和尚鸚鵡，偷心的俠盜王子

by Phyllis Ness Roza 譯

和尚鸚鵡，偷心的俠盜王子

QUAKERS, PRINCE OF THIEVES

by Phyllis Ness Roza 譯

Quaker parrots are thieves! They try to steal your Hershey Kisses, and before you know it, they have stolen your heart instead.

My husband and I sat down to what we thought was1)mundane TV for the evening. But little did we know, we would receive a spark that would change our lives forever. We were watching PBS as they were explaining the fner points of owning parrots. They were all so fascinating, I squealed with delight. My husband took notice.

It was two days before Christmas of 1998. My husband brought in a large package. I opened it. I said, “Why...it’s a bird cage,” incredulously. I took all the paper off. My stepson Bob handed me a little brown box that was gently in motion! The tears are coming to my eyes even now as I remember the scene. I opened the box and the cutest little green bird you’d ever seen sweetly said, “Step up?” And he came out quickly onto my hand and ran up my sleeve! My life has never been the same since. We named him Patrick O’Brien because he looked Irish and after all, he was green.

Once everything was in place and he was safely in his cage with food and water and toys, he was not in any particular mood to be friendly. I could hear2)Paddy talking to himself, “Pretty bird? Are you talking to me?” I decided to just give him a little time. But I decided that I have to assert myself and be the boss.

和尚鸚鵡都是小偷！它們企圖偷走你的好時巧克力，不知不覺地，還偷走了你的心。

我和丈夫坐下來看再平常不過的晚間檔電視節(jié)目。但當(dāng)時我們都沒想到，我們會由此產(chǎn)生一個永久地改變我們生活的念頭。我們在收看美國公共電視臺，節(jié)目在講養(yǎng)鸚鵡的好處。電視上的鸚鵡看起來都那么迷人，我歡快地尖叫起來。我丈夫注意到了。

1998年圣誕節(jié)的前兩天，我丈夫帶回一個大包裹。我打開它，不解地說：“怎么……是一只鳥籠。”我把包裝紙都拆掉了。我的繼子遞給我一個在微微晃動的棕色小盒子！即使到了現(xiàn)在，我想起來當(dāng)時的情景，眼睛也會濕潤。我打開了盒子，我所見過最可愛的一只小綠鳥兒甜甜地說：“走近一點？”然后它快速地走到我的手上，跳到了我的袖子上！自那以后我的生活就再也不同于以往了。我們給它起名為帕特里克·奧布萊恩，畢竟它是綠色的，看起來像愛爾蘭裔。

所有東西都布置妥當(dāng)后，它安然地在自己的籠子里，籠子里有食物，有水，有玩具，但它卻完全沒有想表現(xiàn)友好的意思。我聽到帕迪在自言自語道：“美鳥兒？你在和我說話嗎？”我決定給它一點時間。但我又決定擺出姿態(tài)，宣示權(quán)威。

和尚鸚鵡起源于阿根廷。它們的巢大都有2米長，重180公斤，能住約150只和尚鸚鵡，巢內(nèi)又分為20個左右的“房間”，每個“房間”住一對“夫妻”鸚鵡及其后代。或許是這種“公寓式”的群居生活造就了它們勇敢的個性，使它們在“侵略全球的十大霸主”動物排行榜中排第九。