PART-I
Ø Princess September, like each one of her numerous
sisters, receives the gift of a parrot in a golden cage on her father’s
birthday.
Ø The parrot dies, and by chance a singing bird comes in
its place.
Ø The princess shows off her pet to the sisters who advise
her to put it in a cage.
THE King and Queen of Siam had
many daughters, and the Queen said that it confused her to have to remember so
many names. One day the King decided to call them January, February, March
(though of course in Siamese) till he came to the youngest whom he called
September.
The King of Siam had a
peculiar habit. Instead of receiving gifts on his birthday he gave them. One
year on his birthday, not having anything else handy, he gave each of his
daughters a green parrot in a golden cage. The princesses were very proud of
their parrots and they spent an hour every day in teaching them to talk.
Presently all the parrots could say ‘God save the king’ and some of them could
say ‘Pretty Polly’ in no less than seven Oriental languages.
But one day when Princess
September went to say good morning to her parrot she found it lying dead at the
bottom of its golden cage. She burst into a flood of tears, and nothing that
her Maids of Honour could say comforted her. She cried so much that the Maids
of Honour, not knowing what to do, told the Queen, and the Queen said it was
stuff and nonsense and the child had better go to bed without any supper. The
Maids of Honour wanted to go to a party, so they put Princess September to bed
as quickly as they could and left her by herself. And while she lay in her bed,
crying still even though she felt rather hungry, she saw a little bird hop into
her room. She wiped her tears and sat up. Then the little bird began to sing
and he sang a beautiful song all about the lake in the King’s garden and the
willow trees that looked at themselves in the still water and the goldfish that
glided in and out of the branches that were reflected in it. When he had
finished, the Princess was not crying any more and she quite forgot that she
had had no supper. “That was a very nice song,” she said.
The little bird gave her a
bow. “Would you care to have me in place of your parrot?” said the little bird.
“It’s true that I’m not so pretty to look at, but on the other hand I have a
much better voice.” Princess September clapped her hands with delight and then
the little bird hopped on to the end of her bed and sang her to sleep.
When she awoke next day the
little bird was still there, and as she opened her eyes he said, “Good
morning!” The Maids of Honour brought in her breakfast, and he ate rice out of
her hand and he had his bath in her saucer. He began to sing again so
beautifully that the Maids of Honour were quite surprised, for they had never
heard anything like it, and Princess September was very proud and happy.
“Now I want to show you to my
eight sisters,” said the Princess. She stretched out the first finger of her
right hand so that it served as a perch and the little bird flew down and sat
on it. Then, followed by her Maids of Honour, she went through the palace and
called on each of the Princesses. And for each of them the little bird sang a
different song. But the parrots could only say ‘God save the king’ and ‘Pretty
Polly’. At last she showed the little bird to the King and the Queen. They were
surprised and delighted. “I knew I was right to send you to bed without any
supper,” said the Queen. “This bird sings much better than the parrots,” said
the King. “I should have thought you got quite tired of hearing people say ‘God
save the king’,” said the Queen. “I can’t think why those girls wanted to teach
their parrots to say it too.” “The sentiment is admirable,” said the King, “and
I never mind how often I hear it. But I do get tired of hearing those parrots
say ‘Pretty Polly’.” “They say it in seven different languages,” said the
Princesses. “I dare say they do,” said the King, “but it reminds me too much of
my Councillors. They say the same thing in seven different ways and it never
means anything in any way they say it.”
The Princesses were vexed at
this, and the parrots looked very glum indeed. But Princess September ran
through all the rooms of the palace, singing like a lark, while the little bird
flew round and round her singing like a nightingale.
Things went on like this for
several days and then the eight Princesses put their heads together. They went
to September and sat down in a circle round her. “My poor September,” they
said, “we are sorry for the death of your beautiful parrot. It must be dreadful
for you not to have a pet bird as we have. So we have all put our pocket-money
together and we are going to buy you a lovely green and yellow parrot.”
‘‘Thank you for nothing,” said
September. “I have a pet bird which sings the most charming songs to me and I
don’t know what on earth I should do with a green and yellow parrot.”
