鹦鹉和猫

A man once bought a brilliantly-coloured par- rot. Instead of locking it up in a cage or chaining it to a perch， he allowed it to fly free all over the house. Theparrotwas delighted atthisand flapped from room to room， shrieking and screaming withhappi- ness. At lasthe settled on the edge of a rich curtain.

“Whoonearthareyou？ ”saidacrossvoice from below.“Stop that terrible noise at once. ”

The parrotsawacatstaring upat himfrom the carpet.

“I ’ma parrot.I ’ve justarrivedandI ’mto make as much noise as I can， ”he said.

“Well， I ’ve lived here all my life， ”replied the cat.“I was born in this very house and I learned from my mother that it is best to keep quiet here. ”

“Keep quiet then，”said the parrot cheerfully. “Idon ’tknowwhatyoudoaroundhere，butI know my job. My master bought me for my voice           and I ’m going to make sure he hears it. ”

从前，有人买了一只毛色鲜艳的鹦鹉。（剩余239字）