Passage
A long time ago it was said that Sparrow and Woodpecker were two sisters. One day news came to them that their parents were so ill they might die. Sparrow was just putting on her "tooth blacking makeup" but straightaway flew off to be by the parent's sickbed. Because of this even in these days Sparrow's cheek is dirty and the top half of her beak is white. Woodpecker put on her lipstick and the white make up for her face that geisha use and then took her time to primp herself up before leaving but in the end was not in time to be by her parent's bedside when they passed away.
It is said that because of this that although Sparrows dress is not so beautifully she always lives where people live and and can eat as much as she needs of the grains that people eat. But for Woodpecker, even though she looks so good with so much makeup, she has to start to go around the woods from early in the morning hitting the bark of the tree here and there but in one day all she can eat is just three grubs. Then, when the evening falls, she has to climb into a hollow and at last she can cry tears about how much her beak hurts.
Vocabulary
- 雀・すずめ・sparrow
- 啄木鳥・きつつき・woodpecker
- 歯黒・はぐろ・"tooth blacking makeup"
- 白粉・おしろい・white makeup used by geisha
- 嘴・くちばし・beak
- 啄む・ついばむ・to peck
- 空ろ・うつろ・a hollow
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