STORY II.
The Oilman and his Parrot.
An oilman possessed a parrot which used to amuse him with its agreeable prattle, and to watch his shop when he went out. One day, when the parrot was alone in the shop, a cat upset one of the oil-jars. When the oilman returned home he thought that the parrot had done this mischief, and in his anger he smote the parrot such a blow on the head as made all its feathers drop off, and so stunned it that it lost the power of speech for several days. But one day the parrot saw a bald-headed man passing the shop, and recovering its speech, it cried out, "Pray, whose oil-jar did you upset?" The passers-by smiled at the parrot's mistake in confounding baldness caused by age with the loss of its own feathers due to a blow.
Rumi, Maulana Jalalu-'d-din Muhammad (2011-05-16). The Masnavi I Manavi of Rumi Complete 6 Books (Kindle Locations 107-112). OrangeSky Project. Kindle Edition.
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