The King’s Parrots

Sham S. Misri

Once upon a time there was a king. He was fond of parrots. He told his courters to get him two parrots to be kept in the palace. The next day the king’s men set out in a jungle to find the parrots. They found two parrots living on a tree in the jungle. By their tricks they caught the two parrots and took them to the king. From the talks of the parrots, while the men were on their way to the palace, they could judge that one parrot was wise and the other was foolish. Somehow, they presented the parrots to the king. The king put them in a golden cage. At king’s palace the parrots got fine foods to eat. The parrots were given different types of nuts and grains to eat. The king played with the parrots and they became favorites of the court. After some time a hunter trapped a monkey and gave it to the king. Soon the funny monkey also became the king’s favorite.

One day the foolish parrot complained to the king: “ The monkey gets more attention that belongs to us.”

The wise parrot said, “ By what right does all attention belong to us.”

The foolish parrot replied, “Because we were so good, so loyal, so true, and never bit anybody.”

The wise parrot said, “Pleasure and fame, dishonor and pain, all come and go like a breeze, why should a little parrot grieve? “

As time passed the monkey did not seem so funny anymore. Soon he began to scare the children. The king became angry and ordered monkey back to the jungle. The parrots once again became favorites of the king.  

The foolish parrot sang with joy, but the wise parrot warned,

“Gain and loss, praise and blame

Pleasure, pain, dishonor, fame

Come and go like Spring,

Why should a little parrot sing?”