A long time ago, all the birds gathered to elect a king.

But which of them would be king? They all chirped excitedly until one shouted: “The one who flies the highest will be king!”

The other birds agreed and all flew up into the sky together.

Among the birds was one that was very small. He only had short wings and inconspicuous brown feathers, but he too wanted to be king. He quickly flew after the other birds. He fluttered his wings until he reached the eagle and made himself comfortable on its wings. The eagle didn't notice a thing. It flew higher and higher.

“Look how high the eagle is flying!” cried the other birds.

But at that moment, the little bird rose up so that everyone could see it. “I fly the highest!” he shouted.

The birds were amazed and finally gathered on the ground again.

“How can someone so small fly so high?” the birds asked.

Then a sparrow chirped:

Tsimtsimtra, Tsimtsimzwitsch,

I have discovered him

on the eagle's wings

he was hiding.

Tsimtsimtra, we've caught him.

“He's a cheat,” the others shouted and tried to catch the little bird. It quickly fled into a hollow tree trunk.

“Keep watch,” called the eagle, who was now king of the birds.

One bird after another stood guard in front of the hollow tree trunk. First the swallow, then the lark, the thrush and in the evening the owl.

The owl sat down on a branch and soon became tired. It blinked first with one eye, then with the other and closed both eyes.

The little bird had been waiting for this. It quickly flew out of the hollow tree and hid in a thorny bush in the hedge.

The next morning, the birds saw that the little bird had gone.

“Who let him escape?” they asked.

“It was the owl,” cried one and they all started scolding the poor owl. Since then, the owl no longer dares to close its eyes at night and only sleeps during the day.

But the little bird still hops around among the thorny branches and calls: “Kiwitt, Kiwitt, I'm the wren!”.

Fassung Djamila Jaenike, nach: R. Luzík, Tiermärchen, Prag 1981. Übersetzung ins Englische: Lysander Jaenike ©Mutabor Märchenstiftung