Vart was the name of a boy who was six years old, and Vartoohi
was the name of his sister, who was five years of age. Varteni,
their dear mother, had died, and Vartan, their father, had brought
home a stepmother who had with her a boy of her own four years
old. Vartan was a well-to-do farmer, and as he loved his children
he brought them nice suits of clothes and dresses, delicious food,
pretty toys and many other presents. The stepmother, being a wicked
woman, envied the little half-orphans and wished to destroy them
that she might secure every good thing for her own child. In order
to attain her vile purpose she secretly boiled the seed which her
husband was to sow in the field that year. The wheat, of course,
did not grow, and as there was no crop, the farmer had to borrow to
meet his expenses. The following year she played the same treacherous
trick and increased the farmer's indebtedness so much that the poor
man, giving up every hope of the farm, went away to sojourn in other
countries to earn money. That was what the wicked woman desired with
all her heart. She fed her son with meat and pies, while she gave
the half-orphans only a handful of boiled wheat to eat. One day she
decided to take Vart and Vartoohi to the river as if to bathe them,
and there to drown them. That day the two innocent half-orphans had
taken their handful of boiled wheat and were eating it in a corner
of the yard. They saw a small sparrow which was jumping and hopping
around them, and chirping and chattering as it leaped. Vart wanted
to kill it with a stone, but Vartoohi prevented him. As they were
eating their poor, scanty meal, they listened to the little birdie,
and lo! they thought they could understand what it was chirping.
"Orphans, orphans! good little orphans!" the little sparrow was saying,
"give me a few grains which I may take to my little ones in my tiny
nest and I will give you good counsel."
The children cast a few grains to the bird, which after taking them
to its nest came back, saying:
"Orphans, run! orphans, run! your stepmother will to-day take you to
the river to drown you. Run, orphans, run!"
And the little sparrow flew away. Soon the stepmother came, saying:
"Get up, you dirty things! we will go to the river, where I may
bathe you."
"You go first, mamma; we will come by and by," answered the orphans.
And following the advice of their little feathered friend they ran
away to the mountains. The stepmother never searched for them, and the
two children wandered in the forest until evening. At nightfall they
entered the hollow trunk of an old sycamore tree, repeated the prayer
which they had learned from their dead mother, and lay down to sleep
embracing one another. Soon after daybreak the faithful sparrow came,
and the two children waking heard it chirp to them:
"Orphans, good orphans, come and eat; there is boiled wheat for you."
They immediately got up and ran after the sparrow, which led them
until they came where an old woman brought a kettleful of boiled wheat,
and emptying it under a tree, went away. A great many little sparrows
were gathered; the two half-orphans sat with them at the table. The
good old woman used to bring the kettleful of wheat and empty it under
that tree day after day. She did this in memory of her children and
grandchildren, who had died when they were young boys and girls, and
whom she had loved very much. She believed that these little birdies
were the spirits of her dead little ones. So these two half-orphans
lived with the little sparrows for a long time.
One day as the Prince was hunting in the forest he met Vart and
Vartoohi, took them with him to the palace, loved them and adopted them
as his son and daughter. The children were so pretty and amiable that
all the court loved them dearly. But Vart and Vartoohi were not happy.
"What is the matter with you, my children?" asked the Prince; "what
is the cause of your grief?"
"We long to see our dear papa who has gone away," answered Vart.
"And we long to see the little sparrow, our benefactor," added
Vartoohi.
The Prince sent out men in search of Vartan, the father of the
children; and finding him, brought him home. He punished his wife for
her wickedness, and embraced his children. The Prince kept him also,
as a messenger in the court. But who could find the sparrow? It came
by itself one day, and alighting on the window where the orphans
were, chirped:
"You blessed little orphans, you pitied my little ones and gave me
grain, and lo! Heaven has bestowed upon you so many bounties. May
you continue to be blessed and to be happy."
The Prince liked the little sparrow for its good services and permitted
it to build its nest thereafter under the eaves of the palace. All
sparrows which at the present time build their nests under the eaves
of houses are the descendants of that good sparrow. Let us be good
even to the sparrows and they may bring good to us.