The Bald Parrot

The grocer's parrot was charming and chatty, but clumsy, and one day he knocked over a bottle of rose-oil. The enraged grocer smacked him on the head, and so the parrot became bald.
The parrot ceased to speak, and the grocer regretted his rash action. He pleaded, but the parrot was silent. He offered him treats, but the parrot said nothing.
Then a dervish came into the shop, his head shaved in pious fashion. The parrot immediately squawked, "Hey there, you! Baldy! Did you also knock over a bottle of rose-oil?"
Thus the parrot began speaking again, and everyone laughed.

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Inspired by: The English prose version of Rumi in Tales from the Masnavi by A. J. Arberry, 3.
Notes: The moral of the story in Rumi: "Do not judge holy men's action by your own standard."

You can see this story illustrated by Daniel Dyer on the cover of Debra Katz's Sufi Tales: