"Mother Parrot's Advice to her
Children"
Never get up till the sun
gets up, Or the mists will give you a cold,
And a parrot whose lungs have
once been touched Will never live to be old.
Never eat plums that are
not quite ripe,
For perhaps they will give you a pain:
And never dispute
what the hornbill says,
Or you'll never dispute again. Never despise the
power of speech:
Learn every word as it comes,
For this is the pride of
the parrot race,
That it speaks in a thousand tongues. Never stay up when the
sun goes down,
But sleep in your own home bed,
And if you've been good, as
a parrot should,
You will dream that your tail is red.
Ganda, Africa
Translated by A.K.
Nyabongo
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