"Wait, brothers! This affair needs a judge," announced Yasha. "Just let me wash myself and I shall deal with the whole thing fairly. And you, Master Sparrow, just calm yourself a bit."
"I know I am right. I have nothing to worry about," shouted Master Sparrow. "I only want to show Stickelback that I shall not stand for his jokes."
Chimney-Sweep Yasha sat down on the bank, put his lunch near him, washed his face and hands, and said:
"Now, brothers, let us get at the bottom of this trouble. You, Master Stickelback, are a fish. And you, Master Sparrow, are a bird. Am I right?"
"Yes, yes," shouted the birds and fishes in chorus.
"Let us go on," said Yasha. "A fish must live in water, a bird in the air. Am I right? Well then, a worm lives in the ground. Very well. Now let's see."
The Chimney-Sweep opened his lunch, a piece of wheaten bread, and laid it on a stone, saying:
"Now look! What is this? Bread, isn't it? I earned it and I shall eat it. And with it, I shall have a drink of water. All this means that I have earned my dinner without harming anyone. A fish and a bird also want their dinner. Each of you has his own food. Why quarrel? Master Sparrow dug up the worm, therefore the worm was his. He earned it."
"Wait, Uncle," piped a thin voice in the crowd. The birds moved apart to allow a little snipe to come forward. Standing on his thin little legs close to the Chimney-Sweep, the snipe said:
"It isn't true, Uncle."