和尚鸚鵡，偷心的俠盜王子

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 was 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 finer 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...its 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 youd 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 OBrien 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 hear 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.

After Christmas， I got Paddy out of his cage and placed him on a little swing. There were times when I was boiling water or cooking， that I didnt want Paddy in the kitchen. Then Paddy would give out the most bloodcurdling squawk！ I let out a loud squawk and wondered what would happen. After a while， Paddy began to try to imitate my squawk. It was hilarious. So now， when he is too loud， Ill just squawk and then he will imitate me and it will be a softer aakk. After all， he doesnt want to make loud noises. He just wants my attention. Sometimes he starts with his wolf whistle. I just whistle back and he is happy to know Im still in the house.

Quakers are such inquisitive little creatures. Paddy loves to sing along with Lawrence Welk and flips his little wings to the music and sways. He learned to say “pretty bird” and peek a boo. He also learned to say “good bird”.

Once while in the bathroom， Paddy fell into the wastebasket full of Kleenex. I picked him up immediately and he said， “Thank you！” He never learned that from me. But he knows when to say “thank you”.

One day we were on our way to the sink for our bath and Paddy decided he didnt want a bath. He flew clear through the house and into the piano room. I chased him all the way. As he was breezing past my husbands head， he said， “Maybe its time to have his wings clipped.” So his yearly checkup came early that first year and we had his wings clipped.

When I got Paddy home， he sat on his cage and would not speak. Birds need a few days to pout. They cant fly and their toenails have been filed so they cant hold on good. They are upset. Not to worry. In a few days， they will be back to normal.

Paddy is a party bird！ He loves to mingle among the guests！ He wows the crowd with his usual verbal fare The second Christmas here was in 2000. I was yelling for everyone to “come in”. By the time the very last guest had come， Paddy ran across his cage and yelled， “Come in！”O(jiān)ne day my husband wanted a cup of coffee. He told Paddy to say “Phyllis， come here”. From then on， he turned “come in” into “come here”. After a few weeks， my husband started adding， “Phyllis， come here， drink， drink.” So， somehow， after a period of time， we started having decaf at 5pm every day. （Paddy would always know when it was 5pm！） He would start saying “drink， drink”. Husbands are a bad influence！

My day starts something like this： “Phyllis， Phyllis， sweetheart， come here， come here！” If I dont drag myself out of bed， Paddy climbs down to the floor and walks into the bedroom and crawls up the blanket， gets on my shoulder and says “Good morning” right in my ear！

Paddy usually goes to bed early. When Paddy is ready to go to his hut， he walks up to my chin and bumps it. I say， “You wanna go nitenite？” He says， “Good night！” So I take him over so he can say goodnight to my husband. Then I say goodnight and he goes into his hut. Then he says“gimme a kiss” and I do and turn off most of the lights.

But if we have gone out for dinner， Paddy will be on the top of his cage when we get back ready for a handout. And it behooves me to make sure I have brought something home！ Therell be the devil to pay if I didnt！

Holidays are a nightmare （not really）. Its just that Paddy cant seem to understand why the kids get all the candy and he cant have any！ He tries to run down my sleeve and steal a piece. He loves to sit on my shoulder at Halloween and have the kids reach in the bowl for the candy. They say “Is that a real bird？” and Paddy says “Goodbye！” When anyone says“Ive got to go”， Paddy says “Goodbye！” He is hilarious. This year after Christmas， Paddy and I gave our rendition of We Wish You a Merry Christmas. I sang “Weeee...wish you a Merry...” Then I paused and Paddy sang “Christmas”. He did that 3 times and then I sang “and a happy new year”. We were a hit！

So， as you can see， my life Pre-bird was almost a breeze， but it wasnt nearly as rewarding. Now even my husband talks gentler to me after spending years talking gentle to this loving little creature. You get a whole new perspective on life after having known a Quaker， the Prince of Thieves.

