A shepherd’s dog had a master who took no care of him, but often let him suffer the greatest hunger. At last he could bear it no longer; so he took to his heels, and off he ran in a very sad and sorrowful mood. On the road he met a sparrow that said to him, ‘Why are you so sad, my friend?’ ‘Because,’ said the dog, ‘I am very very hungry, and have nothing to eat.’ ‘If that be all,’ answered the sparrow, ‘come with me into the next town, and I will soon find you plenty of food.’ So on they went together into the town: and as they passed by a butcher’s shop, the sparrow said to the dog, ‘Stand there a little while till I peck you down a piece of meat.’ So the sparrow perched upon the shelf: and having first looked carefully about her to see if anyone was watching her, she pecked and scratched at a steak that lay upon the edge of the shelf, till at last down it fell. Then the dog snapped it up, and scrambled away with it into a corner, where he soon ate it all up. ‘Well,’ said the sparrow, ‘you shall have some more if you will; so come with me to the next shop, and I will peck you down another steak.’ When the dog had eaten this too, the sparrow said to him, ‘Well, my good friend, have you had enough now?’ ‘I have had plenty of meat,’ answered he, ‘but I should like to have a piece of bread to eat after it.’ ‘Come with me then,’ said the sparrow, ‘and you shall soon have that too.’ So she took him to a baker’s shop, and pecked at two rolls that lay in the window, till they fell down: and as the dog still wished for more, she took him to another shop and pecked down some more for him. When that was eaten, the sparrow asked him whether he had had enough now. ‘Yes,’ said he; ‘and now let us take a walk a little way out of the town.’ So they both went out upon the high road; but as the weather was warm, they had not gone far before the dog said, ‘I am very much tired--I should like to take a nap.’ ‘Very well,’ answered the sparrow, ‘do so, and in the meantime I will perch upon that bush.’ So the dog stretched himself out on the road, and fell fast asleep. Whilst he slept, there came by a carter with a cart drawn by three horses, and loaded with two casks of wine. The sparrow, seeing that the carter did not turn out of the way, but would go on in the track in which the dog lay, so as to drive over him, called out, ‘Stop! stop! Mr Carter, or it shall be the worse for you.’ But the carter, grumbling to himself, ‘You make it the worse for me, indeed! what can you do?’ cracked his whip, and drove his cart over the poor dog, so that the wheels crushed him to death. ‘There,’ cried the sparrow, ‘thou cruel villain, thou hast killed my friend the dog. Now mind what I say. This deed of thine shall cost thee all thou art worth.’ ‘Do your worst, and welcome,’ said the brute, ‘what harm can you do me?’ and passed on. But the sparrow crept under the tilt of the cart, and pecked at the bung of one of the casks till she loosened it; and then all the wine ran out, without the carter seeing it. At last he looked round, and saw that the cart was dripping, and the cask quite empty. ‘What an unlucky wretch I am!’ cried he. ‘Not wretch enough yet!’ said the sparrow, as she alighted upon the head of one of the horses, and pecked at him till he reared up and kicked. When the carter saw this, he drew out his hatchet and aimed a blow at the sparrow, meaning to kill her; but she flew away, and the blow fell upon the poor horse’s head with such force, that he fell down dead. ‘Unlucky wretch that I am!’ cried he. ‘Not wretch enough yet!’ said the sparrow. And as the carter went on with the other two horses, she again crept under the tilt of the cart, and pecked out the bung of the second cask, so that all the wine ran out. When the carter saw this, he again cried out, ‘Miserable wretch that I am!’ But the sparrow answered, ‘Not wretch enough yet!’ and perched on the head of the second horse, and pecked at him too. The carter ran up and struck at her again with his hatchet; but away she flew, and the blow fell upon the second horse and killed him on the spot. ‘Unlucky wretch that I am!’ said he. ‘Not wretch enough yet!’ said the sparrow; and perching upon the third horse, she began to peck him too. The carter was mad with fury; and without looking about him, or caring what he was about, struck again at the sparrow; but killed his third horse as he done the other two. ‘Alas! miserable wretch that I am!’ cried he. ‘Not wretch enough yet!’ answered the sparrow as she flew away; ‘now will I plague and punish thee at thy own house.’ The carter was forced at last to leave his cart behind him, and to go home overflowing with rage and vexation. ‘Alas!’ said he to his wife, ‘what ill luck has befallen me!--my wine is all spilt, and my horses all three dead.’ ‘Alas! husband,’ replied she, ‘and a wicked bird has come into the house, and has brought with her all the birds in the world, I am sure, and they have fallen upon our corn in the loft, and are eating it up at such a rate!’ Away ran the husband upstairs, and saw thousands of birds sitting upon the floor eating up his corn, with the sparrow in the midst of them. ‘Unlucky wretch that I am!’ cried the carter; for he saw that the corn was almost all gone. ‘Not wretch enough yet!’ said the sparrow; ‘thy cruelty shall cost thee thy life yet!’ and away she flew.
