Once upon a time in Japan, there lived a kind woodcutter and his greedy wife. One day, while he was collecting wood, he came across an injured sparrow. He took it home, fed it and nursed it. The sparrow sang for him and made him happy. But his wife did not like animals and birds. So, she was angry with him because she thought that he was wasting his time with the sparrow. One day, when he was out in the forest, his wife was cooking in the kitchen. She left some flour in a bowl and went away. When she came back, she saw that the sparrow was eating flour from the bowl. Furious, she grabbed the sparrow, took out a pair of scissors from her pocket and cut the sparrow’s tongue. Quickly, the sparrow flew away. When the old man returned home, he searched for the bird. He went to the forest to search for the sparrow and with the help of other sparrows he found her in the Sparrow’s Inn.
The Baskets
The sparrows treated the old man kindly. When he was about to leave, the sparrows offered him a gift. They gave him two baskets, one big and one small. They asked him to choose one. The old man chose the small basket. He thanked the sparrows and went home. Upon reaching home, he opened the basket. It was full of treasure! The greedy wife went to the Sparrow’s Inn and asked for the bigger basket. The sparrows accepted her wish and gave her the basket. She opened the basket on her way. It contained snakes and pois-onous bugs! Trying to escape the snakes, she tripped and tumbled down the cliff. The old man was awarded for his kindness and humility and the old woman was punished for her greediness and ill-behaviour.
