Chapter 6: Wow, Wet, Dirty, Dimensional......

Qiqihar.

This morning, 61-year-old Lao Zhang went out for morning exercise, and when the sun was red, he had already returned, carrying two finger cakes and two bags of hot milk.

The daughter got married, the son went to prison, ran away again, and his life and death are unknown.

He and his wife are the only ones left at home.

His family lives in a very old building, and there are a lot of miscellaneous items piled up on the corners of the stairs. There are dense small advertisements on the wall, the range hood has been washed, the sewers have been dredged, and there is even a phone number of "Miss Bao".

Lao Zhang climbed up to the third floor and suddenly stopped.

There was a parrot standing in front of his house, looking at him in amazement.

In the past, Lao Zhang raised parrots, and the last one was a small multicolored parrot born in the Malay Peninsula and South America, with a blue head, a blue belly, a red mouth, a red breast, a green neck, a green back, and a green tail. Its eyes are red.

Later, it died, and Lao Zhang was very sad and no longer raised.

Unexpectedly, this morning, a macaw appeared inexplicably in front of the house!

Lao Zhang approached it, it didn't run, just looked at him quietly, as if waiting for him to take it in.

Lao Zhang opened the door and planned to put breakfast home first. The black cat at home is squatting at the door, barking very abnormally, its name is Xiaobai. Lao Zhang was afraid that it would go out and eat the parrot, so he closed the door with his foot.

When Lao Zhang came out again, the parrot was still there. He gently took it in his arms and knocked on the door.

After a long time, a young man's vicious response came from inside: "What are you doing? ”

It's still early, and it is estimated that the young couple is sleeping.

Lao Zhang hurriedly said: "There is a parrot in the corridor, is it your family?" ”

The door didn't open inside, it just said, "I don't have that thing at home!" Then he muttered and left the door and went back.

Lao Zhang looked down at the parrot in his arms and said, "You came to my house, right?" ”

Lao Zhang took the parrot home.

The black cat kept looking up, staring at it.

Lao Zhang is very thin, his wife is very fat, and she weighs almost twice as much as Lao Zhang.

My wife asked, "Bought another one?" ”

Lao Zhang said: "Pick it up." ”

Lao Zhang went to the balcony, brought a large metal cage, and locked the parrot inside.

The parrot seemed reluctant, and after being put in a cage, it fluttered around.

The bottom of the cage is a wooden plank covered with a layer of fine sand, which is used to catch the feces. There are two small flower bowls that are fixed, one on the other, which is filled with rice and water.

In the middle is a perch with a chain and a snap lock, similar to the one found in a travel bag. Lao Zhang locked the parrot's feet with iron chains.

The parrot finally quieted down, stood on the perch, and quietly watched Lao Zhang.

Then, Lao Zhang prepared some corn, rice, peanuts, small hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, rapeseeds, and various fruits.

The wife shouted, "Eat it first, then get it!" ”

Lao Zhang didn't care, he put the cage on the shoe cabinet, and said with love in his eyes: "Hello." ”

The parrot was silent.

Lao Zhang said: "Speak-hello." ”

It's still silent.

Lao Zhang said: "Goodbye." ”

It remained silent.

Lao Zhang said: "Goodbye-see! ”

It's still silent.

My wife said, "Eat, eat!" ”

Lao Zhang walked to the dining table and had breakfast with his wife.

During this time, the black cat silently jumped onto the shoe cabinet and approached the cage. The parrot's grey feet have been clinging to the perch very steadily, with two toes forward and two toes back. It turned to look at the black cat with a grim expression.

The black cat hunched its back and circled around it slowly, as if looking for an opportunity to take a bite.

Suddenly, the parrot cried in a low voice: "Gack! ——”

The black cat seemed frightened, and it turned around and jumped to the ground.

Lao Zhang and his wife both heard the strange cry of the parrot and looked back. The cat, named Xiaobai, stood on the ground, still hunched over, looking up, step by step, and finally ran into another room.

Lao Zhang smiled: "Xiaobai is afraid of this parrot!" ”

The wife said: "Its cry is so ugly, can Xiaobai not be afraid?" ”

Since then, Lao Zhang's family has inexplicably added a parrot.

Except that it once barked at the black cat, it never barked again. The parrot is a learner, and Lao Zhang thought that it might have been abandoned by its owner precisely because it did not speak.

Lao Zhang has confidence.

He is retired and has nothing to do all day, often standing in front of the cage and teaching it.

He knew that it was best to teach the parrot to speak early in the morning, because this was the time when the bird's chirping was most active, and it was not yet full and learned best.

The environment also needs to be quiet and not noisy, otherwise it will distract it from which sound to emulate. Early in the morning, Lao Zhang didn't go to the morning exercise, he closed all the windows, and then began to teach the parrot to speak-

"Hello."

“……”

"Goodbye."

“……”

"Have you eaten?"

“……”

"I'm done."

“……”

More than ten days have passed, and the parrot is still silent and tight-lipped.

On the wall hangs an old calendar that reads: July 2, 2013.

Generally speaking, a parrot can learn one sentence by teaching it for a week or so, consolidating it for a few days, and then teaching a second sentence. In half a year, the parrot can master a lot of sentences. Some clever parrots can also learn simple songs.

Parrots are idioms, why is this parrot an exception? All birds that learn human language are first and foremost good at chirping, and they don't even make a call.

My wife said, "Shouldn't I cut its tongue?" ”

Lao Zhang said: "That's starling. ”

My wife said, "Then don't think about it, just raise an ordinary bird." ”

The strangest thing was the black cat, which never came close to the cage again, and each time it bypassed from a great distance. What the cat's eyes see, we never know.

