How frightened the Sparrow was at that. Here in this beautiful land where he had plenty of fat worms and warm sunshine, he had forgotten about his Sparrow brothers. And in the meantime the deadly winter had come! He must rush home to teach them how to reach the sunny land. Would he reach there in time? How selfish he had been; if Sparrows were freezing and starving at home, it was his fault. [[33]]
Even while he was thinking this he spread out his little wings and flew toward the ocean.
In the harbor many silvery-white Seagulls flew about, crying with shrill voices, “A storm is coming! A storm is coming!”
“Which ship is going north?” he asked hastily.
“None,” answered a Seagull; but this was not true, they were disagreeable birds and wanted to frighten the Sparrow.
But he believed them. “Then I must fly over the ocean,” thought he, fearfully. “I must do it, for on me depends the life or death of my Sparrow brothers. I must make good.”
Sadly he looked back once more on the wonderland; then flew out on the great waters.
Wild waves dashed up, the storm howled and rain fell. In a few hours, the Sparrow was so tired that he could no longer fly high. The billows made his feathers wet, they were heavy with the water and drew him deeper and deeper down. A monstrous wave reached out for him with white arms and the Sparrow fell into the ocean and was swallowed by the waves. [[34]]
For that reason the Sparrows must still freeze and starve every winter, for there has not been another courageous Sparrow to show them the way to the sunny country.