Ctesias (eind 5e eeuw, begin 4e eeuw v. Chr.)

Ctesias, Indica, βιττάκου (bittakos)

(...) of the parrot about as large as a hawk, which has a human tongue and voice, a dark red beak, a black beard, and blue feathers up to the neck, which is red like cinnabar. It speaks Indian like a native, and if taught Greek, speaks Greek.

• Bigwood, J. (1993). Ctesias' Parrot. Classical Quarterly 43 (1):321-327.

Aristoteles (384 v. Chr. - 322 v. Chr.)

Aristoteles, Historia Animālium, Book 8, Part 12. The Indian bird

As a general rule alle birds with crooked talons are short-necked, flat-tongued, and disposed to mimicry. The Indian bird, the parrot, which is said to have a man's tongue, answers to this description; and, by the way, after drinking wine, the parrot becomes saucier than ever.

• Barnes, J. (Ed.). (2014). Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 1: The Revised Oxford Translation. Princeton (NJ): University Press.

Crinagoras of Mytilene (70 v. Chr. - 18 n. Chr.)

The linguist parrot 

The linguist parrot flicked his flowery wings /  and changed his wicker cage for greener things, /  but constantly saluting Caesar's fame \  kept on the hills the memory of his name. /  All these quick-learning fowls began to strive /  which should greet first the god that is alive. /  Orpheus commanded animals with a word: /  these birds sing 'Caesar' of their own accord.

• Crinagoras of Mytilene. In W.R. Patton (Red.), The Greek Anthology (1914–1918), (Volume I–V). (Vol. ?, p. 361). London: William Heineman (&) New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 

Ovidius (43 v. Chr. - 17 n. Chr.)

Ovidius, Amores, Book II, Elegy VI. Corinna

Parrot, the mimic, the winged one from India’s Orient, /  is dead - Go, birds, in a flock and follow him to the grave! /  Go, pious feathered ones, beat your breasts with your wings /  and mark your delicate cheeks with hard talons: / tear out your shaggy plumage, instead of hair, in mourning: /  sound out your songs with long piping! /  Philomela, mourning the crime of the Thracian tyrant, /  the years of your mourning are complete: /  divert your lament to the death of a rare bird -
Itys is a great but ancient reason for grief. /  All who balance in flight in the flowing air, / and you, above others, his friend the turtle-dove, grieve! / All your lives you were in perfect concord, / and held firm in your faithfulness to the end. / What the youth from Phocis was to Orestes of Argos, / while she could be, Parrot, turtle-dove was to you. / What worth now your loyalty, your rare form and colour, / the clever way you altered the sound of your voice, / what joy in the pleasure given you by our mistress? - / Unhappy one, glory of birds, you’re certainly dead! / You could dim emeralds matched to your fragile feathers, / wearing a beak dyed scarlet spotted with saffron. / No bird on earth could better copy a voice - / or reply so well with words in a lisping tone! / You were snatched by Envy - you who never made war: / you were garrulous and a lover of gentle peace. / Behold, quails live fighting amongst themselves: / perhaps that’s why they frequently reach old age. / Your food was little, compared with your love of talking / you could never free your beak much for eating. / Nuts were his diet, and poppy-seed made him sleep, / and he drove away thirst with simple draughts of water. / Gluttonous vultures may live and kites, tracing spirals / in air, and jackdaws, informants of rain to come: / and the raven detested by armed Minerva lives too - / he whose strength can last out nine generations: / but that loquacious mimic of the human voice, / Parrot, the gift from the end of the earth, is dead! / The best are always taken first by greedy hands: / the worse make up a full span of years. / Thersites saw Protesilaus’s sad funeral, / and Hector was ashes while his brothers lived. / Why recall the pious prayers of my frightened girl for you -
prayers that a stormy south wind blew out to sea? / The seventh dawn came with nothing there beyond, / and Fate held an empty spool of thread for you. / Yet still the words from his listless beak astonished: / dying his tongue cried: ‘Corinna, farewell!’ / A grove of dark holm oaks leafs beneath an Elysian slope, / the damp earth green with everlasting grass. / If you can believe it, they say there’s a place there / for pious birds, from which ominous ones are barred. / There innocuous swans browse far and wide / and the phoenix lives there, unique immortal bird: / There Juno’s peacock displays his tail-feathers, / and the dove lovingly bills and coos. / Parrot gaining a place among those trees / translates the pious birds in his own words. / A tumulus holds his bones - a tumulus fitting his size - / whose little stone carries lines appropriate for him: / ‘His grave holds one who pleased his mistress: / his speech to me was cleverer than other birds’.

• Christopher Marlowe. All Ovid's Elegies. Book Two. 
• (Gilmore, 2003)

Petronius (27 - 65)

Petronius, Poems, A parrot is speaking

My birthplace was India's glowing shore, where the day returns in brilliance with fiery orb. Here I was born amid the worship of the gods, and exchanged my barbaric speech for the Latin tongue. O healer of Delphi, now dismiss thy swans; here is a voice more worthy to dwell within thy temple.

• Courtney, E. (1991). The Poems of Petronius. Oxford: University Press.

Persius (34 - 62)

The Satires of Persius, Psittaco

I never drank of Hippocrene, never dreamed on Parnassus. The maids of Helicon and the waters of Pirene are meat and drink for my masters not for me, a poor lay-brother, with my humble, homely song. Others succeed: the parrot with his Greek, the pie with her Latin. They have not dreamed on Parnassus either; but they have a teacher and Sixpence is their Phoebus Apollo. Hark how they troll forth their notes! 

• Gildersleeve, B. L. (1875). The satires of A. Persius Flaccus. New York: Harper & Brothers.

