Yordan Radichkov - Under the disguise of something “for children and for adults,” illustrated by the author himself, the book appears in 1968 as a carnivalesque rebellion against the then state-socialist ideological weaponization of natural environment, folklore, and language.

Yordan Radichkov, We, the Sparrows, 1968 

https://en.svilendobrev.com/detski/knigi/nie-vrabchetata/index.html

Not all books are created equal. Some descend from the civilizational heavens like a shiny monolith, barely scratched after centuries of adulation. Others hatch in the wild and start chasing everything that flies. Those light-weight, witty spirited, too swift even for their own literature books are the most difficult to translate. Thus, until now, the attempts to adapt in English Radichkov’s We, the Sparrows have only been vernacular.

Under the disguise of something “for children and for adults,” illustrated by the author himself, the book appears in 1968 as a carnivalesque rebellion against the then state-socialist ideological weaponization of natural environment, folklore, and language. The disguise is so good that We, the Sparrows becomes part of the official school curriculum. And still is to this day, as an elegiac reminder that some of the finest books are impossible to spell even for the people who can read them in original.— Yoana Pavlova

Excerpt:

Everyone has appeared into this world in a different way. The grass at first shows its nose from the ground, shoots it upwards, and there it stays - just a green nose; no ears, no legs, no beak, only this green nose. The tree also sprouts like the grass, but is much bigger and covers itself entirely with green down. In autumn the down falls down and it bare-naked shivers all winter in the cold. We, the sparrows, tell it not to remove its down, to avoid being cold in the snows, but can you tell something to an wood and have it understand you! The tree stays wooden, even if goes to school for hundred years, it will still learn nothing with its wooden head, although it does not go to school either. But the tree is a good neighbour and if you make a nest in it, it will hide the nest in its green down and will keep you from evil eyes, bad kids and from the cats.

i said in the beginning, everyone in this world has appeared differently. I, before cropping up, lived for a long time in the egg. God save you from living in an egg! It's dark inside, no window, no door either, and on top, it is so narrow, one cannot turn neither way, just sits all day and all night and does not know if it is a day outside, or a night, is there sun shining warm, or sulky frowning clouds walk frowningly on the sky.

Who has been cooped, knows best the thirst for freedom. When i felt that everything in me is strong enough, i decided to break the jail. Started trying with the beak, but the walls of the egg are hard, harder even than a rock. I wasn't used to such hard work, for first time in my life i was breaking the walls of this narrow jail and the beak hurt dreadly, even at sleep it hurt, if i decided to take a nap, but i did not fall in despair, i nap a little and then again begin breaking the walls. Three weeks time passed by and one morning, while i am breaking the ceiling of the jail with the beak, i hear one loud: hrrraaas! and the egg broke into halves.

Outside, the sun shines, birds of all sorts fly around, the insect is flying as well -- bliss thing. i am looking around and see, there are other eggs around me in the nest and there is peep coming from them. i bend at the nearest egg and knock with the beak, like Morse: knock knock ... knock-knock, and the sparrowman, which is sitting inside, answers me with knocking and explains me that he wants to get out, free. So i roll up, and what a beating with the beak there goes, the sparrowman inside took courage when he realized a reinforcement comes, and he begins to beat as well, and shortly later the jail turned into ruins, and we together rejoice, standing knees-high in the ruins.

About the same time around us the other eggs begin to break and from each jail a fluffy sparrow gets out, one can't stop enjoying them, such a darling. We were rejoicing in the nest about our final escape, but amongst the rejoicing we hear someone's groan. We turn around to see where it comes from and see that a sparrowman managed to show only his head out, his neck squeezed and he can't get out of the jail... The sparrow turns his neck here and there and shouts: chirr, chirr! We all then got down to it, and freed him and he was very grateful, since without our help he would hardly get into the wide world. He was a bit weak-bodied sparrowman, and we in one voice named him Chirr.

