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'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 they life yet!' and away she
flew.

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

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