A certain man had a beautiful wife, whom he loved so dearly, that
he could scarcely allow her to be out of his sight. One day, some
urgent affairs obliging him to go from home, he went to a place
where all sorts of birds were sold, and bought a parrot, which
not only spoke well, but could also give an account of every
thing that was done in its presence. He brought it in a cage to
his house, desired his wife to put it in his chamber, and take
care of it during his absence, and then departed.
On his return, he questioned the parrot concerning what had
passed while he was from home, and the bird told him such things
as gave him occasion to upbraid his wife. She concluded some of
her slaves had betrayed her, but all of them swore they had been
faithful, and agreed that the parrot must have been the tell-
tale.
Upon this, the wife began to devise how she might remove her
husband's jealousy, and at the same time revenge herself on the
parrot. Her husband being gone another journey, she commanded a
slave in the night-time to turn a hand-mill under the parrot's
cage; she ordered another to sprinkle water, in resemblance of
rain, over the cage; and a third to move a looking-glass,
backward and forward against a candle, before the parrot. The
slaves spent a great part of the night in doing what their
mistress desired them, and acquitted themselves with much skill.
Next night the husband returned, and examined the parrot again
about what had passed during his absence. The bird answered,
"Good master, the lightning, thunder, and rain so much disturbed
me all night, that I cannot tell how much I suffered." The
husband, who knew that there had been neither thunder, lightning,
nor rain in the night, fancied that the parrot, not having spoken
truth in this, might also have lied in the other relation; upon
which he took it out of the cage, and threw it with so much force
to the ground that he killed it. Yet afterwards he understood
from his neigbours, that the poor parrot had not deceived him in
what it had stated of his wife's base conduct, made him repent
that he had killed it.
When the Grecian king had finished the story of the parrot, he
added, "And you, vizier, because of the hatred you bear to the
physician Douban, who never did you any injury, you would have me
cut him off; but I will beware lest I should repent as the
husband did after killing his parrot."
The mischievous vizier was too desirous of effecting the ruin of
the physician Douban to stop here. "Sir," said he, "the death of
the parrot was but a trifle, and I believe his master did not
mourn for him long: but why should your fear of wronging an
innocent man, hinder your putting this physician to death? Is it
not sufficient justification that he is accused of a design
against your life? When the business in question is to secure the
life of a king, bare suspicion ought to pass for certainty; and
it is better to sacrifice the innocent than to spare the guilty.
But, Sir, this is not a doubtful case; the physician Douban has
certainly a mind to assassinate you. It is not envy which makes
me his enemy; it is only my zeal, with the concern I have for
preserving your majesty's life, that makes me give you my advice
in a matter of this importance. If the accusation be false, I
deserve to be punished in the same manner as a vizier formerly
was." "What had the vizier done," demands the Grecian king, "to
deserve punishment?" "I will inform your majesty," said the
vizier, "if you will be pleased to hear me."