Stranica 305 [305]
THE DOG AND THE SPARROW. 245
“That also shall you have; come with me.” And he led
himto a bakers stall and pecked at a few little rolls until
they fell to the ground, and as the dog still wanted more, they
went to another stall farther on and got more bread. When
that was done the sparrow said,
6 Dog, my brother, are you satisfied yet?"
“Ves.” answered he, "and now we will walk a little
outside the town."
And they went together along the high road. It was
warm weather, and when they had gone a little way the dog said,
“T am tired, and would like to go to sleep.”
“Well, do so,” said the sparrow; “in the meanwhile I will
sit near on a bough.” The dog laid himself in the road and
fell fast asleep, and as he lay there a waggoner came up with
a waggon and three horses, laden with two casks of wine ; the
sparrow, seeing that he was not going to turn aside but kept in
the beaten track, just where the dog lay, cried out,
‘Waggoner, take care, or you shall suffer for it !”
But the waggoner, muttering, ‘‘ What harm can you do to
me?” cracked his whip and drove his waggon over the dog,
and he was crushed to death by the wheels. ‘Then the
sparrow cried,
“Thou hast killed the dog my brother, and it shall cost
thee horses and cart !”
“Oh! horses and cart!” said the waggoner, " what harm
can you do me, I should like to know?” and drove on. ‘The
sparrow crept under the covering of the waggon and pecked at
the bung-hole of one of the casks until the cork came out, and
all the wine ran out without the waggoner noticing. After a
while, looking round, he saw that something dripped from the
waggon, and on examining the casks he found that one of them
was empty, and he cried out,
“T am a ruined man!”
‘‘Not ruined enough yet !” said the sparrow, and flying to
one of the horses he perched on his head and pecked at his
eyes. When the waggoner saw that he took out his axe to hit
the sparrow, who at that moment flew aloft, and the waggoner
missing him struck the horse on the head, so that he fell down
dead.
“Oh, I am a ruined man !” cried he.