A sheep-dog had a cruel master who let him go hungry. Unable to bear it any longer, the dog sadly left. On the road, he met a sparrow.
"Brother dog, why are you so sad?" asked the sparrow.
"I am hungry and have nothing to eat," replied the dog.
"Dear brother, come to town with me. I will satisfy your hunger," said the sparrow.
They went to town together. In front of a butcher's shop, the sparrow said, "Stay here. I will get you some meat." He landed on the stall, looked around to ensure no one was watching, and pecked and pulled at a piece of meat until it fell down. The dog seized it, ran to a corner, and devoured it.
The sparrow then led the dog to another shop for more meat, and afterwards to a baker's for bread. Once the dog was full, they decided to walk outside town.
It was a warm day. After walking a while, the dog said, "I am tired and would like to sleep."
"Well, sleep," answered the sparrow. "I will sit on a branch."
The dog lay down on the road and fell fast asleep. While he slept, a waggoner came driving by with a cart pulled by three horses, laden with two barrels of wine. The sparrow saw the cart was heading straight for the sleeping dog.
"Waggoner, don't do it, or I will make you poor!" cried the sparrow.
The waggoner growled to himself, "You will not make me poor," cracked his whip, and drove over the dog, killing him.
"You have killed my brother dog!" cried the sparrow. "It will cost you your cart and horses!"
"Cart and horses indeed! What harm can you do me?" said the waggoner, driving on.
The sparrow crept under the cart's cover and pecked at a bung-hole until the bung came out. All the wine from one barrel leaked out without the driver noticing. When he finally saw the empty barrel, he cried, "Unfortunate fellow that I am!"
"Not unfortunate enough yet," said the sparrow. He then flew onto the head of one horse and pecked its eyes out.
Enraged, the driver drew his axe to hit the sparrow, but the bird flew away. The blow struck the horse, killing it. "Oh, what an unfortunate man I am!" he cried.
"Not unfortunate enough yet," replied the sparrow. He then caused the wine from the second barrel to spill and pecked out the eyes of the second horse. The driver, in a blind rage, swung his axe again, missing the sparrow and killing his second horse. The same fate befell the third horse.
"Now I will make you unfortunate at home," said the sparrow, flying away.
The waggoner, full of anger, had to leave his wagon standing and went home. "Ah," he told his wife, "what misfortunes! My wine is gone, and all three horses are dead!"
"Alas, husband," she answered, "a malicious bird has gathered every bird in the world. They are in our loft, devouring all our corn!"
The man went upstairs. Thousands of birds were in the loft, having eaten all the corn, with the sparrow among them. "Oh, what an unfortunate man I am!" he cried.
"Not unfortunate enough yet!" answered the sparrow. "Waggoner, it will cost you your life as well!"
The waggoner, having lost all his property, sat down behind the stove, furious. The sparrow sat outside the window and cried, "Waggoner, it will cost you your life!" The man snatched his axe and threw it, breaking the window but missing the bird.
The sparrow hopped inside, sat on the stove, and repeated its threat. Blind with rage, the man smote the stove in two. As the sparrow flew from place to place, the waggoner destroyed all his furniture—mirror, benches, table—and even the walls of his house, but could not hit the bird.
Finally, he caught it with his hand.
"Shall I kill it?" asked his wife.
"No!" he cried. "That is too merciful. It shall die more cruelly." He swallowed the sparrow whole.
The sparrow began to flutter inside him, then flew up into the man's mouth, stretched out its head, and cried, "Waggoner, it will still cost you your life!"
The driver gave the axe to his wife. "Wife, kill the bird in my mouth!"
The woman struck but missed, hitting the waggoner on the head. He fell dead. The sparrow flew up and away.