58. Sister Crow and Sister Sparrow

The crow and the sparrow were once great friends. When they went on a picnic one day, they were caught in a rainstorm. The crow had a house made of cow dung, the sparrow a house of stone. When the rain began to pitter-patter, the sparrow quickly finished her meal and flew home. The crow thought she could wait a little longer. She was too lazy to fly. She sat on a lame donkey stropping its beak for quite a while, and when she went home she was quite wet. Her house made of cow dung had all melted away. She thought she might as well go the sparrow's house and spend the night there. The sparrow was snug and warm in her stone house, all her doors secure and bolted shut. The crow knocked on the bolted door and said:

Sister Sparrow, Sister Sparrow,
I'll die in the cold,
I'll die in the rain,
if you don't open the door,
if you don't open the door!

The sparrow said, “Wait a minute. I'm feeding my children.” After a while, the crow knocked again and said,

Sister Sparrow, Sister Sparrow,
I'll die in the cold,
I'll die in the rain,
if you don't open the door,
if you don't open the door!

“Wait, wait,” said the sparrow. “I'm feeding my husband.”

The crow waited in the rain some more, knocked again and said,

Sister Sparrow, Sister Sparrow,
I'll die in the cold,
I'll die in the rain,
if you don't open the door,
if you don't open the door!

“Wait, wait, I'm making beds for my husband and my children,” said the sparrow from inside.

The poor crow waited some more in the rain, and cried,

Sister Sparrow, Sister Sparrow,
I'll die in the cold,
I'll die in the rain,
if you don't open the door,
if you don't open the door!

At last the sparrow opened the door, but saying impatiently, “You're always in a hurry, aren't you?”

The crow was wet and shivering. The sparrow asked her after a while, “Sister Crow, where would you like to sleep? Will you sleep on the chickpea sack or the lentil sack?”

“O, I'll be happy to sleep on the chickpeas.”

“All right then, there it is.”

As the crow was still shivering with the cold, she asked for a little warm stove. And as she was hungry, she also asked for a piece of betel nut to chew on, and then sat warmly on the chickpea sack.

When everyone was asleep, shouldn't the crow be quiet? No, she couldn't do that. She took the chickpeas out of the sack one by one, put them on the stove, warmed them, and began to crunch on them noisily. Whenever the sparrow asked, “What's that noise?” the crow would answer, “Nothing really, Sister Sparrow, I'm just chewing on the betel nut you gave me.”

The katum-katum sound of crunching chickpeas was heard all night. And by morning, the crow had eaten more than her fill, and couldn't hold her bowels. She shat copiously and filled the now-empty chickpea sack. After she had done so, she knew at once she couldn't stay there any longer. She knew she would be scolded and perhaps even beaten when found out. So, as soon as the door was opened early in the morning, she flew out in a hurry, with a flurry of wings. Sister Sparrow was taken aback and said to no one in particular, “What's the matter with Sister Crow? She didn't even stay for a cup of tea. She left without even saying goodbye.”

Then she made some tea and drank it with her family, when the children began to pester her.

“ Amma, it's cold. Warm us some chickpeas.”

And they went to the chickpea sack, put their hands in, and screamed, “ A y y a y y o o! ”

“What's the matter, children?”

“Auntie Crow has dirtied the whole sack!” cried the sparrow's children.

The sparrow was quite angry now. She called her children together and told them to watch for the crow when they were playing outside. “If you see her, call her. Tell her, ‘Mummy is making sweet sweet porridge. She wants you to come in and have some.’ ”

Sure enough, when the children were at play, the crow did fly above them. They at once called out to her, “Auntie Crow, Auntie Crow, Mummy is looking for you. She's made sweet sweet porridge and she wants you to come in and have some.”

The crow came in happily, crowing as she entered, “Sister Sparrow, I hear you've cooked some sweet porridge. It's always delicious.”

“O yes, do come in. I'd asked the children to invite you.”

The sparrow meanwhile had heated a tile till it was very hot and had kept it ready in a corner. When the crow asked her, “Where shall I sit?” she said at once, “There, on that tile!”

As soon as the crow sat down, she was burned all over, and she flew out cawing loudly in pain. The sparrow mocked her: “Sister Crow, Sister Crow, you're the perfect guest. You stay in our house, you eat our chickpeas, and you leave us a sack of your shit!”

The sparrow children jumped up and down in sheer joy at their mother's act of revenge. The crow never came that way again. The sparrow washed everything clean and gave her children fresh chickpeas.

Note

[AT 123, The Wolf and the Kids.]