# The Dog and the Sparrow explained — Household Tales > Chapter companion for Household Tales by Jacob Grimm. ## What happens A mistreated dog leaves his cruel master and meets a sparrow who helps him find food. After the dog is killed by a careless wagoner, the sparrow exacts a brutal revenge, destroying the wagoner's wine, horses, and home, and ultimately causing his death. ## Themes in this chapter ### Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished The dog's loyalty and the sparrow's friendship are contrasted with the wagoner's cruelty; the wagoner's vice leads to his destruction. ### Greed and Its Downfall The wagoner's greed and disregard for life (running over the dog, refusing to stop) result in the loss of his property and life. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown The dog is a sheepdog who suffers hunger under a bad master and is killed by a wagoner. ### Unknown The sparrow is the dog's loyal friend who avenges his death through a series of destructive acts. ### Unknown The wagoner is the driver who runs over the dog and is ultimately killed by his wife while trying to kill the sparrow. ### Unknown The wagoner's wife is mentioned as she tries to kill the sparrow but accidentally kills her husband. ## Key lines > A sheepdog had not a good master, but, on the contrary, one who let him suffer hunger. As he could stay no longer with him, he went quite sadly away. A sheepdog was mistreated by his master, who starved him, so the dog left sadly. _Establishes the dog's initial plight and motivation for leaving._ > Wagoner, don't do it, or I will make thee poor. The sparrow warned the wagoner not to drive over the sleeping dog, threatening to ruin him. _Key moment where the sparrow tries to prevent the dog's death._ > The woman struck, but missed her blow, and hit the wagoner right on his head, so that he fell dead. The wife swung the axe but missed the sparrow and struck her husband, killing him. _Climactic irony: the wagoner's own plan to kill the sparrow results in his own death._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters/the-dog-and-the-sparrow - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/household_tales_se/chapters