Once upon a time, there lived an old man
and his wife. They had a pet bird – parrot. The old couple had not children. So
they cared the parrot as their own child. Being taken great care for him, the
parrot had also thought in his mind that the old couple was his own parents.
The couple taught the pet bird how to communicate with the human beings. With
the passage of time, the parrot could communicate with the couple. The bird can
also mimic the couple perfectly. The parrot was very wise indeed. While the couple
was in the field for their working there, the parrot had taken care of the
house. If someone had taken any household articles while the couple was out,
the parrot had told everything to the couple upon theirs’ returning home. One
day, a flock of wild parrots were perching on the branches of a mango tree
growing at the edge of the courtyard of the couple’s house. The domestic parrot
requested the wild parrots not to eat the ripe mango from the mango plant. The
wild parrot had flown away without taking the mango. The pet bird said that
they had left the mango tree without touching a mango fruit upon his request to
them.
The other day also, a flock of the wild
parrots flew down the courtyard of the couple and later they perched on the
bamboo poles and invited the pet bird to fly along with them so as to eat
sweets and tasty fruits grown in wild. The domestic birds refused the
invitation saying that without the permission of the couple he could not go out
of the house. When inquired by the old woman, the parrot said that they had
invited him to fly in the far flung area for eating sweets and fruits. The
parrots further said, if the old couple gives permission to fly away with them,
he would bring back magic fruit. Those who had eaten good fruit, he or she would
be restored the ages of his or her youthful. Besides, that good fruit would be
making a longer life. On hearing the replies, the old woman was very happy and
asked the pet bird to associate with the wild parrots and bring back the good
fruit for having a longer and freshly life. The next day, the domestic parrot
had gone out along with his friends. After taking good companionship with the
wild parrots, the pet parrot had departed for the day from the flocking parrots
and started flying down towards his master’s house.
However, on his homewards journey, a hawk
had given him a wild chased in the sky. The hawk was trying to kill and eat the
pet parrot. Before reaching his home, fear for his life, the pet parrot in his
loud voice cries for help. While crying for help, the magic fruit in his mouth
fall down on the house top. But the hawk had also flown away on seeing the old
couple. The magic fruit on its falling down had hit upon a poisonous medium
size reptile on the house top. The
reptile died instantly. The blood oozing out from the reptile had again dropped
down on the magic fruit. The old women asked the parrot, “Do you bring back the
magic fruit”. The parrot disclosed what had happened on his journey. At the
request of the old woman, the old man climbed up the roof of the house and
brought back the magic fruit partly stained with poisonous blood. The old man
splints the good fruit into two pieces.
Giving a share to his wife, the old man was ready to eat it. But the old woman
suspected the fruit and asked her husband to give a taste it to the cat. Upon
eating the magic fruit, the cat died instantly. On seeing it, the old woman
requested her husband to kill the pet bird. But the old man refused to obey the wife’s request. The pet
parrot was set free and asked to leave the house soon. The parrot that had been
associated with the couple for many years was shocked. With tears in his eyes,
he flew away from the house.
Griping fear of the fruit that killed the
cat, the old woman had buried the magic fruit in her courtyard. After some
time, a fruit bearing tree germinated at the same spot where the magic fruit
was buried. The tree bore two fruits in its first fruit bearing season. One day
the couple picked up a quarrel over the trifling matter. The woman lost her
temper and wanted to commit suicide. So she plucked off one the magic fruits
hanging on a branch of the tree. Surprise, surprise, after eating that magic
fruit she was transformed into her younger age – of course, very beautiful.
While the old woman was trying to make her suicidal move, the old man was taking
his afternoon nap. She refused to her husband and told everything. Then old man
had also eaten the remaining fruit. Oh! Both of the old man and woman were
young, tender, beautiful and handsome. They restored their strikingly handsome
and beautiful ages.
The couple now started feeling of
repentances for expelling the lovely parrot. They wanted to come back the
parrot because of his innocent nature. Every day, the couple stood in their
courtyard and looked up in the sky whether there was flying of parrots in
group. One day, a flock of parrots were flying across their courtyard. The
couple asked them whether there was accompanying of their pet parrot. The
flying parrots replied, “No”. Every day, the couple asked the same question to
the parrots flying in group across their courtyard.
The other day, the couple gave information
to the flocking parrots about their restoration of young age after eating the
good fruit brought in by their pet parrot who was, now, out of their house. One
day, a flock of parrots were flying across their courtyard. Their pet parrot
slipped away from their groups and returned back to the old house. The couple’s
happiness knew no bound. Since then, the couple and parrot started living happily.
Next year, the couple got a son. The son grew up day by day. He was in the
stage of toddling. One day, the couple was out of their house. The old man had
gone out in the field. The woman had gone to the nearby river to fetch water.
Before her leaving, the woman asked the parrot to take care of the toddler who
was playing in a large bucket with full of water. Meantime, a male snake
approached near the toddler playing inside the large bucket. The snake felt
thirsty.
He wanted to drink water from the bucket.
Upon his reaching near the bucket, the child had made a hit on the snake’s
head. The snake went away. Then female snake come in fill her thirst. Again the
toddler hit upon the snake. This time the female got angry and bit the child.
She split her poisonous venom to the hand of the child who died after a few
moments later.
The parrot had seen everything. But he was
helpless against the snakes. Upon returning to their house, the couple was
shocked. They cried and blamed the parrot for the dead of their son. The woman
wanted to kill the parrot. She asked her husband to kill the bird. In a
movement of anger, the man threw a stick to the parrot that was perching on a
bamboo pole with green leaf in his beak. Incidentally, the stick hit directly
on the head of the parrot. He died on the spot. The parrot was returning to his
house after bringing back leaf of the medicinal plant. The leaf was still in
his mouth. Incidentally, the couple found the medicinal leaf on the beak of the
killed parrot. They thought that it would not be any ordinary one. So the leaf
was squeezed. It was mixed with water. The mixed water was poured into the
mouth of the dead child. Upon pouring the mixed water, the child revived like
an awaking from sleeping. The man poured the remaining mixed water to the
parrot which was lying with head injuries. The pet bird never woke up.
No comments:
Post a Comment