Grimms' Fairy Tales online

THE DOG AND THE SPARROW

page 2 of 2 | page 1 | table of contents

'What an unlucky wretch I am!' cried he.

'Not wretch enough yet!' said the sparrow, as she alighted upon the head of one of the horses, and pecked at him till he reared up and kicked.

When the carter saw this, he drew out his hatchet and aimed a blow at the sparrow, meaning to kill her; but she flew away, and the blow fell upon the poor horse's head with such force, that he fell down dead.

'Unlucky wretch that I am!' cried he.

'Not wretch enough yet!' said the sparrow.

And as the carter went on with the other two horses, she again crept under the tilt of the cart, and pecked out the bung of the second cask, so that all the wine ran out. When the carter saw this, he again cried out, 'Miserable wretch that I am!'

But the sparrow answered, 'Not wretch enough yet!' and perched on the head of the second horse, and pecked at him too.

The carter ran up and struck at her again with his hatchet; but away she flew, and the blow fell upon the second horse and killed him on the spot.

'Unlucky wretch that I am!' said he.

'Not wretch enough yet!' said the sparrow; and perching upon the third horse, she began to peck him too. The carter was mad with fury; and without looking about him, or caring what he was about, struck again at the sparrow; but killed his third horse as he done the other two.

'Alas! miserable wretch that I am!' cried he.

'Not wretch enough yet!' answered the sparrow as she flew away; 'now will I plague and punish thee at thy own house.'

The carter was forced at last to leave his cart behind him, and to go home overflowing with rage and vexation.

'Alas!' said he to his wife, 'what ill luck has befallen me! --my wine is all spilt, and my horses all three dead.'

'Alas! husband,' replied she, 'and a wicked bird has come into the house, and has brought with her all the birds in the world, I am sure, and they have fallen upon our corn in the loft, and are eating it up at such a rate!'

Away ran the husband upstairs, and saw thousands of birds sitting upon the floor eating up his corn, with the sparrow in the midst of them. 'Unlucky wretch that I am!' cried the carter; for he saw that the corn was almost all gone. 'Not wretch enough yet!' said the sparrow; 'thy cruelty shall cost thee they life yet!' and away she flew.

The carter seeing that he had thus lost all that he had, went down into his kitchen; and was still not sorry for what he had done, but sat himself angrily and sulkily in the chimney corner. But the sparrow sat on the outside of the window, and cried 'Carter! thy cruelty shall cost thee thy life!'

With that he jumped up in a rage, seized his hatchet, and threw it at the sparrow; but it missed her, and only broke the window.

The sparrow now hopped in, perched upon the window- seat, and cried, 'Carter! it shall cost thee thy life!'

Then he became mad and blind with rage, and struck the window-seat with such force that he cleft it in two: and as the sparrow flew from place to place, the carter and his wife were so furious, that they broke all their furniture, glasses, chairs, benches, the table, and at last the walls, without touching the bird at all.

In the end, however, they caught her: and the wife said, 'Shall I kill her at once?' 'No,' cried he, 'that is letting her off too easily: she shall die a much more cruel death; I will eat her.'

But the sparrow began to flutter about, and stretch out her neck and cried, 'Carter! it shall cost thee thy life yet!'

With that he could wait no longer: so he gave his wife the hatchet, and cried, 'Wife, strike at the bird and kill her in my hand.'

And the wife struck; but she missed her aim, and hit her husband on the head so that he fell down dead, and the sparrow flew quietly home to her nest.

kids stories Home