A shepherd dog did not have a good master, but one who made him suffer from hunger. As he could no longer bear to stay with him, he went away quite sad. On the street a sparrow met him, who said 'Brother dog, why are you so sad? The dog answered, "I am hungry and have nothing to eat. Then the sparrow said, "Dear brother, come with me to the city, and I will fill you up. So they went into town together, and when they came to a butcher's store, the sparrow said to the dog, "Stay there, I want to pick a piece of meat off you," sat down on the store, looked around to make sure no one noticed him, and picked, pulled and tugged at a piece that was lying on the edge until it slipped off. Then the dog grabbed it, ran into a corner and ate it up. The sparrow said, "Now come with me to another store, where I will get you another piece, so that you will be full. When the dog had also eaten the second piece, the sparrow asked, "Brother dog, are you full now?" "Yes, I am full of meat," he answered, "but I have not yet had any bread. Said the sparrow, 'You shall have that too, just come along.' So he led him to a baker's store and picked at a few rolls until they rolled down, and when the dog wanted more, he led him to another and fetched him more bread. When that was eaten, the sparrow said, 'Brother Dog, are you full now?' 'Yes,' he answered, 'now let's go outside the city for a bit.

Now they both went out onto the country road. It was warm weather, and when they had gone a little way, the dog said, "I am tired and would like to sleep. Yes, go to sleep,' replied the sparrow, 'I will sit down on a branch in the meantime. So the dog lay down on the road and fell fast asleep. While he was asleep, a carter drove up, with a wagon and three horses, carrying two barrels of wine. The sparrow, however, saw that he did not want to turn off, but remained in the track in which the dog was lying, so he shouted 'Carter, thus not, or I will make you poor'. The carter, however, muttered to himself, "You will not make me poor," cracked his whip and drove the wagon over the dog, so that the wheels drove it to death. Then the sparrow shouted: "You have driven my brother dog to death, this shall cost you cart and horse. Yes, cart and horse,' said the carter, 'what harm could you do me! Then the sparrow crawled under the wagon cloth and pecked at one of the spunt holes until he broke the spunt loose: then all the wine ran out without the carter noticing. And when he looked behind him, he saw that the wagon was dripping, examined the barrels and found that one was empty. The sparrow said, "Not poor enough yet," and flew to the head of one of the horses and plucked out its eyes. When the carter saw this, he pulled out his hoe and wanted to hit the sparrow, but the sparrow flew up into the air, and the carter hit his horse on the head, so that it fell down dead. Not poor enough yet," said the sparrow, and as the wagoner drove on with the two horses, the sparrow crawled under the cloth again and pecked the sparrow loose on the second barrel, so that all the wine came tumbling out. When the wagoner noticed this, he called out again, "Oh, poor me!" but the sparrow answered, "Not poor enough yet," and sat on the second horse's head and pecked out its eyes. The carter ran over and took his hoe, but the sparrow flew up into the air, and the blow struck the horse so that it fell down. The sparrow said, "Not poor enough yet," and sat on the head of the third horse and pecked at its eyes. The carter, in his anger, without looking back, struck at the sparrow, but did not hit him, but also struck his third horse dead. Oh, poor me!' he cried. 'Not poor enough yet,' replied the sparrow, 'now I will make you poor at home,' and flew away.

The carter had to abandon the wagon and went home full of anger and annoyance. Oh,' he said to his wife, 'what misfortune I have had! the wine has leaked out, and the horses are all three dead.' 'Oh, man,' she answered, 'what a wicked bird has come into the house! he has brought together all the birds in the world, and they have fallen upon our wheat above and are eating it up.' Then he went up, and a thousand and a thousand birds were sitting on the ground, and had eaten up the wheat, and the sparrow was sitting in the middle of it. Then the carter cried out, 'Alas, poor me!' 'Not poor enough yet,' answered the sparrow, 'Carter, it will cost you your life yet,' and flew out.
Then the carter had lost all his possessions, went down to the parlor, sat down behind the stove, and did so in an angry and poisonous manner. The sparrow sat outside the window and called out, "Carter, it will cost you your life. The carter grabbed the hoe and threw it at the sparrow, but he only broke the window panes and did not hit the bird. The sparrow hopped in, sat down on the stove and shouted, "Carter, it will cost you your life. The latter, completely mad and blind with rage, smashes the stove in two, and so on, as the sparrow flies from one place to another, all his house utensils, mirror, benches, table, and finally the walls of his house, and cannot hit him. Finally, however, he caught him with his hand. Then his wife said, 'Shall I beat him to death?' 'No,' he cried, 'that would be too easy, he shall die much more murderously, I will devour him,' and takes him and devours him all at once. The sparrow, however, begins to flutter in his body, flutters up again, into the man's mouth: there he sticks out his head and cries 'Carter, it will cost you your life after all'. The carter hands the hoe to his wife and says 'Woman, strike the bird dead in my mouth.' The woman strikes, but misses, and hits the carter straight on the head, so that he falls down dead. But the sparrow flies up and away.