Japanese Fairy Tales | Page 9

dear sparrow
waiting to welcome him. He could hardly believe his eyes for joy, and ran forward
quickly to greet her. She bowed her little head and went through a number of the tricks
her master had taught her, to show her pleasure at seeing her old friend again, and,
wonderful to relate, she could talk as of old. The old man told her how sorry he was for
all that had happened, and inquired after her tongue, wondering how she could speak so
well without it. Then the sparrow opened her beak and showed him that a new tongue had
grown in place of the old one, and begged him not to think any more about the past, for
she was quite well now. Then the old man knew that his sparrow was a fairy, and no
common bird. It would be difficult to exaggerate the old man's rejoicing now. He forgot
all his troubles, he forgot even how tired he was, for he had found his lost sparrow, and

instead of being ill and without a tongue as he had feared and expected to find her, she
was well and happy and with a new tongue, and without a sign of the ill-treatment she
had received from his wife. And above all she was a fairy.
The sparrow asked him to follow her, and flying before him she led him to a beautiful
house in the heart of the bamboo grove. The old man was utterly astonished when he
entered the house to find what a beautiful place it was. It was built of the whitest wood,
the soft cream-colored mats which took the place of carpets were the finest he had ever
seen, and the cushions that the sparrow brought out for him to sit on were made of the
finest silk and crape. Beautiful vases and lacquer boxes adorned the tokonoma [Footnote:
An alcove where precious objects are displayed.] of every room.
The sparrow led the old man to the place of honor, and then, taking her place at a humble
distance, she thanked him with many polite bows for all the kindness he had shown her
for many long years.
Then the Lady Sparrow, as we will now call her, introduced all her family to the old man.
This done, her daughters, robed in dainty crape gowns, brought in on beautiful
old-fashioned trays a feast of all kinds of delicious foods, till the old man began to think
he must be dreaming. In the middle of the dinner some of the sparrow's daughters
performed a wonderful dance, called the "suzume-odori" or the "Sparrow's dance," to
amuse the guest.
Never had the old man enjoyed himself so much. The hours flew by too quickly in this
lovely spot, with all these fairy sparrows to wait upon him and to feast him and to dance
before him.
But the night came on and the darkness reminded him that he had a long way to go and
must think about taking his leave and return home. He thanked his kind hostess for her
splendid entertainment, and begged her for his sake to forget all she had suffered at the
hands of his cross old wife. He told the Lady Sparrow that it was a great comfort and
happiness to him to find her in such a beautiful home and to know that she wanted for
nothing. It was his anxiety to know how she fared and what had really happened to her
that had led him to seek her. Now he knew that all was well he could return home with a
light heart. If ever she wanted him for anything she had only to send for him and he
would come at once.
The Lady Sparrow begged him to stay and rest several days and enjoy the change, but the
old man said he must return to his old wife--who would probably be cross at his not
coming home at the usual time-- and to his work, and there-fore, much as he wished to do
so, he could not accept her kind invitation. But now that he knew where the Lady
Sparrow lived he would come to see her whenever he had the time.
When the Lady Sparrow saw that she could not persuade the old man to stay longer, she
gave an order to some of her servants, and they at once brought in two boxes, one large
and the other small. These were placed before the old man, and the Lady Sparrow asked
him to choose whichever he liked for a present, which she wished to give him.

The old man could not refuse this kind proposal, and he chose the smaller box, saying:
"I am now too old and feeble to carry the big and heavy