“Now I see that it is Sunday，” said thehusband， kissing his little wife. They sat down， read their hymn-book， and held each otherby the hand， while the sun shone down upon the fresh roses and upon them.
“This sight is really too tedious，” said the sparrow-mother， who could see into the roomfrom her nest; and she flew away.
the same thing happened on the following Sunday， for every Sunday fresh roses were putinto the glass; but the rose-bush bloomed as beautifully as ever. The young sparrows nowhad feathers， and wanted very much to fly with their mother; but she would not allow it，and so they had to stay at home. In one of her flights， however it may have happened， shewas caught， before she was aware of it， in a horse-hair net which some boys had attached toa tree. The horse-hair was drawn tightly round her leg—as tightly as if the latter were to be cutoff; she was in GREat pain and terror. The boys came running up and seized her， and in nogentle way either.
“It's only a sparrow，” they said; they did not， however， let her go， but took her homewith them， and every time she cried they hit her on the beak.
In the farmhouse was an old man who understood making soap into cakes and balls， bothfor shaving and washing. He was a merry old man， always wandering about. On seeing thesparrow which the boys had brought， and which they said they did not want， he asked， “Shall we make it look very pretty?”
At these words an icy shudder ran through the sparrow-mother.
Out of his box， in which were the most beautiful colours， the old man took a quantity ofshining leaf-gold， while the boys had to go and fetch some white of egg， with which thesparrow was to be smeared all over; the gold was stuck on to this， and the sparrow-motherwas now gilded all over. But she， trembling in every limb， did not think of the adornment.Then the soap-man tore off a small piece from the red lining of his old jacket， and cutting it soas to make it look like a cock's comb， he stuck it to the bird's head.
“Now you will see the gold-jacket fly，” said the old man， letting the sparrow go， whichflew away in deadly fear， with the sun shining upon her. How she glittered! All the sparrows，and even a crow—and an old boy he was too—were startled at the sight; but still they flewafter her to learn what kind of strange bird she was.
Driven by fear and horror， she flew homeward; she was almost sinking fainting to theearth， while the flock of pursuing birds increased， some even attempting to peck at her.
“Look at her! Look at her!” they all cried.
“Look at her! Look at her” cried her little ones. as she approached the nest. “That iscertainly a young peacock， for it glitters in all colours; it makes one's eyes ache， as mothertold us. Peep! that's 'the beautiful'.” And then they pecked at the bird with their little beaks sothat it was impossible for her to get into the nest; she was so exhausted that she couldn'teven say “Peep!” much less “I am your own mother!” The other birds， too， now fell uponthe sparrow and plucked off feather after feather until she fell bleeding into the rose-bush.
“Poor creature!” said all the roses; “only be still， and we will hide you. Lean your littlehead against us.”
the sparrow spread out her wings once more， then drew them closely to her， and laydead near the neighbouring family， the beautiful fresh roses.
“Peep!” sounded from the nest. “Where can mother be so long? It's more than I canunderstand. It cannot be a trick of hers， and mean that we are now to take care of ourselves.She has left us the house as an inheritance; but to which of us is it to belong when we havefamilies of our own?”
“Yes， it won't do for you to stay with me when I increase my household with a wife andchildren，” said the smallest.
“I daresay I shall have more wives and children than you，” said the second.
“But I am the eldest!” exclaimed the third. Then they all got excited; they hit out withtheir wings， pecked with their beaks， and flop! one after another was thrown out of thenest. There they lay with their anger， holding their heads on one side and blinking the eye thatwas turned upwards. That was their way of looking foolish.
they could fly a little; by practice they learned to improve， and at last they aGREed upon asign by which to recognise each other if they should meet in the world later on. It was to be one“Peep!” and three scratches on the ground with the left foot.