一只牧羊犬的主人从不照顾它，反而常让它遭受极大的饥饿。最终它再也无法忍受，便拔腿逃跑，心情十分悲伤哀痛。在路上，它遇到了一只麻雀，麻雀问道：‘我的朋友，你为什么这么伤心？’狗回答说：‘因为我非常非常饿，没有任何东西可吃。’麻雀答道：‘如果仅仅是这样，那就跟我到下一个城镇去，我很快就能给你找到充足的食物。’于是它们一起走进了城镇；经过一家肉铺时，麻雀对狗说：‘你站一会儿，我去啄下一块肉给你。’麻雀便停在架子上，先仔细环顾四周确认无人注意，然后啄抓放在架子边缘的一块牛排，直到最后那块肉掉了下来。狗立刻叼起肉，溜到角落里很快把它吃光了。‘好吧，’麻雀说，‘如果你愿意的话，我还可以再给你弄些吃的；跟我到下一家店去，我再给你啄下一块牛排。’狗吃完这块肉后，麻雀问它：‘好了，我的好朋友，你现在吃饱了吗？’‘肉我已经吃够了，’狗回答说，‘但我还想吃点面包。’‘那跟我来吧，’麻雀说，‘你很快也能得到面包。’于是它带狗来到一家面包店，啄着橱窗里的两个圆面包，直到它们掉了下来；由于狗还想要更多，麻雀又带它到另一家店，又为它啄下了一些。吃完这些后，麻雀问它现在是否已经吃饱了。‘是的，’狗说，‘现在让我们去城外走走。’于是它们一起走上大路；因为天气炎热，没走多远狗就说：‘我太累了，想睡个觉。’‘好吧，’麻雀回答，‘你睡吧， meantime 我停在那丛灌木上。’狗便躺在路上，很快睡着了。它睡着时，一个赶车人驾着三匹马拉的车经过，车上载着两桶酒。麻雀见赶车人没有绕道，反而径直朝狗躺着的路线驶来，打算压过它，便喊道：‘停下！停下！赶车先生，否则对你可没好处！’但赶车人一边嘟囔着‘你倒是让我更糟了！你能把我怎么样？’，一边挥鞭驾车，从可怜的狗身上碾过，车轮将它压死了。‘看吧！’麻雀叫道，‘你这残忍的恶棍，你杀了我的朋友狗。现在听我说，你的所作所为将让你付出所有代价。’‘尽管放马过来吧，’那畜生说，‘你能对我造成什么伤害？’说完便继续前行。但麻雀钻到车篷下，啄开其中一桶酒的塞子，直到把塞子弄松；于是酒全部流了出来，赶车人却毫无察觉。最后他回头一看，发现车子在滴水，桶也空了。‘我真倒霉！’他喊道。‘还不够倒霉呢！’麻雀说，它落在其中一匹马的头上，啄那匹马直到它惊起踢腿。赶车人见状拔出斧头，朝麻雀挥去，想把它打死；但麻雀飞走了，斧头却重重地砍在那匹可怜的马头上，马当场倒地身亡。‘我真倒霉！’他喊道。‘还不够倒霉呢！’麻雀说。赶车人继续驾着另外两匹马前行，麻雀又钻到车篷下，啄开了第二桶酒的塞子，酒全部流了出来。赶车人看到后再次喊道：‘我真倒霉！’但麻雀回答：‘还不够倒霉呢！’并落在第二匹马的头上，也开始啄它。赶车人冲上去用斧头再次砍向麻雀；但麻雀飞走了，斧头却砍在第二匹马上，当场将其杀死。‘我真倒霉！’他说。‘还不够倒霉呢！’麻雀说；它落在第三匹马的头上，开始啄那匹马。赶车人怒火中烧，不看周围，也不管自己在做什么，再次朝麻雀挥斧；结果却像前两次一样，杀死了第三匹马。‘唉！我真倒霉！’他喊道。‘还不够倒霉呢！’麻雀飞走时回答，‘现在我要去你家折磨并惩罚你。’赶车人最终不得不丢下车子回家，心中充满愤怒和烦恼。‘唉！’他对妻子说，‘我遭遇了什么厄运啊！我的酒全洒了，三匹马也都死了。’‘唉！丈夫，’她回答说，‘还有一只恶鸟飞进了屋子，它一定把全世界的鸟都带来了，它们落在阁楼的粮食上，正以惊人的速度把它吃光呢！’丈夫急忙跑上楼，看见成千上万只鸟坐在地上吃着他的粮食，麻雀就在中间。‘我真倒霉！’赶车人喊道，因为他看到粮食几乎被吃光了。‘还不够倒霉呢！’麻雀说，‘你的残忍终将让你付出生命的代价！’说完便飞走了。