Martialis (40 - 104)

Martialis. Epigrammata, Psittacus

Psittacus a vobis aliorum nomina discam / Hoc didici per me, dicere, Caesar ave!

• Ik, papegaai, zal van jullie de namen van anderen leren. Dit heb ik uit mezelf leren zeggen: ave Caesar. 
  • Geraadpleegd op (2015), van //perseus.tufts.edu

Statius (45 - 96)

Statius, Psittace dux volucrum, Melior’s parrot

Parrot, parrot, king of birds, fluent favourite of thy master; parrot, skilled to mimic the accents of man, what power by too swift a fate has stilled thy voice? Poor thing, only yesterday, though doomed to die, thou hadst a place at our feast. Beyond the midnight we saw thee ranging the couches and tasting the good cheer. Greetings, too, and well-conned words thou hadst repeated. To-day the dateless silence of Death seals all that melody. Oh, tell no more the oft-told tale of Phaethon’s sisters. ’Tis not only the dying swan that sings its own death-hymn.

Ah, how spacious was thy dwelling-place! How radiant the ruddy dome! a row of silver bars set in ivory round about thee. Shrill rang the portals at the pecking of thy beak. Alas, to-day the doors speak their own vexation. Tenantless is that blissful prison; vanished the scolding voice that filled the princely mansion!

Let all scholar birds flock hither, unto whom Nature has granted the right divine of speech. Let the favourite of Phoebus utter a lament; the starling too, that forgets not to re-echo faithfully the accents it has heard; the woodpeckers that for rivalling the Muses suffered change; the partridge that links and repeats the words of man; the nightingale that warbles forlorn in her Thracian bower. Mourn, mourn ye birds together! Bear your dead companion to the funeral fire; and, one and all, learn ye this new dirge. ‘The Parrot, — the glory and the pride of the fowls of the air, the radiant Ruler of the East, — is dead, is dead. Whom neither the bird of Juno with jewelled plumage, nor the denizen of frozen Phasis, nor the Meleagrides, the prey of the Numidians in the rainy south, could surpass in beauty. The Parrot that had greeted kings, that had uttered the name of Caesar, that had played the part now of mourning friend, and now of gay companion, — so ready to repeat the message it had learned. When he was released from his cage, Melior never wanted for company. Yet not without honour is his passing to the Shades. With Eastern perfumes the pyre is kindled; fragrant is his delicate plumage with Arabian incense and saffron of Sicily. Untouched by the languor of old age he shall be borne a happier phoenix to a richer pyre.’

• Slater, D. A. (1908). The Silvae of Statius. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.
• (Gilmore, 2003)

Plinius (61 - 112)

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 10, 58. Pliny’s Parrot

The parrot, which comes from India, is a green bird with a red circlet around its neck. It can be taught to speak; it greets its master and repeats words said to it. Its head and beak are very hard. While being taught to speak it must be beaten on the head with an iron rod; its head is so hard that it will not feel lesser blows. Its feet are weak, so when it lands from flying it does so on its beak, and supports itself thus.

• Geraadpleegd op (2015), van //perseus.tufts.edu
• (Gilmore, 2003)

Apuleius (ca.125 - ca.180)

Lucius Apuleius, Florida, XII, Psittacus avis Indiae avis est

The parrot is an Indian bird, in size very slightly smaller than a dove. But there is nothing dovelike in its hue. For it has nothing of the milky whiteness or dull blue, blended or distinct, nor yet of the pale yellow or iridescence that characterize the dove. The parrot is green from the roots of its feathers to their very tips, save only for the markings on the neck. For its tiny neck is girdled and crowned with a slender band of crimson like a collar of gold, which is of equal brilliance through all its extent. Its beak is extraordinarily hard. If after it has soared to a great height it swoops headlong on to some rock, it breaks the force of its fall with its beak, which it uses as an anchor. Its head is not less hard than its beak. When it is being taught to imitate human speech, it is beaten over the head with an iron wand, that it may recognize its master's command. This is the rod of its school-days. It can be taught to speak from the day of its birth to its second year, while its mouth is still easily formed and its tongue sufficiently soft to learn the requisite modulations. On the other hand, if caught when it is old, it is hard to teach and forgets what it has learned. The parrot which is most easily taught the language of man is one that feeds on acorns and manlike has five toes on each foot. All parrots do not possess this last peculiarity, but there is one point which all have in common: their tongue is broader than that of any other bird. Wherefore they articulate human words more easily owing to the size of their palate and the organ of speech. When it has learnt anything, it sings or rather speaks it out with such perfect imitation that, if you should hear it, you would think a man was speaking; on the contrary if you hear a crow attempting to speak, you would still call the result croaking rather than speech. But crow and parrot are alike in this; they can only utter words that they have been taught. Teach a parrot to curse and it will curse continually, making night and day hideous with its imprecations. Cursing becomes its natural note and its ideal of melody. When it has repeated all its curses, it repeats the same strain again. Should you desire to rid yourself of its bad language, you must either cut out its tongue or send it back as soon as possible to its native woods.

• Butler, H. E. (1909). The Apologia and Florida of Apuleius of Madaura. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Hunink, V. (2000). An Apuleian Parrot (on Apul. Fl. 12), University of Leiden & University of Nijmegen, Acta classica XLIII (2000).

Oppianus (2e eeuw n. Chr.)

Oppianus, Cynegetica, 2.408-9, The grass-hued bird

How again does the Bustard of the shaggy ear rejoice in the swift Horse! The Parrot again and the Wolf herd together; for Wolves have ever a passion for the grass-hued bird. Mighty Love, how great art thou! how infinite thy might! how many things dost thou devise and ordain, how many, mighty spirit, are thy sports! The earth is steadfast: yet is it shaken by thy shafts. Unstable is the sea: yet thou dost make it fast. Thou comest unto the upper air and high Olympus is afraid before thee. All things fear thee, wide heaven above and all that is beneath the earth and the lamentable tribes of the dead, who, though they have drained with their lips the oblivious water of Lethe, still tremble before thee.

