Excerpts

Long ago in Persia there lived a merchant called Mah Jahan. Mah Jahan travelled far and wide, buying and selling beautiful things. The beautiful things that Mah Jahan collected for herself on her journeys were beautiful birds. She kept them in cages or chains so that they couldn't fly away and leave her.Mah Jahan's favourite bird of all was a beautiful bright parrot that she had brought back from India. She loved that parrot best of all her birds because the parrot had learned to talk.Mah Jahan was about to go and trade in India again. She asked her servants, "What would you like me to bring you back as a gift?" Each of them told her what they wanted.Then Mah Jahan went to see her parrot. She said, "Tell me what I can bring you to make you happy." The parrot put its head on one side. Then it said, "Please say hello to my parrot friends in India. Tell them that I miss them, and that makes me sad. Ask them if they have any advice for me.""I will," promised Mah Jahan.Mah Jahan bid goodbye to her servants and her birds, and she and her workers set off with a caravan of camels loaded with goods to be traded. In India Mah Jahan sold all that she had brought from Persia, and she bought Indian goods to sell when she got home. She bought the gifts for her servants. Mah Jahan was packed and ready to head back home when she remembered the promise that she had made to her parrot. So Mah Jahan went into the Indian jungle where parrots lived wild and free. Excerpted from The Parrot and the Merchant by Jalal al-Din Rumi, Pippa Goodhart All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.