The Scarlet Beak

The Scarlet Letter  (Painting by Hugues Merle)

According to Nathaniel Hawthorne, some who committed adultery in Colonial America were forced to wear a scarlet “A.”  His heroine, Hester Prynne, was ostracized from the Puritan community.

Harsh punishment for adultery still exists in Kuwait today.  When a man there was recently accused of cheating on his wife, he ran the risk of prison or hard labor.  But how did his alleged adultery come to light?

A red-beaked family parrot began repeating a “flirtatious exchange of words,” supposedly between the man and his maid.  When his wife heard these sweet nothings, she “lodged a complaint with officers at Hawally police station.”

This husband made out a lot better than Hester Prynne.  Because it could not be proven that the parrot was repeating his conversation and not one from TV, he was not prosecuted.

Nevertheless, those who mess with birds and bees should take heed:  Birds talk and bees sting.

Resources

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Family-parrot-exposes-cheating-husbands-affair-to-wife/articleshow/55071804.cms 

Copyright October 27, 2016 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved