Tales of the birdsFowler, W. Warde (William Warde)
General
Tales of the birds
Fowler, W. Warde (William Warde)
Birds; Birds -- Juvenile literature
The next day was, as we all remember, another very hot one. The sun
blazed down upon the poor hen sparrow, who was obliged to keep sitting
close all day, until she really thought she must have died with heat and
anxiety. Not for one minute would her husband allow her to leave the
nest and look at the processions. He perched on a chimney whence he
could see her on the nest, and also see the procession coming through
from Buckingham Palace; and he described it all to her from his chimney,
but what was the good of that? She might just as well have read it in
the newspapers the next morning.
All day long she sat on those three remaining eggs, and it really seemed
as if they would never crack. The cock got more and more angry and
impatient. “We shall be disgraced,” he cried, when the processions were
all over, and still no second chick; “we shall be disgraced, and we
shall have to leave the Palace. I shall, at least; you may stay if you
like: you have no connection with the royal family and no sense of
shame.”
The hen could say nothing. She was doing her best, poor thing, and she
could do no more. Hour after hour passed, and still no egg burst. At
last, as the big clock on the Palace struck seven, crack! peep!--a
second little sparrow poked out its bill into this wicked world.
The cock sparrow was in a state of wild excitement. He pushed his wife
off the nest, and declared he was going to take charge of it all
himself.
“Oh, what a beauty!” he exclaimed; “so different from that other little
wretch! Fly at once, my dear, to Buckingham Palace, and let Her Majesty
know. She’ll be delighted. And only think if you were to bring back some
crumbs from the hand of royalty itself! I’ll take care of it meanwhile.”
Off flew poor weary Mrs. Sparrow on her errand. But when she got to
Buckingham Palace, she didn’t know how to find the Queen; so she flew
down into Palace Road, and picked up a crumb or two in front of a
baker’s shop there, which she brought home in her beak.
“Well done!” cried her husband, without waiting to ask where they came
from. “Crumbs from Her Majesty’s own hand! wasn’t she
[Illustration: A Jubilee Sparrow.--P. 61.]
delighted? Did she say it was to be called ‘Jubilee,’ in honour of the
day? Of course she did. Jubilee he shall be; and there isn’t another
young one in London to compare with him.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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