ng rosebush, which added beauty to the
picture; indeed, it was for the sake of the roses that the sketch had
been made. Later in the day two of the sparrows who had been born there
came by.

"Where is the house?" they asked. "Where is the nest? Tweet, tweet; all
is burned down, and our strong brother with it. That is all he got by
keeping the nest. The roses have escaped famously; they look as well as
ever, with their rosy cheeks; they do not trouble themselves about their
neighbors' misfortunes. I won't speak to them. And really, in my
opinion, the place looks very ugly"; so they flew away.

On a fine, bright, sunny day in autumn, so bright that any one might
have supposed it was still the middle of summer, a number of pigeons
were hopping about in the nicely kept courtyard of the nobleman's house,
in front of the great steps. Some were black, others white, and some of
various colors, and their plumage glittered in the sunshine. An old
mother pigeon said to her young ones, "Place yourselves in groups! place
yourselves in groups! it has a much better appearance."

"What are those little gray creatures which are running about behind
us?" asked an old pigeon with red and green round her eyes. "Little gray
ones, little gray ones," she cried.

"They are sparrows--good little creatures enough. We have always had the
character of being very good-natured, so we allow them to pick up some
corn with us; they do not interrupt our conversation, and they draw back
their left foot so prettily."

Sure enough, so they did, three times each, and with the left foot too,
and said "tweet," by which we recognize them as the sparrows that were
brought up in the nest on the house that was burned down.

"The food here is very good," said the sparrows; while the pigeons
strutted round each other, puffed out their throats, and formed their
own opinions on what they observed.

"Do you see the pouter pigeon?" asked one pigeon of another. "Do you see
how he swallows the peas? He takes too much and always chooses the best
of everything. Coo-oo, coo-oo. How the ugly, spiteful creature erects
his crest." And all their eyes sparkled with malice. "Place yourselves
in groups, place yourselves in groups. Little gray coats, little gray
coats. Coo-oo, coo-oo."

So they went on, and it will be the same a thousand years hence.

The sparrows feasted bravely and listened attentively; they even stood
in ranks like the pigeons, but it did not suit them