Chirr was a strange sparrowman. Although weak-bodied, he shook off, climbed the rim of the nest and wanted immediately to start flying. No way will you fly! -- i tell him and pull him back in the nest. -- For to fly, you need first to change your down, to grow feathers and get your wings stronger. Chirr was jibbing, but when i hit him with the beak on the head, he shut up and agreed right away. Since then i have noticed that if a man does not understand from a word, he needs to be hit on the head, in order to understand. Chirr was exactly of this kind -- if you tell him with words, he will not understand, if you hit him on the head, understands immediately. i don't know how it is with you, people, but with us it goes exactly this way.

The eggs were breaking with crash, one by one the sparrows popped up in the world. The nest was filling up, it was a miracle to look how the sparrows were multiplying, some skinnier and smaller, some heavier, some of a middle size; at some time in the nest a groaning fatman rolled up -- this sparrow we immediately named Fatty. In his whole life Fatty was only eating, groaning and getting fatter, so do not be surprised if later we do not pay him any special attention. Almost at the same time with him, came free our tiniest sparrow, it was as big as a comma, and without any previous arrangement, we went calling it the TinyComma. The TinyComma happened to be very friendly sparrow and whereever we went, we always took it with us.

When all of us came free and filled up the nest with sparrows, we saw that there are two more eggs. So i go to first one, knock it slightly, hoping someone will call from inside, but no sound comes from within. I knock harder and listen, and again nothing. Then i shouted: You, who are inside, a man or a beast, reply! No man, no beast, nothing calls back. The other sparrows also begun knocking on the walls of the egg, and still noone replied. Then we realized that this egg is and addle egg. Always, when there are lots of eggs, there is some addle one. It is good that the people do not come from eggs like us, or just see, they may get some addle too!

The next egg was silent, so we knocked on it as well. Just as we knocked, a extremely angry voice called from inside: My dear sir, the angry voice was shouting, can't you knock a bit slighter! And when he said that, the guy from inside broke the egg and drew out, but sour, sour, you loose any wish even to look at him. Come on move aside, you dear my mister, the sparrowman pushed one of the sparrows, let me see what goes by outside the nest! Alrighty, but why are you jostling? -- asked the sparrow, but the newcomer does not even look at it, and talks with his back to it. My dear sir, i have not popped into this world to be nagged with remarks! Yes, dear my mister!

This sparrowman we named My dear sir. Later i will occupy you with him too, but now i cannot tell you about all the sparrows at once, and i have to describe the events one by one, as they have happened, and hopefuly i do not miss something. Because it can happen even to a sparrow to forget sometimes, like it happens to you to forget. Especially if one is hungry, he'll forget everything. Therefore, before i continue, i will have a breakfast with this insect... Did someone said to me: Have a Good Appetite! Thank you, wish you a good appetite too!

While i was developing my appetite, His legs protrude outside came to us. He was smiling to his ears and extremely friendly, and became a favourite to all of us. Only My dear sir let himself say: If he has come, okay, let him stay with us, but can't he take his legs in a little? ...His legs protrude outside couldn't take his legs in though; whatever way he tried to hide them, they still were protruding outside.

Only after we appeared in the light, we noticed, that all the time we have been followed and watched by one thing, of which only the nose and the eyes could be seen. We started asking ourselves what is that thing, which watches us, but noone could say anything determined. That thing for all our life was accompanying and watching us, there was almost no bird's event it wasn't witnessing. As we did not know what it is by itself and how it is to be called, we counselled among us and named it That thing.

It seems to me, That thing is watching not only us the sparrows. i think it is also watching the people and i am sure, that while the reader is rummaging, his nose fastened on this small book, in the same time That thing is peeping from outside the window and is watching how the reader reads. If you look to it though, it instantly disappears, so it is hard to tell whether there was something there, or not. But, as you start reading again, you feel, something is peeping through the window and is watching you... What is watching you, dear reader, without letting you see it (because it disappears in instant), is That thing.