What message do we get from this story??????

? Princess September, like each one of her numerous sisters,

receives the gift of a parrot in a golden cage on her father’s

birthday.

? The parrot dies, and by chance a singing bird comes in its place.

? The princess shows off her pet to the sisters who advise her to

put it in a cage.

THE King and Queen of Siam had many daughters, and the Queen

said that it confused her to have to remember so many names. One

day the King decided to call them January, February, March (though

of course in Siamese) till he came to the youngest whom he

called September.

The King of Siam had a peculiar habit. Instead of receiving

gifts on his birthday he gave them. One year on his birthday, not

having anything else handy, he gave each of his daughters a

green parrot in a golden cage. The princesses were very proud of

their parrots and they spent an hour every day in teaching them

to talk. Presently all the parrots could say ‘God save the king’

and some of them could say ‘Pretty Polly’ in no less than seven

Oriental languages.But one day when Princess September went to say good morning

to her parrot she found it lying dead at the bottom of its golden

cage. She burst into a flood of tears, and nothing that her Maids

of Honour could say comforted her. She cried so much that the

Maids of Honour, not knowing what to do, told the Queen, and

the Queen said it was stuff and nonsense and the child had better

go to bed without any supper. The Maids of Honour wanted to go

to a party, so they put Princess September to bed as quickly as

they could and left her by herself. And while she lay in her bed,

crying still even though she felt rather hungry, she saw a little

bird hop into her room. She wiped her tears and sat up. Then the

little bird began to sing and he sang a beautiful song all about the

lake in the King’s garden and the willow trees that looked at

themselves in the still water and the goldfish that glided in and

out of the branches that were reflected in it. When he had finished,

the Princess was not crying any more and she quite forgot that

she had had no supper. “That was a very nice song,” she said.The little bird gave her a bow. “Would you care to have me in

place of your parrot?” said the little bird. “It’s true that I’m not so

pretty to look at, but on the other hand I have a much better voice.”

Princess September clapped her hands with delight and then the

little bird hopped on to the end of her bed and sang her to sleep.

When she awoke next day the little bird was still there, and as

she opened her eyes he said, “Good morning!” The Maids of Honour

brought in her breakfast, and he ate rice out of her hand and he

had his bath in her saucer. He began to sing again so beautifully

that the Maids of Honour were quite surprised, for they had never

heard anything like it, and Princess September was very proud

and happy.“Now I want to show you to my eight sisters,” said the Princess.

She stretched out the first finger of her right hand so that it

served as a perch and the little bird flew down and sat on it. Then,

followed by her Maids of Honour, she went through the palace and

called on each of the Princesses. And for each of them the little bird

sang a different song. But the parrots could only say ‘God save the

king’ and ‘Pretty Polly’. At last she showed the little bird to the King

and the Queen. They were surprised and delighted.

“I knew I was right to send you to bed without any supper,” said

the Queen.

“This bird sings much better than the parrots,” said the King.

“I should have thought you got quite tired of hearing people say

‘God save the king’,” said the Queen. “I can’t think why those girls

wanted to teach their parrots to say it too.”

“The sentiment is admirable,” said the King, “and I never mind

how often I hear it. But I do get tired of hearing those parrots say

‘Pretty Polly’.”“They say it in seven different languages,” said the Princesses.

“I dare say they do,” said the King, “but it reminds me too much

of my Councillors. They say the same thing in seven different ways

and it never means anything in any way they say it.”The Princesses were vexed at this, and the parrots looked very

glum indeed. But Princess September ran through all the rooms of

the palace, singing like a lark, while the little bird flew round and

round her singing like a nightingale.

Things went on like this for several days and then the eight

Princesses put their heads together. They went to September and sat

down in a circle round her. “My poor September,” they said, “we are

sorry for the death of your beautiful parrot. It must be dreadful for you

not to have a pet bird as we have. So we have all put our pocket-money

together and we are going to buy you a lovely green and yellow parrot.”

‘‘Thank you for nothing,” said September. “I have a pet bird which

sings the most charming songs to me and I don’t know what on

earth I should do with a green and yellow parrot.”

“Well, my dear,” they said, “it’s absurd to talk of your bird when

the little fellow flies in and out just as he likes.” They looked round

the room and raised their eyebrows.“Do you mind our asking where your bird is now?” they said.

“He has gone to pay a visit to his father-in-law,” said Princess

September.

“And what makes you think he’ll come back?” asked the Princesses.

“He always does come back,” said September.

“Well, my dear,” said the eight Princesses, “if you’ll take our advice

you won’t run any risks like that. If he comes back, and mind you,

if he does you’ll be lucky, pop him into the cage and keep him

there. That’s the only way you can be sure of him.”

“But I like to have him fly about the room,” said the young

Princess September.

“Safety first,” said her sisters ominously.

They got up and walked out of the room, shaking their heads,

and they left September very uneasy.? Princess September loves the bird far too much to take chances,

and acts upon her sisters’ advice.

? The bird cannot overcome the loss of freedom.

? Princess September decides to put the bird’s happiness above

her own.

It seemed to Princess September that her little bird had been away

a long time. Something might have happened to him. What with

hawks and with snares you never knew what trouble he might get

into. Besides, he might forget her, or he might take a fancy to

somebody else. That

would be dreadful. She

wished he were safely

back again.Suddenly September

heard a ‘tweet-tweet’

just behind her ear and

she saw the little bird

sitting on her shoulder.

He had come in so

quietly and alighted so

softly that she had not

heard him.

“I wondered what on

earth had become of

you,” said the Princess.

“I thought you’d wonder that,” said the little bird. “The fact is I

very nearly didn’t come back tonight at all. My father-in-law was

giving a party and they all wanted me to stay, but I thought you’d

be anxious.”

