October 13, 2008
Ornithological Betrayal
In which we move from Owls to Parrots:
In 2006, newspapers reveled in the tale of Ziggy, an 8-year-old parrot in Britain who exposed the secret affair that his owner’s girlfriend was conducting with a man called Gary. Ziggy made kissing sounds when the name Gary was spoken on TV and said, “Hiya, Gary,” when the girlfriend’s cellphone rang. She broke down and confessed after Ziggy said, “I love you, Gary,” in an imitation of her voice. The revelation of female infidelity is in fact an ancient staple of parrot literature. In a 13th-century Spanish folk tale, which derives from an earlier Arabic one, a suspicious husband buys a parrot in order to keep an eye on his wife while he is away. Upon returning from his travels, he questions the bird, who reports that the wife was indeed visited by a lover. But she triumphs by tricking the husband into believing that the parrot is a liar, and he has it killed.
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“An ancient staple of parrot literature.”
“Believing that the parrot is a liar.” The Parrot Paradox.
Parrots are LOUD. I suspect one in the house would be deterrent enough against visiting lovers. Though it does offer interesting possibilities for parrotic literature.