“Well, my dear,” they said,
“it’s absurd to talk of your bird when the little fellow flies in and out just
as he likes.” They looked round the room and raised their eyebrows.
“Do you mind our asking where
your bird is now?” they said.
“He has gone to pay a visit to
his father-in-law,” said Princess September. “And what makes you think he’ll
come back?” asked the Princesses.
“He always does come back,”
said September.
“Well, my dear,” said the
eight Princesses, “if you’ll take our advice you won’t run any risks like that.
If he comes back, and mind you, if he does you’ll be lucky, pop him into the
cage and keep him there. That’s the only way you can be sure of him.”
“But I like to have him fly
about the room,” said the young Princess September. “Safety first,” said her
sisters ominously. They got up and walked out of the room, shaking their heads,
and they left September very uneasy.
Comprehension Check
1. How many daughters did the royal couple have?
2. Why were they named after the months of the year?
3. The King had a peculiar habit. What was it? Why is it
called peculiar?
4. (i) What was Princess September’s reaction to the loss of
her parrot?
(ii) What was her mother’s
reaction to it?
(iii) What do the reactions
indicate about the nature and temperament of each?
5. What pulled the Princess out of her gloom?
6. How did the Maids of Honour come to know that the
Princess and the bird had become intimate friends?
7. The new bird was full of new songs but the old parrots
always repeated themselves. What did they say?
8. What is the King’s opinion about his Councillors? Why did
he form that opinion?
9. (i) The eight Princesses made an offer to Princess
September. What was it?
(ii) Why, in your view, did
they do it?
10. What did the
sisters advise the Princess to do about her bird?
PART-II
Ø Princess September loves the bird far too much to take
chances, and acts upon her sisters’ advice.
Ø The bird cannot overcome the loss of freedom.
Ø Princess September decides to put the bird’s happiness
above her own.
It seemed to Princess
September that her little bird had been away a long time. Something might have
happened to him. What with hawks and with snares you never knew what trouble he
might get into. Besides, he might forget her, or he might take a fancy to
somebody else. That would be dreadful. She wished he were safely back again.
Suddenly September heard a
‘tweet-tweet’ just behind her ear and she saw the little bird sitting on her
shoulder. He had come in so quietly and alighted so softly that she had not
heard him.
“I wondered what on earth had
become of you,” said the Princess. snares: traps for catching birds or animals
alighted: came down “I thought you’d wonder that,” said the little bird. “The
fact is I very nearly didn’t come back tonight at all. My father-in-law was
giving a party and they all wanted me to stay, but I thought you’d be anxious.”
Under the circumstances this was a very unfortunate remark for the little bird
to make. September felt her heart go thump against her chest, and she made up
her mind to take no more risks. She put up her hand and took hold of the
bird. The bird suspected nothing and he was so surprised when she carried him
over to the cage, popped him in, and shut the door on him that for a moment he
could think of nothing to say. But in a moment or two he hopped up to the ivory
perch and said, “What is the joke?” ‘‘There’s no joke,” said September, “but
some of mamma’s cats are prowling about tonight, and I think you’re much safer
in there.” “Well, just for this once I don’t mind,” said the little bird, “so
long as you let me out in the morning.” He ate a very good supper and then
began to sing. But in the middle of his song he stopped. “I don’t know what is
the matter with me,” he said, “but I don’t feel like singing tonight.” “Very
well,” said September, “go to sleep instead.” So he put his head under his wing
and in a minute was fast asleep. September went to sleep too. But when the dawn
broke she was awakened by the little bird calling her at the top of his voice.
“Wake up, wake up,” he said. “Open the door of this cage and let me out. I want
to have a good fly while the dew is still on the ground.” “You are much better
off where you are,” said September. “Let me out, let me out,” said the little
bird. And he tried to slip through the bars of the cage, but of course
couldn’t, and he beat against the door, but of course he couldn’t open it. Then
the eight Princesses came in and looked at him. They told September she was
very wise to take their advice. They said he would soon get used to the cage
and in a few days would quite forget he had ever been free. The little bird
said nothing at all while they were there, but as soon as they were gone he
began to cry again: “Let me out, let me out.”
