A man had a parrot of which he was excessively fond. <>
He kept it in a silver cage and fed it fruits and nuts and anything else the bird asked for, for the parrot was so clever it could engage in conversation.<>
The parrot longed for freedom and often asked for it but the merchant would always reply: “Ask for anything else.”<>
One day the parrot said to him: “Give me freedom and I’ll give you three pieces of advice that could be of great benefit to you.” <>
The merchant loved the parrot but he loved money more. He thought: “If his advice helps me amass wealth, it would be worth it.”<>
“Go,” he said, opening the cage. The parrot hopped out onto his hand.<>
“Never grieve over loss of wealth,” he said.<>
The merchant thought it was tame advice but said nothing.<>
The parrot flew to the roof of the merchant’s house. <>
“This is my second advice,” he said. “Never believe everything that is told to you.”<>
“Tell me something that I don’t know,” said the man, sounding annoyed.<>
“What you don’t know is that I’ve two priceless gems in my stomach,” said the bird.<>
“Two priceless gems,” echoed the merchant. <>
“Oh, what a fool I was to set you free! I’ll regret this for the rest of my life!!”<>
“Don’t you want to hear my third advice?” asked the parrot.<>
“Tell me,” said the merchant, bitterly.<>
“I advised you never to grieve over losses but here you are grieving over losing me,” said the parrot.<>
“I advised you never to believe everything you hear but you immediately believed me when I told you I had two gems in my stomach. <>
Could I have survived if I really had two gems in my stomach?<>
My third advice is: “Listen, learn to listen with your mind instead of just with your ears.”<>
And with that, the parrot flew away, leaving the merchant gaping.<>
