Mabel and her mother were sitting in a park. Mabel was reading, while her mother stared into the distance. Soon, there was a chirping sound from a tree near by. Mabel’s mother pointed towards the bird and asked, “What is that?” “A sparrow,” Mabel replied. Mabel’s mother was hard of hearing. So she asked, “What is that?” “It’s a sparrow.” But her mother couldn’t hear her. She asked again, “What is that?” Mabel was angry. “How many times should I tell you that it’s a sparrow?” Her mother fell silent and Mabel resumed her reading. Then her mother spoke in soft tones. “When you were five years old, a sparrow flew into our backyard. You were very excited to see it.” Mabel looked at her mother, intrigued. “You asked me what it was, at least twenty times, and each time I answered you lovingly that it was a sparrow.” Mabel asked her mother for forgiveness.
Mabel and the Sparrow
