Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part A

 

Image Information: sparrow clip art (weblink)

The Sparrow with the Split Tongue

Characters: 

Husband that saved the sparrow from the raven 

evil wife that cut the sparrow's tongue off

Plot: 

The husband saved the little sparrow from a raven one day. He decided to keep the sparrow as a pet/friend. Everyday he would let the sparrow fly about in his house as it pleased. The evil wife hated this. So one day when the husband was out the evil wife cut off the sparrow's tongue. The sparrow escaped and didn't fly back. The husband came back and was displeased and sad in hearing this. He tried to look for the sparrow but could not. Then one day a woman in a house told him that she is the sparrow he saved. She offered him gifts. A large chest or a small chest. The husband chose the small chest. In the small chest were jewels. When the wife saw this she grew disgruntled that he didn't choose the larger chest. So she went back to the house and took the larger chest. To her dismay in the large chest were serpents with slit tongues. 

Change: 

I think I want to rewrite this story and make the sparrow girl not be able to talk since she had her tongue cut off. This could be like similar to the little mermaid story. I also want to create some romance between the husband and the sparrow girl. In the end, I want the wife to have her tongue cut off so she gets a taste of her own medicine. 

"The Sparrow with the Split Tongue" from the "Pink Fairy Book" by Andrew Lang (weblink)