I’d rather my hand eat, than tell it thee;—flat.
In thoughtlessness, folly, ah! why did I prate
About thy fool’s message, until ’twas too late?”
The parrot then asked: “What’s this fuss all about?
What’s caused tribulation? Let’s hear it right out.”
The merchant now said: “I told all thy sad grief
To flock of green parrots;—so like thee, their chief.110
Of them, one, affected with thy tale of woe,
Heart-broken, a gasp gave, expired, and fell low.
I conscience-struck was for the words I had said.