The Merry sparrow

The Merry sparrow (Kalmyk fairytales in English)

From branch to branch, from the roof to the ground – a lope.

– Chick-tweet! Chick-tweet! – From morning till night sparrows fly. Cheerful, restless. All to him, small, nothing. There, a grain will bite, here it will find a worm. It lives like that.

Sat on a raven tree old. Black, gloomy, important. She looked with one eye at the sparrow and envied the cheerful one. Sits down – flies up, sits down – flies up. Chick-tweet! Chick-tweet! An unbearable sparrow!

“Sparrow, sparrow,” the raven asks, “how do you live, how are you?” How do you get food for yourself? Sparrow and sit for a minute can not.

– Yes, here’s the reeds of a rodent’s head, – the sparrow responds to the fly.

“And if you choke, then how?” Will you have to die?

“Why die immediately?” I’ll scratch it, scratch it with nails and pull it out.

– And if the blood goes, what will you do?

– I’ll drink water, wash it, stop the blood.

– Well, if you get your feet wet in the water, you freeze, you catch a cold, your legs become sore?

– Chick-tweet, chick-tweet! I’ll divorce the fire, I will warm my legs — I will be healthy again.

– What if a fire happens? What then?

– I will flap my wings, I will extinguish the fire.

“And will you burn your wings, then?”

– I’ll fly to the doctor, the doctor will cure me. The crow is not appeasing.

– And if the doctor will not be? Then what will you do?

– Chick-tweet! Chick-tweet! There, you see, the grain will turn up, there the worm will fall into the mouth, there will be a cozy place for the nest, the gentle sun will warm, the breeze will stroke. So I’ll recover without a doctor, I’ll stay alive!

Sparrow said so, fluttered – and was like that. And the old raveny crowed, covered her eyes, on the sides with a beak leads dissatisfied.

Good life, wonderful! We must live without being discouraged. Be persistent, be cheerful, be cheerful!

Translated by S.

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