THE PARROT THAT LOST ITS TAIL
In the woods near a farm lived a flock of parrots. Every morning, theparrots went and ate sweet corn in the garden of the farm. Afternoonsthey spent in the orange orchards eating oranges. They always made agreat to-do with their screaming and jawing; but they kept a sentinelposted on one of the tree tops to let them know if the farmer wascoming.
Parrots are very much disliked by farmers in countries where parrotsgrow wild. They bite into an ear of corn and the rest of the ear rotswhen the next rain comes. Besides, parrots are very good to eat whenthey are nicely broiled. At least the farmers of South America think so.That is why people hunt them a great deal with shotguns.
One day the hired man on this farm managed to shoot the sentinel of theflock of parrots. The parrot fell from the tree top with a broken wing.But he made a good fight of it on the ground, biting and scratching theman several times before he was made a prisoner. You see, the mannoticed that the bird was not very badly injured; and he thought hewould take it home as a present for the farmer's children.
The farmer's wife put the broken wing in splints and tied a bandagetight around the parrot's body. The bird sat quite still for many days,until he was entirely cured. Meanwhile he had become quite tame. Thechildren called him Pedrito; and Pedrito learned to hold out his claw toshake hands; he liked to perch on people's shoulders, and to tweek theirears gently with his bill.
Pedrito did not have to be kept in a cage. He spent the whole day out inthe orange and eucalyptus trees in the yard of the farmhouse. He had agreat time making sport of the hens when they cackled. The people of thefamily had tea in the afternoon, and then Pedrito would always come intothe dining room and climb up with his claws and beak over the tableclothto get his bread-and-milk. What Pedrito liked best of all was breaddipped in tea and milk.
The children talked to Pedrito so much, and he had so much to say tothem, that finally he could pronounce quite a number of words in thelanguage of people. He could say: "Good day, Pedrito!" and "nice papa,nice papa"; "papa for Pedrito!" "Papa" is the word for bread-and-milk inSouth America. And he said many things that he should not have; forparrots, like children, learn naughty words very easily.
On rainy days Pedrito would sit on a chair back and grumble and grumblefor hours at a time. When the sun came out again he would begin to flyabout screaming at the top of his voice with pleasure.
Pedrito, in short, was a very happy and a very fortunate creature. Hewas as free as a bird can be. At the same time he had his afternoon tealike rich people.
Now it happened that one week it rained every day and Pedrito satindoors glum and disconsolate all the time, and saying the most bitterand unhappy things to himself. But at last one morning the sun came outbright and glorious. Pedrito could not contain himself: "Nice day, niceday, Pedrito!" "Nice papa, nice papa," "Papa for Pedrito!" "Your paw,Pedrito!" So he went flitting about the yard, talking gayly to himself,to the hens, to everyone, including the beautiful, splendid sun itself.From a tree top he saw the river in the distance, a silvery, shiningthread winding across the plain. And he flew off in that direction,flying, flying, flying, till he was quite tired and had to stop on atree to rest.
Suddenly, on the ground far under him, Pedrito saw something shiningthrough the trees, two bright green lights, as big as overgrownlightning bugs.
"Wonder what that is?" thought Pedrito to himself. "Nice papa! Papa forPedrito. Wonder what that is? Good day, Pedrito! Your paw, Pedrito!..."And he chattered on, just talking nonsense, and mixing his words up sothat you could scarcely have understood him. Meantime he was jumpingdown from branch to branch to get as close as possible to the two brightgleaming lights. At last he saw that they were the eyes of a jaguar, whowas crouching low on the ground and staring up at him intently.
But who could be afraid of anything on a nice day like that? NotPedrito, at any rate. "Good day, jaguar!" said he. "Nice papa! Papa forPedrito! Your paw, Pedrito!"
The jaguar tried to make his voice as gentle as he could; but it waswith a growl that he answered: "GOOD DAY, POLL-PARROT!"
"Good day, good day, jaguar! Papa, papa, papa for Pedrito! Nice papa!"