• Oppian, Cynegetica, Loeb Classical Library, 1928. (p.93).

Athenaeus (ca.170 - ca.230)

Deipnosophistae, Book IX, Pages 253; 269 

All birds which have well-developed tongues can also make articulate tones, and can imitate the sounds made by men by other birds; such are the parrot and the magpie. 

After them came a hundred and fifty men carrying trees from which were suspended birds and beasts of every imaginable country and description; and then were carried a lot of cages, in which were parrots, and peacocks, and guinea-fowls, and pheasants, and other Ethiopian birds in great numbers.

• Geraadpleegd op (..), van //penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Athenaeus/9C*.html

Philostratus (ca.170 - ca.247)

Philostratus' Life of Apollonius: 1.7-10, Zeus help you

And this man was Euxenus from the town of Heraclea in Pontus, and he knew the principles of Pythagoras just as birds know what they learn from men; for the birds will wish you "farewell," and say "Good day" or "Zeus help you," and such like, without understanding what they say and without any real sympathy for mankind, merely because they have been trained to move their tongue in a certain manner.

• Conybeare. F. C. (1912). Philostratus' Life of Apollonius. Harvard: University Press.

Solinus (3e eeuw n. Chr.)

Gaius Julius Solinus, Mirabilibus Mundi, LIII, India, Rostri tanta duritia

Sola India mittit avem psittacum, colore viridem, torque puniceo, cujus rostri tanta duritia est, ut quum e sublimi præcipitat in saxum, nisu se oris excipiat, et quodam quasi fundamento utatur extraordinariæ firmitatis; caput vero tam valens, ut si quando ad discendum plagis siet admonendus, nam studet, ut quod homines alloquatur, ferrea clavicula sit verberandus. Dum in pullo est, atque adeo intra alterum ætatis suæ annum, quæ monstrata sunt, et citius discit, et retinet tenacius; major pullo, est et obliviosus, et indocilis. Inter nobiles et ignobiles discretionem digitorum facit numerus; qui præstant, quinos in pedes habent digitos, ceteri ternos; lingua lata, multoque latior quam ceteris avibus: unde perficitur ut articulata verba penitus eloquatur. Quod ingenium ita Romæ deliciæ miratæ sunt, ut barbaris psittacos mercem fecerint. 

• Geraadpleegd op (2015), van //thelatinlibrary.com

Aelianus (3e eeuw n. Chr.)

Claudius Aelianus, De natura animalium, XVI 2 

Οἱ πάντες δὲ οὗτοι μαϑόντες ὡς παι̑δες, οὕτως καὶ αὐτοὶ γίνονται λάλοι καὶ ϕϑέγγονται ϕϑέγμα ἀνϑρωπικόν. Ἐν δὲ ται̑ς ὕλαις ὀρνίϑων μὲν ἀϕια̑σιν ἦχον, ϕωνὴν δὲ εὔσημόν τε καὶ εὔστομον οὐ προΐενται, ἀλλ᾽ εἰσὶν ἀμαϑει̑ς καὶ οὔπω λάλοι

• Aelianus vertelt dat de papegaai in het land van herkomst het hoogst van alle vogels staat aangeschreven. Daarom mag de vogel niet gegeten worden. De papegaai kan net als kinderen de menselijke taal leren. In het wild krijsen ze en dat is niet om aan te horen. Aelianus beschrijft papegaaien als volgzame vogels die in India vaak als huisdier bestaan, meer dan thuis (Rome). En dat ze zich verzamelden rondom een koning.
• Claudius Aelianus: De natura animalium. Varia historia, Epistolae, Fragmenta, ed. R. Hercher, 1971.

Ambrosius (339 - 397)

Ambrosius, Hexaemeron, 5, Caput XIV, Vox psittaci

Aliae aves ad manum se subiiciunt, et mensae herili assuescunt, tactuque mulcentur: aliae formidant: aliae iisdem quibus homines domiciliis delectantur: aliae secretam in desertis vitam diligunt, quae requirendi sibi victus difficultatem libertatis amore compensant. Aliae vocibus tantum strepunt: aliae canoro delectant suavique modulamine. Quaedam ex natura, al iae ex institutione diversarum vocum obloquuntur discrimina; ut hominem putes locutum, cum locuta sit avis. Quam dulcis merularum, quam expressa vox psittaci est! Sunt etiam aliae simplices, ut columbae: aliae astutae, ut perdices: gallus iactantior, pavus speciosior. Sunt etiam vitae in avibus et operum diversitates; ut aliae ament in commune consulere, et collatis viribus velut quamdam curare rempublicam, et tamquam sub rege vivere: aliae sibi quaeque prospicere, imperium recusare, et, si capiantur, indigno velint exire servitio.

• Geraadpleegd op (2015), van //gallica.bnf.fr

Apicius (4e/5e eeuw n. Chr.)

Marcus Gavius Apicius, De Re Coquinaria, Idem facies et in psittaco

Phoenicopterum eliberas, lauas, ornas, includis in caccabum, adicies aquam, salem, anethum et aceti modicum. Dimidia coctura alligas fasciculum porri et coriandri, ut coquatur. Prope cocturam defritum mittis, coloras. Adicies in mortarium piper, cuminum, coriandrum, laseris radicem, mentam, rutam, fricabis, suffundis acetum, adicies caryotam, ius de suo sibi perfundis. Reexinanies in eundem caccabum, amulo obligas, ius perfundis et inferes. Idem facies et in psittaco.