The old calendar on the wall reads: July 5, 2013.

The parrot ate less and less, it seemed to be sick, its neck was hunched, and it stood motionless on the perch in the cage, looking at the home coldly, and its posture was not at all graceful, like an owl. The short, thick mouth looked like a hook, and it looked very hard. A pair of red eyes.

Lao Zhang reached out and touched the feather on its left side, and it moved sensitively to the right side. Lao Zhang touched the feather on its right side, and it moved sensitively to the left side. Then, it still looked at Lao Zhang so fixedly.

Lao Zhang carefully touched its mouth again, thinking that it would peck him, but its mouth was tightly closed, and it just shook its head impatiently, as if it didn't like Lao Zhang doing this.

Lao Zhang said: "What's wrong with you? ”

My wife came over: "You still don't give up!" ”

Lao Zhang suddenly said, "I think this parrot has something to say to us." ”

The wife looked at Lao Zhang in a daze, and said for a long time: "Why did you become chattering?" ”

The old calendar on the wall reads: July 11, 2013.

That night, Lao Zhang and his wife were asleep in bed, and suddenly a voice sounded in the darkness: "Dirty ......"

Lao Zhang felt light, and woke up at once, he pricked up his ears and listened, and the strange voice sounded in the living room again: "Dirty ......"

He slowly got up, slowly got out of bed, and silently pulled a crack in the bedroom door and looked towards the shoe cabinet.

In the moonlight, the parrot was still standing on the perch in the cage, motionless, and Lao Zhang could only see its vague figure.

Lao Zhang waited, but it didn't speak again, as if it had spotted one of his eyes in the crack in the door.

Lao Zhang felt that his round eyes were looking at him, and he couldn't help but shiver.

He stared at it in the dark.

Finally, he silently closed the door.

My wife also woke up: "What's wrong?" ”

Lao Zhang said in a low voice: "That parrot seems to have spoken......"

The old calendar on the wall reads: July 14, 2013.

Ever since the parrot spat out a syllable in the dark - "dirty" - it has not opened its mouth again. Lao Zhang became more and more suspicious that he was dreaming that night.

Dirty?

Does it think it's dirty in the cage?

Early that morning, Lao Zhang cleaned the two small flower bowls in the cage, refilled them with rice and water, and changed them with fine sand......

After doing it, he felt ridiculous.

Parrots can only learn their tongues, they do not understand the meaning of words, and they are unlikely to express their thoughts in words.

He didn't give up and continued to teach it to speak—

"Hello."

“……”

"Goodbye."

“……”

I changed my wife to be in charge of buying breakfast. My wife loves meat, and Lao Zhang is not used to eating greasy in the morning, so the two often quarrel for this.

The old calendar on the wall reads: July 16, 2013.

Parrots barely eat anymore.

Lao Zhang no longer expects it to be clever, the reason why he is still feeding it is because it is a living being, and he can't let it starve to death.

This morning, when Lao Zhang changed the water for it, it looked at Lao Zhang in a daze, and suddenly sneezed, with the same expression as a person, very cute. It immediately straightened its posture and continued to look at Lao Zhang.

Lao Zhang approached it and found that slimy slurry was flowing from its nostrils and the corners of its eyes, its feathers were swollen violently, and its breathing became a little rapid.

Lao Zhang cleaned the secretions from his nostrils and the corners of his eyes, gave it medicine, and added some glucose to the small flower bowl.

That night, Lao Zhang suddenly woke up in a dream again.

In the darkness, he heard a strange voice again: "Hey? …… Feed? ……”

He got up at once, walked out, and suddenly turned on the light, and the parrot seemed to be frightened, and shook a little, and its eyes shot straight at Lao Zhang.

Lao Zhang walked over directly and asked in a low voice, "What were you talking about just now?" ”

The parrot stared at him without blinking or making a sound.

The old calendar on the wall reads: July 18, 2013.

The fur on the parrot's abdomen begins to fall off, revealing bare reddish skin, which is unsightly. It doesn't peck at hair, it should have feathering.

Lao Zhang had some experience, and he judged that it lacked protein. The main constituent of feathers is protein. So, he added eggs, insects, fish and shrimp to its food.

However, after a few days, not only did it not get better, but its condition worsened, and the hair on its head, back, and tail began to fall down.

That night, in the middle of the night, Lao Zhang woke up again.

He heard that strange voice again, and, right in his ears!

Lao Zhang slowly stretched out his hand, and suddenly touched something that was hairy. He hurriedly turned on the light and saw the parrot standing on his pillow, its eyes staring straight at him. He could even smell the smell of it.

It's true, it's talking!

Lao Zhang also stared at it, unable to figure it out. How could it fly to the bed with chains on its feet?

My wife also woke up, she turned over, saw the parrot, and said very dissatisfiedly: "Nasty, how did you get it to the bed!" ”

Lao Zhang ignored her, and he asked the parrot in a low voice, "You just ...... Say what? ”

The parrot seemed to think about it, and the hooked beak moved, and finally spoke: "Wow, wet, dirty, vi!" ”

My wife said, "Hurry up and carry it back to the cage, don't pull it on the pillow!" ”

Lao Zhang looked at his wife, stared at the parrot again, and said nervously: "I said don't be afraid......"

My wife sat up suddenly: "What's wrong?" ”

Lao Zhang still stared at the parrot and said, "It seems to be saying that he is Zhang Hui......"

The old calendar on the wall reads: July 22, 2013.