The Parrot

A man who had a fine green parrot at home taught the bird to say, “No doubt about it”.

One day the man buried some money in different places in the village. Next morning he went through the village with his bird. He sang, “My parrot is wise. He will show me where to dig for money...”

Whenever he came to any of the places which he knew very well because he always marked them secretly, he said, “Oh, wise parrot, if I dig here, shall I find any gold?”

The parrot answered, “No doubt about it.”

Each time the man found some money in the places where he stopped with his bird, and each time he showed the money to the people who stood around.

One young man thought, “If I can get the parrot, I shall soon be rich.”

So he said to the owner of the parrot, “For how much will you sell your parrot?”

“For one thousand pieces of gold.”

“But this is a great deal of money!” cried the young man.

“But my parrot is worth it!” answered the owner of the parrot.

The answer pleased the young man so much that he paid the one thousand pieces of gold and walked off with the parrot.

He took the parrot out to look for money at once. Many times he asked him, “If I dig here, shall I find some gold?”

Every time the parrot answered, “No doubt about it”.

But though the young man dug and dug, he did not find any gold.

At last he understood the trick of the owner of the parrot and said to himself: “How foolish I was! How could I believe such a thing?”

He turned to the bird and said: “Oh, wise bird, I think I was foolish if I could give a thousand pieces of gold for you.”

The parrot answered, “No doubt about it”.

The parrot looked so funny as he said this that the young man laughed and laughed. “Well”, he said at last, “you told the truth this time. After this I shall work. That is the only way to become a rich man.”

“No doubt about it,” agreed the parrot, and for the second time he told the truth.