“Don’t be such an old silly,” said September. “I’ve put
you in the cage because I’m so fond of you. I know what’s good for you much
better than you do yourself. Sing me a little song and I’ll give you a piece of
sugar.” But the little bird stood in the corner of his cage looking out at the
blue sky, and never sang a note. “What’s the good of sulking?” said September.
“Why don’t you sing and forget your troubles?” “How can I sing?” answered the
bird. “I want to see the trees and the lake and the green rice growing in the
fields.” “I’ll take you out every day,” she said. “It’s not the same thing,”
said the little bird. “The rice-fields and the lake and the willow trees look
quite different when you see them through the bars of a cage.” The bird
wouldn’t sing a song and he wouldn’t eat a thing. The Princess was a little
anxious at this, and asked her sisters what they thought about it. “You must be
firm,” they said. “But if he won’t eat, he’ll die,” she answered. “That would
be very ungrateful of him,” they said. “He must know that you’re only thinking
of his own good. If he’s obstinate and dies it’ll serve him right and you’ll be
well rid of him.” September didn’t see how that was going to do her very much
good, but they were eight to one and all older than she, so she said nothing.
“Perhaps he’ll have got used to his cage by tomorrow,” she said. And next day
when she awoke she cried out good morning in a cheerful voice. She got no
answer. She jumped out of bed and ran to the cage. She gave a startled cry, for
there the little bird lay,
at the bottom, on his side, with his eyes closed, and he
looked as if he were dead. She opened the door and putting her hand in lifted
him out. She gave a sob of relief, for she felt that his little heart was
beating still. “Wake up, wake up, little bird,” she said. She began to cry and
her tears fell on the little bird. He opened his eyes and saw that the bars of
the cage were no longer around him. “I cannot sing unless I’m free, and if I
cannot sing I die,” he said. The Princess gave a great sob. ‘‘Then take your
freedom,” she said. “I shut you in a golden cage because I loved you and wanted
to have you all to myself. But I never knew it would kill you. I love you
enough to let you be happy in your own way.” She threw open the window and
gently placed the little bird on the sill. He shook himself a little. “Come and
go as you will, little bird,” she said. “I will never put you in a cage any
more.” “I will come because I love you, little Princess,” said the bird. “And I
will sing you the loveliest songs I know. I shall go far away, but I shall
always come back and I shall never forget you.” He gave himself another shake.
“Good gracious me, how stiff I am,” he exclaimed. Then he opened his wings and
flew right away into the blue. But the little Princess burst into tears, for it
is very difficult to put the happiness of someone you love before your own, and
with her little bird far out of sight she felt, all of a sudden, very lonely.
When her sisters knew what had happened they mocked her and said that the
little bird would never return. But he did, at last. And he sat on September’s
shoulder and ate out of her hand and sang her the beautiful songs he had
learned while he was flying up and down the fair places of the world. September
kept her window open day and night so that the little bird might come into her
room whenever he felt inclined, and this was very good for her; so she grew
extremely beautiful. And when she was old enough she married the King of
Cambodia and was carried on a white elephant all the way to the city in which
the King lived. But her sisters never slept with their windows open, so they
grew extremely ugly as well as disagreeable, and when the time came to marry
them off they were given away to the King’s Councillors with a pound of tea and
a Siamese cat.
SOMERSET MAUGHAM [slightly abridged]
Comprehension Check
1. In the following sentence elaborate the parts given in
bold. Under the circumstances it was a very unfortunate remark for the bird to
make.
2. (i) What did Princess September do to ensure the
safety of her pet?
(ii) How did the bird react to it?
3. Why did the bird refuse to be taken out in her cage?
4. (i) What persuaded Princess September to give the bird
his freedom again?
(ii) How did the bird react to it?
5. Princess September kept her window open day and night.
(i) How did it help the bird?
(ii) How did it help the Princess herself?
6. The eight sisters kept their windows shut. How did it
affect them?