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Overview
An old man keeps a sparrow as his pet, but his angry wife cuts out its tongue after it eats some starch. Much later the man finds the bird in the mountains, where it speaks and invites him into its household. The sparrow has a wife and two daughters, Suzumi and the younger Ko-suzumi. They serve elaborate refreshments, entertain their guest with music and games and invite him to remain for several days.
At his departure the sparrow offers a heavy and a light basket. The man takes the lighter one, which contains treasure together with a never-failing money bag and an invisible coat and hat. His wife then visits in hope of a similar reward. Her reception is cooler, and she demands a gift and selects the heavier basket. At home it releases a cuttlefish, a horned oni, a threatening skeleton and a hairy serpent; the serpent coils around her and kills her.
The old man buries his wife, adopts a son and lives comfortably. The tale does not explain how the sparrow recovers speech after its injury or state that the household consists of humans transformed into birds. Its supernatural gifts and dangerous basket distinguish this family from ordinary sparrows. This is Griffis’s particular ending and cast, kept separate from the healed-sparrow and seed-gourd stories in the Korean and Tibetan collections.
Origins & earliest records
Japanese narrative in an English literary collection
Records & interpretation
Complete relevant chapter and editorial preface read.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Japanese Fairy World: Stories from the Wonder-Lore of Japan
IV, The Tongue-cut Sparrow, pp.30–36
Family, evolution & connections
The Sparrow couple and their two daughters
The expressly introduced household in Griffis’s 1887 English telling, pp. 32-33.
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- Mr. Sparrow and Mrs. Sparrow
- Suzumi (elder daughter)
- Ko-suzumi (younger daughter)
A joint-parent heading branches to the two named daughters in their stated birth order. No further ancestors or offspring are supplied. The human visitor’s later adopted son belongs to his own household; he is not another sparrow sibling. No Japanese-language witness was independently collated.
Suzumi and Ko-suzumi, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow
Mr. Sparrow introduces his wife and two daughters; Suzumi is the elder and Ko-suzumi the younger. The human visitor is their guest, not their father. The son whom he adopts after his wife’s death belongs to a different household.
Primary records and illustrations
William Elliot Griffis, Japanese Fairy World (1887 edition)
English literary collection; preface dated1880. IV, The Tongue-cut Sparrow, pp.30–36
Complete chapter and preface directly read. The old man buries his wife, adopts a son and lives comfortably. The tale does not explain how the sparrow recovers speech after its injury or state that the household consists of humans transformed into birds. Its supernatural gifts and dangerous basket distinguish this family from ordinary sparrows. This is Griffis’s particular ending and cast, kept separate from the healed-sparrow and seed-gourd stories in the Korean and Tibetan collections.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical English literary retellingGriffis, Japanese Fairy World (1887), IV, The Tongue-cut Sparrow, pp.30–36Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
