Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-07-24
AN AsTOUNDED SPARROW.
1t Ticleled the Rhinooeros' Nose. and the
Great Beast Sneezed.

TOW. You Can scare IL - OlGSu
scared as oft return, pert, vora-
cious kind'-and make it fly away,
but that is only because the sparrow
has the bump of self preservation
very prominently developed and
takes hint as to personal danger
with extraordinary promptitude
But, though it may remove its small
body tof harm S way for the time
being, 1t is not Disconnected You
can see that by the way in which it
Immediately goes on with its toilet.
It's nerves have not been shaken
that is evident from its obvious self
possession and the way it scratches
its head and makes q note of the fly
which went by. 1t would not COM
mence ct once a frivolous alteration
with another of its kind if it had
been Disconnected.
And really it is not to be wondered
at that tho sparrow should be be-
yond the reach of establishment.
Think of what it sees, and sees quite
unconcernedly, in the streets of Lon
don. Put tiger into Fleet street or
bear at the Bank, and the poor
beasts would go crazy with terror.
A single omnibus would stampede
troop Of lions. Yet sparrow sur
veys the approaching fire engine IN
dismayed and it sits with its back
to tho street when runaway van
comes laundering death down Lud-
gate hill. The small birds life Is,
in fact, so made up Of surprises that
it regards the astounding as COM
monplace. So fly, sitting down in
train, thinks nothing Of finding
itself in the next county when it
gets up. Its whole existence is vol
canio and seismic. 1t cannot settle
on hand without the hand moving.
What would dog think if, on going
into q ten acre field, the field sud-
denly turned over? But the fly is
not put out of countenance by such
phenomena. 1t comes hack to
the hand. 1t Is the same with the
sparrow. 1t thinks no more of an
other wonder than the Seven Com
panions did of another dragon in the
day s work.
All the same, have seen a spar
row totally COMPOUNDED and all to
pieces. 1t was, confess, only a
young one, with just the promise of
% tail, nothing more, and some odds
and ends of fluff still clinging be-
tween the red feathers. I was look
ing at tho rhinoceros, which was ly-
ing down close to the ratings, and
very sleepy rhinoeros it was. Elk
cept for slight twitches of the tail
and an occasional fdget of the ears
it was quite motionless. And the
young sparrow hopping about In
the Enclosure, coming to the beast,
hoped on to it, looking in the chinks
of its skin for chance grains Or in
scots. And it hoped all along its
back on to its head-the rhinceros
winked-and along its head to the
little horn, and from the little horn
on to tho big one-and it blinked-
and then off the horn on to It's nose.
And then the rhiDoceros snorted.
The sparrow was a sight to see. Elk
ploded is no word for it And it sat
all in heap ON the corner of the
house and chirpod the mournfulest
ohirps. 81 hadn't the smallest no
ton the thing was alive" it said.
ooh, doarl Oh, dear!'' And it
wouldn t be pacifled for a long time.
It's establishment had been severe
and had got into the system. y" l
remembered the story of tho boy
who sat on the whales blowhole.
Behemoth had got stranded on the
Shetland coast. While the popula-
ton was admiring it an urchln
climbed on to the head of the dis
tressed monster and exultantly seat
cd his graceless person on Its fore
head. He had but a short time to
onjoy his triumph, and the next In
slant the whale, filing itself with
air, blew such blast through its
blowholo that the boy was blown up
into tho air and out to sea. So said
tho vcracious chroniclor of the day,
and I hope it was true, for little
boys should not under any circum-
stances site the blowhole of whales,
nor young sparrows on the nostrils
of rhinoceros.-English Illustrated
The Gentle Japanese.