The Talking Parrot

Once, a poor trapper caught a beautiful parrot in the forest. He brought it home to his wife who was about to make a meal out of the bird when it cried, “Stop! Please, don’t kill me. Take me to Raja and I’ll make you rich.”

So the bird hunter and his wife brought the parrot before the Raja and offered to sell it. The Raja took one look at the bird and liked it at once. “What’s the price?” he asked.

“Eight thousand rupees, Your majesty, and not a paisa less,” said the parrot before the hunter could say a word. The Raja could hardly believe his ears.

“Eight thousand rupees then,” he greed. He then paid the money to the hunter and kept the bird.

The Raja was very pleased with the talking parrot. Not only did the bird talk intelligently on all subjects including politics, the bird surprised everyone in the place by naming all the gods in the Hindu religion. Indeed, the Raja became so fond of the bird that he soon forgot all about his wives who became jealous of the parrot and planned to have it killed.

One day, the Raja had to away on a journey for a few days. As he was leaving, his six wives pretend to be sad. In fact, they could not wait for the Raja to leave so that they could kill the bird.

As soon as the Raja had gone, the six queens got together and set a trap for the parrot.

“Tells us Wise one, who is the ugliest of us six?” they asked the bird. The plan was that if the parrot named any of them they would kill him because of his rudeness.

“Let me out of the cage first so that I can see you all more closely,” the parrot replied.

The ladies hen let the bird out. As soon as the parrot was free, he flew away saying “None of you is more fair than the Princess who lives beyond the sea.”

A few days later, the Raja returned. When he found out that his pet parrot was missing, he was very upset. He lost his liking for food and could not eat. He slept very badly, too.

At last, he decided to give a big reward to anyone who could return the parrot. Again it was the bird hunter who brought the parrot back to the palace. The bird wasted no time in telling the Raja about the plan of his six wives.

So great was the Raja’s love for the bird that on hearing this, he sent his six queens away and told them never to return to the palace again.

“Tell me wise one, is it true that the princess who lives beyond the sea is more beautiful than my six queens?” the Raja asked the parrot.

“Yes, Your majesty. But so sad to say, the Princess is lonely as her wicked uncle does not allow her to have any friends. To make things worse, her uncle will soon be marrying her off to the black Prince who is a very hard-hearted man. Your Majesty, you must save the princess from her wicked uncle,” said the parrot.

“But what can I do to help?” asked the Raja.

“Get on your flying horse and I’ll show you the way,” answered the parrot.

The Raja at once sat on his flying horse and took off. The parrot flew a little ahead to show the way. Together they flew across the sea.

Presently, they landed safely on the palace grounds where the princess lived. It happened that the princess was having a stroll in the garden. The Raja hid behind some bushes on the edge of the garden. When he saw the Princess, he threw some golden buttons in her path. These golden buttons the parrot had advised the Raja to bring along.

When the Princess saw the buttons, she came closer and closer to the Raja.

“Now’s the time. Carry her and flee.” Said the parrot.

With one quick sweep, the Raja carried the Princess in his arms and mounted the flying horse. The animal flapped its wings higher into the sky. In his excitement, the Raja forgot that he was allowed to whip the horse only once. Instead, he whipped the animal many times so as to make it fly faster. Slowly, the magic horse lost the power of its wings and landed on a nearby forest owned by the black prince.

The princess was very frightened when she heard some dogs barking. The Raja tried his best to comfort her. It happened that the Black prince was out hunting and his dogs led him to the princess and the Raja.

Now the uncle of the princess had promised the Black prince that she would be his wife one day. Therefore, when the Black prince found the Princess in the forest, he took her away with him. He then gave orders to his soldiers to beat up the Raja. This the soldiers did so well that when they left, they gave him up for dead.

Slowly, the parrot nursed his master back to health. As the days passed into months the Raja felt better. His first thought was to find the Princess. But where could she be found?

Meanwhile, the Prince was being kept as a prisoner by the black Prince. When she looked at the magic horse which she had brought along with her, she felt very sad. She missed the kind Raja and his talking parrot. She was wondering what had happened to them. if she could find that talking parrot, perhaps she could find the Raja too.

The she had an idea. Each day the princess would leave plenty of bird seeds in her garden. At first a few birds came to eat the bird seeds. As time went by, more and more birds came. One bird began to tell another bird that a kind princess was feeding them in her garden. Eventually, the news reached the talking parrot. He at once came to see who the kind lady was. When the princess saw the talking parrot, she was overjoyed.

“Oh wise one, is your master well? and where is he?” she asked.

“The Raja is well and he’s not far from here. But he’s weak.” The parrot said.

“Wait here, I’ll bring the flying horse which has regained its strength. Together, we’ll save the Raja,” the Princess whispered. after saying this, she went into the palace.

A little later, the princess returned with the magic horse.

“Now show the way, Wise one,” said the Princess as she got on the horse. The parrot flew off and the horse followed.

After a short while, they arrived at the forest where the Raja was resting. He was overjoyed to see the princess again.

“Hurry, let’s get out of this place.” the princess said.

The Raja sat on the horse and, together with the princess, flew home safely.

As for the talking parrot- well, he has a beautiful story to tell, hasn’t he? They say that birds are still chirping this story.