The Enchanted Parrot: Being a Selection of "Suka Saptati" Or, the Seventy Tales of a Parrot

From the Introduction. The Suka Saptati, seventy tales of a parrot, are quite characteristic of Eastern story. The peg on which they hang is a certain Prabhavatt. This lady's husband, whose name is Madana, has gone on a long journey. He has, however, left her his parrot, a bird which appears to be under a charm. Prabhavati, after her husband has been absent some little time, begins to feel rather dull, and her attendants, or friends, suggest that she had better look out for some admirer to console her during his absence. She accordingly is preparing to start on this errand, when the parrot suddenly finds his voice, and remarks very strongly on Prabhavati's disreputable intentions. Prabhavati makes up her mind to have the parrot's neck wrung, but before actually departing, and ordering the bloodthirsty deed to be carried out, she reflects that after all it is only a bird speaking, and tells him that she means to go in spite of his well-meant advice. This starts the parrot off, and he bids her go by all means, if she is as clever as someone whom he knows. Prabhivati asks him who this person may be, and wherein their cleyemess consists. This leads to Story I, and just when the climax arrives the parrot stops, and asks Prabhavati and her friends how they think the story ends. Of course they don't know, and the parrot keeps them on tenterhooks for a bit, and finally tells them. By this time the evening is tolerably far advanced, so that it is of no use for Prabhavati to set out on her love-making expeditions, and she goes to bed with her attendants. This process is repeated for sixty-nine evenings, and finally Prabhelvati's husband returns. From what he gathers, he does not altogether approve of his wife's goings on in his absence and seems as if he meant to proceed to extremities, when the eloquent parrot calms him down with the seventieth story, after which Madana's father observes a great festival in honour of his son and daughter-in-law, and the parrot, having worked out the charm (or the curse), ascends to heaven in a rain of flowers. Note. The tales all begin and end in a similar manner. I have given the introduction and conclusion to the first two as examples, but it does not seem necessary to go through all the stories in the same way. Some of the Tales have been omitted as unsuitable for translation into English.