there remain perfectly still, till the whole thousand and one are set free, and the hunter begins to descend the tree; then we will all fly up over his head and far out of sight.'
The parrots agreed to do as Vicram Maharajah Parrot proposed, and when the hunter came next morning to take them away, every one of them had his eyes shut and his head hanging down on one side, as if he were dead. Then the hunter said, 'All dead, indeed! Then I shall have plenty of nice currie.' And so saying, he cut the noose that held the first and threw him down. The parrot fell like a stone to the ground, so did the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh, the eighth, the ninth, the tenth, and so on up to the thousandth parrot. Now the thousand-and-first chanced to be none other than Vicram;—all were released but he. But, just as the hunter was going to cut the noose round his feet, he let his knife fall, and had to go down and pick it up again. When the thousand parrots who were on the ground heard him coming down they thought, 'The thousand and one are all released, and here comes the hunter; it is time for us to be off.' And with one accord they flew up into the air and far out of sight, leaving poor Vicram Maharajah still a prisoner!
The hunter seeing what had happened, was very angry, and seizing Vicram, said to him, 'You wretched bird, it's you that have worked all this mischief! I know it must be, for you are a stranger here, and different from the other parrots. I'll strangle you, at all events—that I will!' But to his surprise the parrot answered, 'Do not kill me. What good will that do you? Rather sell me in the next town. I am very handsome. You will get a thousand gold mohurs,[1] for me.'
'A thousand gold mohurs!' answered the hunter, much astonished. 'You silly bird, who'd be so foolish as to give a thousand gold mohurs for a parrot?'
'Never mind,' said Vicram, 'only take me and try.' So the hunter took him into the town, crying, 'Who'll buy? who'll buy? Come buy this pretty polly that can talk so nicely! See how handsome he is; see what a great red ring he has round his neck! Who'll buy? who'll buy?'
Then several people asked how much he would take for the parrot; but when he said a thousand gold mohurs, they all laughed and went away, saying, 'None but a fool would give so much for a bird.'
- ↑ £1500.