The carter seeing that he had thus lost all that he had, went down into his kitchen; and was still not sorry for what he had done, but sat himself angrily and sulkily in the chimney corner. But the sparrow sat on the outside of the window, and cried ‘Carter! thy cruelty shall cost thee thy life!’ With that he jumped up in a rage, seized his hatchet, and threw it at the sparrow; but it missed her, and only broke the window. The sparrow now hopped in, perched upon the window-seat, and cried, ‘Carter! it shall cost thee thy life!’ Then he became mad and blind with rage, and struck the window-seat with such force that he cleft it in two: and as the sparrow flew from place to place, the carter and his wife were so furious, that they broke all their furniture, glasses, chairs, benches, the table, and at last the walls, without touching the bird at all. In the end, however, they caught her: and the wife said, ‘Shall I kill her at once?’ ‘No,’ cried he, ‘that is letting her off too easily: she shall die a much more cruel death; I will eat her.’ But the sparrow began to flutter about, and stretch out her neck and cried, ‘Carter! it shall cost thee thy life yet!’ With that he could wait no longer: so he gave his wife the hatchet, and cried, ‘Wife, strike at the bird and kill her in my hand.’ And the wife struck; but she missed her aim, and hit her husband on the head so that he fell down dead, and the sparrow flew quietly home to her nest.
赶车人见自己失去了一切，便走进厨房；他仍不后悔自己的行为，只是愤怒而闷闷地坐在壁炉角落。但麻雀停在窗外，喊道：‘赶车人！你的残忍终将让你付出生命的代价！’闻言他暴怒跳起，抓起斧头朝麻雀扔去；但没砸中，只打碎了窗户。麻雀随即跳进屋内，停在窗台上喊道：‘赶车人！这终将让你付出生命的代价！’于是他彻底被愤怒冲昏了头脑，用尽全力猛击窗台，将其劈成两半；随着麻雀在屋内四处飞窜，赶车人和他的妻子怒火中烧，打碎了所有家具、玻璃杯、椅子、长凳、桌子，最后连墙壁也砸坏了，却始终没能碰到那只鸟。最终他们还是抓住了它；妻子说：‘我现在就把它打死吗？’‘不！’他喊道，‘这样让它死得太容易了；它必须死得更惨烈些；我要把它吃掉。’但麻雀开始扑腾翅膀，伸长脖子喊道：‘赶车人！这终将让你付出生命的代价！’这下他再也忍不住了：于是他把斧头递给妻子，喊道：‘妻子，快朝那只鸟砍去，在我手里把它打死。’妻子挥斧砍去，却失手打中了丈夫的头部，丈夫倒地身亡，而麻雀则平静地飞回自己的巢穴。