• De re coquinaria is a collection of Roman cookery recipes, which may have been compiled in the fifth century ...
  • Geraadpleegd op (2015), van //www.gutenberg.org

Macrobius (4e/5e eeuw n. Chr.)

Ambrosius Aurelius Theodosius Macrobius, Saturnalia 2.4. 29–30, Greetings

Among those who welcomed Augustus on his return in state from his victory at Actium was a man with a raven which he had taught to say: "Greetings to Caesar, our victorious commander." Augustus was charmed by this compliment and gave the man twenty thousand sesterces for the bird. But the bird's trainer had a partner, and, when none of this large sum of money had come his way, he told the Emperor that the man had another raven and suggested that he should be made to produce it as well. The bird was produced and repeated the words which it had been taught to say: they were: "Greetings to Antony, our victorious commander." Augustus, however, instead of being at all angry, simply told the first man to share the money with his mate. He was greeted in a similar way by a parrot, and he ordered that bird to be bought and a magpie too, which he fancied for the same trick. These examples encouraged a poor cobbler to try to train a raven to repeat a like form of greeting, but the bird remained dumb, and the man ruined by the cost incurred, used often to say to it: "Nothing to show for the trouble and expense." One day, however, the raven began to repeat its lesson, and Augustus as he was passing heard the greeting. "I get enough of such greetings at home," he replied. But the bird also recalled the words of his master's customary lament and added: "Nothing to show for the trouble and expense." This made Augustus roar with laugh, and he ordered the bird to be bought giving more for it than he had given for any of the others.

• Geraadpleegd op (2015), van //classicsforall.org.uk

Isaac of Antioch (5e eeuw n. Chr.)

Isaac of Antioch, The Memra on the Parrot, Who was crucified for us ...

Focuses on the Syriac poem which was devoted to a parrot able to sing the Trishagion according to the addition of Peter the Fuller.

• Esbroeck, M. van. The Memra on the Parrot by Isaac of Antioch, Journal of Theological Studies 47, 1996, p. 464-476. 

Isidorus van Sevilla (560 - 636)

Isidorus van Sevilla, Etymologiae, Caesar have

Psittacus Indiae litoribus gignitur, colore vividi, torque puniceo, grandi lingea et ceteris avibus latiore. Unde et articulata verba exprimit, ita ut si eam non videris, hominem loqui putes. Ex atura autem salutat dicens: „have“ vel Cetera nomina institutione discit. Hinc est illud: Psittacus a vobis aliorum nomina discam; Hoc didici per me dicese: „Caesar have“.

• Isidore of Seville, Etymologies, Book 12, 7:24. Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi: Etymologiarum Sive Originum, Libri XX: Tomus I, Libros I–X Continens (Oxford Classical Texts).

Rabanus Maurus (ca.780 - 856)

Rabanus Maurus, De universo, Saeculo IX

Psittacus in Indiae littoribus gignitur, colore viridi, torque puniceo, grandi lingua, et caeteris avibus latiore: unde et articulata verba exprimit, ita ut si eum non videris, hominem loqui putes: ex natura autem salutat, dicens: Ave, vel Chaire: caetera nomina institutione discit. Hinc est illud: Psittacus a vobis aliorum nomina discam: Haec per me didici dicere: Caesar, ave. 

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Vado dal Papa (ca.1060)

Leo IX. Een vroege biografie over het leven van paus Leo IX (1048-54), geschreven in the abdij van St-Evre, Toul, Lotharingen.

Curiosa e forse poco nota è la storia del pappagallo, le cui origini risalgono all’xi secolo. In una delle Vitae di Leone ix, attribuita a Guiberto di Toul, si racconta che un certo “rex Dalamarcie” - forse identificabile con Stefano i re di Croazia e di Dalmazia - inviò al Papa in dono un pappagallo, in grado non soltanto di ripetere la frase «vado dal Papa», ma anche di chiamarlo per nome.
E questo senza che nessuno glielo avesse insegnato. Quando il Papa rientrava nel suo appartamento privato, la compagnia del pappagallo lo rincuorava e lo confortava, dandogli sollievo rispetto alle gravose preoccupazioni quotidiane.

• Bagliani, A. (2016). Il bestiario del papa. Turin: Einaudi.
• Zie ook: Immovable Parrots: Cortile del Pappagallo: Hortus conclusus

Physiologus (...)

Physiologus. Een Grieks bestiarium uit de 3e of 4e eeuw waar in de loop van de eeuwen veel aan gesleuteld is. De papegaai werd in de middeleeuwen (11e eeuw) aan het document toegevoegd.

Der Papagei / Der Mensch, der Sprechen einem Vogel lehrt, / verbirgt sich hinter einem Spiegel, wenn er lehrt. / Wenn der Vogel sich dem Sprechen zuwendet, / findet er vor seinen Augen sein Bild / und meint, daß sein Genosse mit ihm spreche. / Sein Bild ist vor ihm aufgerichtet, / damit er dadurch die Sprache lerne. Jener Vogel ist dem Menschen verwandt. / Deshalb hat Christus sich verwandelt in einen Fremden (...)

• Schneider, H. (2001). Physiologus, Griechisch / Deutsch, übersetzt und herausgegeben von Otto Schönberger. Stuttgart: Reclam.

Hugo de Folieto (ca.1100 - ca.1174)

De bestiis et aliis rebus’ of Hugo de Folieto, often attributed to Hugh of St Victor, Cap. XXVHI, De psittaco

Sola India mittit psittacum, colore viridi, torque punicea, grandi lingua, et ceteris avibus latiore, unde et articulata verba exprimit, ita ut si eam non videris, hominem loqui putes. Ex natura autem salutat, diceus ave, vel xarpe. Cetera nomina ex institutione discit, unde illud Martialis: Hoc per me didici dicere: ‘Caesar ave’. 

