Page:Fairy Tales for Worker's Children.djvu/21



Quarrel and disagreement ruled in the Sparrow family. Mother Sparrow squatted unhappily in her nest all day and Father Sparrow swore and grumbled and found fault with everything. The family that had once been so gay and happy was completely changed. And for all this misery the youngest Sparrow was to blame. One evening at supper he had declared, briefly and boldly, "I'm not going to school any more. I've had enough of being insulted by those aristocrats. Above all, I'm tired of all this life. I want to go out into the world." He stuck up his bill and looked at his parents defiantly.

Mother Sparrow was so shocked that all her feathers stood up. She started helplessly at her naughty son, and all she could do was to say weakly, "Peep, peep."

But Father Sparrow opened his mouth so wide in anger that the worm he had meant to eat slid quickly away. He was a person of action, did not believe in talking much, and proceeded to beat his son in the face with his sharp beak.

The young Sparrow screamed more defiantly than ever, "I won't stay here any longer. I've had enough. I'm going out into the world."

Then Mother Sparrow found her voice again and said tearfully, "You wicked child! That's how you thank your parents for their love. Haven't we brought you up well? You are the first sparrow in our village to attend Professor Swallow's school of architecture and learn to build artistic nests. You belong to the best society and mingle with Swallows, Starlings and Yellow-bills. And this is how you repay us." 15