One merchant had a parrot for a long time.
One day a merchant decided to go to Bengal on trade business. Before leaving, he gathered all his household and said:
- I'm leaving! Are you telling me what to bring you as a gift from Bengal?
Everyone said what they would like to receive, and the merchant promised to fulfill all requests. Then he said goodbye to his family and was about to leave, but he changed his mind and went up to the parrot’s cage.
- What should I bring you? - the merchant asked the parrot.
“By your grace, I don’t need anything,” answered the parrot, “but still, I also have a request for you.” If you can perform it, I'll tell you which one.
- What kind of request is this? - asked the merchant with a smile. - If I can, I will try to fulfill it.
Then the parrot said:
“In Bengal, in the country where you are going to trade, in such and such a field there grows a large tree, and many parrots nest on the tree. Please, get to this tree and give my salam (hello) to the parrots. Then say: “My parrot, who is sitting in a cage, asks me to tell you that you fly freely through forests and gardens, and don’t even think about those who mourn. Your hearts are made of stone! And when you fly up to us captives for once, just look at us and fly away again to eat the fruits. If you don’t help us, we will die in cages!..” Let them answer this for you, and you give me their answer. By doing this you will be doing me a great service!
- Okay, I’ll fulfill your request! - the merchant said to the parrot and wrote down his words.
A merchant arrived in Bengal, bought goods, and before leaving he went to the field that the parrot told him about. He looks, and rightly so: a huge tree grows in the field, and a flock of parrots sits on its branches. Then the merchant shouted:
- Hey, parrots! My parrot sends his salam to you!
Then he repeated his parrot’s speech word for word. But before he had time to utter the last word, all the parrots fell dead from the tree to the ground. The merchant is amazed: “Probably,” he thinks, “these wild parrots were once my parrot’s bosom friends. When they heard his salam, they fell dead.”
He looked, looked at the dead parrots, then returned to the city and began to get ready for the road.
And finally, he returned home safely and presented his household with gifts - he brought everyone what he asked for. Only the parrot did not bring an answer to his salam - he was afraid to upset him with the news of the death of his friends and did not tell him anything.
Then the parrot himself asked him:
“Didn’t you, master, convey my salaam?” Why don't I hear an answer to it?
“I conveyed your salam to the parrots,” answered the merchant, “but I did not receive an answer to it.”
The parrot was very upset and asked:
- Well, tell me what you saw on the field?
Willy-nilly, the merchant had to tell how it happened:
“I reached the field you told me about; I see parrots sitting on a tree. But as soon as I managed to convey your salam to them, suddenly they all, as one, fell dead from the branches to the ground. That's why I have nothing to tell you.
As soon as he said this, the parrot staggered and fell dead from the perch to the bottom of the cage.
The merchant was very sorry for the parrot, and he thought: “It was in vain that I told him about the death of my friends!”
He took the parrot by the legs and threw it out the window.
And the parrot fluttered and flew away. Then the merchant realized that the wild parrots were not dead; they only pretended to be dead to teach the caged parrot how to break free.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru