“Sure, I can do this,” said the woman, and stretched the yarn over two wooden poles.  The little bird took the stretched yarn, flew to another camp of black tents and said to a woman there: “Weave it for me, weave it well, but if you can’t weave, I’ll do it myself.”  So the woman put the yarn on her loom and wove it.

The bird took the fabric, flew to another camp, and said to a woman there: “Sew it together, sew it strong, but if you can’t sew, I’ll do it myself.”  So the woman took out her needle and sewed a bag.  The bird took the bag, flew to a threshing ground and said to the farmer: “Fill the bag, fill it with wheat, but if you can’t fill a bag, I’ll do it myself.”  So the farmer filled the bag with wheat.  The little bird took the full bag, flew to another camp and said to a woman there: “Sew it shut, sew it tight, but if you can’t sew, I’ll do it myself.”  The woman sewed the bag tight.

And then the little bird hopped on top of its bag full of wheat, fluffed its feathers, looked around and said proudly: “Not even the Shah’s daughter is served better than I.”

Sparrow’s Song

Along time ago, when birds could not sing yet, a sparrow said to an old woman: “Give me a little bread to eat.”

The old woman said: “Bring me a load of firewood, then I’ll give you bread.”  The sparrow flew away and got together a load of firewood and brought it to the old woman and said: “Here is your firewood, now give me some bread.”

The old woman said: “First, let me bake some.”  And she made dough and rolled it out on her breadboard and baked many round flatbreads on the griddle.  The sparrow said: “Now give me some bread to eat.”

The old woman said: “First, let me sprinkle water on my flatbreads to make them soft, and then let me fold them up so they won’t dry out.”  And she sprinkled them with water and folded them up, five to a bundle.  The sparrow said: “Now give me some bread.”

The old woman said: “First, let me tie the bread into the breadcloth and put it up on the pile of household goods, where it belongs, and then let me clean up and put the board and the griddle away.”  And she put the bread up on top of the pile of household goods and cleaned up around the fireplace.  The sparrow said: “Now give me some bread.”

The old woman said: “Why in the world should I give you any of my bread?  Go away.”

The bird took the ball of yarn, flew to another camp, and said to a woman there: “Stretch it for me, stretch it tight, but if you can’t stretch yarn, I’ll do it myself.”