• Geraadpleegd op (2015), van //europeana.eu

Mattheus van Vendôme (ca.1130 - ca.1200) 

Mattheus van Vendôme, Ars Versificatoria, Lingua dégénérante

Psitacus exclamât presentatura triumphis / Cesareis, lingua dégénérante, « vale ».

• Matthew, L. B. (1879). Matthaei Vindocinensis Ars versificatoria: thesim proponebat Facultati ... p.44. Bruxelles: Société générale de la librairie catholique.

Alexander of Neckam (1157 - 1217)

Alexander of Neckam, De naturis rerum, Ye mountains of Gilboa

The parrot, which is commonly called the poppinjay, that is, the main or noble jay, dwells on the eastern shores. And for that reason, Ovid speaks of “the parrot, fleet messenger to me from eastern shores.” Or its name may be interpreted as “marvelous jay”; or “Wonderful is an expression of astonishment. But does an interjection enter into word-formation? And they say that a great multitude of parrots are given to building their nest in the mountains of Gilboa, because neither rain nor dew falls upon those mountains. This is said to have come about at the request of David, for it is well known that Saul and Jonathan were killed in those same mountains, upon which occasion, David, overcome with grief, prayed that neither rain nor dew should fall upon them. Now, the parrot speedily dies if its skin is frequently drenched with water. Thus, a nursling of Dryness, it takes itself off to the said place for the said reason.

The shape of its body to the mind, for a while, the falcon or hobby, but it is decked in plumes of most intense green. It is protected by a rounded breast and a hooked beak of such strength that, even when it is tame, when it is shut up in a cage, the little house is constructed of iron rods, for wooden rods could not withstand the hard blows and the gnawing of its beak.

It has a thick tongue, and one apt for the formation of the sound of the human voice. It is wonderfully shrewd, and for summoning up a laugh, ought to be preferred to jongleurs.

And it is so fawning that it frequently seeks, once it is tame, to kiss men known to it. Now, when a mirror is brought near it, like Narcissus it is deluded by its own image, and sometime with something like a smile, sometimes with something like a frown, stretching forth loving gestures, it seems to want to mate. Now it has a character quite given to the invention of deceits, as the little tale subjoined will demonstrate.

Now, there was in Great Britain a knight who owned a parrot of great excellence, which he held in the most tender regard. But while the knight was travelling abroad in the vicinity of the mountains of Gilboa, he saw a parrot, and prompted by the memory of the one he kept at home, he said, “Our parrot, which is shut up in a cage and is very like you, salutes you.”

Upon hearing this salutation, the bird tumbled down as if it were dying. The knight, deceived by the fraud of a little bird, was troubled, and returning home on the completion of his journey, told of what he had seen. Now, the knight’s parrot listened closely to his master’s tale, and feigning grief, dropped as if dead from the perch on which it was sitting. The entire household marvelled, lamenting the unexpected calamity. Now, the master ordered that it be laid out under the open sky to benefit from the salubrious air, raising to which occasion, the parrot quickly flew off, with no intention of returning. The master sighed, and all the household complained that he had been deceived. They recalled the many comforts which the parrot had used to afford them, and they frequently cursed the mountain bird that had invented so deep a deceit.

• Wedge. G. (1967). Alexander Neckam’s De Naturis Rerum. University of Southern California.

Vincent of Beauvais (1190 - 1264)

Speculum Naturale, 16.15, 16.135

Sed pluvia moritur

Psittacus aquas alias quocunque modo patitur, sed pluvia moritur. 

And also: 

The parrot was reputated to be luxurious, and fond of wine.

• Geraadpleegd op (2015), van //vincentiusbelvacensis.eu

Waldensische Physiologus

Papagal

La propriota de papagal es aytal: Car el ama totavia la purita, emperco vol far lo seo ni en las parts l'orient per co que l'an non lay ploo e enaysi lo seo ni non se po despecar no socar. Laqual natura e propriota deo segre un chascun Christian devotament, co es gardar en si purita e clarita e ensegivolment fugir li socz pecca. Dont emperco car el vol far lo seo ni en las Perc d'aurient. La se entent que l'ome deo fondar la seo mayson non cagivol en li cel. Car qualque qu'el s'esforcare de gardar la purita de la soa cura menar honesta vita, senca dubi la maison de luy sere fonda en l'autessime rey.

• Mayer, A. (1899). Romanische Forschungen Organ für Romanische Sprachen Und Mittellatein. Festschrift Konrad Hofmann zum 70sten Geburtstag, 1899, p. 392-418.
• Waldensian manuscript. IE TCD MS 261, The Library of Trinity College, Dublin. 
  • Geraadpleegd op (..), van //doi.org/10.48495/vq27zt39g

Brunetto Latino (ca.1220 - 1294)

Brunetto Latino, Li Livres dou Tresor

Pappagallo è una generazione d'uccelli verde, e hanno il becco torto a modo di sparviere, e hanno maggior lingua e la più grossa che nessuno altro uccello, secondo la sua grandezza, perchè egli dice parole articolato, sì come l'uomo, se gli è insegnato l'anno ch'egli nasce, perchè dal primo anno innanzi sono sì duri e sì ingrossati, che non imprendono cosa che sia loro insegnata, e sì 'l debbe l'uomo castigare con una piccola verghetta di ferro. E dicono quelli d'India, che non ha in nessuna part se non in India. E di sua natura salutano secondo il linguaggio di quella terra. E quelli che hanno cinque dita sono più nobili; e quelli cha hanno tre sono di vile lignaggio. e tutta sua forza hanno nel becco e nel capo. E tutti i colpi e cadute ricevano nel capo s'elli non li possono ischifare.

