No Doubt!

Paramasivan of Panayur once went to the market to buy a bird, as his children wished to keep a pet. In one of the shops, he found a lovely parrot in a cage. He asked the shopkeeper what its price was, and the shopkeeper replied that he would sell it for one hundred rupees.

“Did you say one hundred rupees for this bird?” asked Paramasivan, incredulously. “If you’ve any doubt, you may ask the parrot itself,” said the shopkeeper casually.

Paramasivan turned to the parrot. “Is your price one hundred rupees?” he asked. “Why doubt?” responded the parrot. Satisfied with this affirmation, Paramasivan paid the money to the shopkeeper and took the parrot home.

At home, no matter what questions he asked the parrot, it always replied, “Why doubt?” Paramasivan then realized that the parrot had been taught only that phrase and nothing else. “Look at that! I paid a hundred rupees for you. I must be a fool!” he cursed himself.

“Why doubt?” was the parrot’s usual reaction. Hearing this, Paramasivan’s wife and children could not control their laughter, finding humor in both the parrot’s limited vocabulary and their father’s predicament.