Then the carter seized his axe and threw it at the sparrow , but he only broke the window panes , and did not do the bird a bit of harm . She hopped in through the broken window and , perching on the mantelpiece , she called out : ` Yes , carter , it will cost you your life . ' The carter , quite beside himself 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 . -LSB- From the German , Kletke . -RSB- 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 XXXXX , feeling very strange and rather lonely .
German HALI Koran Mohammed Neangir Zinebi days left right sparrow