• St Petersburg, Li Livres dou Tresor codex, facsimile di M. Moleiro: fol. 45v.

Der Stricker (ca.1220)

Der Stricker, Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal

Arthurromans: Ook in de zogenaamde Arthurromans verschijnt nogal eens een papegaai. Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal is een voorbeeld: In de glanzende veren van een papegaai kun je je spiegelen (v. 557). In de nacht geeft de glans licht, genoeg om een prieel te verlichten (v. 569f.). Als de vogel meevliegt met een dame, dan is het dier als een parasol (v. 562-564). En een hele goede zanger (v. 571f.).

• Der Stricker: Daniel von dem blühenden Tal, ed. M. Resler, 2015 

Arnaut de Carcassès

Las novas del papagai (ca.1250)

Dins un verdier de mur serrat,

a l'ombra d'un laurier folhat,

auzi contendr'un papagay

de tal razo com ye·us dirai… 

• Firenze, Biblioteca nazionale centrale, Conventi soppressi, F. IV. 776, II, f. 11r-12r (J) 
• Arnaut de Carcassès, Novas del papagay, Jean-Charles Huchet, Nouvelles courtoises occitanes du Moyen-Age, textes établis, traduits et présentés par J. Ch. Huchet,  Flammarion, pages 158-185, 1992.
• (Kay, 2013)

Petrus Berchorius (ca.1290 - 1362)

Reductorium morale (VII, 67), Ein willüstiger Vogel

Der Papagei ist ein willüstiger Vogel, der sich am Anblick junger Mädchen erfreut, gern Wein trinkt, In Rausch gerät und auch gern Küsst.

• Geraadpleegd op (2015), van //dbnl.org

Guillaume de Machaut (ca.1300 - 1377)

Le livre du Voir-Dit

Se pour ce muir qu'Amours ay bien servi,

Y fait mauvais servir si fait signour,

Car je n'ay mort d'amours desservi

Pour bien amer de tres loial amour.

Mais je croy bien que finé sont mi jour,

Quant je congnois et voy tout en appert

Qu'en lieu de bleu, dame, vous restez vert. 

(...)

• Wanneer Guillaume de Machaut voor het eerst zijn onbekende geliefde ziet, is hij verrukt, dat zij bij een wit kleed een kaproen draagt van hemelsblauwe stof met groene papegaaien, want groen is de kleur der nieuwe liefde en blauw van de trouw. Later als het hooggetij van zijn dichterliefde voorbij is, droomt hij, dat haar beeltenis, die boven zijn bed hangt, het hoofd afwendt, en geheel in het groen gekleed is, "qui nouvelleté signifie". Hij dicht een verwijtende ballade. (Huizinga, 2005). 
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Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 - 1375)

Genealogia. On Psittacus, son of Deucalion

Psittacus was the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, as Theodontius says. Imbued with the teachings of his grandfather Prometheus, he went to Ethiopia, where he was held in the greatest veneration, and when he had lived to an advanced age, he prayed to be removed from human affairs. In response to this prayers the gods easily transformed him into the bird named after him.
I believe the reason for this fiction is the fame of his name and virtue, which, although he died in his gray years, lasted in perpetual viridity - like those birds that are always green. There were those who believed that this Psittacus was said to be one of the seven sages, but Theodontius says he was much more ancient.

• Giovanni Boccaccio, Genealogia deorum gentilium De Psitaco Deucalionis filio, Boek IV, Hoofdstuk 49.

Geoffrey Chaucer (ca.1343–1400)

The Parlement of Foules, also called the Parlement of Briddes or the Assemble of Foules, (1381/82).

Than spake the poyiay of paradise

who sayth lytell he is wise,

For lyttle money is soone spende

and few wordes are soone amend

• Chaucer, G. “The Parliament of Fowls.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. (The Online Archive).
• Parrot Art Research Underway

Anoniem (14e eeuw)

La Dame et les trois papegaulz

Dame, vous voulez que je die

Ce qui est voir sans menterie.

Et ce que moult bien vous savez

Et grandement' esprouvez l'avez.

Bien vy anuit certainement,

Devant le premier coq chantant.

Que vous et ceste damoiselle,

Qui ver monseigneur est rebelle,

Meniés andeuz le chevalier

Que si soûliez festoier;

Et pour lui faire grant plaisir

Ne vous saviez contenir,

Et le baisiés et accoliés

Et en vo chambre le meniés.

La le receustes a grant plaisir,

Et moult feustes a bel laisir

Et toute nuit en grant déduit,

Qui pou vous dura, si com je cuid,

A la manière et au semblant

Qu'au mener li feustes monstrant.

Mes quant monseigneur le savra

Dolante et yrée vous fera.

• Chevalier Errant de Thomas de Saluces, BnF, Manuscrits, français 12559, f 125, Bibliotheque nationale de France
• Gorra Egidio. La novella della Dama e dei tre papagalli. In: Romania, tome 21 n°81, 1892. pp. 71-78. 
• Yoder, Lauren W. (1980). The Late medieval tale: the Example of "La Dame et les trois papegaulz". The French Review, 53 (4) : 543 - 4 
• (Victorin, 2008)

Het handschrift Van Hultem (1405/08)

Dits een exempel vrayen betekent bi III Papegayen 

Het was een goet man hier te voren,

die in sijn herte hadde vercoren

drie voghelen die heten papegayen,

en sach moit man gheen soe vrayen.

Dese man hadde sijn herte ghekeert

ten voghelen ende heeft hem gheleert

te sprekene ridelike wale

eelken sonderlike tale.

Deen sprac provinciaeles, die ander latijn,

die derde fransoys, neghenen wijn

dronckic voer op selke sake,

dat elc voghel alsoe sprake.

(...)

