The Tongue-Cut Sparrow

Andrew Lang was a British literary critic, poet, novelist, translator and historian. Shita-kiri Suzume translated literally into "Tongue-Cut Sparrow", is a traditional Japanese fable telling of a kind old man, his avaricious wife and an injured sparrow. The story begins with portraying a scene including a poor old woodcutter with his wife, who earned their living by cutting wood and fishing. The old man was honest and kind but his wife was arrogant and greedy. One morning, the old man went into the mountains to cut timber and saw an injured sparrow crying out for help. Feeling sorry for the bird, the man takes it back to his home and feeds it some rice to try to help it recover. His wife, being very greedy and rude, is annoyed that he would waste precious food on such a small little thing as a sparrow. The old man, however, continued caring for the bird. The story explores the effects of greed, friendship and jealousy on the characters.