Once upon a time, a sparrow and a crow were thick friends. Every day, they went to the fields together. But when it was time to plow the land, the crow began to avoid the hard work.
He would sing:
You go, sparrow. I’m just on my way.
Let me first smoke my hubble-bubble,
and swing on the twig of the mango tree.
The next day was no different. And then the day after that. While the sparrow worked hard—breaking the clumps of earth and leveling the ground—the crow strolled around, enjoying himself in the shade.
After a light rain, the field was ready for sowing. The sparrow asked the crow to come scatter the seeds with her. But the crow only smiled and hummed his usual tune.
So, the sparrow sowed the grains all by herself. Soon, tiny green sprouts covered the land. But the weeds came too. The sparrow again asked the crow for help.
Swinging on a mango tree branch, the crow refused. The sparrow said nothing and got to work alone—pulling out weeds, watering the field, and caring for the crops.
Time passed. The stalks of wheat turned golden, and the field shimmered in the sun. It was time to reap. The sparrow looked to the crow, hoping he would help this time.
But the crow refused, as always. Even when it was time to separate the chaff from the wheat, the crow didn’t lift a feather.
When the work was done, the sparrow put the chaff on one side and the wheat on the other. The crow went straight to the grain and claimed it. The sparrow, though tired, didn’t argue. She let him have it, for she still thought of him as a friend.
That night, a storm rolled in. Rain poured, and the wind howled. The sparrow crawled under the chaff and kept dry. But the lazy crow had curled up beneath the heap of wheat.
The weight pressed down on him, and he was crushed before morning.
This bedtime story may sound simple, but it leaves behind a lasting lesson.
This is the kind of bedtime story that parents and grandparents love to share—easy to understand, rich in values, and rooted in tradition. Like many moral stories in English, it teaches that those who avoid hard work often pay the price, while quiet effort brings quiet rewards.
A timeless story with moral for kids, straight from the heart of Indian folklore.
Kalai is passionate about reading and reinterpreting folk tales from all over the country. Write to her at kalai.muse@gmail.com to know more about her.
Folk tale adopted and abridged from Internet Archive.