The nightingale and the sparrow

                

     By the forest spring, a nightingale and a sparrow met.

     The nightingale immediately noticed the sparrow's appearance. He snapped at him: "Why don't you take

care of yourself?! You are only bringing shame to our community! Look at yourself, how you look! You're all

fluffed up, untidy, neglected. You'll even dirty me!"

     The sparrow looked into the water pool and wished he could sink into the ground with shame. He was so

embarrassed.

     The nightingale mercilessly continued:

     "That's what happens when you rummage through all the dumps, sweep out disgusting garbage heaps."

      "I have to make a living somehow," the sparrow replied.

      "Such a way of life is reprehensible! Parasites like you should be locked up as a warning!"

     The feathered one wanted to say something in defense but lost his voice. Those cruel words pierced his

little heart.

     The nightingale lanced on sharply:

     "And your singing! It's not even singing — just some chirp chirp chirp chirp. Take example from me.

People admire my beautiful trills. They gasp for breath from them," the nightingale boasted.

     The sparrow nodded in agreement.

     "I'm wasting my time with you," said the nightingale arrogantly and flew away.

     The sparrow was overcome with sadness. He felt like crying. He sighed unhappily:

     "It's a pity I wasn't born a nightingale. I'm ordinary, insignificant, useless!"

     It was hard for him to fly home to his native nest. It felt as if his wings were made of lead.

     That evening in his straw nest in the crown of an old maple, he could not sleep. The nightingale's words

kept running through his head. He closed his eyes only at dawn.

     For a few days, the sparrow fretted over his fate. But soon he forgot the whole incident.

     One day he was flying around an old castle. In the highest tower, there was an open window. Curiosity

got the better of him, and he looked inside. On a table stood a golden cage with the nightingale trapped

inside. The same nightingale he had met by the spring.

     When the nightingale saw the sparrow, he lamented: "Oh, wretched me! I will never again see the blue

sky, fragrant meadow, or babbling brook. People have caught me so that they can hear my singing whenever

they want."

     At that moment, the sparrow was flooded with an immense feeling of happiness. He realized that freedom

cannot be exchanged for anything, not even gold! He no longer longed to be a singing bird!

     He left the nightingale to be the nightingale.

     He cheerfully waved his shabby wings and headed home.

 

 

     Translated into English by artificial intelligence.

     Published:  https://firesnake.eu