The Badger and the Sparrow

Once upon a time, a Badger and a Sparrow agreed to build a house together. It was not the largest or the most beautiful house that would ever be built, but to them it was special, because it was theirs.

The Sparrow provided all of the wood pieces. She was much more mobile than the Badger, so it was easy for her to fly to all different parts of the forest and bring back small little pieces of wood to build the house with.

The Badger put together the wood pieces, patted them with his tail, and made sure that they stuck together.

In this way, they constructed the house that was special to them. They put up the walls, and made a place for a door. They put in windows with a view of the nearby river, and the Sparrow even found little squares of glass for them.

Then one day it was time to finally put on the roof. The Badger worked furiously on the plans, and waited for the Sparrow to show up, so that she could collect the wood.

The Badger waited for a long time, and still the Sparrow did not appear. So, he went back to working on the plans for the roof, and made them even better. He figured out how it could use less wood and yet still have a few new ornaments. He figured out how the roof could slope just in the right way for the rain to slide off down a chute and and into the nearby river. He worked for many hours, fixing up little parts of the plan here and there.

But still the Sparrow did not appear.

After even more hours of waiting, the Badger became worried, and he decided that he had to go off into the forest to search for the Sparrow. He traveled the trails, and looked up in the trees. He went into the caves, and he swam in the river. He watched the sky in all directions. Yet still, he could not find the Sparrow.

There was nothing for the Badger to do but go back to the house and wait for the Sparrow to appear. He paced the ground, and watched the sky. Even when he went to bed that night, he did not sleep, in case the Sparrow came back.

Early the next morning, the Sparrow finally appeared! She came rushing into the unfinished house, and said, “Oh, dear Badger, I am so sorry! I have been gone, but now I have returned. Let me go get some more wood for you!”

The Badger stopped her gently, and said, “Where have you been, Sparrow?”

The Sparrow mumbled, “I have been building another house.”

The Badger was quite surprised! He asked, “Another house? Where is it? Are you building it by yourself?”

The Sparrow shyly said in reply, “Yes, another house. It’s just across the river, and the plans that we have for it are very beautiful. I am building it with a wonderful Duck. We have only started to build it, but it is going to be quite a house when it is done!”

The Badger said, “What about our house? I have some very exciting plans here, for the roof!” He pulled out the plans, of which he was very proud, and showed them to the Sparrow.

The Sparrow looked down at the plans, and smiled a little. “Yes, those are very nice plans,” she said, “I would like to help you build it.”

And so the Badger was pleased, and the Sparrow’s disappearance forgotten. The Sparrow found many sticks out of which the badger could build the roof. The house had gotten wet while she had been gone (because there was no roof), so she also had to get a few sticks to replace some rotting wood with. However, she managed to get enough sticks in just a few days to replace all the rotting wood and even build half the roof.

The Badger and the Sparrow both were happy, and everything was going well. Once again, they were building the house that was special to them.

One evening, while the Badger was sleeping, the Sparrow was walking around outside the house, enjoying the stars before she went to sleep for the night. A Rabbit walked by, and saw the Sparrow. All of a sudden, a great idea came to the Rabbit’s mind. You see, the Rabbit had some very pretty plans for a very unusual house, but nobody to help him fetch sticks. He saw this Sparrow, and he knew, “This Sparrow and I can build a house together!”

The Rabbit walked up to the Sparrow, and said, “Sparrow! You have wonderful wings on which to fly, and your beak, though it is small, can carry many sticks. I have some plans for a house, but sadly, nobody to build it with. If you would build my house with me, my whole life would be happy.”

How could the Sparrow resist such a request from such a kind Rabbit? That very night, she flew out to get sticks for the Rabbit. She spent most of the night flying around and searching out the very best sticks for the Rabbit’s very interesting house. She was happy, because she was able to help the Rabbit so much.

The Sparrow spent all night and all day helping the Rabbit with his house. She slept for only a little while, and then spent even another day after that bringing sticks to a pile, so the Rabbit could form them into walls.

The Rabbit and the Sparrow worked for three days and three nights, and they built many nice walls. But then the Sparrow remembered, “Oh! I have a house to build with the Badger!” So she flew in a great hurry back to the site of the house that was special to her and the Badger.

When she arrived, she found out that their house had gotten wet, once more. The half of the roof was still there, but some of the wood in the walls was getting rotten, and would need a little bit of work to be replaced.

The Badger was unhappy. He had not known where the Sparrow had went, and he had been worried. He gently asked, “Where have you been, Sparrow?”

The Sparrow mumbled, “I have been building another house.”

The Badger was a little surprised. He asked, “Another house? Where is it? Are you building it by yourself?”

The Sparrow shyly said in reply, “Yes, another house. It’s just down the river, over the hill, and the plans that we have for it are very interesting! I am building it with a Rabbit. We have only started to build it, but it is going to be quite a house when it is done!”

This time, the Badger realized that the Sparrow was never going to stay around long enough to actually finish the rest of the house. And she did seem so very interested in building other houses. So he said, “That sounds wonderful. I hope that you enjoy building the house with the Rabbit! I think that we’re not going to finish building our house, now, but that’s OK. I had a great time working on the house with you.”

The Sparrow agreed. “Yes, I think I’m going to go work on this very interesting house with the Rabbit. He needs my help ever so much! And it really is a very interesting house.”

The Badger smiled, and nodded, and waved as the Sparrow flew away.

For a while, the Badger waited in the house, in case the Sparrow returned. The house was so well-built that not all of the wood could ever rot, and there were some wonderful rooms that he could sleep in. He looked out the window, at the river rushing by. He walked through the empty doorway, and leaned against the wall built of the sticks that the Sparrow had gathered.

After some time, the Badger smiled, and left the house, heading into the woods. Perhaps another day this house would be complete, but today it was time to build another house, in another place.

To this day, a little house sits by the river, built by a Badger and a Sparrow. It has a little glass window, and a place for a door. It was special to them, and no matter how wet it gets, it never rots all the way through.

-Max