You see, it was getting on toward four o'clock in the afternoon; and allthis talk about "papa" was intended to remind the jaguar that it wastea-time. Pedrito had forgotten that jaguars don't serve tea, norbread-and-milk, as a rule.
"Nice tea, nice papa! Papa for Pedrito! Won't you have tea with metoday, jaguar?"
The jaguar began to get angry; for he thought all this chatter wasintended to make fun of him. Besides, he was very hungry, and had madeup his mind to eat this garrulous bird.
"Nice bird! Nice bird!" he growled. "Please come a little closer! I'mdeaf and can't understand what you say."
The jaguar was not deaf. All he wanted was to get the parrot to comedown one more branch, where he could reach him with his paws. ButPedrito was thinking how pleased the children in the family would be tosee such a sleek jaguar coming in for tea. He hopped down one morebranch and began again: "Nice papa! Papa for Pedrito! Come home with me,jaguar!"
"Just a little closer!" said the jaguar. "I can't hear!"
"Nice Bird! Nice Bird!" he growled, "Please come a littlecloser."]
And Pedrito edged a little nearer: "Nice papa!"
"Closer still!" growled the jaguar.
And the parrot went down still another branch. But just then the jaguarleaped high in the air--oh, twice, three times his own length, as highas a house perhaps, and barely managed to reach Pedrito with the tips ofhis claws. He did not succeed in catching the bird but he did tear outevery single feather in Pedrito's tail.
"There!" said the jaguar, "go and get your bread-and-milk! Nice papa!Nice papa! Lucky for you I didn't get my paws on you!"
Terrified and smarting from pain, the parrot took to his wings. He couldnot fly very well, however; for birds without a tail are much like shipswithout their rudders: they cannot keep to one direction. He made themost alarming zigzags this way and that, to the right and to the left,and up and down. All the birds who met him thought surely he had gonecrazy; and took good care to keep out of his way.
However, he got home again at last, and the people were having tea inthe dining room. But the first thing that Pedrito did was to go and lookat himself in the mirror. Poor, poor Pedrito! He was the ugliest, mostridiculous bird on earth! Not a feather to his tail! His coat of downall ruffled and bleeding! Shivering with chills of fright all over! Howcould any self-respecting bird appear in society in such disarray?
Though he would have given almost anything in the world for his usualbread-and-milk that day, he flew off to a hollow eucalyptus tree he knewabout, crawled in through a hole, and nestled down in the dark, stillshivering with cold and drooping his head and wings in shame.
In the dining room, meantime, everybody was wondering where the parrotwas. "Pedrito! Pedrito!" the children came calling to the door."Pedrito! Papa, Pedrito. Nice papa! Papa for Pedrito!"
But Pedrito did not say a word. Pedrito did not stir. He just sat therein his hole, sullen, gloomy, and disconsolate. The children looked forhim everywhere, but he did not appear. Everybody thought he had gottenlost, perhaps, or that some cat had eaten him; and the little ones beganto cry.
So the days went by. And every day, at tea-time, the farmer's familyremembered Pedrito and how he used to come and have tea with them. PoorPedrito! Pedrito was dead! No one would ever see Pedrito again!
But Pedrito was not dead at all. He was just a proud bird; and wouldhave been ashamed to let anybody see him without his tail. He waited inhis hole till everybody went to bed; then he would come out, getsomething to eat, and return to his hiding place again. Each morning,just after daylight, and before anybody was up, he would go into thekitchen and look at himself in the mirror, getting more and morebad-tempered meanwhile because his feathers grew so slowly.
Until one afternoon, when the family had gathered in the dining room fortea as usual, who
should come into the room but Pedrito! He walked injust as though nothing at all had happened, perched for a moment on achair back, and then climbed up the tablecloth to get hisbread-and-milk. The people just laughed and wept for joy, and clappedtheir hands especially to see what pretty feathers the bird had."Pedrito! Why Pedrito! Where in the world have you been? What happenedto you? And what pretty, pretty feathers!"
