There lived a sparrow in one country, and since it was destined for him to be a bird, all he did was fly in search of food. Unlike all other birds, the sparrow was very clean: it would never take anything into its beak until it had bathed and cleaned its paws. And in his nest, wherever you look, there is cleanliness and order everywhere.
One morning a sparrow was lucky enough to find a pea. The sparrow was glad that he did not have to fly for breakfast, but unfortunately he did not have time to bathe and clean his paws. That is why he first flew to the river with a pea in his beak. He put the pea on the pavement stone and galloped towards the water. I took a swim, returned to where I left the pea, and there was nothing on the stone!
The sparrow searched in vain for its pea: it walked around the stone several times, and looked under it, and looked around - the damned pea seemed to have fallen through the ground!
- After all, I put the pea on this very stone! Where could she have gone? - the sparrow was perplexed.
Just at that time, a carpenter was walking across the bridge with a saw in his hands.
“Perhaps a pea rolled under the boardwalk of the bridge?” - flashed through the sparrow’s head, and it immediately flew up to the carpenter.
- Listen, brother! Have you come across the pea that I lost somewhere? I ask you, help me find her, otherwise I will remain hungry.
- Do you think I have nothing else to do? - the carpenter got angry. - You lost it yourself, look for your pea yourself.
And he walked on.
What could the poor sparrow do? He began to look for the missing pea again, but, alas, it was all in vain. After some time, a soldier appeared on the bridge. The sparrow immediately flew up to him and began to ask:
“Brother soldier, would you be so kind as to help me?” My pea has rolled somewhere and I can’t find it. But that carpenter over there didn’t want to help me. Please punish him!
Only the soldier did not want to help the little bird. He went on his way.
- Don’t wait, sparrow, for help from anyone! - he said goodbye.
The sparrow became sad. “Nobody wants to help me, poor man,” he thought, and then he saw an officer in front of him.
“Mr. Officer,” the sparrow begged, “punish your soldier, I was in trouble and asked him to help me, but he didn’t want to.”
The officer turned out to be even worse than the soldier; he did not even deign to look at the poor bird and only quickened his pace. The sparrow lost all hope of finding the pea. He was already thinking about whether he should go in search of another breakfast, but at that time he saw that the minister was approaching the bridge.
“Let me try happiness again,” thought the sparrow and began to beg the minister:
- Descend, your lordship, to the poor sparrow. That officer over there refused to help me. Could you please punish him?
The sparrow hoped with all his soul that this time his request would not go unanswered. But the minister not only did not help him, but also very angrily scolded the poor petitioner.
And then the sparrow firmly decided not to turn to anyone else for help.
At this time, the Raja himself was passing across the bridge. Is it possible to miss such an opportunity? Raja, the sparrow thought, would certainly punish those who dared to offend the little bird. The sparrow respectfully approached the rajah, bowed low and said:
- O great sovereign! A thousand bows to you! I, poor bird, pray to you, the omnipotent one, for help. I lost a pea that I saved for breakfast. No one to whom I turned for help sympathized with me or helped me in trouble. Look into my matter and punish those who ignored my request.
And while waiting for an answer, the sparrow respectfully stepped back. But the ruler, sitting on the back of a large elephant, pretended not to hear anything and calmly rode past.
The sparrow had no one else to rely on. If the Raja himself did not pay attention to his request, from whom else can one expect help? Who will take pity on the sparrow, who will help him out? And at that moment a small ant crawled past.
- Why are you standing here like an idol? - he squeaked. “Don’t you see that the Rajah is followed by his retinue?” They'll crush you like a bug!
“I see,” answered the sparrow. - Well, let them put pressure, anyway, I, a poor man, have no life. Nobody wants to help!
And the sparrow told the ant in detail how he lost the pea, how he turned to the carpenter for help, then to the soldier, to the officer, to the minister, and even to the rajah himself.
- Well, nothing! They didn’t help, so I’ll help you find the missing pea,” said the ant and rushed to catch up with the elephant on which the rajah was sitting.
He caught up with the elephant, jumped on his leg, crawled up, got to the elephant’s ear and shouted at the top of his voice:
- Hey, brother elephant! Well, tell your rajah to help this sparrow! Otherwise I will crawl into your trunk and bite you! And if the Raja does not want to help, throw him to the ground!
The elephant had the opportunity to carry the Raja himself, and he was extremely proud of this. However, could he not pay attention to the small ant that threatened to crawl into his trunk and bite him?
- Oh, sir! - the elephant turned to the rajah. - You must help this sparrow. Otherwise the ant will bite me and I will be forced to throw you to the ground.
Could the Raja have ignored such words? He didn't want to fall into dust in front of his entire retinue. He immediately called the minister and ordered him:
- Deign to immediately help the poor sparrow find the lost pea, otherwise I will have to think about replacing my minister!
The minister, in turn, immediately called the officer and told him:
- Come on, quickly help the sparrow! Otherwise, watch me!
The officer immediately called the soldier and ordered him to do what the sparrow asked. The soldier immediately went in search of the carpenter, who had already gone far by that time. The soldier was knocked off his feet by the time he caught up with this damned carpenter.
- Hey, my dear, now find the pea that the sparrow lost. Otherwise we'll hang you by the bridge!
The carpenter searched for the pea for a long time, but finally found it and gave it to the sparrow. Here's how it all worked out. And the sparrow did not remain hungry that day.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru