A Tough Parrot
A gentleman farmer, from Pomerania, visited Vienna. At a bird dealer’s, a talking parrot excited his greatest admiration. He paid two hundred gulden for him and had him sent home to his friend Gela. After his return he called on him and of course asked for the parrot. “Oh,” said his friend, “many thanks for your kind attention. He was a little tough, though.”
“What? the parrot?”
“Certainly, he had to be cooked for six hours.”
“What? Did you cook that parrot?”
“Why of course we did.”
“Gela, you are a fool. That was a trained bird; he could talk.”
“Well, why didn’t he say so?”