The Parrot Who Fed His Parents
Also known as Suka Jataka
- 3 minute read
- Ages 6-10
- Jataka Tales
A parrot lived in a fig tree with his mother and father, who had both grown old and gone blind.
They could not fly out to feed themselves any longer, so every morning the young parrot went out, and every evening he came back with enough for the three of them.
He had done this for a long time and thought nothing of it.
The field
There was a rice field belonging to a brahmin some distance away, and the parrot flew there each morning.
He ate his fill and then filled his beak and flew home.
The watchman noticed that one bird was doing this every day and told the brahmin, who came out to see, and who set a trap of horsehair among the stalks.
The parrot walked into it and was caught by the foot.
The question
He did not struggle and he did not call out, because calling out would have brought the whole flock down and they would have been caught too.
He waited quietly until the brahmin came.
"You have been robbing me for weeks," said the brahmin. "Every bird here eats and flies away. You eat and then take more. Where are you putting it? Have you a store somewhere?"
"I have a debt to repay," said the parrot, "and a loan to make, and a treasure to bury. That is where it goes."
The brahmin sat down on the bank of the field.
"Explain that."
The three
"My mother and father are old and blind," said the parrot. "They fed me when I could not feed myself. What I take to them now is the debt I am repaying.
"I have chicks who are too small to fly. What I give them is a loan, because one day they will be doing this for me.
"And there are birds in my tree who are too weak to fly out at all, old ones and hurt ones, and what I leave for them I will never get back from anybody. That is the treasure I am burying, because a thing given for nothing is the only thing you keep."
The field afterwards
The brahmin untied his foot.
Then he gave him the whole of one corner of that field, marked out, and told him it was his, and that he could take from it every day and bring whoever he liked.
And the parrot did, for years, and the brahmin never had it harvested.
Moral of the story
The parrot did not defend himself by arguing about whether taking the rice was wrong. He explained where it went, and that turned out to be the whole answer.
Questions and answers
- Why could the parrot's parents not feed themselves?
They had grown old and gone blind and could no longer fly.
- Why did the parrot not struggle or call out when trapped?
Calling out would have brought the whole flock down and they would have been caught too.
- What did the parrot mean by 'a debt to repay'?
Feeding his parents, who had fed him when he could not feed himself.
- What was 'a loan to make'?
Feeding his own chicks, who would one day feed him.
- What was 'a treasure to bury'?
Feeding the old and injured birds who could never repay him, which he said was the only thing you truly keep.
Word meanings
- brahmin
- A member of the priestly class in traditional Indian society.
- horsehair
- Hair from a horse's tail, once used to make snares.
- stalks
- The stems of plants such as rice.
- harvested
- Gathered in when the crop was ready.
Questions about The Parrot Who Fed His Parents
What is the moral of The Parrot Who Fed His Parents?
That generosity has three kinds: repaying those who raised you, providing for those who will one day provide for you, and giving to those who never can. The last is the one the story values most.
Why does the brahmin change his mind?
Because the parrot never argues about the theft. He simply explains where the rice goes, and the brahmin decides the field can spare it.
Is this story suitable for young children?
Yes, ages six and above. Nobody is harmed and the ending is entirely warm.
What is this tale called in the original?
It appears as the Suka Jataka, meaning 'the parrot'.