Once upon a time a fowler named Timma used to catch birds and sell them for a living. One day, he caught a parrot and considered himself lucky as he could make some money from it.

Suddenly, the parrot spoke and begged Timma to let him go. The parrot promised that he would be granted great fortune if set free. After thinking about it for some time, he finally decided to let the parrot go.

As the parrot flew away, it told Timma to wait a little longer as a rare bird would soon come to land in his net. As promised, eventually a large parrot landed in his net and he carefully placed it in a cage. He then rushed to the palace to sell this bird to the king and make a profit from it.

However, when he reached the palace, he was stopped by a minister who told him that the king was busy. Timma wanted to know when the king would be free to which the minister haughtily replied, “Never! Do you think that all the king does is meet fowlers like you and buy parrots?”

Timma began to argue with the minister about the parrot being a rare bird. At this time, the king passed by and overheard their conversation. He asked to see the parrot and was awestruck at its beauty. The parrot was indeed a rare one, and had only been heard of until Timma had presented it to the king.

The king agreed to take the bird, but put forward a condition: Timma had to teach the parrot to talk. Timma agreed and the king rewarded him with a bag of gold coins.

Meanwhile, the minister was angry that a commoner like Timma had easy access to the king. As months passed, Timma and the king became friends and the parrot was taught to speak.

Finally, to separate the king from the fowler, the minister came up with a plan. He decided to manipulate the king into sending Timma on an expedition from which he never returned. Deciding that this was the best course of action, the minister met with the king and praised him for being the owner of such a majestic bird. He praised the bird’s ability to speak and then looked sad.

Seeing this, the king asked him why he had suddenly become sad. The minister replied, “Oh King, this bird is clearly a sign of your majesty and grace. And yet, it has been placed in such a common cage. Anyone can have a golden cage, there is nothing marvellous about it. Therefore, on seeing how you have been insulted, I am sad.”

The king found his words reasonable and wondered what should be done. To this, the minister suggested building an ivory tower for the bird. The king was amazed at such a thought and said that no one had done so much for a parrot before. The minister immediately prostrated himself and said that no one other than the king could take on such a task.

The minister then said that if the king believed it would be difficult to find so much ivory, they simply could send the fowler. The king immediately agreed as he knew Timma to be a resourceful young man. The minister was sent to convey the news to Timma.

When Timma said that the task was impossible, the minister told him he had a month to return with a cartload of ivory, failing which he would be executed.

So, Timma immediately set out. However, he was worried as he only knew to trap birds and not elephants. Finally, he sat down under a tree and wondered aloud about his fate.

Suddenly, a voice called out, “Do not worry my friend.” Timma immediately jumped up and looked around. He saw perched on the branch above him the parrot he had initially set free. The parrot told him to walk eastwards into the forest where he would find a group of elephants near a tank. The parrot assured him that the king of the elephants would help him and flew away.

Timma did as the parrot had instructed and by evening, he stood before the king of the elephants, pleading for help. After hearing his story, the elephant king agreed to help him but on a condition. There was a wicked lion harassing the elephants. As long as Timma got rid of the lion, he could have as much ivory as he needed.

Saying so, the king of the elephants walked away, leaving Timma afraid as to how he would accomplish this task. He thought for a while but found no answer to his problem. Lamenting that he was not a hunter of big game, he decided to rest for the day and return again to take care of the problem.

Since he was tired, he went to the river to wash himself and drink water. As he stared at his reflection, he immediately got an idea.

He went back home and returned the next day with two large mirrors that he placed facing each other. He then sat a little further away and began to sing. As expected, the lion soon passed by and roared, “Even hunters are afraid of me. Who are you that you sit here and sing?”

Timma haughtily replied that he was a lion catcher and invited the lion to see the ones he had already caught. When the lion was taken to the mirrors, he saw a multitude of lions facing him from all directions. Afraid, he ran away.

As the lion ran, he passed by the elephants who immediately assumed the lion had come to chase them. However, before they could do anything, the lion continued running. Timma then appeared and assured the elephants that the lion would never appear again.

Thankful, the elephant king led Timma to a cave full of elephant skeletons and told him they were the remains of those killed by the lion. Timma was given permission to take as much ivory from these skeletons as he wanted.

After Timma had bundled all the tusks, the elephants helped him carry them back into the city. The king was pleased with him and after the ivory tower was built, invited him to join the king’s court. The minister, on the other hand, was angry that his plan had backfired. So, he came up with a new plan.

He went to the king and said that while he had greatly admired the ivory tower, he realised that the parrot must be sad since it no longer sang. He suggested looking for the parrot’s original owner and again told the king that Timma would be able to find the owner.

The king agreed and the minister gleefully informed Timma of his task. Again, Timma said that he had only caught the bird and was unaware if it had a previous owner. The minister warned him that his failure to produce the original owner at the end of a month would lead to his death and left.

Timma began his search and soon found himself in the forest. There, he met the talking parrot and told it of his woes. The parrot again instructed him on what to do and finally led him to a mechanical horse. He was told to turn the key.

As soon as he done so, the horse began to fly. Finally, after crossing both forests and seas, the horse landed on an island. Everyone there was curious about the newcomer and his flying horse. Timma offered rides to different women in the island and finally, the news reached the princess’ ear.

She called Timma and demanded a ride as well. Timma agreed, but as soon as they had gotten on the horse, he took her back to the king’s palace. Afraid, the princess asked him where they were going, to which he replied, “To meet someone you know.”

When they neared the ivory tower, the parrot immediately began singing and the princess recognised her bird. The king met the princess and the two of them fell in love and got married. Timma was greatly rewarded but the minister only felt more envious.

After a few weeks, the princess fell ill and none were able to cure her. It was finally suggested by the minister that Timma be sent back to the island to bring a doctor to cure the princess. The minister said this thinking the islanders would surely not let him off for kidnapping their princess. However, the princess intervened and said there was only one person who could cure her: her friend. The only problem was that in a fit of anger, the princess had turned her into a parrot and shooed her away. Now, no one knew where she was.

The minister immediately used this as an opportunity to trap Timma and told the king to send him to find the parrot. The king agreed and once again Timma had to set out to look for the princess’ friend. The parrot found him wandering in the forest and asked him what the problem was. Timma told her that he was looking for the princess’ friend who had been turned into a parrot.

The parrot told him to take her along with him and when the princess saw the bird, she immediately recognised it as her friend. As soon as the princess touched the bird, it turned into a beautiful girl. The princess was cured by her friend and Timma was once again rewarded. He replaced the minister who in turn left the court and the city forever.

A Folktale sourced from The Secret of the Talking Bird by Amar Chitra Katha.

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