The Bald Parrot

In a certain city, there lived an oil seller who had a lovely talkative parrot. The bird lived in a big cage which hung in a corner of the shop.

One day, the oil seller and his assistant went out on business, and the parrot was alone. At that moment, in walked a tomcat. The bird fluttered around in fear and beat its wings frantically. The cage began to rock madly and finally crashed onto the jars of oil, upsetting a couple of them.

The oil seller returned and saw, to his dismay, the spilled oil on all sides. He realized that it was the work of the parrot. In a fit of anger, he grabbed the parrot and plucked off all its fine feathers. The talkative bird, now bald all over, felt ashamed and refused to talk anymore.

A few days later, a bald man entered the shop. The parrot, on seeing him, screeched out loud and hopped around on one leg.

The amazed oil seller said, “What is the matter, why do you laugh so?”

The parrot replied, “This man’s master must also be an oil seller, else why should he also be bald?”