The Man Who Became Smaller
There was a man who bought some land and a house. The land was so small that if you took one step, then another you ran into the fence. The house was so small that you had to bend down to enter it.
It made the man feel unhappy.
An old sparrow said to him:
“It would be a good thing if you became smaller.”
The man replied in a very reasonable way:
“I should be indeed glad to do so, but unfortunately I was born such a giant.”
“You had better go to the German apothecary,” said the old sparrow, “whisper to him on the quiet, and stick a nice bit of money into his hand—he will give you some reducing drops from under his microscope, and you will become a very tiny fellow.”
The man was overjoyed, he did everything as the old sparrow told him to do, and became as small as a tin soldier.
He arrived at his house, and on his land—and everything fitted him splendidly.
The house became large, ever so large—in every room you might dance a quadrille in seven thousand pairs. He divided up the house into sections, and let them out to other little men in order to gain a large profit out of his small fortune.
The land too became so large that when the little man went for a stroll and attempted to walk round his property he got into a terrible perspiration from fatigue. The little man then divided up the land, and built on it little kennel-cottages, let them out and made good money out of them. He made money and took it to the bank. The little man began to get fat and rich.
But a huge crow happened to fly by, caught the little man by his collar, and took him off to its nest, to feed its tots with. The little man repented for having obeyed the old sparrow, but it was too late.
Perhaps the old sparrow had purposely prearranged the whole thing.