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Once upon
a time...
A long long time ago, an old couple dwelt in the very heart
of a high mountain. They lived together in peace and harmony,
although they were very different in character, the man being
good-natured and honest, and the wife being greedy and quarrelsome
when anyone came her way that she could possibly quarrel with.
One day the old man was sitting in front of his cottage, as he was
very fond of doing, when he saw flying towards him a little sparrow,
followed by a big black raven. The poor little thing was very much
frightened and cried out as it flew, and the great bird came behind
it terribly fast, flapping its wings and craning its beak, for it
was hungry and wanted some dinner. But as they drew near the old
man, he jumped up, and beat back the raven, which mounted, with
hoarse screams of disappointment, into the sky, and the little bird,
freed from its enemy, nestled into the old man's hand, and he
carried it into the house. He stroked its feathers, and told it not
to be afraid, for it was quite safe; but as he still felt its heart
beating, he put it into a cage, where it soon plucked up courage to
twitter and hop about. The old man was fond of all creatures, and
every morning he used to open the cage door, and the sparrow flew
happily about until it caught sight of a cat or a rat or some other
fierce beast, when it would instantly return to the cage, knowing
that there no harm could come to it.
The woman, who was always on the look-out for something to grumble
at, grew very jealous of her husband's affection for the bird, and
would gladly have done it some harm had she dared. At last, one
morning her opportunity came. Her husband had gone to the town some
miles away down the mountain, and would not be back for several
hours, but before he left he did not forget to open the door of the
cage. The sparrow hopped about as usual, twittering happily, and
thinking no evil, and all the while the woman's brow became blacker
and blacker, and at length her fury broke out. She threw her broom
at the bird, who was perched on a bracket high up on the wall. The
broom missed the bird, but knocked down and broke the vase on the
bracket, which did not soothe the angry woman. Then she chased it
from place to place, and at last had it safe between her fingers,
almost as frightened as on the day that it had made its first
entrance into the hut.
By this time the woman was more furious than ever. If she had dared,
she would have killed the sparrow then and there, but as it was she
only ventured to slit its tongue. The bird struggled and piped, but
there was no one to hear it, and then, crying out loud with the
pain, it flew from the house and was lost in the depths of the
forest.
By-and-bye the old man came back, and at once began to ask for his
pet. His wife, who was still in a very bad temper, told him the
whole story, and scolded him roundly for being so silly as to make
such a fuss over a bird. But the old man, who was much troubled,
declared she was a bad, hard-hearted woman, to have behaved so to a
poor harmless bird; then he left the house, and went into the forest
to seek for his pet. He walked many hours, whistling and calling for
it, but it never came, and he went sadly home, resolved to be out
with the dawn and never to rest till he had brought the wanderer
back. Day after day he searched and called; and evening after
evening he returned in despair. At length he gave up hope, and made
up his mind that he should see his little friend no more.
One hot summer morning, the old man was walking slowly under the
cool shadows of the big trees, and without thinking where he was
going, he entered a bamboo thicket. As the bamboos became thinner,
he found himself opposite to a beautiful garden, in the centre of
which stood a tiny spick-and-span little house, and out of the house
came a lovely maiden, who unlatched the gate and invited him in the
most hospitable way to enter and rest. 'Oh, my dear old friend,' she
exclaimed, 'how glad I am you have found me at last! I am your
little sparrow, whose life you saved, and whom you took such care
of.'
The old man seized her hands eagerly, but no time was given him to
ask any questions, for the maiden drew him into the house, and set
food before him, and waited on him herself.
While he was eating, the damsel and her maids took their lutes, and
sang and danced to him, and altogether the hours passed so swiftly
that the old man never saw that darkness had come, or remembered the
scolding he would get from his wife for returning home so late.
Thus, in dancing and singing, and talking over the days when the
maiden was a sparrow hopping in and out of her cage, the night
passed away, and when the first rays of sun broke through the hedge
of bamboo, the old man started up, thanked his hostess for her
friendly welcome, and prepared to say farewell. 'I am not going to
let you depart like that,' said she; 'I have a present for you,
which you must take as a sign of my gratitude.' And as she spoke,
her servants brought in two chests, one of them very small, the
other large and heavy. 'Now choose which of them you will carry with
you.' So the old man chose the small chest, and hid it under his
cloak, and set out on his homeward way.
But as he drew near the house his heart sank a little, for he knew
what a fury his wife would be in, and how she would abuse him for
his absence. And it was even worse than he expected. However, long
experience had taught him to let her storm and say nothing, so he
lit his pipe and waited till she was tired out. The woman was still
raging, and did not seem likely to stop, when her husband, who by
this time had forgotten all about her, drew out the chest from under
his cloak, and opened it. Oh, what a blaze met his eyes! gold and
precious stones were heaped up to the very lid, and lay dancing in
he sunlight. At the sight of these wonders even the scolding tongue
ceased, and the woman approached, and took the stones in her hand,
setting greedily aside those that were the largest and most costly.
Then her voice softened, and she begged him quite politely to tell
her where he had spent his evening, and how he had come by these
wonderful riches. So he told her the whole story, and she listened
with amazement, till he came to the choice which had been given him
between the two chests. At this her tongue broke loose again, as she
abused him for his folly in taking the little one, and she never
rested till her husband had described the exact way which led to the
sparrow-princess's house. When she had got it into her head, she put
on her best clothes and set out at once. But in her blind haste she
often missed the path, and she wandered for several hours before she
at length reached the little house. She walked boldly up to the door
and entered the room as if the whole place belonged to her, and
quite frightened the poor girl, who was startled at the sight of her
old enemy. However, she concealed her feelings as well as she could,
and bade the intruder welcome, placing before her food and wine,
hoping that when she had eaten and drunk she might take her leave.
But nothing of the sort.
'You will not let me go without a little present?' said the greedy
wife, as she saw no signs of one being offered her. 'Of course not,'
replied the girl, and at her orders two chests were brought in, as
they had been before. The old woman instantly seized the bigger, and
staggering under the weight of it, disappeared into the forest,
hardly waiting even to say good-bye.
It was a long way to her own house, and the chest seemed to grow
heavier at every step. Sometimes she felt as if it would be
impossible for her to get on at all, but her greed gave her
strength, and at last she arrived at her own door. She sank down on
the threshold, overcome with weariness, but in a moment was on her
feet again, fumbling with the lock of the chest. But by this time
night had come, and there was no light in the house, and the woman
was in too much hurry to get to her treasures, to go and look for
one. At length, however, the lock gave way, and the lid flew open,
when, O horror! instead of gold and jewels, she saw before her
serpents with glittering eyes and forky tongues. And they twined
themselves about her and darted poison into her veins, and she died,
and no man regretted her.
The Sparrow with the
Slit Tongue
from the Pink Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
