Long, long ago in Japan there lived an old man and his wife. The old
man was a good, kind-hearted, hard-working old fellow, but his wife was
a regular cross-patch, who spoiled the happiness of her home by her
scolding tongue. She was always grumbling about something from morning
to night. The old man had for a long time ceased to take any notice of
her crossness. He was out most of the day at work in the fields, and as
he had no child, for his amusement when he came home, he kept a tame
sparrow. He loved the little bird just as much as if she had been his
child.
When he came back at night after his hard day’s work in the open air it
was his only pleasure to pet the sparrow, to talk to her and to teach
her little tricks, which she learned very quickly. The old man would
open her cage and let her fly about the room, and they would play
together. Then when supper-time came, he always saved some tit-bits
from his meal with which to feed his little bird.
Now one day the old man went out to chop wood in the forest, and the
old woman stopped at home to wash clothes. The day before, she had made
some starch, and now when she came to look for it, it was all gone; the
bowl which she had filled full yesterday was quite empty.
While she was wondering who could have used or stolen the starch, down
flew the pet sparrow, and bowing her little feathered head—a trick
which she had been taught by her master—the pretty bird chirped and
said:
“It is I who have taken the starch. I thought it was some food put out
for me in that basin, and I ate it all. If I have made a mistake I beg
you to forgive me! tweet, tweet, tweet!”
You see from this that the sparrow was a truthful bird, and the old
woman ought to have been willing to forgive her at once when she asked
her pardon so nicely. But not so.
The old woman had never loved the sparrow, and had often quarreled with
her husband for keeping what she called a dirty bird about the house,
saying that it only made extra work for her. Now she was only too
delighted to have some cause of complaint against the pet. She scolded
and even cursed the poor little bird for her bad behavior, and not
content with using these harsh, unfeeling words, in a fit of rage she
seized the sparrow—who all this time had spread out her wings and bowed
her head before the old woman, to show how sorry she was—and fetched
the scissors and cut off the poor little bird’s tongue.
“I suppose you took my starch with that tongue! Now you may see what it
is like to go without it!” And with these dreadful words she drove the
bird away, not caring in the least what might happen to it and without
the smallest pity for its suffering, so unkind was she!
The old woman, after she had driven the sparrow away, made some more
rice-paste, grumbling all the time at the trouble, and after starching
all her clothes, spread the things on boards to dry in the sun, instead
of ironing them as they do in England.
In the evening the old man came home. As usual, on the way back he
looked forward to the time when he should reach his gate and see his
pet come flying and chirping to meet him, ruffling out her feathers to
show her joy, and at last coming to rest on his shoulder. But to-night
the old man was very disappointed, for not even the shadow of his dear
sparrow was to be seen.
He quickened his steps, hastily drew off his straw sandals, and stepped
on to the veranda. Still no sparrow was to be seen. He now felt sure
that his wife, in one of her cross tempers, had shut the sparrow up in
its cage. So he called her and said anxiously:
“Where is Suzume San (Miss Sparrow) today?”
The old woman pretended not to know at first, and answered:
“Your sparrow? I am sure I don’t know. Now I come to think of it, I
haven’t seen her all the afternoon. I shouldn’t wonder if the
ungrateful bird had flown away and left you after all your petting!”
But at last, when the old man gave her no peace, but asked her again
and again, insisting that she must know what had happened to his pet,
she confessed all. She told him crossly how the sparrow had eaten the
rice-paste she had specially made for starching her clothes, and how
when the sparrow had confessed to what she had done, in great anger she
had taken her scissors and cut out her tongue, and how finally she had
driven the bird away and forbidden her to return to the house again.
Then the old woman showed her husband the sparrow’s tongue, saying:
“Here is the tongue I cut off! Horrid little bird, why did it eat all
my starch?”
“How could you be so cruel? Oh! how could you so cruel?” was all that
the old man could answer. He was too kind-hearted to punish his be
shrew of a wife, but he was terribly distressed at what had happened to
his poor little sparrow.
“What a dreadful misfortune for my poor Suzume San to lose her tongue!”
he said to himself. “She won’t be able to chirp any more, and surely
the pain of the cutting of it out in that rough way must have made her
ill! Is there nothing to be done?”
The old man shed many tears after his cross wife had gone to sleep.
While he wiped away the tears with the sleeve of his cotton robe, a
bright thought comforted him: he would go and look for the sparrow on
the morrow. Having decided this he was able to go to sleep at last.
The next morning he rose early, as soon as ever the day broke, and
snatching a hasty breakfast, started out over the hills and through the
woods, stopping at every clump of bamboos to cry:
“Where, oh where does my tongue-cut sparrow stay? Where, oh where, does
my tongue-cut sparrow stay!”
