A Dog had not a good master, but, on the contrary, one who let him suffer hunger. As he could stay no longer with him, he went quite sadly away.

On the road he met a Sparrow, who said:

‘Brother Dog, why are you so sad?’

The Dog replied, ‘I am hungry, with nothing to eat.

‘In that case,’ said the Sparrow, ‘dear brother, come into the town with me, and I will satisfy your hunger.’

So they went into the town together, and soon came to a butcher's shop.

The Sparrow said to the Dog, ‘Stay here, and I will drop a bit of meat down for you.’

The Sparrow alighted on the stall, looked about him to see that no one was observing him, and pecked and pulled and tore so long at a steak that it slipped down. Then the Dog seized it, ran into a corner, and devoured it.

The Sparrow said, ‘Now come with me to another shop, and then I will get you one more piece that you may be satisfied.’

When the Dog had devoured the second piece as well, the Sparrow asked:

‘Brother Dog, have you now had enough?’

‘Yes, I have had meat enough,’ he answered, ‘but I have had no bread yet.’

‘You shall have that also. Come with me.’

Then the Sparrow took the Dog to a baker's shop, and pecked at a couple of little buns till they rolled down, and as the dog wanted still more, he led him to another stall, and again got bread for him.

When that was consumed, the Sparrow said, ‘Brother Dog, have you now had enough?’

‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘now we will walk awhile outside the town.’

Then they both went out on to the highway. The weather was warm, however, and when they had walked a little way, the Dog said:

‘I am tired, and would like to sleep.’

‘Well, go ahead and sleep,’ answered the Sparrow, ‘and in the meantime I will seat myself on a branch.’

So the Dog lay down on the road, and fell fast asleep. Whilst he lay sleeping there, a waggoner came driving by, who had a cart with three horses, laden with two barrels of wine. The Sparrow, however, saw that he was not going to turn aside, but was staying in the wheel track in which the dog was lying, so it cried:

‘Waggoner, don't do it, or I will make you poor.’

But the waggoner growled to himself, ‘You will not make me poor!’ and he cracked his whip and drove the cart over the Dog, and the wheels killed him.

Then the Sparrow cried, ‘You have run over my Brother Dog and killed him, it shall cost you your cart and horses!’

‘Cart and horses, indeed!’ said the waggoner. ‘What harm can you do me?’

He drove onwards. Then the Sparrow crept under the cover of the cart, and pecked so long at the same bung hole that he got the bung out, and then all the wine ran out without the driver noticing it.

Once, when he was looking behind him, he saw that the cart was dripping, and looked at the barrels and saw that one of them was empty.

‘Unfortunate fellow that am I!’ he cried.

‘Not unfortunate enough yet,’ said the Sparrow, and flew on to the head of one of the horses and pecked his eyes out.

When the driver saw that, he drew out his axe and wanted to hit the Sparrow, but the Sparrow flew into the air, and he hit his horse on the head and it fell down dead.

‘Oh, what an unfortunate man am I!’ he cried.

‘Not unfortunate enough, yet,’ said the Sparrow, and when the driver drove on with the two horses, the Sparrow again crept under the cover, and pecked the bung out of the second cask, so all the wine was spilt.

When the driver became aware of it, he again cried, ‘Oh, what an unfortunate man am I!’

But the Sparrow replied, ‘Not unfortunate enough, yet!’ and seated himself on the head of the second horse, and pecked his eyes out.

The driver ran up to it and raised his axe to strike, but the Sparrow flew into the air and the blow struck the horse, which fell.

‘Oh, what an unfortunate man am I!’

‘Not unfortunate enough, yet!’ said the Sparrow, and lighted on the third horse's head, and pecked out his eyes.

The driver, in his rage, struck at the Sparrow without looking round, and did not hit him but killed his third horse likewise.

‘Oh, what an unfortunate man am I!’

‘Not unfortunate enough, yet!’ answered the Sparrow. ‘Now I will make you unfortunate in your home.’

And off he flew.

The driver had to leave the waggon standing, and went home full of anger and vexation.

‘Ah,’ he said to his wife, ‘what misfortunes I have had. My wine has run out, and the horses are all three dead.’

‘Alas, husband,’ she answered, ‘what a malicious bird has come into the house. It has gathered together every bird there is in the world, and they have fallen on our corn up there, and are devouring it.’

Then he went upstairs, and thousands and thousands of birds were sitting in the loft and had eaten up all the corn, and the sparrow was sitting in the midst of them.

Then the driver cried, ‘Oh, what an unfortunate man am I!’

‘Not unfortunate enough, yet!’ answered the Sparrow. ‘Waggoner, it shall cost you your life as well!’

And off it flew.

When the waggoner had lost all his property, he went downstairs into the room, sat down behind the stove and was quite furious and bitter. But the Sparrow sat outside in front of the window, and cried:

‘Waggoner, it shall cost you your life.’

Then the waggoner snatched the axe and threw it at the Sparrow, but it only broke the window, and did not hit the bird. The Sparrow now hopped in, placed itself on the stove and cried:

‘Waggoner, it shall cost you your life!’

The latter, quite mad and blind with rage, hit the stove so hard it broke in two. The Sparrow flew around the room, from one place to another until all his household furniture - his looking-glass, his benches, his table, and at last the walls of his house - were all smashed to pieces! And yet he could not hit the bird.

At length, however, he caught it with his hand. Then his wife said:

‘Shall I kill it?’

‘No,’ cried the waggoner, ‘that would be too merciful. It shall die much more cruelly.’

And he brought it up to his mouth and swallowed it whole. The Sparrow, however, began to flutter about in his body, and fluttered up again into the man's mouth, then it stretched out its head, and cried:

‘Waggoner, it shall still cost you your life!’

The driver gave the axe to his wife, and said:

‘Wife, kill the bird in my mouth for me!’

The woman struck, but missed her blow, and hit the waggoner square on his head, so that he fell dead.

The sparrow, however, flew up and away.

Based on The Dog and the Sparrow