to learn in such a short period of time. Hans realized how happy Elisa was making Isa, Banjo, and everyone else. Deep down Hans thought Elisa's behavior towards Isa was cool, even though he wasn't ready to admit it to himself just yet. Even though Elisa did not say a single word, she was still able to teach Isa how to play basic guitar chords. After two hours, Elisa stopped teaching Isa. She carved the official logo of THE BREMEN FIVE onto Isa's guitar with a knife.
The members of the band made their living as travelling musicians who travelled from town to town. Sometimes they played for the masses, and sometimes they played for the rich.
Sometimes they charged for money, but most of the time they played for free. They even taught people music lessons, but they would often teach the poor for free because that was what Elisa wanted. And nobody liked to disappoint Elisa, not even Hans.
Every time they travelled to a new town, the crowds got bigger. While travelling, Hans began to grow quite fond of Elisa, especially since she started to teach him how to play the banjo. She taught him even though he never asked her to. Our friends went to many places to play their music, including hospitals and prisons. These were places that they didn't normally go, but they went to these places because Elisa had wanted to go there.
One day, in the early morning, after emerging from his tent, Hans was reading the newspaper. He and the rest of the band had set up a camping spot in the middle of the woods, not far from the capital city of Victoria. He laughed with a laugh that sounded slightly evil when he read about how famous his band had become. "He hehehe ha!" he giggled joyfully and mischievously. "I'm the king of the world. After all this time, things are finally looking up for me."
Banjo emerged from the tent and said to him, "Well, Hans, it's good to see you having a good time. I suppose that you will be happy to hear that our next stop is the city of Melbourne. It's the capital city of Victoria! Get a move on because we have no time to lose." The band members began walking towards Melbourne. While they were walking, a large crowd greeted them.
Many of the crowd members held up massive signs proclaiming their love for the band. Hans was the one who carried the wheelbarrow containing the musical instruments and other important supplies. He moved his eyebrows around in a playful manner when he saw, and heard, many girls shouting his name. Banjo and Tram lifted Elisa up high, saying, "Behold, the maestro!" They said this about Elisa because they deeply respected Elisa's musical talents. Hans turned to one side and looked at Elisa in an affectionate manner. "Well, aren't you the hopeless romantic," Tram quipped to Hans. "I don't know what you're talking about," denied an unsure Hans, straightening up and wiping that smile off his face.
Many members of the crowd threw gum leaves and waved gum tree branches at the band, and shouted, "Hail to the greatest band of all time." Elisa picked up one of the gum leaves and felt nostalgic when she looked at them. When she was young, she would be paraded through the streets of her kingdom, and many people would throw marigold flowers at her. These flowers were her mother's favorite, and they were her favorite as well. Everyone in her kingdom loved these flowers. These flowers were even depicted on the kingdom's national flag. Elisa couldn't help but tremble and cry a tear or two, upon seeing the people throw gum leaves at her. Banjo grew worried about Elisa when he noticed her shedding a tear. "Swan Lady, are you alright?" Banjo asked Elisa, wiping the tear off her face. Elisa nodded to indicate to Banjo that she was okay, but Banjo doubted this.
Mad Dog, who stood amongst the crowd, noticed Elisa. He wanted to take her to Judith, but he did not because he was afraid of the crowd. He slipped away before Elisa could notice him. Running as fast as he could, he found Judith. She was staying at an inn that was not far from Melbourne. She was trying to win money by playing a game of cards when Mad Dog entered the inn. She appeared to be rather annoyed when she saw Mad Dog enter the inn.
"I have urgent news," Mad Dog cried out to her.
"This better be good. I hate when people interrupt my card games."
"I have seen the Swan Lady," explained Mad Dog, sitting down on a chair. "She is going to Melbourne."
"If you have seen the Swan Lady, then why haven't you brought her to me?"
"The Swan Lady was surrounded by hordes of people," he confessed. "The people love her. There was no way I could have brought her to you."
"Then we must find someone who will betray her to us."
Mad Dog shook his head and said, "The people love her. We will never find anyone who will be willing to betray her to us.""You'd be surprised if you knew how many people would be willing to betray their friends for money," Judith said with a chuckle.
The band members walked until they reached the Queen Victoria Market, which is within the city of Melbourne. They stood right outside one of the sheds of the market. "Whose idea was it to go here?" shouted Hans to the other members of his band. "It was the Swan Lady's idea," explained Banjo, who was still in awe of Elisa "What a good idea it is! We'll have a huge audience here." "Sing for us," shouted many members of the crowd. They really were desperate for good music. "There are so many people here," said Banjo to the other members of the band. "There must be over a thousand people here to watch us play our music. Many of the people won't be able to see us."
Tram had a cunning plan. She noticed a ladder that had been placed against a wall. She ran over to the ladder and lifted it up so that the members of the band could use the ladder to climb onto the roof of the shed. "She is an idiot!" exclaimed Banjo. Hans shook his head and replied, "No, Banjo, she is a woman of my own heart!" Everyone in the band climbed onto the roof of the shed so that even those who were standing far away from them could see them. Banjo picked up his banjo. He played a riff on his guitar and began to hum a little. "I know that riff and melody," exclaimed Hans, who was filled with joy. "I once sang that song to a…certain…girl." The girl he was referring to was his sort of ex-girlfriend, who he'd once betrayed for power. He began to clap his hands together. Hans couldn't help but sing a little because it was a song he had fond memories of. It was a song about marriage, which Hans used to sing before he entered into acts of power lust and betrayal.
Banjo appeared to be singing it to Elisa. Banjo patted Hans on the shoulder and said, "Please cover for me." Banjo gave Hans his banjo and held out his hand in front of Elisa's face. Elisa took it and together they did the do-si-do dance. Hans sang and played the banjo while the two lovebirds danced. Hans wasn't very good at playing the banjo though, and he became really stressed out playing the stringed instrument. His banjo playing was not too bad because he had received lessons from Elisa. When Hans finished playing the song, the crowd went wild. "Thank you my public, but no one in this band wrote this song," shouted Hans, who felt very embarrassed. Banjo walked up to Hans and said, "The song was to give her a signal." "Who?" asked Hans, still finding it hard to believe that Banjo had found romance. Banjo took a marigold flower out of his pocket and gave it to Elisa. "I know these are your favorite, sunshine!" said Banjo to her. Banjo somehow figured out that Marigold flowers were Elisa's favorite, even though Elisa did not tell him.