all_the_animals_wrote tt "when will i get some mail?" the sparrow wondered. "no one thinks of me." he sat on the grass under the linden tree, chirping somberly. it was a beautiful day. suddenly he had an idea. "i'll teach letter writing," he thought. "that's what i'll do!" he spread his wings and flew across the woods and the river and along the beach, inviting everyone who wanted to write letters to take lessons from him. the next day, numerous animals who wanted to write a letter more than anything gathered in the clearing in the middle of the woods: the beetle, the kingfisher, the hoopoe, and even the iguana. everyone was given a pen and a piece of birch bark. "let's start," said the sparrow, and he jumped up and down in front of the class. his pupils held their pens firmly and listened attentively. "we're going to write me a letter," said the sparrow. "'dear sparrow.' write that down." all the animals leaned forward and slowly and carefully wrote: "dear sparrow," the sparrow cleared his throat and continued, "write underneath: 'how are you?'" all the animals wrote: "how are you?" "that is such a beautiful question," said the sparrow. "you should never ever forget that. not in a single letter. and underneath you should write..." the sparrow stopped briefly. "oh dear," he thought. he scratched behind his ear with a wingtip. then he said, "shall i bake a cake for you? yes. write that down. that's a beautiful sentence. 'shall i bake a cake for you?' you have to go easy on a sentence like that. and then underneath, 'i'll bring it round later.' write that down." the animals wrote: "shall i bake a cake for you? i'll bring it round later." "and at the bottom, write your name," said the sparrow. he jumped up and down, feeling satisfied. then he stood still. "but," he said. "you must never write anything untrue in a letter. so when you write that you're going to bake a cake for someone, then you really have to do it. and if you write that you're going to bring it round later." the animals nodded diligently and did their best to remember everything as well as they could. then the sparrow showed the animals how to throw a letter in the air and explained that the wind always, always delivered it. the animals threw their letters in the air, thanked the sparrow, and went home. the sparrow fluttered slowly through the warm sunlight to his home at the foot of the linden tree. "that was a useful lesson," he thought. he had only just got home when all the letters were delivered. dozens of envelopes piled up. the sparrow was buried beneath them. "from my pupils," he said to himself proudly. later that day, his pupils came round, one by one, with the cakes they had promised in their letters. there were too many for the sparrow to eat on his own, so he shared them with his pupils. it was a long, cheerful summer evening. by the time dusk fell, there wasn't a crumb left. the sparrow stood up and wrote, in large letters in the sand: "dear pupils, thank you very much. your master, the sparrow" "look," he said. "that's a thank-you letter." the animals nodded. then they went home, filled with admiration for the sparrow. 130213 what's it to you? who go blather from