Page:Fairy Tales for Worker's Children.djvu/33

 "Who are you?" suddenly asked a thin, piping voice, and the Sparrow beheld a little mouse standing before him, who stared at him with large round eyes.

"You are a brave Sparrow," she said, after she had heard his story. "I bid you welcome to my ship."

"To your ship?" exclaimed the Sparrow. "I thot that the ship belongs to the people."

"The people also believe that," replied the Mouse sharply. "But don't you know that people believe that everything belongs to them?"

"That is true. The farmer at home believed that the church-steeple was his, and yet it is quite clear that the church-steeple was made for us Sparrows."

While they were speaking thus, a very old mouse came over and began to speak. "Not all people believe that everything belongs to them," said she learnedly. "There are also people who do not possess anything. You can observe that on the ship. Above live people in large, beautiful rooms, and eat all day long. My mouth waters when I smell the rich foods that are set before them."

"But down below the people are crowded together, so that they can hardly find place to lie down at night, and many have only dry bread along with them to eat on the whole journey. This stupid phrase 'my boat' you have also learned from men," she said scolding the mouse. "You know that the common things are ours. Don't let me hear false words from you."

"Excuse me, grandmother," begged the young Mouse.

"You are a stranger here," said the Grandmother Mouse to the 27