He never stopped to rest for his noonday meal, and it was far on in the
afternoon when he found himself near a large bamboo wood. Bamboo groves
are the favorite haunts of sparrows, and there sure enough at the edge
of the wood he saw his own dear sparrow waiting to welcome him. He
could hardly believe his eyes for joy, and ran forward quickly to greet
her. She bowed her little head and went through a number of the tricks
her master had taught her, to show her pleasure at seeing her old
friend again, and, wonderful to relate, she could talk as of old. The
old man told her how sorry he was for all that had happened, and
inquired after her tongue, wondering how she could speak so well
without it. Then the sparrow opened her beak and showed him that a new
tongue had grown in place of the old one, and begged him not to think
any more about the past, for she was quite well now. Then the old man
knew that his sparrow was a fairy, and no common bird. It would be
difficult to exaggerate the old man’s rejoicing now. He forgot all his
troubles, he forgot even how tired he was, for he had found his lost
sparrow, and instead of being ill and without a tongue as he had feared
and expected to find her, she was well and happy and with a new tongue,
and without a sign of the ill-treatment she had received from his wife.
And above all she was a fairy.
The sparrow asked him to follow her, and flying before him she led him
to a beautiful house in the heart of the bamboo grove. The old man was
utterly astonished when he entered the house to find what a beautiful
place it was. It was built of the whitest wood, the soft cream-colored
mats which took the place of carpets were the finest he had ever seen,
and the cushions that the sparrow brought out for him to sit on were
made of the finest silk and crape. Beautiful vases and lacquer boxes
adorned the tokonoma[1] of every room.
[1] An alcove where precious objects are displayed.
The sparrow led the old man to the place of honor, and then, taking her
place at a humble distance, she thanked him with many polite bows for
all the kindness he had shown her for many long years.
Then the Lady Sparrow, as we will now call her, introduced all her
family to the old man. This done, her daughters, robed in dainty crape
gowns, brought in on beautiful old-fashioned trays a feast of all kinds
of delicious foods, till the old man began to think he must be
dreaming. In the middle of the dinner some of the sparrow’s daughters
performed a wonderful dance, called the “suzume-odori” or the
“Sparrow’s dance,” to amuse the guest.
Never had the old man enjoyed himself so much. The hours flew by too
quickly in this lovely spot, with all these fairy sparrows to wait upon
him and to feast him and to dance before him.
But the night came on and the darkness reminded him that he had a long
way to go and must think about taking his leave and return home. He
thanked his kind hostess for her splendid entertainment, and begged her
for his sake to forget all she had suffered at the hands of his cross
old wife. He told the Lady Sparrow that it was a great comfort and
happiness to him to find her in such a beautiful home and to know that
she wanted for nothing. It was his anxiety to know how she fared and
what had really happened to her that had led him to seek her. Now he
knew that all was well he could return home with a light heart. If ever
she wanted him for anything she had only to send for him and he would
come at once.
The Lady Sparrow begged him to stay and rest several days and enjoy the
change, but the old man said he must return to his old wife—who would
probably be cross at his not coming home at the usual time—and to his
work, and there-fore, much as he wished to do so, he could not accept
her kind invitation. But now that he knew where the Lady Sparrow lived
he would come to see her whenever he had the time.
When the Lady Sparrow saw that she could not persuade the old man to
stay longer, she gave an order to some of her servants, and they at
once brought in two boxes, one large and the other small. These were
placed before the old man, and the Lady Sparrow asked him to choose
whichever he liked for a present, which she wished to give him.
The old man could not refuse this kind proposal, and he chose the
smaller box, saying:
“I am now too old and feeble to carry the big and heavy box. As you are
so kind as to say that I may take whichever I like, I will choose the
small one, which will be easier for me to carry.”
Then the sparrows all helped him put it on his back and went to the
gate to see him off, bidding him good-by with many bows and entreating
him to come again whenever he had the time. Thus the old man and his
pet sparrow separated quite happily, the sparrow showing not the least
ill-will for all the unkindness she had suffered at the hands of the
old wife. Indeed, she only felt sorrow for the old man who had to put
up with it all his life.
When the old man reached home he found his wife even crosser than
usual, for it was late on in the night and she had been waiting up for
him for a long time.
“Where have you been all this time?” she asked in a big voice. “Why do
you come back so late?”
The old man tried to pacify her by showing her the box of presents he
had brought back with him, and then he told her of all that had
happened to him, and how wonderfully he had been entertained at the
sparrow’s house.
“Now let us see what is in the box,” said the old man, not giving her
time to grumble again. “You must help me open it.” And they both sat
down before the box and opened it.
To their utter astonishment they found the box filled to the brim with
gold and silver coins and many other precious things. The mats of their
little cottage fairly glittered as they took out the things one by one
and put them down and handled them over and over again. The old man was
overjoyed at the sight of the riches that were now his. Beyond his
brightest expectations was the sparrow’s gift, which would enable him
to give up work and live in ease and comfort the rest of his days.
