60. The Sparrow Who Wouldn't Die

A rich gowda and his men were sowing peas. As they were sowing, a sparrow fluttered down from a jali bush and started eating the peas. As she was eating the peas, the peasant caught the sparrow, tied her legs, and hung her up on the bush. As she was hanging there, he asked, “Are you dead, Sparrow dear?” When he asked her that, she answered,

Not dead, not dead!
I've eaten the rich gowda's peas,
Now I'm swinging on a swing!

When she answered thus, he picked her up and threw her into boiling water. Throwing her into the boiling water, he asked her, “Are you dead, Sparrow dear!” When he asked her that, she answered,

Not dead, not dead!
I ate the gowda's peas,
I swung on his swing,
Now I'm bathing in his warm water!

When she answered thus, he put her in the flour mill and ground her to powder. Having ground her to powder, he asked her, “Did you die now, Sparrow dear?” When he asked her that, she answered,

I didn't die, I didn't die!I ate the gowda's peas,
I swung on his swing,
I bathed in his water,
Now I sleep in his turning mill!

When she answered thus, he took out the flour in the mill and made it into batter, cooked it into a savory (jhanaka) paste, and ate it all up. Having eaten the jhanaka, he went out at dawn to shit. As he squatted down, out flew the sparrow from his asshole. And as she flew, she said to him,

“ Gowda, Gowda, see how I tricked you!”

She is there and we are here.

Sleep now, my grandson, sleep now.

Note

[AT 2041, The Bird Indifferent to Pain.]