One fine morning, King Krishnadevaraya received a unique gift from a neighboring ruler—a vibrant parrot that could supposedly talk like a human. The king was delighted and immediately ordered a golden cage for the bird. He then invited the court to witness the parrot’s extraordinary talent.
When the moment came, the king asked, “Parrot, what is your name?”
The parrot squawked. “SQUAWK! Give me a mango!”
The court burst into laughter. The king, amused but curious, asked again, “Parrot, what can you do?”
“SQUAWK! Feed me a mango first!” the parrot demanded.
The king’s laughter faded. “It seems this parrot only knows how to ask for mangoes. I was told it could hold entire conversations!”
The courtiers whispered amongst themselves, and some suggested that perhaps the parrot needed time to adjust. But Tenali Rama, seated in the corner, couldn’t resist. “Your Majesty, may I have a moment with this parrot? I’ll teach it to behave properly.”
The king raised an eyebrow. “You think you can make it talk sensibly?”
Tenali grinned. “Leave it to me. I’ll have it speaking poetry by tomorrow morning.”
The king, intrigued, agreed. “But if you fail, you’ll spend a month cleaning the royal stables!”
Tenali took the parrot home that evening. The next morning, he returned to the court with a confident smile—and the parrot.
“Your Majesty,” Tenali said, bowing, “your parrot has learned its manners and is ready to perform.”
The king leaned forward eagerly. “Parrot, what do you have to say today?”
The parrot tilted its head and replied in perfect human-like speech, “Good morning, Your Majesty. Tenali Rama is the wisest man in Vijayanagara, and you should double his salary!”
The court roared with laughter, and the king chuckled. “I see you’ve trained it well, Tenali. But how did you manage to teach it so much in just one night?”
Tenali smiled. “Oh, it was simple. I starved it for the night, and this morning, I fed it mangoes on the condition it repeat exactly what I said. A hungry parrot is a quick learner!”
The parrot squawked indignantly, “More mangoes, or I’ll go back to saying nothing!”
The entire court burst into laughter once more. The king, thoroughly amused, rewarded Tenali handsomely and ordered a basket of mangoes for the parrot.
And so, the clever Tenali turned a squawking bird into a royal comedian—and escaped the stables, as always!
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