A shepherd’s dog had a master who was very mean. The master often left the dog hungry, so one day, the dog decided to run away. On the road, he met a sparrow. "Why are you so sad?" the bird asked.
"I am very hungry," said the dog.
"Don't worry," the sparrow replied. "Follow me into town, and I will find you food." They went to a butcher’s shop. The sparrow pecked at a piece of meat until it fell off the shelf. After the dog ate the meat, the sparrow took him to a baker’s shop and pecked down some bread. Finally, the dog was full and said, "Thank you, friend. Now I would like to sleep."
The dog lay down in the middle of the road and fell fast asleep. Soon, a carter arrived with a wagon pulled by three horses. He saw the dog but refused to move out of the way. "Move, or I will drive over you!" he shouted. The sparrow called out, "Stop! If you hurt him, I will make you pay!"
The carter laughed and drove his wagon over the dog, killing him. "You have killed my friend!" the sparrow cried. "Now I will take everything you own."
The sparrow began her revenge. First, she pecked at the plug of the carter’s wine barrels until all the wine spilled out. Then, she perched on the head of one of the horses. The carter tried to hit the bird with his axe, but he missed and killed his own horse instead. This happened again and again until all three of his horses were dead and his wine was gone.
The carter went home, angry and poor. But the sparrow followed him. She invited hundreds of other birds into the carter's house to eat all his corn. The carter was so furious that he started throwing his axe at the bird inside his house. He broke his windows, his furniture, and his walls, but he could not hit the sparrow.
Finally, the carter caught the bird. "I will eat her alive!" he screamed. He asked his wife to hit the bird while he held it in his hand. His wife swung the axe, but she missed the bird and hit her husband on the head. The carter fell down dead, and the sparrow flew happily back to her nest.