Traditional | Japan
The Tongue-Cut Sparrow
The kind old man saves an injured sparrow, but his wife mistreats it; subsequently, the sparrow rewards him while his wife faces the consequences of greed.
Once upon a time, there was an old man and his wife. The old man was very kind, but his wife was not. She was always complaining and being mean.
One day, the old man found a little sparrow. The sparrow was hurt and couldn't fly. The old man decided to take care of it. He fed it, kept it warm, and soon the little sparrow got better. But, the old man's wife didn't like the sparrow. She thought it was just a nuisance.
One day, while the old man was out, his wife got very angry at the sparrow for eating some of her starch paste. In her anger, she cut the sparrow's tongue and let it fly away.
When the old man returned and found out what his wife had done, he was very sad. He decided to go and find the sparrow. He searched and searched, and finally he found the sparrow's home deep in the mountains.
The little sparrow and his friends welcomed the old man warmly. They sang and danced for him and treated him to a feast. Before the old man left, the sparrows brought out two baskets. They told the old man he could choose one to take home.
One basket was heavy and one was light. The old man didn't want to cause any trouble, so he chose the light one. When he arrived home, he opened the basket and found it was filled with precious treasures.
When his wife saw the treasures, she got very greedy. She decided to go to the sparrows' home and get the heavy basket. She was rude and demanding, but the sparrows gave her the heavy basket.
On her way home, she couldn't resist and opened the basket. Instead of treasure, it was full of scary snakes and monsters! She ran away, leaving the basket behind.
In the end, the kind old man lived a happy and peaceful life with his little sparrow friend, while his mean wife learned not to be so greedy and mean.
