Avis

From Seven Sages of Rome

The Bird

A bird - a parrot, or a magpie - reveals a woman's adultery to her husband. She tries to convince him that the bird is lying, mad, or confused, but his faith in the bird's reporting is unshaken. To discredit the bird, the wife tricks it into believing that there is a storm in the night (manufacturing the sound of the weather, dropping water on it from a hole in the ceiling, etc.) when in fact the weather was clear. The husband, hearing the bird's reports of rain and wind, discounts the earlier report of adultery. (In some texts, he eventually learns the truth.)

Critical Literature

No critical literature available

The inset story appears in the following manuscripts

The inset story appears in the following versions and secondary versions