elf with rage, flew at the sparrow again
with his axe, but the little creature always eluded his blows, and he
only succeeded in destroying all his furniture. At last, however, he
managed to catch the bird in his hands. Then his wife called out: 'Shall
I wring her neck?'

'Certainly not,' replied her husband, 'that would be far too easy a
death for her; she must die in a far crueller fashion than that. I will
eat her alive;' and he suited the action to his words. But the sparrow
fluttered and struggled inside him till she got up into the man's mouth,
and then she popped out her head and said: 'Yes, carter, it will cost
you your life.'

The carter handed his wife the axe, and said: 'Wife, kill the bird in my
mouth dead.'

The woman struck with all her might, but she missed the bird and hit the
carter right on the top of his head, so that he fell down dead. But the
sparrow escaped out of his mouth and flew away into the air.

[From the German, Kletke.]

The Story of the Three Sons of Hali

Till his eighteenth birthday the young Neangir lived happily in a
village about forty miles from Constantinople, believing that Mohammed
and Zinebi his wife, who had brought him up, were his real parents.

Neangir was quite content with his lot, though he was neither rich nor
great, and unlike most young men of his age had no desire to leave
his home. He was therefore completely taken by surprise when one day
Mohammed told him with many sighs that the time had now come for him to
go to Constantinople, and fix on a profession for himself. The choice
would be left to him, but he would probably prefer either to be a
soldier or one of the doctors learned in the law, who explain the Koran
to the ignorant people. 'You know the holy book nearly by heart,' ended
the old man, 'so that in a very short time you would be fitted to teach
others. But write to us and tell us how you pass your life, and we, on
our side, will promise never to forget you.'

So saying, Mohammed gave Neangir four piastres to start him in the great
city, and obtained leave for him to join a caravan which was about to
set off for Constantinople.

The journey took some days, as caravans go very slowly, but at last
the walls and towers of the capital appeared in the distance. When the
caravan halted the travellers went their different ways, and Neangir was
left, feeling very strange and rather lonely. He had plenty of courage
and made friends very easily; st