all his force against the lion's skin. The
little hare jumped out through the mouth with a single spring, and fled
away like lightning, all the hyaenas in full pursuit uttering great
cries. As he turned a corner the little hare cut off both his ears,
so that they should not know him, and pretended to be working at a
grindstone which lay there.

The hyaenas soon came up to him and said, 'Tell me, friend, have you
seen the little hare go by?'

'No, I have seen no one.'

'Where can he be?' said the hyaenas one to another. 'Of course, this
creature is quite different, and not at all like the little hare.' Then
they went on their way, but, finding no traces of the little hare,
they returned sadly to their village, saying, 'To think we should have
allowed ourselves to be swept away by a wretched creature like that!'

The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue

From the Japanische Marchen und Sagen.

A long long time ago, an old couple dwelt in the very heart of a high
mountain. They lived together in peace and harmony, although they were
very different in character, the man being good-natured and honest, and
the wife being greedy and quarrelsome when anyone came her way that she
could possibly quarrel with.

One day the old man was sitting in front of his cottage, as he was very
fond of doing, when he saw flying towards him a little sparrow, followed
by a big black raven. The poor little thing was very much frightened and
cried out as it flew, and the great bird came behind it terribly fast,
flapping its wings and craning its beak, for it was hungry and wanted
some dinner. But as they drew near the old man, he jumped up, and beat
back the raven, which mounted, with hoarse screams of disappointment,
into the sky, and the little bird, freed from its enemy, nestled into
the old man's hand, and he carried it into the house. He stroked its
feathers, and told it not to be afraid, for it was quite safe; but as
he still felt its heart beating, he put it into a cage, where it soon
plucked up courage to twitter and hop about. The old man was fond of
all creatures, and every morning he used to open the cage door, and the
sparrow flew happily about until it caught sight of a cat or a rat or
some other fierce beast, when it would instantly return to the cage,
knowing that there no harm could come to it.

The woman, who was always on the look-out for something to grumble at,
grew very jealous of her husband's affection for the bird,