The Parrot (Children's Corner)

A man spent a long time yearning to own a parrot, without ever getting what he wanted. One day, as he was walking along a street, he saw a notice of a “bankruptcy auction,” so he went into the house, hoping he might find a parrot to buy for a trifling sum. And indeed he found a parrot of the utmost beauty, perched in its cage. When it was put up for sale, the man kept bidding up its price until it reached a large sum... but in the end he won the parrot.

He was seized with pride in his purchase, and went out carrying the gleaming cage with the parrot inside; but before long it occurred to him that the parrot might not talk. So he ran back to the house, lifted the cage before the auctioneer, and said: “Tell me... does this bird talk?...” And the parrot answered him: “And who do you suppose was bidding against you?!!”