Reward for a greedy wife

The Sparrow with no tongue story

Once upon a time, there lived an old man and his wife. The old man was very kind but his wife was very fierce. The old man kept sparrow in a cage in the kitchen. One day the sparrow ate some rice which had been left in the kitchen. The old man’s wife was very angry. She immediately cut out the sparrow’s tongue. The sparrow flew away through an open window.

the sparrow with no tongue story

When her husband returned home, he found that the sparrow had gone. He asked his wife what had happened.

“Your sparrow stole some food. So I cut out its tongue to teach it a good lesson.”

The old man was very sad. He decided to try to find out where the sparrow had gone.

He travelled all over the country, calling out in a loud voice, “Mr. Sparrow! Mr. Sparrow! Where are you?”

Finally, he found out where the sparrow was living, and he went to see him. The sparrow asked him to come in to meet his wife and children.

“Please sit down and make yourself comfortable,” the sparrow said. “I hope you can stay to dinner.”

“What a polite sparrow!” the old man thought.

After dinner, the old man asked to be excused as he was living a long distance away.

Before he left, the sparrow brought out two boxes. He told him to choose one of them as a present. The old man chose the smaller of the two. When he arrived home, his wife scolded him. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“Oh!” replied her husband. “I discovered where the sparrow is living. He gave me this present.”

His wife opened the box. It was full of gold and silver.

She smiled and said to her husband. “I think I’ll also go to see the sparrow.”

When she arrived at the sparrow’s house, she called out, “Mr. Sparrow! How are you! I’ve been worrying about you for a long time. I’m so pleased to see you again.”

The sparrow invited her inside for dinner. Mrs. Sparrow was very kind to the old lady. She cooked an excellent meal.

When the old woman was ready to leave, she said, “Mr. sparrow, perhaps you would like to give me a present to take away? I can then always remember you.”

The sparrow brought out two boxes. The greedy old woman chose the larger one.

When she reached home, she called out to her husband, “Come out! Hurry up! See what the sparrow has given me!

When she opened the box, she found that it only contained stones.