Under the circumstances this was a very unfortunate remark for

the little bird to make.

September felt her heart go thump against her chest, and she made

up her mind to take no more risks. She put up her hand and tookhold of the bird. The bird

suspected nothing and he was

so surprised when she carried

him over to the cage, popped

him in, and shut the door on

him that for a moment he

could think of nothing to say.

But in a moment or two he

hopped up to the ivory perch

and said, “What is the joke?”

‘‘There’s no joke,” said

September, “but some of mamma’s cats are prowling about tonight,

and I think you’re much safer in there.”

“Well, just for this once I don’t mind,” said the little bird, “so

long as you let me out in the morning.”

He ate a very good supper and then began to sing. But in the

middle of his song he stopped.

“I don’t know what is the matter with me,” he said, “but I don’t

feel like singing tonight.”“Very well,” said September, “go to sleep instead.”

So he put his head under his wing and in a minute was fast

asleep. September went to sleep too. But when the dawn broke she

was awakened by the little bird calling her at the top of his voice.

“Wake up, wake up,” he said. “Open the door of this cage and let

me out. I want to have a good fly while the dew is still on the ground.”

“You are much better off where you are,” said September.

“Let me out, let me out,” said the little bird. And he tried to slip

through the bars of the cage, but of course couldn’t, and he beat

against the door, but of course he couldn’t open it. Then the eight

Princesses came in and looked at him. They told September she was

very wise to take their advice. They said he would soon get used to

the cage and in a few days would quite forget he had ever been free.

The little bird said nothing at all while they were there, but as soon

as they were gone he began to cry again: “Let me out, let me out.”“Don’t be such an old silly,” said September. “I’ve put you in the

cage because I’m so fond of you. I know what’s good for you much

better than you do yourself. Sing me a little song and I’ll give you a

piece of sugar.”

But the little bird stood in the corner of his cage looking out at

the blue sky, and never sang a note.

“What’s the good of sulking?” said September. “Why don’t you

sing and forget your troubles?”

“How can I sing?” answered the bird. “I want to see the trees and

the lake and the green rice growing in the fields.”

“I’ll take you out every day,” she said.

“It’s not the same thing,” said the little bird. “The rice-fields and

the lake and the willow trees look quite different when you see them

through the bars of a cage.”

The bird wouldn’t sing a song and he wouldn’t eat a thing. The

Princess was a little anxious at this, and asked her sisters what

they thought about it.“You must be firm,” they said.

“But if he won’t eat, he’ll die,” she answered.

“That would be very ungrateful of him,” they said. “He must

know that you’re only thinking of his own good. If he’s obstinate

and dies it’ll serve him right and you’ll be well rid of him.”

September didn’t see how that was going to do her very much good,

but they were eight to one and

all older than she, so she said

nothing.

“Perhaps he’ll have got

used to his cage by tomorrow,”

she said.

And next day when she

awoke she cried out good

morning in a cheerful voice.

She got no answer. She

jumped out of bed and ran to

the cage. She gave a startled

cry, for there the little bird lay,at the bottom, on his side, with his eyes closed, and he looked as if

he were dead. She opened the door and putting her hand in lifted

him out. She gave a sob of relief, for she felt that his little heart was

beating still.

“Wake up, wake up, little bird,” she said.

She began to cry and her tears fell on the little bird. He opened his

eyes and saw that the bars of the cage were no longer around him.

“I cannot sing unless I’m free, and if I cannot sing I die,” he said.

The Princess gave a great sob.

‘‘Then take your freedom,” she said. “I shut you in a golden cage

because I loved you and wanted to have you all to myself. But I

never knew it would kill you. I love you enough to let you be happy

in your own way.”

She threw open the window and gently placed the little bird on

the sill. He shook himself a little.

“Come and go as you will, little bird,” she said. “I will never put

you in a cage any more.”

“I will come because I love you, little Princess,” said the bird. “And

I will sing you the loveliest songs I know. I shall go far away, but Ishall always come back and I shall never forget you.” He gave himself

another shake. “Good gracious me, how stiff I am,” he exclaimed.

Then he opened his wings and flew right away into the blue. But

the little Princess burst into tears, for it is very difficult to put the

happiness of someone you love before your own, and with her little

bird far out of sight she felt, all of a sudden, very lonely. When her

sisters knew what had happened they mocked her and said that the

little bird would never return. But he did, at last. And he sat on

September’s shoulder and ate out of her hand and sang her the

beautiful songs he had learned while he was flying up and down the

fair places of the world. September kept her window open day and

night so that the little bird might come into her room whenever he felt

inclined, and this was very good for her; so she grew extremely beautiful.

And when she was old enough she married the King of

Cambodia and was carried on a white elephant all the way to the

city in which the King lived. But her sisters never slept with their

windows open, so they grew extremely ugly as well as disagreeable,

and when the time came to marry them off they were given away to

the King’s Councillors with a pound of tea and a Siamese cat.
What message do we get from this story??????
Either - freedom is fickle (it can be severed easily, and given easily)

- You become happier when you make others happier (what goes around comes around) i.g. she lets the bird be happy and free, and she becomes ever happier through his songs

- the only other one would be looks can be deceiving (beatiful parrots are useless, while not so great looking bird is full of hapiness n stuff)

Those are the biggest and most obvious ones i can think of.
Reply:I'd say the message was put other people's happiness above your own and you will flourish (best shown in September growing beautiful after setting the bird free).

Jealousy and selfishness, as seen on September's sisters, can never prosper (e.g. the giving away of all of them to a councellor).



Hope it goes well and you get an A :)
Reply:What a lovely, lovely story. Thank you!!!!!!

The message is clear. Caging and controlling others, when they do no harm, is the antithesis of love.