He said: “Thanks to my good little sparrow! Thanks to my good little
sparrow!” many times.
But the old woman, after the first moments of surprise and satisfaction
at the sight of the gold and silver were over, could not suppress the
greed of her wicked nature. She now began to reproach the old man for
not having brought home the big box of presents, for in the innocence
of his heart he had told her how he had refused the large box of
presents which the sparrows had offered him, preferring the smaller one
because it was light and easy to carry home.
“You silly old man,” said she, “Why did you not bring the large box?
Just think what we have lost. We might have had twice as much silver
and gold as this. You are certainly an old fool!” she screamed, and
then went to bed as angry as she could be.
The old man now wished that he had said nothing about the big box, but
it was too late; the greedy old woman, not contented with the good luck
which had so unexpectedly befallen them and which she so little
deserved, made up her mind, if possible, to get more.
Early the next morning she got up and made the old man describe the way
to the sparrow’s house. When he saw what was in her mind he tried to
keep her from going, but it was useless. She would not listen to one
word he said. It is strange that the old woman did not feel ashamed of
going to see the sparrow after the cruel way she had treated her in
cutting off her tongue in a fit of rage. But her greed to get the big
box made her forget everything else. It did not even enter her thoughts
that the sparrows might be angry with her—as, indeed, they were—and
might punish her for what she had done.
Ever since the Lady Sparrow had returned home in the sad plight in
which they had first found her, weeping and bleeding from the mouth,
her whole family and relations had done little else but speak of the
cruelty of the old woman. “How could she,” they asked each other,
“inflict such a heavy punishment for such a trifling offense as that of
eating some rice-paste by mistake?” They all loved the old man who was
so kind and good and patient under all his troubles, but the old woman
they hated, and they determined, if ever they had the chance, to punish
her as she deserved. They had not long to wait.
After walking for some hours the old woman had at last found the bamboo
grove which she had made her husband carefully describe, and now she
stood before it crying out:
“Where is the tongue-cut sparrow’s house? Where is the tongue-cut
sparrow’s house?”
At last she saw the eaves of the house peeping out from amongst the
bamboo foliage. She hastened to the door and knocked loudly.
When the servants told the Lady Sparrow that her old mistress was at
the door asking to see her, she was somewhat surprised at the
unexpected visit, after all that had taken place, and she wondered not
a little at the boldness of the old woman in venturing to come to the
house. The Lady Sparrow, however, was a polite bird, and so she went
out to greet the old woman, remembering that she had once been her
mistress.
The old woman intended, however, to waste no time in words, she went
right to the point, without the least shame, and said:
“You need not trouble to entertain me as you did my old man. I have
come myself to get the box which he so stupidly left behind. I shall
soon take my leave if you will give me the big box—that is all I want!”
The Lady Sparrow at once consented, and told her servants to bring out
the big box. The old woman eagerly seized it and hoisted it on her
back, and without even stopping to thank the Lady Sparrow began to
hurry homewards.
The box was so heavy that she could not walk fast, much less run, as
she would have liked to do, so anxious was she to get home and see what
was inside the box, but she had often to sit down and rest herself by
the way.
While she was staggering along under the heavy load, her desire to open
the box became too great to be resisted. She could wait no longer, for
she supposed this big box to be full of gold and silver and precious
jewels like the small one her husband had received.
At last this greedy and selfish old woman put down the box by the
wayside and opened it carefully, expecting to gloat her eyes on a mine
of wealth. What she saw, however, so terrified her that she nearly lost
her senses. As soon as she lifted the lid, a number of horrible and
frightful looking demons bounced out of the box and surrounded her as
if they intended to kill her. Not even in nightmares had she ever seen
such horrible creatures as her much-coveted box contained. A demon with
one huge eye right in the middle of its forehead came and glared at
her, monsters with gaping mouths looked as if they would devour her, a
huge snake coiled and hissed about her, and a big frog hopped and
croaked towards her.
The old woman had never been so frightened in her life, and ran from
the spot as fast as her quaking legs would carry her, glad to escape
alive. When she reached home she fell to the floor and told her husband
with tears all that had happened to her, and how she had been nearly
killed by the demons in the box.
Then she began to blame the sparrow, but the old man stopped her at
once, saying:
“Don’t blame the sparrow, it is your wickedness which has at last met
with its reward. I only hope this may be a lesson to you in the
future!”
The old woman said nothing more, and from that day she repented of her
cross, unkind ways, and by degrees became a good old woman, so that her
husband hardly knew her to be the same person, and they spent their
last days together happily, free from want or care, spending carefully
the treasure the old man had received from his pet, the tongue-cut
sparrow.