You see, they did not know that they were new feathers; and Pedrito, forhis part, said not a word. He was not going to tell them anything aboutit. He just ate one piece of bread-and-milk after another. "Papa,Pedrito! Nice papa! Papa for Pedrito!" Of course, he said a few thingslike that. But otherwise, not a word.
That was why the farmer was very much surprised the next day whenPedrito flew down out of a tree top and alighted on his shoulder,chattering and chattering as though he had something very exciting onhis mind. In two minutes, Pedrito told him all about it--how, in his joyat the nice weather, he had flown down to the Parana; how he had invitedthe jaguar to tea; and how the jaguar had deceived him and left his tailwithout a feather. "Without a feather, a single blessed feather!" theparrot repeated, in rage at such an indignity. And he ended by askingthe farmer to go and shoot that jaguar.
It happened that they needed a new mat for the fireplace in the diningroom, and the farmer was very glad to hear there was a jaguar in theneighborhood. He went into the house to get his gun, and then set outwith Pedrito toward the river. They agreed that when Pedrito saw thejaguar he would begin to scream to attract the beast's attention. Inthat way the man could come up close and get a good shot with his gun.
And that is just what happened. Pedrito flew up to a tree top and beganto talk as noisily as he could, meanwhile looking in all directions tosee if the jaguar were about. Soon he heard some branches cracklingunder the tree on the ground; and peering down he saw the two greenlights fixed upon him. "Nice day!" he began. "Nice papa! Papa forPedrito! Your paw, Pedrito!"
The jaguar was very cross to see that this same parrot had come aroundagain and with prettier feathers than before. "You will not get awaythis time!" he growled to himself, glaring up at Pedrito more fiercelythan before.
"Closer! Closer! I'm deaf! I can't hear what you say!"
And Pedrito, as he had done the other time, came down first one branchand then another, talking all the time at the top of his voice:
"Papa for Pedrito! Nice papa! At the foot of this tree! Your paw,Pedrito! At the foot of this tree!"
The jaguar grew suspicious at these new words, and, rising part way onhis hind legs, he growled:
"Who is that you are talking to? Why do you say I am at the foot of thistree!"
"Good day, Pedrito! Papa, papa for Pedrito!" answered the parrot; and hecame down one more branch, and still another.
"Closer, closer!" growled the jaguar.
Pedrito could see that the farmer was stealing up very stealthily withhis gun. And he was glad of that, for one more branch and he would bealmost in the jaguar's claws.
"Papa, papa for Pedrito! Nice papa! Are you almost ready?" he called.
"Closer, closer," growled the jaguar, getting ready to spring.
"Your paw, Pedrito! He's ready to jump! Papa, Pedrito!"
And the jaguar, in fact, leaped into the air. But this time Pedrito wasready for him. He took lightly to his wings and flew up to the tree topfar out of reach of the terrible claws. The farmer, meanwhile, had beentaking careful aim; and just as the jaguar reached the ground, there wasa loud report. Nine balls of lead as large as peas entered the heart ofthe jaguar, who gave one great roar and fell over dead.
Pedrito was chattering about in great glee; because now he could flyaround in the forest without fear of being eaten; and his tail featherswould never be torn out again. The farmer, too, was happy; because ajaguar is very hard to find anyway; and the skin of this one made a verybeautiful rug indeed.
When they got back home again, everybody learned why Pedrito had beenaway so long, and how he had hidden in the hollow tree to grow hisfeathers back again. And the children were very proud that their pet hadtrapped the jaguar so cleverly.
Thereafter there was a happy life in the farmer's home for a long, longtime. But the parrot never forgot what the jaguar had tried to do tohim. In the afternoon when tea was being served in the dining room, hewould go over to the skin lying in front of the fireplace and invite thejaguar to have bread-and-milk with him: "Papa, nice papa! Papa forPedrito! Papa for jaguar? Nice papa!"
And when everybody laughed, Pedrito would laugh too.