• Het handschrift Van Hulthem. (1405/08). Hs. Brussel, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, 15.589-623. nr. 93, f.77rb. 
• La Dame et les trois papegaulz gesteld in het Middelnederlands. 
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Ein Tosco-Venezianischer Bestiarius (z.d.)

Papagä

Lo papagä si è uno uzello lo quale è tuto verde, salvo ca-l beco e li piedi; et dè lo più neto osello che si trouva; e no-nde sono se son in nuna parte de oriente, che non che piove mai da nisun tenpo. Questo papagä, si come el no à pare de neteza, si poteno asimigliare alo nostre signore Jesu Cristo, che non abe pare, ni no-nde averà, de neteza, et che-l nasè senza pecado et senza coruzione carnale, che no-nde nasè ma alguno cusì ca lui, e non pensò ni non parlo ni non adoperò mai alguno pecato, che non si puol dir cusì de alguno altre omo del mondo; adonca follo di neteza, che tuti i altri omeni sono pieni di ogni soza cossa.

• Ein tosco-venezianischer Bestiarius, hrsg. und erläutert von Max Goldstaub, Richard Wendriner. Halle: Niemeyer, 1892. 
  • Geraadpleegd op (..), van /archive.org/stream/eintoscovenezian00golduoft/eintoscovenezian00golduoft_djvu.txt

Lodovicus Caelius Rhodoginus (1450-1525)

Rhodoginus mentions a parrot which could recite correctly the whole of the Apostle's Creed.

• Rhodoginus. The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 488, May 7, 1831 

Jean Lemaire de Belges (ca.1473 - ca.1525)

Les épîtres de l' amant vert (1505) et Le triumphe de l' amant vert (1535). Een onbeantwoorde liefde met een zelfmoord van de papegaai als uitkomst. Daarna een terugblik van gene zijde.

A Madame Marguerite Auguste

Ha ! Marguerite (à peu diray je ingratte),

Je te puis bien faire ores mes reproches,

Puis que de mort je sens ja les approches.

Longtemps ton serf, longs temps ton amy chier,

A ton lever, à ton noble couchier,

Depuis Zelande en Grenade, et par tout,

Suis je venu de mon service à bout

En ce lieu cy mortifere et funeste,

Où j'ay perdu la fleur de tout le monde,

Le duc mon maistre, et la duchesse après, 

Dont le remors me touche de trop près.

• Le Triumphe de l' Amant vert. 
  • Geraadpleegd op (..), van //catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb30784347p,
• Smith, P. J. (2022). De Groene Minnaar van Margaretha van Oostenrijk. Virtus: Tijdschrift Voor Adelsgeschiedenis, 29, 150-165.

John Skelton (ca.1460/64 - 1529)

Speke Parrot (1521). Een bijzondere politiek gemotiveerde papegaai komen we tegen in de literaire aanval van John Skelton op Kardinaal Thomas Wolsey. Het is een staalkaart van de toenmalige kennis over de papegaai, een belangrijke bron voor het museum.

MY name is Parrot

MY name is Parrot, a bird of Paradise,
By nature devised of a wondrous kind,
Daintily dieted with divers delicate spice,
Till Euphrates, that flood, driveth me into Inde;
Where men of that country by fortune me find,
And send me to great ladies of estate;
Then Parrot must have an almond or a date:

A cage curiously carven, with silver pin,
Properly painted, to be my coverture;
A mirror of glass, that I may toot therein;
These, maidens full meekly with many a diverse flower;
Freshly they dress, and make sweet my bower,
With Speak, Parrot, I pray you! full curteously they say:
Parrot is a goodly bird, a pretty popinjay!

(...)

• Geraadpleegd op (..), van //exclassics.com/skelton/skel063.htm

Sir David Lindsay (ca.1486 – ca.1555) 

The Testament and Complaynt of Our Soverane Lord’s Papyngo, The king's Papyngo

The “Complaynt” begins with a homily on the text “Quho clymmis to hycht, perforce his feit mon faill.” To illustrate this apophthegm the story of the king’s papyngo is told. The unfortunate bird, climbing to the topmost twig of a tree in the royal garden, is thrown to earth by a gust of wind, and hopelessly injured on a stob of timber. In her last hour she addresses one epistle to the king, deriving lessons to royalty from the chronicles of Scotland, and another to her “brether of the court” upon the text “Quho sittith moist hie sal fynd the sait most slidder.” The latter epistle ends with an adieu to Edinburgh, Stirling, and Falkland, and the chief scene of the satire immediately ensues. 

In this poem, Lindsay uses a Papyngo or parrot, within the 'fall-of-princes' genre to offer an examination of ambition and fortune which is simultaneously humorous and serious in intent. Through the mouth piece of the dying bird, he offers both James V and his Court a powerful moral exhortation, strongly humanist, in tone. The second part of the poem deals with the parrot's experiences at the hands of three rapacious bird-clerics, the traditional beast fable being adapted to launch a mordant, attack upon clerical abuses.

• Edington, C. (1991). Sir David Lindsay of the Mount: Political and Religious Culture in Renaissance Scotland. St Andrews: University of St Andrews. 
  • Geraadpleegd op (..), van //research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk

Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592)

Essais, II, 12

Les perroquets, nous leur apprenons à parler : et cette facilité, que nous reconnaissons à nous fournir leur voix et haleine si souple et si maniable, pour la former et l’astreindre à certain nombre de lettres et de syllabes, témoigne qu’ils ont un discours au-dedans, qui les rend ainsi disciplinables et volontaires à apprendre.

• Michel de Montaigne. (1580), Les Essais, S. Millanges, Bordeaux, II, 12.

François Rabelais (ca.1490 - 1553)

Le quart livre. Des faicts et dicts Heroiques di bon Pantagruel, p.471.