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(diǎn)？”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(diǎn)時間。但我又決定擺出姿態(tài)，宣示權(quán)威。

圣誕節(jié)后，我把帕迪從籠子里放出來，把它安置在一個小秋千上。有時候我在煮開水或者做飯，就不想讓帕迪進(jìn)廚房。然后帕迪就會發(fā)出最令人毛骨悚然的粗厲叫聲！我也大聲地尖叫一下看它會有什么反應(yīng)。過了一會兒，帕迪開始試著模仿我的尖叫。這很滑稽。所以現(xiàn)在，如果它太吵了，我就會尖叫一聲，然后它會模仿我，聲音就變成柔聲的“啊克”了。畢竟它也不想制造很大的噪音，只是想吸引我的注意。有時候它吹起挑逗的口哨，我也吹口哨回應(yīng)一聲，它知道我還在屋子里，就安心了。

和尚鸚鵡是好奇心很重的小動物。帕迪喜歡跟著勞倫斯·韋爾克的歌曲唱和，還會跟著節(jié)奏輕輕扇動翅膀，搖晃身體。它學(xué)會了說“美鳥兒”，學(xué)會了捉迷藏。它還學(xué)會了說“好鳥兒”。

有一次在浴室里的時候，帕迪掉進(jìn)了滿是面巾紙的垃圾桶里。我馬上把它撿出來，它說“謝謝你！”我從沒教過它這個，但它知道什么時候該說“謝謝你”。

一天，我正要去水槽給帕迪洗澡，而帕迪決定不要洗澡。它徑直飛過屋子，飛到鋼琴房里。我一路追著它。當(dāng)它輕快地掠過我丈夫的頭頂，我丈夫說：“也許是時候給它修剪翅膀了。”所以它一年一度的健康檢查在飼養(yǎng)的第一年就提前了，我們帶它去修剪了翅膀。

我把帕迪帶回到家時，它坐在籠子頂不說話。鳥兒賭氣是需要花個幾天的。此時的鸚鵡失去飛翔的能力，腳趾甲又被銼平了不能站穩(wěn)，會很沮喪。不要擔(dān)心，過幾天鳥兒就會恢復(fù)正常的狀態(tài)了。

帕迪是只聚會狂鳥！它喜歡和客人打交道！它用自己一貫的好口才引得眾人驚嘆連連。它在這過的第二個圣誕是在2000年。我在大聲招呼大家“進(jìn)來”。當(dāng)最后一位客人到達(dá)時，帕迪跑過自己的籠子喊著：“進(jìn)來！”一天，我丈夫想要一杯咖啡，就教帕迪說“菲莉絲，過來”。從那時起，帕迪就把“進(jìn)來”改口為“過來”。過了幾周，我丈夫開始多教帕迪一點(diǎn)：“菲莉絲，過來，來點(diǎn)喝的。”所以不知怎么地，過了一段時間，我們開始在每天下午5：00喝脫因咖啡。（5點(diǎn)一到，帕迪總是知曉！）它會開始說“來點(diǎn)喝的”。都是丈夫帶壞了它！

我的一天是這樣開始的：“菲莉絲，菲莉絲，親愛的，過來，過來！”如果我不把自己從床上拽起來，帕迪就會走到地上，走進(jìn)房間，爬上毯子，站到我的肩膀上對著我的耳朵說“早上好”！

晚上帕迪通常早睡。當(dāng)它準(zhǔn)備好回去自己的小屋，它會走到我下巴跟前撞我的下巴。我說：“你想睡覺覺嗎？”它說：“晚安！”我就把它帶到我丈夫面前讓它跟我丈夫說晚安。然后我道了晚安，它就走進(jìn)小屋。然后它說“親我一下”，我就親它一下，再關(guān)掉大部分電燈。

如果我和家人在外面吃晚飯，帕迪就會在籠子頂上等著我們回來給它分食物。這讓我感覺自己回家時理應(yīng)記得給它帶吃的。而如果沒帶，我就有大麻煩了！

節(jié)假日真是夢魘（不是說真的啦）。只是帕迪好像沒法明白為什么小孩子能得到所有糖果，而它卻一點(diǎn)都不能吃！它會試圖從我的袖子跑下去偷一塊。萬圣節(jié)時，它喜歡坐在我肩膀上，看著小孩子伸手進(jìn)碗里拿糖果。孩子們問“那是只真鳥嗎？”，然后帕迪回答“再見！”當(dāng)有人說“我得走了”，帕迪會說“再見！”它很滑稽。今年圣誕節(jié)過后，帕迪和我一起表演《我們祝你圣誕快樂》。我唱“我們——祝你……”，然后我停頓，帕迪接著唱“圣誕快樂”。它這樣重復(fù)了3次，然后我唱“和新年快樂”。我們倆大受歡迎！

因此，你們會發(fā)現(xiàn)，養(yǎng)鳥前我的生活可謂過得輕松，但卻完全不像現(xiàn)在這樣益處多多。多年來，我丈夫因?yàn)榱?xí)慣溫柔地和這只可愛的小生靈對話，現(xiàn)在他連跟我說話都更溫柔了。認(rèn)識了一只偷心的俠盜鸚鵡王子以后，你會以全新的角度看待生活。