Les Corbeaux, les Gays, les Papeguays, les Étourneaux, il rend poëtes : Les Pies il faict poëtrides : & leur aprent languaige humain proferer, parler, chanter. Et tout pour la trippe. 

• François Rabelais. Le quart livre. Des faicts et dicts Heroiques di bon Pantagruel. A Paris, De l'imprimerie de Michel Fezandat (...), 1552
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William Shakespeare (1564 -  1616)

The Birds of Shakespeare by Sir Archibald Geikie. Parrots and Popinjays

Reference may be made to two other exotic birds mentioned by Shakespeare - the Parrot and the Ostrich. As one result of the many voyages of discovery in his day, both in the Old and the New World, the parrot had become a familiar bird in England. Its loud and harsh clamour, its docility, its clever imitation of human speech, but at the best, the paucity of its vocabulary, are duly noted by our dramatist. In one scene we are told how Falstaff was pleased to have “his poll clawed like a parrot,” in another, a lady declares that in her jealousy she will be “more clamorous than a parrot against rain".

• Archibald Geikie, The Birds of Shakespeare, Glasgow: James Maclehose and sons, 1916. 
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Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626)

Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human

For if you observe the words well, it is no other method than that which brute beasts are capable of, and do put in ure; which is a perpetual intending or practising some one thing, urged and imposed by an absolute necessity of conservation of being. For so Cicero saith very truly, Usus uni rei deditus et naturam et artem sæpe vincit.

And therefore if it be said of men, “Labor omnia vincit Improbus, et duris urgens in rebus egestas”,  it is likewise said of beasts, "Quis psittaco docuit suum χαιρε?"

• Francis Bacon, Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human, 1605, The First Book; To the King, XIII.

Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637)

Epigrams. LXXI. On Court-Parrot

To pluck down mine, POLL sets up new wits still, / Still 'tis his luck to praise me 'gainst his will. 

• Eccles, M. (1937). Jonson and the Spies. The Review of English Studies, Vol. 13, No. 52 (Oct., 1937), pp. 385-397 (13 pages). Oxford University Press. 
• Dean, P. (2012). Ben Jonson's violent laughter. The New Criterion, April 1, 2012.
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P.C.Hooft (1581 - 1647)

Emblemata Amatoria

Willighe Vanckenis. Carcer Voluntarius. Ma prison est voluntaire.

Le Perroquet ne sort, bien qu'ouverte sa cage,

Aussi ma liberté c'est l'Amoureux servage.  

• Emblemata amatoria. Afbeeldinghen van minne. Emblemes d'amour. 2nd ed., 1618. p.64, 65
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Petrus Nylant,  J. van Hextor

Het Schouw-toneel Der Aertsche Schepselen (1672)

Van de Papegayen, Aracanga of Oost-Indische Raven, &c.

De tammen eeten wat haer gegeven wort, als vleesch, broodt, en voornamentlijck suycker, drincken water, maer liever wijn, door welcke dranck sy niet alleen dertel, en droncken worden, maer boven maten klapachtigh.

Sy houden vriendtschap met de Wolf, met welcke sy gaen weyden, met den Tortelduyf, en met de Menschen, waerom sy in America de Bosschen verlaten, ontrent de Huysen komen. Haer stem soo lange sy niet geleert zijn, is van geen bescheyden geluydt. In het verstant zijnse den Mensch naby komende in 't leeren spreecken, daer in alle andere Vogels te boven gaende, de woorden bescheydentlijck voortbrengende, ende veel lichter als mense binnen de twee Iaer leert, als ouder; de trage worden met een dun ysere stafjen op haer hooft geslagen, anders om haer hardigheyt, voelende de slagen niet. Dien, die den Cardinael Ascanius voor hondert goude Kroonen gekocht hadde, sprack 't geheele Geloofs-begrijp, met achter-een-volgende woorden uyt. Die van Hendrick de achste Koning van Engelandt, in den Theems gevallen zijnde, riep om hulp, belovende twintigh pont Steerlinghs; en uytgehaelt zijnde belaste aen dien, die hem uytgeholpen hadde, vier Schellingen te geven. Cardanus seght, datse overdenckingh hebben. Pherecides, dat de Mannekens opmercken, en die gene aenbrengen die eenigh vergift bereyden, en in de huysen brengen. Andere datter ontrent Java zijn, die verstaen, en antwoorden op 't geene haer gevraegt wordt. Constantinus Manasses getuight, datse de Dansers met de beweginge van haer hooft, en met haer buygende, en flickerende wiecken naer volgen; 't welck de eervarentheyt bewaerheydt. P.208

Van de groote klappende Papegayen.

Een ander van die soort hadde een Wijntapper, dewelcke in Huys gewoon was te hooren de klachte van sijn Meester, dat de Wijn niet verkocht wiert om dat het suuren Acijn was; heeft dese woorden in acht genomen, ende voor de deur gehangen zijnde, riep geduurigh, de Wijn is suur, de Wijn is suur, dat de Kopers licht geloofden; tot dat sijne Meester hem met water begietende (want dese Vogelen haten 't water) en hem straffende sulcks af wende, en leerde roepen de beste Wijn, de beste Wijn, 't welck de Papegay daer na voor de deur dickmael overluydt uytriep. P.246

• Het Schouw-toneel Der Aertsche Schepselen, Afbeeldende allerhande Menschen, Beesten, Vogelen, Visschen, &c. Met een Beschrijvende haer gestalte, hoedanigheden, natuur, krachten, eygenschappen, en genegentheden; met 160 Figuren. Door P. Nylant, en J. van Hextor, beyde der Med. Doctoren, en Practicijns, binnen Amsterdam. Eerste Deel. Van de Papegayen, Aracanga of Oost-Indische Raven, &c. P.108. P.246
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